HISTORY - The Position of the Jews in Persia - JTA 1931

---------------------------------------- HISTORIC ---------------------------------------- JEWISH TELEGRAPH AGENCY ARCHIVE http://www.jta.org/1931/12/31/archive/jewish-member-of-persian-parliament-executed-after-being-kept-in-prison-for-five-years-on-charge-of Jewish Member of Persian Parliament Executed After Being Kept in Prison for Five Years December 31, 1931    Teheran (Dec. 30) After being kept in prison for more than five years, Dr. Shmuel Yeheskel Haim, who was the Jewish representative in the (Medjlis) Persian Parliament, (The Jews are entitled under the Persian Constitution to have one Deputy in Parliament) has been executed this week, it is learned to-day, on a charge of having been implicated in a conspiracy against the life of the Shah. [ ...] LEAGUE OF NATIONS COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN COGNISANCE OF ANY COMPLAINT FROM DEPUTY HAIM It has been stated that Mr. Haim’s real offence was that as a member of the Persian Parliament he had addressed a letter to the League of Nations complaining bitterly of the treatment of the Jews in Persia. The League of Nations, it was said, had addressed an enquiry on the subject to the Persian Government, whereupon the Shah sent for Deputy Haim and demanded that he should write to the League of Nations and state that everything had been put right. Deputy Haim agreed to do this on two conditions. The first was that the Chief of Police should be dismissed, and the second that the oppression of the Jews in Persia should really be stopped. The Shah resented these demands, especially, it was stated, as the Chief of Police is a close relative of His Majesty, and Deputy Haim was thrown into prison and sentenced to death for conspiracy. Deputy Shmuel Yeheskel Haim was then a young man of about 35, so that he was now at the time of his execution about 40 years of age. He was a native of Kermanshah, near the frontier of Iraq, and was educated in the schools of the Alliance Israelite Universelle. During the war he worked for the British Political Office in Persia, and he came to Teheran when the British forces left Persia. He was put into Parliament by the Jews of Persia in place of Dr. Loghman, a Teheran physician, who was the first Jewish representative in the Medjlis, after the proclamation of the Constitution. One Jew among 120 Moslem Deputies, it was complained, he sat down and made no attempt to raise the Jewish question, to protest against the unlawful taxation imposed upon the Jews in the Provinces, to demand that murderers of Jews who are time and again allowed to go free should be punished, that the laws which have at various times been passed in favour of Jews should not be allowed to remain a dead letters. Finally, the Jews deposed him and put Deputy Haim into his place, and Deputy Haim started a vigorous reorganisation campaign of the Jewish Communities, school committees, relief committees and the Zionist Committee. After his arrest, a prominent Persian Jew wrote of the position of his fellow-Jews in Persia – “oppressed, persecuted, treated with contempt and ignored in their own country, the Jews of Persia have been almost forgotten by the Jewries of the world, and left to their fate. No one knows of them, or cares for them, and they themselves have lost the power and the energy to do anything for themselves. Persian Jewry has become a backwater in Jewish life”. The League of Nations Office in London discredits, on enquiry by the J.T.A., the suggestion that Deputy Haim’s arrest was brought about as a result of the League of Nations addressing an enquiry to the Persian Government on the subject of a letter sent by him to the League complaining bitterly of the treatment of the Jews in Persia. The League of Nations Office states that it has no record of the League receiving any communication from Deputy Haim, and in any case the League could not have taken any cognisance of such a communication from him, had it been received, since Persia is neither a mandated territory, nor bound by the provisions of the Minorities Treaties. If it is true that his arrest was on account of a communication which he sent to the League of Nations, it is suggested that the communication might have been intercepted by the authorities in the post, but the League of Nations could not have taken up the matter of his complaint. THE POSITION OF THE JEWS IN PERSIA Persia, once in the forefront of Jewish life, with a Jewish Queen, who figures among the heroines of Jewish history, and the happy deliverance of its Jewish population as the result of her intervention, aided by the wise Jewish statesman, Mordecai, forming the subject of world-wide annual Jewish rejoicing, is to-day a country where the condition of the Jewish population is deplorable a Jewish observer in Persia wrote recently.   [Purim] Numbering all told about 60,000 souls, the Jewish community in Persia leads a life of continual harassment and affliction, he wrote. Surrounded by a vast ocean of Mohamedanism, the Jews are looked down upon as something inferior and second rate. The standard of Jewish education is low. There are no Jewish religious schools and no Midrashim in Persia. The only Jewish religious knowledge is what is taught in the elementary schools – a little reading of the Torah and the study of Rashi for a few hours in the week, including oral translation into Persian, he continued.  [Midrashim:  are ancient Rabbinical commentaries on the Hebrew Scriptures compiled between ad 200 and 1200 & based on parables etc] [Rashi - Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, b. France 1040-1105, Biblical commentator of the Middle Ages - even today, his guidance & inspiration is sought.  Undisputed father of all commentators - more:  here] The only Jewish schools in Persia are those of the Alliance Israelite Universelle – all elementary schools, existing in Teheran, Hamadan, Shiraz, Isfahan and one or two other large cities. At first they were almost entirely supported by the Alliance, the local Jewish communities contributing a small sum annually. The Alliance fed and clothed the children and supplied them with books. The Alliance has done a great deal of important work on behalf of the Jews of Persia. Its schools have instilled a certain amount of education among them, which they would otherwise not have had. And it has prepared the way for those who wish to follow up their studies by enrolling in non-Jewish secondary schools, where they have to pay heavy fees, but afterwards, when they have graduated, they are able to take up important and highly paid positions. The Jews of Persia have lived in the country for over two thousand years. The majority of them are the descendants of those Jews who were content with conditions in Persia at the time of the restoration of the Second Temple by Ezra and stayed in the country, or of those who were taken to Persia after the destruction of the Second Temple. But for centuries their condition has been pitiable, and for centuries they have been looking forward with yearning to a return to Palestine. They are constantly subjected to persecution and ill-treatment by their Moslem fellow-citizens, and massacres have been frequent in the past. In the army the Jews are not allowed to serve in any except the lowest ranks, and in many of the higher schools only Moslems are admitted. In Meshed, there are also a large number of Marranos, Jews, who, because of the persecution have outwardly adopted Islam, he concluded. In 1929, however, a report was published in Paris, which said that the legal, political and economic condition of the Jews in Persia had greatly improved since the inauguration of the new regime. The Jews, who before the new constitutional era were treated like helots, being oppressed and maltreated, and barred from all but the lowest types of occupation, it said, are now under the new Constitution and with the advantages of the big economic progress which Persia has made since the war, able to engage in more honourable professions. Jewish merchants have erected big modern business houses in the main streets of Teheran, and act as middlemen in promoting trade with Europe. Jews are establishing printing presses. Large numbers of Jews are doctors and apothecaries. There are many Jews who are engaged in artisanship, especially in tailoring, and Government positions are also open to Jews. The wealthier Jews are leaving the ghetto of Teheran and settling in the European quarters. Jewish children attend the Persian and foreign secondary and high schools. Under the Constitution, the Persian Jew enjoys the same rights and privileges as any other Persian citizen, with the sole exception, that like every non-Moslem, he cannot become a member of the Government. Since conscription was introduced, young Jews serve in the army, which was previously closed to Jews.  [The helots - were a subjugated population group that formed the main population of Laconia and Messenia (areas ruled by Sparta).  Helot, a state-owned serf of the ancient Spartans.  Reduced to servility after the conquest of their land by the numerically fewer Dorians. / wikipedia & britannica] Rabbi Kornfeld, who was United States Minister to Persia until 1924, told the J.T.A. in New York when he returned at the end of his period of office that with regard to the economic condition of the Jews of Persia, they were neither better nor worse off than the non-Jews. The majority of the 80,000 Jews in Persia, he said, earn their livelihood by peddling, merchandise of all sorts from house to house, or working as artisans at trades such as carpet-weaving, woodwork, etc. But the country suffers from lack of industrial development, so that, the Jews as well as the non-Jews are necessarily confined to a limited number of occupations. Conversion to Mohamedanism, which was greatly in vogue in past years, had of late been decreasing steadily, and occurs to-day very rarely, Rabbi Kornfeld said, attributing this to the influence of the Alliance Israelite, which he said was doing a wonderful work for the Persian Jews. The Persian Jews, he added, are enthusiastic believers in Palestine. The work of the Zionist Federation in Persia, which had been interrupted for several years since the arrest of Deputy Haim, was resumed in January 1929, following a visit paid to the country by Mr. J. Mopelowitz, of Palestine. http://www.jta.org/1931/12/31/archive/jewish-member-of-persian-parliament-executed-after-being-kept-in-prison-for-five-years-on-charge-of ---------------------------------------- COMMENT Discovered this old article when I was surfing for information on a Czechoslovakian family of industrialists that was mentioned in yet another repository of information that caught my attention. I think this is relevant to lots of things that are happening today, in terms of immigration, humanitarianism, international law, human rights and a host of related topics.  Plus I like checking out history.  It doesn't look as though anybody has created a Wikipedia page for Dr. Shmuel Yeheskel Haim, although I think he might deserve one.  His story sounds intriguing. Was he really just a member of the Jewish community that was appointed as a Jewish representative to Persian parliament, in the hope of improving conditions; was he perhaps an agent for outside forces (for example, perhaps the British, for whom he had previously worked), or was he really involved in a plot against the Shah? Right now, I've got gazillions of windows open, and no more workspace and (or mental capacity ... lol) to keep track of additional search windows on the Dr Shmuel Yeheskel Haim story. What I've looked at so far has been really exciting. Apart from feeling like I could look at archived news forever because it's fascinating, it's a small slice of being there -- almost in time and in history, as if you've taken a time capsule back to 1931.  Find that so amazing.  It's like almost -- but not quite -- touching the past. Being an archived newspaper story,  it's probably a piece of persuasion of its day; it's a slice of history in itself; it is also history from the perspective at the time, as it looks back on history in the article; it's politics of the day, and much more. It's an interesting article also because it is about being strangers in a strange land, although there is a 2,000 year connection with that land; it's about being an out-group as well an in-group; about migration and about conditions for those that belong to a non-ethnic group; it's conditions in Persia during the time of the biblical Queen Esther (a fable, perhaps?) -- which are conditions almost echoed in Europe from perhaps the 10th Century (if not earlier), that reverberate in Persia of the 1930s and in the Europe of the 1930s. In Persia of the early 1930s, the British forces have pulled out following a war (unfamiliar with the history). A new constitution was in place.  A 1929 report published in Paris indicated that conditions had greatly improved. Previous negative conditions for Persian Jews are described as follows: -- barred from all except the lowest of occupations -- unlawfully taxed (in provinces) -- murdered (no punishment) -- an absence of Jewish schools -- not permitted to serve in anything but lowest ranks of army -- reports of ill treatment -- previous massacres -- conversions to Islam to avoid persecution -- not admitted to higher schools -- heavy fees for secondary schools However, as at 1924, Rabbi Kornfeld US Minister to Persia, made the following points: -- the economic condition of the Jews in Persia was neither better nor worse off than that of non-Jews  -- majority of 80,000 Jews in Persia sold merchandise, worked as artisans at trades  -- but there's an absence of industrial development, so occupations are limited for all The Paris report 1929 indicated: -- improved conditions -- able to engage in professions -- act as middlemen in trade with Europe -- establishing Persian printing presses -- large numbers of Jewish doctors & chemists -- many Jewish artisans, esp. tailors -- same rights as non-Jews pursuant constitution -- children attend Persian & foreign secondary & high schools -- sole sole exception (like all non-Muslim):  cannot enter govt -- contradiction about army:  now can serve where previously closed   (note: army was previously open, but at lowly rank) NOTE:  contradiction 60,000 or 80,000 Jewish community in Persia     {probably bad document scan} Difficult to make out what is going on, without knowing the historical particulars of that time and of the Jewish time in Persia generally. Jews had lived in Persia for over 2,000 years, but it's unclear if this is continuous, unbroken residence -- but I'm guessing it was, unless there were expulsions. Conditions were good enough at the time of restoration of the Second Temple for a community to remain in Persia, but the conditions may not have been so good around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple (I think that was around 70 AD ... when the Romans destroyed the temple, but it doesn't make sense being taken to Persia (I don't think Persia was under Roman control ... look up job)). It's interesting how circumstances and fortunes change over time.  There must have been ups and downs over that 2,000 years, and it's the presumably more recent (to 1930s) disadvantages that are discussed in the article. Without background knowledge, it's hard to say how bad the conditions may have been, or whether this article may have been written for political purposes of the time:  ie to further the Zionist cause. Purpose?  Perhaps:  benefactors, outreach workers, education etc; political pressure, lobbying; furtherance of Zionist cause?  Hard to say. Alliance Israelite Universelle sounds interesting.  I'd recently read a little about the Chabad movement, and it almost sounds like that same outreach movement happening out there in Persia in the early 1930s ... only that's a couple of decades ahead of the Chabad rabbi. No.  The Chabad outreach was/is religious & welfare outreach, with an emphasis on the religious I think (& getting Jews back into the fold).  The AIU was more about education in preparation for a secular world of professions, I think, although it would have the side benefit, I guess, of keeping people within the fold of the community and religion:  hence the fewer conversions as conditions improved in Persia. ---------------------------------------- Alliance Israélite Universelle (ie World Israelite Alliance) -- Paris-based international Jewish organization -- founded in 1860 -- French statesman Adolphe Crémieux -- to safeguard the human rights of Jews around the world -- for Jewish self-defence & self-sufficiency -- through education & professional development -- motto:  Jewish rabbinic injunction Kol yisrael arevim ze laze -- motto:  'All Jews bear responsibility for one another' -- ie:  כל ישראל ערבים זה לאיזה / All Israel Responsible For Each Other -- 1860s, commenced make-overs in Middle East, thru French education + culture -- emancipation of Jews from oppressive & discriminating laws, political disabilities -- campaign of education through the press / re history and life of the Jews --  1867:  France, Italy, Belgium + Netherlands made the renewal of existing treaties with SWITZERLAND conditional upon granting full civil & political rights to the Jews -- 1878:  Congress of Berlin / Treaty of Berlin, Alliance stipulates that Romania, Serbia & Bulgaria not to discriminate restrict civil rights on basis of religion -- 1870: Charles Netter, founding member Alliance Israélite Universelle -- receives tract of land from Ottoman Empire as gift -- Charles Netter opens Mikveh Israel agricultural school, first in a network of Jewish schools in Palestine -- many teachers educated at Alliance training schools in Turkey & France -- 1900:  100 AIU schools / 26k students -- AIU still kicking on in Israel *French & Ottomans seem good Jewish allies.   *Guessing that there was a successful Jewish community in France, Italy, Belgium & in Netherlands by the 1860s:  hence pressure on Switzerland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_Isra%C3%A9lite_Universelle Isaac Adolphe Crémieux (aka Isaac Moïse) -- French-Jewish lawyer and statesman -- defender of the human rights of the Jews of France -- freemason -- b. Nîmes, France -- wealthy Jewish family -- originally:  Carpentras, commune in Southern France     -- Papal states possession until French Revolution     -- commercial site used by Greek merchants in ancient times     -- known to Romans at first as Carpentoracte Meminorum     -- renamed Forum Neronis ("Forum of Nero")     -- important centre of French Judaism     -- home to the oldest synagogue in France (1367) -- after Revolution of 1830 went to Paris -- networked, even w. King Louis Philippe -- defender of Liberal ideas, law courts & press -- eloquence --> success -- VP of Central Consistory of the Jews of France -- admin agency for all French Jews /  could transact w/ govt in name of Jews -- ref:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consistory_%28Judaism%29 -- secured decrees abolishing death penalty for political offences -- "  "  office of judge immovable --  instrumental in declaring end to slavery all French Colonies -- resigned but continued to sit in assembly after conflict w/ Republicans and Socialists breaks out in France -- 1866 Crémieux traveled to Saint Petersburg / successful defence of Jews of Saratov who had been accused in a case of blood libel -- advocated repeal of the More judaico from pre-Revolutionary France -- 'More judaico' is:   Latin for "on/by the Jewish custom" -- special form of oath, anti-Semitism / certain ceremonies -- see:  Kol Nidre prayer, recited by Jews on Yom Kippur -- note:  disabilty imposed on Jew vs Christian in court -- neither Jews nor heretics to be witnesses against Christians -- secular courts did not recognise this disability -- exceptions to disability {involved history} -- 'super Rodal' (by the Torah) accepted in civil cases -- list of mocking / humiliating rituals for oath: -- Swabia (13th Century): Jew to stand on hide of a sow or a bloody lamb -- Breslau (c. 1455): Jew to stand bareheaded & pronounce name of Yahweh -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_More_Judaico -- Crémieux decree:  secured full citizenship for Jews in French-ruled Algeria -- native Jews to become French citizens -- Muslim Arabs and Berbers were excluded -- remain under the second-class ‘indigenous’ status -- set scene for deteriorating relations b/w Muslim and Jewish -- Algerian War of Independence:  majority of Algerian Jews move to France Freemasonry -- 1818:  initiated freemason at at 'Bienfait Anonyme' (translates:  something like 'Good Deed Anonymous'  ... I'd say) -- Grand Orient de France lodge in Nîmes -- 1830:  Aide-toi le Ciel taidera (ie Help Yourself & Heaven Will Help You) lodge Paris -- 1866:  joined Suprême Conseil de France -- 1868:  33rd degree and Great Commander -- masonic career, 'managed' republicans & monarchists into working together -- died in Paris in 1880 and was buried at Montparnasse cemetery -- streets named after him:  Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa [source re above:  wikipedia] more here:  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4747-cremieux-isaac-adolphe ---------------------------------------- Wow, that was unexpected and very interesting. 'Bienfait Anonyme' was translated to 'Good Deed Anonymous' with help of Google Translate, but it may not be exact. Had me wondering if present-day Anonymous are Freemasons or something. I think there's a whole world of undiscovered conspiracy theory about Freemans, but I don't really get it. Quick look: -- Islamic anti-masonic arguments:  anti-Semitism & anti-Zionism -- argue that Freemasonry promotes interests of Jews around world -- Masonic lodges existed in Iraq as early as 1917 -- Saddam Hussein:  death penalty for promoters re Zionist principles -- see:   financial scandals nearly bankrupted the Vatican Bank "Conspiracy theorists have long associated Freemasonry with the New World Order and the Illuminati, and state that Freemasonry as an organisation is either bent on world domination or already secretly in control of world politics." [wikipedia] -- 2009 by Justice Secretary Jack Straw, UK, ends policy disclosure judges + magistrates -- symbol:  post WWII forget-me-not flower -- first used by the Grand Lodge Zur Sonne, 1926 -- chosen for NSDAP annual charity drive, Winterhilfswerk source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry ---------------------------------------- Now I've gone completely off track. Getting back to the JTA article and the subject of mixed populations generally, what is experienced and described as oppression and persecution may well be just that. But it may also be, in part, a dominant group exercising discrimination in order to preserve or protect their group's political and other interests: eg by exclusion of 'outsider groups' from government posts, rank or certain professions. Egalitarianism means opening an 'in group' (or whoever is the dominant group) to potential domination by an 'out group' (minority or other group). Whereas discrimination between groups means society in which there is, I'm guessing, first-class and second-class citizens (ie full rights versus partial rights).  Need to read more about this, as I really don't know whether this was prevalent anywhere in history. Historically, I think, the Muslim conquest societies had a kind of first and second class system, where outsiders had to pay protection, and where foreign, conquered converts weren't exactly fully-fledged members of the 'tribe' they are adopted into, but I think they eventually came to be considered fully-fledged members over generations (but these were Muslim converts, rather than those that identify outside the main group). Might have to give this a rest, because I can't refocus on the article after all that surfing I've done.  Excuse any typos.  I've had it.  Got to ditch this & run. PS  Wonder what's inspirational about (Rashi) Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki?  That's a look-up job, if I remember. ---------------------------------------- Europa-Evropa ᛞ ᛞ

Czech Republic - Muslim Minority & NGOs

---------------------------------------- ARTICLE ---------------------------------------- Czech Republic  2010 census -- 19 097 Muslims in Czech Republic -- (less than 0,1% of country's population) -- 495 Muslims (in 1991) [wikipedia] ----------------------------------------  Comment While small relative to other European demographics, the Muslim demographic in the Czech Republic is nonetheless a growing demographic, which has increased enormously in the space of only 19 years.  ---------------------------------------- Czech Republic Iniustitia organisation head:  Klára Kalibová reports: -- 2014:  x10 attacks on Muslims -- 2015:  x23 attacks on Muslims -- "number of attacks on and threatening of the organizations aiding refugees or linked to foreigners in general has been rising number of attacks on and threatening of the organizations aiding refugees or linked to foreigners in general has been rising" -- offices of the Prague Multicultural Centre vandalised Arab studies scholar Milos Mendel -- "said in an Internet interview last week that almost anything can be said about Islam and its followers in the Czech Republic without risking a criminal prosecution on suspicion of defamation of a nation or group of persons and their faith as well as incitement to hatred." "If similar defamatory statements were uttered on Judaism and its followers, the perpetrators would be brought to court for promoting anti-Semitism, he added." -- "Kalibová said she considered this view speculative." http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/49950-attacks-on-muslims-rising-in-czech-republic ----------------------------------------  Comment Associate Professor Milos Mendel is also an author, and appears to be a senior research fellow at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research. That organisation would presumably be a United Arab Emirates funded non-government organisation in the Czech Republic. more:   http://www.ecssr.ac.ae/ECSSR/print/prf.jsp?lang=en&prfId=/Profile/Profiles_1938.xml ---------------------------------------- Last year's police raid on the Muslim centre in Prague: --  Muslim Communities' Headquarters filed a legal complaint over the raid by the Squad for Uncovering Organized Crime (ÚOOZ), but it at the same time asked for court proceedings to be held behind closed doors. [same] http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/49950-attacks-on-muslims-rising-in-czech-republic ---------------------------------------- In Iustitia [ie Latin 'Iniustitia' for 'Injustice'] "dealing specifically with hate violence, the group’s website says. The organization promotes the principles of democratic rule of law, including equality of all human beings in dignity and rights." [same] http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/49950-attacks-on-muslims-rising-in-czech-republic Klára Kalibová  Klára Kalibová, director and founder of In Iustitia receives Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award for Human Rights from US Embassy US ambassador to the Czech Republic, Andrew H. Schapiro In 2004, the US Embassy in Prague established the Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award Alice Garrigue Masaryk, a pre-eminent Czech-American and founder of the Czechoslovak Red Cross previous award winners include: Oldřich Kužílek, Romea organization, Czeslaw Walek, Anna Šabatová, David Ondráčka, Igor Blaževič, Lucie Sládková, Kumar Sri Vishwanathan, Jiří Kopal, and the weekly Respekt. http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/43189-in-iustitia-director-gets-human-rights-award Alice Masaryková aka   Alice Garrigue Masaryk 1879 - 1966 https://archive.is/2eIIv teacher, sociologist and politician field of applied sociology daughter of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Czechoslovak politician, sociologist & philosopher advocate of Czechoslovak independence WWI founder & first President Czechoslovakia originally wished to reform Austro-Hungarian monarchy into democratic federal state anti-monarchist "with help of allied powers he eventually succeeded" in bringing down the old order daughter of:   Charlotte Garrigue, b. Brooklyn, NY, USA Alice Garrigue Masaryk -- was one of the founders of the sociological dept Charles University in Prague in 1911 -- head of the Czechoslovak Red Cross 1919 -1938 -- American pressure on Austrian government prevented her execution 1915     -- re accusation of hiding father's political writings -- WWII:  exile in USA, politically active -- 1950 to 1954, frequently spoke on Radio Free Europe -- NOTE:  Radio Free Europe = US Government / CIA Cold War / propaganda broadcasting & revolution fomenting --  Alice Garrigue Masaryk encouraged those in Czechoslovakia to "remain steadfast in their struggle for democracy" [source:  Wikipedia] ---------------------------------------- WWI TREATY OF VERSAILLES signed:  28th June 1919 carving up of Europe, reportedly the work of international bankers German territory  >> to creation of:  CZECHOSLOVAKIA Germany - Hultschin and Opava -- gifted to Czechoslovakia Hapsburg Empire territory >>  to creation of:  CZECHOSLOVAKIA Hapsburg Empire pieces cut out {comprising Bohemia, Moravia, Opava Silesia, Duchy of Cieszyn (western part), Slovakia & Carpathian Ruthenia} -- to form Czechoslovakia [source various] ---------------------------------------- COMMENT Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, first President of the of Czechoslovakia appears to bear his wife's name: "Masaryk married Charlotte Garrigue in 1878, and took her family name as his middle name." [Wikipedia] The raid on the Muslim Centre in Prague looks all the more interesting, as they've asked for closed door court proceedings.  What are they hiding, one wonders?   From what little I've read so far, the Czech Republic is not quite as homogeneous as it may appear to visitors such as blogger, Sandor Herold, whose Malmo post caught my attention - post chronologically below and here. A quick look-up confirms that the demographics aren't strictly Czech.   While the number of Muslim immigrants is not large in comparison to, say, Sweden's or Germany's, the Czech demographic is nonetheless a rapidly growing demographic that has ballooned in a couple of decades, from under 500 in 1991 to just shy of 20,000 in 2010. Czechoslovakia is the child of the Treaty of Versailles 1919 carve-up (reportedly by international bankers), which probably explains what appears to be a considerably high degree of historic and present support for US and Israeli interests, in what is now the Czech Republic: [Former caretaker govt PM, Jan Fischer, 62] " ...  is also known for his pride in what he calls the Czech Republic’s “very friendly relations with Israel.” He noted that the Czech Republic was consistently one of Europe’s most ardent supporters of Israel in times of crisis, a tradition dating back to the 1920s, when the first Czechoslovak president, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, endorsed the creation of the Jewish state." [TimesofIsrael] "More recently, the Czech Republic was among only a handful of countries in the world to vote against upgrading the Palestinians’ status at the United Nations." [TimesofIsrael] " ...  chief presidential rival, Milos Zeman, who has declared his support for a preemptive strike against Iran."  [TimesofIsrael] [Jan Fischer was defeated by Milos Zeman, by a slight margin] Zeman's support in favour of PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST IRAN ought to (a) scare everybody and (b) perplex everybody. Why, exactly, is the Czech Republic led by someone this gung-ho about an attack on Iran, which is minding its own business in the Middle East ... and is on the Zionist-supporting US neocon hit-list of a series of countries to attack?  Very curious. Israel and the 'Great Satan' America, which appears to be dominated by those that lobby in favour of Israel's Middle Eastern regional interests, are eyeing off Iran as the next American military target and have been for some years.  But far away European Czech Republic?  What's really going on there? ---------------------------------------- Czechoslovakia previously smuggled arms to Zionist Palestine: Operation Balak -- duration 3mths -- arms smuggling op re founding of Israel 1948 -- to avoid bans -- x23 Czechoslovakian-made 'Avia S-199' fighters supplied by Czechoslovakia -- airfield near Zatec put at disposal to Haganah -- Haganah - Zionist paramilitary - 1920 to 1948 "After World War II, when the British refused to open Palestine to unlimited Jewish immigration, the Haganah turned to terrorist activities, bombing bridges, rail lines, and ships used to deport “illegal” Jewish immigrants." "After the United Nations’ decision to partition Palestine (1947), the Haganah came into the open as the defense force of the Jewish state; it clashed openly with British forces and successfully overcame the military forces of the Palestinian Arabs and their allies." http://www.britannica.com/topic/Haganah Op Balak -- airlifted tons of arms, ammunition + personnel -- USA made a show of seeking UN shut-down Cz. airbase -- Cz. airbase code Etzion (or Zebra) -- op shifted to near Yugoslav town of Nikšić -- Cz. arms contract:   200 MG 34 machine guns 4,500 P 18 rifles 50,400,000 rounds of ammunition -- Haganah intercepted (ie pirated arms shipment)  -- from Cz. to Syria, destined for Arab Liberation Army* -- post communist coup d'etat in Cz, Feb 1948 -- resulted in temporary increase military support to Zionist -- Stalin's love for Zionism cooled,  -- other communist state support, incl. Cz, also ended -- supporters of Zionism were purportedly purged by Stalin Yishuv -- ie body of Jewish residents in Palestine (& part Ottoman Syria) -- 1880s Jews in Palestine -  25,000 -- 1948  Jews in Palestine - 700,000  [source re Op Balak - wikipedia] ---------------------------------------- Palestine 1880s to 1948 is an interesting case study.   Noticed that the Britannica entry refers to 'illegal' -- in inverted commas. Wondering what the legal status was, I checked it out. Quick, random look-up indicates that the immigration to Palestine was indeed illegal. However, Louis D. Brandeis (American lawyer, progressive movement leader, challenger to the old order & associate Supreme Court justice), described in Algemeiner as an "elder statesman of American Zionism and one of the most influential Jews in America" thought otherwise: "To Brandeis, the law was not just a collection of words on paper, but had to relate meaningfully to real life. The British policy of keeping most Jews out of Palestine was “legal” only in the dry, technical sense; it was not legal in any sense related to what was happening in the real world. A law that helped doom millions of innocent Jews could not be truly legal." Source http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/12/08/a-debate-on-illegal-immigration-into-british-mandatory-palestine/# The Brandeis argument could also be used to challenge a host of detrimental laws and government policies, on the basis of on the ground or real life consequences to the European people. European governments' culturally destructive and ethnically detrimental mass third-world immigration open door policy is not consistent with maintaining ethnic, cultural and demographic integrity of the European nations and peoples. What has, in fact, been set in motion on the ground and in the real world, is the displacement and gradual genocide of European people. I'm not saying that for effect.  After looking at what is happening in Europe, the homeland of the European people, I firmly believe this is what the future holds. Iniustitia's promotion of "equality of all human beings in dignity and rights" sounds a commendable project on a stand-alone theoretical, philosophical, idealistic, or arm's length basis (such as, help in situ abroad). However, the on the ground reality is that ideological universalist organisation facilitators and watchdogs, such Iniustitia, form part of a network of like organisations that eventually tend to play a part in eroding the rights, entitlements, demographics, and character of European native populations, whose culture, character, preferences and rights ought to prevail if such nations are to retain and perpetuate their unique ethnic, cultural and social heritage in future.  Much in the same way that the demographics and culture of Jews is intended to prevail in Israel, which defines and maintains itself as Jewish state - right down to considering proposed DNA testing for those that wish to rely upon the 'law of return' to migrate to Israel. PS - Note:  US Embassy involvement in presentation of award. ---------------------------------------- Europa-Evropa ᛞ ᛞ