JC LETTER BY HARVEY ROSE

Message from HE Ron Prosor, Ambassador of Israel to the Court of St James’s

I am delighted to send my warmest wishes on the occasion of the dedication of Reverend William Hechler’s gravestone.
Britain and Israel enjoyed a friendship long before the establishment of the State of Israel, as a result of the committed efforts of British Christian Zionists. Marking Reverend Hechler’s prominent place in the rich tradition of Christian Zionism in Britain, on the eightieth anniversary of his passing, is especially timely.
The support he gave to Theodor Herzl is symbolic of the understanding that is found today among our Christian friends, of the eternal connection that exists between the Jewish People and Eretz Yisrael.
The People of Israel deeply value your solidarity. You are friends who stand with us as we face the challenges of the future, who share with us a love of the Holy Land, and who lend your principled and unwavering support.
I commend the work of all of the organisations involved in this important act of remembrance.
Shalom Aleichem – may Reverend Hechler’s memory be blessed.
 

JORDAN TAKES OVER ISRAEL IN PAGE & MOY TRAVEL BROCHURE

In Page & Moy's latest Wildlife & Culture Travel Brochure they advertise a trip to 'Cairo & the Red Sea'. In the map of the area the letters J and part of O of Jordan are over Israeli territory. The ZF spoke with Page & Moy who assured us that this was not a political statement and was only for graphical convenience, and nor did they mean to cause offence. They have assured us that they will be amending this map in all future brochures.

Click on the picture above to enlarge the map.

To see the brochure in its original form see page 30.

SIMPLY THE BEST

A past graduate of the ZF 6th form programme is currently serving in the IDF and has contacted the ZF asking us to send letters to the soldiers who are currently on their Officers course. These young people have to go through rigorous training for 2 months and subsequently are signing up for an extra year in the army. Here is an excerpt of her email to us:
 
The soldiers in Officers school are giving up extra time of their lives in order to DO more. They are the best of the best and they don't even realise it. I plan on letting them know the importance of what they're doing as some of them are feeling very down. The desert gets very cold at nights and only this week some of them suffered from frostbite.
 
We are asking you to write letters of gratitude to give them motivation and to thank them for defending Israel. The best way of sending the letters is by emailing them to office@zfuk.org by Thursday 13th January, so that we can present them in time for their graduation at the end of January.

PALESTINE ADVERT IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC "TRAVELER" MAGAZINE

This advert recently appeared in the new National Geographic Traveler magazine. It gives the following false impressions:
• that Palestine is a country
• that Jerusalem is part of Palestine
• that Palestine extends from the Med to the Jordan
• this advertisement would mislead tourists, since on travelling to territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority, they would not find the sites and facilities which the advertisement promotes
As you may remember, the Advertising Authority Agency recent banned an Israeli Government Tourist Office advert for that all of the areas featured on the map were part of the state of Israel.
click here to read

Please send reasoned complaints to the ASA regarding this advert.
Complaints can be made here

Click the image below to enlarge.

MEETING WITH BRITISH RED CROSS HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

written by Adrian Korsner

A delegation organised by the ZF including Jonathan Lux and His Honour Dennis Levy QC from the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (and UK Assn.), together with Jamie Slavin of The Board Of Deputies and Adrian Korsner from the UK Zionist Federation, met on 10th December with Michael A Meyer OBE, the Head Of International Law at the British Red Cross.
They handed a letter Mr Meyer expressing theirsadness at the apparent inaction by the ICRC in the matter of verifying the wellbeing of Gilad Shalit, imprisoned by Hamas for more than 4 years. Mr Meyer read the document and then asked Jonathan Lux to speak on the matter.
Mr Meyer then spoke, on behalf of the British Red Cross which he made clear was NOT the ICRC. The ICRC had a right to visit Prisoner's of War or Civilian Internees held as a result of an international conflict and could only visit if allowed to by the holding body (Hamas). An international conflict was one between two independent states. Since Hamas was not a state, the conflict could not be considered international.
Despite this, Mr Meyer said that, in twenty eight years at the Red Cross, he could not remember any prisoner ever having received as much attention as Gilad had. The ICRC had made repeated requests for access.
The ICRC had a remit, only to address matters from a moral standpoint, The ICRC is a completely impartial observer and has to act in this way. It is essential that actions taken or statements made do not alienate it from either side in a dispute as, if it did, it would lose all potential access. Its remit is to work, behind the scenes, not to organise marches or demonstrations.
The visitors asked Mr Meyer to take the following request to the ICRC. They asked that the ICRC made every attempt to maximise, absolutely, its efforts to visit Gilad and to express publicly its disappointment if it was unsuccessful. They also asked that the ICRC used all its considerable 'Moral Powers' to harness the plight of Gilad with the world's press. Mr Meyer listened intentively to all that was said and agreed to present the views of the group to the ICRC in Geneva.

ANTI-ISRAEL U.N. OFFICIAL RESIGNS

German law professor Christian Tomuschat, the anti-Israel and anti-American official heading the U.N. committee to enforce the Goldstone Report, has resigned. The biased U.N. probe now has no leader, and is in disarray.

This unprecedented resignation follows a global campaign by UN Watch that exposed Professor Tomuschat's egregious bias and breach of his obligation under international law to be objective and impartial:

• UN Watch's team of researchers tracked down and translated Professor Tomuschat's German academic writings. We published a 30-page report revealing how he had frequently compared Israeli actions with the "barbarism" and "inferno" of World War II; how he performed legal work for PLO leader Yasser Arafat; and how he repeatedly accused Israel of “state terrorism.” This was reported worldwide.

• When Tomuschat delivered his report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in September -- calling for the investigation of Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni for alleged war crimes in Gaza -- UN Watch was the only group to take the floor and directly challenge Tomuschat for his bias, stirring reactions from Tomuschat as well as the council president himself.

• When Tomuschat then appeared at a U.N. press conference, journalists followed up on UN Watch's campaign and challenged Tomuschat to defend himself.

Finally, thousands of UN Watch supporters worldwide have been taking action on our website every day to demand from the U.N. that Tomuschat resign. In the end, he gave in.

It's one more UN Watch victory for the genuine principles of human rights, international law, and Middle East peace and security.