3 Tamuz, 5762
Jerusalem

WEEKLY JEWISH SOLIDARITY UPDATE 6 JUNE 2002

SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATIONS

USA
Washington, D.C. (10 June)
The United Jewish Communities leadership met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Washington, in a demonstration of support.

Saint Louis, MO (9 June)
Thousands marched in support of Israel in a demonstration organized by local Jewish organizations.

Spain
Madrid (10 June)
Over 1,000 individuals from throughout Spain participated in a demonstration of support for Israel. The demonstrtion was organized by the Jewish communities of Madrid and Barcelona, the Evangelical Church, and the Institute for Judeo-Christian Studies in Madrid.

Israel
Tel-Aviv (12 June)
Students from Israel and abroad participated in a solidarity march with Jewish communities throughout the world in anticipation of the upcoming 34^th Zionist Congress. The march was organized by the Israel Students Union in cooperation with the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS).

Tel-Aviv (12-13 June)
An international Festival of Jewish Humor, stressing the theme of "solidarity through laughter" is currently being held. The Jewish Agency's People-to-People Department was instrumental in the organization of the festival

SOLIDARITY MISSIONS
40 students from ten different French Jewish high schools spent a week in an intensive Israel advocacy seminar, run by the Jewish Agency's Education Department. The seminar trained them to become "Israel attachés" in their schools and to present tourist options.

THE 34^TH ZIONIST CONGRESS AND THE JEWISH AGENCY ASSEMBLY
The 34^TH Zionist Congress (the highest legislative body of the Zionist movement) will take place in Jerusalem from the 17^th to the 20^th of June.. Some 1,200 delegates and alternates as well as an additional 300 activists from Israel and abroad are expected to attend this year's Congress which will be held under the banner of solidarity with Israel.

The Jewish Agency Assembly will convene from the 21^st to the 23^rd of June in Jerusalem. Over 500 participants from the Israel and abroad are slated to attend.

FUNDRAISING
The CJA Federation of, Canada succeeded in raising $15 million in the past two weeks, in its Israel Emergency Fund. The funds are intended to purchasing ambulances, bullet-proof vehicles, trauma medical equipment and for assisting victims of terror and their families.

In a departure from previous policy, the United Jewish Communities voted this week in a meeting in Chicago, to allow funds to be used to aid Jewish residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, who have borne the brunt of Palestinian violence. In the past, UJC monies had been spent only within the "Green Line" (according to a charter it had inherited from the United Jewish Appeal). The UJC's leadership had been working to bring about a review before the board for several months (Source:JTA).

ADVOCACY AND SOLIDARITY ACTIVITIES

The Zionist Council of Victoria, Australia launched a large-scale information campaign under the slogan "I am a Zionist." The campaign makes use of the internet as well as the distribution of literature. The Council calls for defending the basic right of Jews to have their own state. The council will present its information kit at the 34^th Zionist Congress.

VOLUNTARISM
There has been great interest, especially among students to come to Israel on volunteer programs coordinated by the Jewish Agency's Tnuat Aliyah Department. In April the Jewish Agency launched a campaign for volunteers to serve in Israel in various capacities, among them the Civil Guard (auxiliary police), Magen David Adom, regional councils, social welfare agencies and civilian tasks in the IDF. Some 2,339 have applied and 306 have already arrived in Israel.

A group of 20 volunteers from Chicago came this week to teach English in Kiryat Gat..A group of volunteers from Hungary completed two weeks of Civil Guard service in Carmiel. The World Zionist Organization Hagshama Department is using the Internet to recruit volunteers. Some 40% of applicants to volunteer programs have applied through the department's website: www.wzo.org.il.

LETTERS TO SOLDIERS
18,000 personal letters of support and postcards for IDF soldiers have been received by the World Zionist Organization, in a special project run together with the Ministry of Defense's Youth and Nahal Department, and the IDF Spokesperson. The campaign was to have lasted until Israel Independence Day (17 April) by which time 6,000 letters had been received. However the letters keep arriving. Prominent among the letter writers are school children.

SELECTED ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENTS

·         21 May 2002. Pinsk, Belarus. Anti-Semitic slogans were painted on the walls of a synagogue, Jewish school, and education office.

·         28 May 2002. Moscow. An ultra-religious (Haredi), boy,the son of a rabbi, was attacked by three skinheads, near Moscow's great synagogue. The boy suffered from multiple wounds...

·         31 May 2002. Moscow. Anti-Semitic slogans were painted on a monument of the city's Human Rights Museum.

·         3 June 2002. Munich. For the third time, a letter with a death threat to Jewish communal leaders were received at the Jewish community offices. The letter also specified that a bomb would be planted at a Jewish butchery.

·         8 June 2002. Lyons, France. A Jewish cemetery was desecrated. A number of monuments were smashed, others were covered wit excrement and pornographic literature was strewn over the site.

·         9 June 2002. Berlin. The police chief requested of the Jewish community that Jews not appear in a manner that would outwardly reveal their being Jewish. He apologized after the head of the Jewish community protested. In another incident, American Jews were beaten by neo-Nazis in one of the city's main streets.

·         11 June 2002. The ADL released a new survey claiming that anti-Semitism in America increased following the following the September 11^th terror attacks.

Anti-Semitic incidents may be monitored on the following website: www.antisemitism.org.il

For comments or information
Please contact:
Yehuda Weinraub
e-mail:eugenejo@zahav.net.il
or yehudaw@jafi.org
tel: 02 620 2215
mobile: 053 927 017