< Previous20 CUFI FALL 2021 A NIGHT TO HONOR ISRAEL’ TURNS OUT HUNDREDS OF FERVENT CHRISTIAN SUPPORTERS ews are rarely so uninhibited in their support of Israel as evangelical Christians in the United States, whose support for the Jewish state during the weekend’s Christians United for Israel Summit in Dallas, seemed to be a testament of faith. The organization’s founder, evangelical Pastor John Hagee, set the tone during his address to more than 700 donors and leaders of the organization in person in a hotel ballroom, as well as general membership who watched it livestreamed, during the first night of the summit on Sunday titled “A Night to Honor Israel.” “Israel is not a political issue,” said Hagee. “Israel is a biblical issue. If you believe the Bible, you will support the Jewish people.” He said that especially, those who do not believe the 12th Chapter of Genesis do not understand the Bible. “I shall bless those who bless you, and shall curse those who curse you, and all clans on earth will bless themselves by you,” the verse states. Hagee believes that besides blessing Israel, non-Jews are indebted to Jews and should provide them with material blessings, as the Jews have provided gentiles with spiritual blessings. “What spiritual things? the Jewish people have given us the Bible. Every word in the Bible was written by Jewish people. They [gave us] the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” he said. “They gave to us the prophets. There’s not a Baptist in the bunch; they’re all Jewish people.” And finally, he said, the Jewish people gave the world Jesus, without who they would not be there at all. Christian support, he continued, included the recognition of as an eternal, biblically mandated Jewish land. “The point is, the Jewish people today do not occupy the land as the media claims; they own the land and they own it forever,” he said. “I’ve heard theologians say, ‘Well, their reward is heavenly.’ ” “Nonsense!” Hagee said, citing the Bible verses describing the borders of Israel. “The borders of Israel are very much recorded in scripture, and they include terra firma and that’s all.” Unlike pre-pandemic conferences that the group held annually in Washington, D.C., which included live choirs singing Israeli music and thousands of energized evangelicals dancing and singing along, this year’s program was a more subdued affair, though the attendees were no less passionate about the topic at hand. Many were themselves pastors from churches and missions across the country. On the first night of the conference on July 18, the audience hung onto the words of the speakers—most of whom were Republican politicians— professing their love for Israel. But Hagee was the main draw with his spirited sermons and preacher’s delivery. “The fact is that the blessing of blessed Israel brings supernatural blessing to nations, to churches, to individuals who bless Israel and the Jewish people,” he said. “Based on the Bible, I believe that the blessings of God that have been poured out on America since Christopher Columbus discovered what is called America now, looking for a home for displaced Jewish people in the Spanish Inquisition. I also believe the day America stops blessing Israel will be the day God stops blessing the United States of America.” “Yeah!” responded some members of the audience. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who followed Hagee’s speech, began by saying that he only agreed to speak that day if he could hear Hagee speak, a sentiment many in the audience agreed with. J BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO 21 CUFI FALL 2021 Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the 2021 CUFI conference. Patrick recalled his visit to Israel and spoke about the connections between Texas—the Lone Star State—and Israel, whose flag also features a single star. He was followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who spoke about the differences between the Trump administration’s policies towards Israel as opposed to those of the Biden administration to an audience that opposed policies such as re-establishing a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem and re-entering the Iran nuclear deal. THE HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY & INSANITY Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was the final speaker of the night, whose pro-Israel positions at the world body made her a celebrity among the attendees. Even Cruz, a potential 2024 opponent of Haley’s if both decide to contest the Republican nomination and whose speech largely focused on recounting his involvement in consulting the White House on some of the Trump administration’s most pro-Israel policies, complimented her work on behalf of Israel. Patrick also said that the combination of Donald Trump as president and Haley as his ambassador did more for Israel than any previous administration in American history. In June, Haley was a guest of Hagee’s on a solidarity visit to Israel in the wake of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “I saw the moment I set foot on that hallowed ground—Israel stands strong. The Israeli people stand strong. Because you cannot destroy what God has blessed. And God has blessed Israel and her people,” said Haley. “I saw this truth as we traveled the country. The spirit of the Israeli people is as contagious as ever. They continue to live each day like it’s their last.” She also recalled how moved she was when she visited the site where a Hamas rocket killed an elderly man and spoke to a neighbor who showed her the spot where she stood to protect her grandchild during the explosion, her hair remaining in the plaster on the wall. Haley also spoke of her frustration while working in the United Nations trying to combat its anti-Israel agenda. “During my time as ambassador, I led the fight to fix that failed body. I reminded everyone that the [U.N. Human Rights] Council is stacked with human-rights abusers— Communist China, Communist Cuba, Russia, Venezuela—it’s a ‘who’s who’ of genocidal maniacs, murderous thugs and tin-pot dictators,” she said. “It’s bad enough that these dangerous regimes use the council to cover up their own crimes. It’s even worse that they spend their days going after the free and democratic country of Israel.” “To this day, the Human Rights Council has a permanent agenda item with the sole purpose of bashing Israel. It’s the height of hypocrisy and insanity, and it shows how broken the council really is.” She said that while she was contemplating leaving the council, a European ambassador told her that the United States had to remain put since that’s the last shred of credibility the council had. And that, she recounted, only encouraged her to go to the president and request to remove the United States from the council, which she called a farce. The Biden administration is planning to rejoin the council, which recently launched an investigation into Israel war crimes in its engagement with Hamas. “America is sending the worst possible signal,” said Haley. “The freest country in human history is lending legitimacy to the most oppressive regimes on the planet. And America is doing it in the name of human rights. It doesn’t get more backward than that. Here’s the truth that the Biden administration needs to hear: If you support human rights, you must oppose the U.N. Human Rights Council.” REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE JEWISH NEWS SYNDICATE Dmitriy Shapiro the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the The Jewish News Syndicate. Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addresses the 2021 CUFI conference. 22 CUFI FALL 2021 BY GARY BAUER t was shocking and demoralizing to watch this summer as 20 years of American blood spilled and treasure spent in Afghanistan evaporated in a matter of days. God bless all of the brave young men and women who answered the call of our country. They did not fail. They protected our nation for 20 years from another 9/11. Of course, America’s enemies celebrated the Taliban victory, and America’s friends around the world worried again about our resolve and commitment to keeping our promises. In the Middle East, no nation has more to lose than Israel does in the event of a collapse of American resolve in the wake of Afghanistan. Israel and the United States are the two pillars of Western Civilization. Our fates are tied together. And no nation has more to gain in the Middle East than the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran is furiously working to obtain nuclear weapons. It is partnering with and subsidizing jihadist groups all over the region. It continues to promise it will wipe Israel off of the map. Indeed, many of its leaders see the destruction of Israel as the defining reason for Iran’s existence. Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies pointed out the risks. He said, “The team managing America’s disastrous policy is in charge of managing America’s Iran and broader Middle East policies. Now that American influence and credibility have been severely undermined, American allies like Israel had better start developing their own independent Plan B for countering the threat from Iran.” He wasn’t the only expert on Middle East geopolitics to sound the alarm. Officials who have served in administrations under presidents of both parties publicly expressed alarm that countries like Iran will be emboldened to increase their aggression. Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council for Foreign Relations who served presidents Reagan, George W. Bush and Trump, said: “President Biden has damaged American credibility in the Middle East and elsewhere by his precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan… Even if one agrees that we should get out, to get out instantly and during the heart of the fighting season, to deny the Afghans air support, and to create the disaster we see in Kabul today were all avoidable. He [Biden] chose a disastrous policy. Every American ally in the Middle East will shudder at what they are seeing… and our enemies will rejoice.” All of this happened as the dangers to Israel from Iran may be reaching a point of no return. Just days before the collapse of the U.S.- supported government I A CHILLING WARNING SOUND THE ALARM23 CUFI FALL 2021 in Afghanistan, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a chilling warning. Speaking to ambassadors from countries on the U.N. Security Council in a briefing at the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, Gantz warned that Iran is only weeks away from acquiring enough material to manufacture a nuclear weapon. How did we get to this critical place? Let’s run a brief history. In 2015, Iran signed a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the JCPOA, with the United States, Russia, China, Germany, France and Great Britain. Sadly, that deal was fatally flawed. Christians United For Israel (CUFI) strenuously opposed it for that reason. Under its provisions, Iran was allowed to continue to pursue its nuclear program right up to the point of making an actual bomb. President Trump wisely pulled out of the deal in 2018. He did so not only because of the weak provisions preventing a nuclear Iran. He also withdrew because the deal completely failed to address Iran’s growing ballistic missile program, as well as its support for proxy jihadist groups threatening all our allies in the region, including most obviously, Israel. As we went to print, President Biden was negotiating with Iran again in an effort to reenter the flawed agreement. The negotiations were not showing progress, but it is a volatile situation that could easily change, particularly if we are weak. Iran is demanding more concessions, and the U.S. government’s precipitous surrender to the Taliban in Afghanistan is fueling fears that the administration may give in to Iranian demands and threats. It is important to point out that Israel is not Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s army collapsed within hours of the U.S. withdrawal. They had been trained by the United States, were well-armed but none-the-less surrendered to a smaller Taliban force. They, sadly, lacked the will and courage to fight for their own country. In contrast, Israel has one of the finest military forces in the world. The Israeli Defense Forces have defeated multiple enemies in multiple wars. The modern state of Israel was attacked within hours of its founding in 1948 and prevailed against five Arab nations. In multiple wars since, Israel has bravely and successfully defended its homeland often against overwhelming odds. In recent years, many Arab nations began to face reality and acknowledge that Israel is here to stay. A little over a year ago, prodded by the Trump Administration, multiple Arab nations in the region publicly acknowledged that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) led the way. On September 15th, 2020, at an amazing ceremony on the White House lawn attended by hundreds of people, including Pastor John Hagee and the CUFI leadership team, the Abraham Accords were signed. Bahrain joined the UAE to normalize relations with Israel. Sudan and Morocco followed later and established diplomatic relations with Israel. Of course, Iran condemned the accords, and continues to threaten Israel and the moderate Arab states that want peace. The United States must stand with Israel. It is important to remember that Israel has never asked for U.S. troops to go to war in its defense. They are perfectly able to fight their own wars. They have only asked for military assistance which they use to buy the weapons they need from U.S. defense companies. The relationship between our two countries is a partnership. Israeli intelligence has provided the U.S. with information about Iran and other adversaries that U.S. intelligence has often failed to discover on its own. It is widely believed that Israel has severely undermined the Iranian nuclear program by using covert methods. By doing so, they have helped the U.S., as well as themselves, and have so far prevented the threat of an unthinkable nuclear war. All the Israeli government has asked of the Biden Administration is to keep economic sanctions on Iran and to provide Israel with the tools it needs to defend itself. No one in the U.S. government should be threatening Israel or pressuring it to make concessions when the Jewish state is facing an existential threat from Iran. CUFI stands proudly in defense of the U.S.-Israel alliance. We are working tirelessly in Washington, D.C., to rally bi-partisan support for the only free nation in the Middle East – Israel. Gary Bauer is the Washington Director Emeritus of the CUFI Action Fund.24 CUFI FALL 2021 I R A N I A N O P P O S IT I O N A C T I V I S T S Whether via social-media messages or by demonstrating alongside pro- Israel supporters in the United States and Canada, non-Jewish Iranians have expressed support for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians. DEFEND ISRAEL IN LATEST ROUND OF CONFLICT WITH HAMAS IN GAZA fter more than a week since Hamas terrorists began launching rockets at Israeli cities, a growing number of non-Jewish Iranian activists, journalists and individuals in Iran and outside the country have been vocal in their support for the people of Israel. Whether via social-media messages or by demonstrating alongside pro-Israel supporters in the United States and Canada, non-Jewish Iranians have also expressed support for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians. “I’m not saying Israel is a perfect country, but I support Israel because it’s the only country in the Middle East that provides equal rights and opportunities to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike,” said Ahmad Batebi, an Iranian non-Jewish activist and journalist. “As Iranians, our hearts break whenever we see the death of an innocent Palestinian or Israeli child. But we know that Israel does not intentionally seek to harm these children and only a sick terrorist group like Hamas uses them as human shields.” Batebi was one of thousands of Iranian Americans worldwide who posted messages of support for Israel on social-media outlets such as Twitter using the hashtag “I Stand With Israel” or “Hamas Terrorists.” Despite the Iranian regime’s heavy filtering of Twitter and other Western social-media sites, many inside Iran sent their own messages supporting Israelis. One particular account identified as “Mamadou Archives” and shown to be based in Iran hosted a live secession on May 13 with more than 25,000 participants—primarily Iranians— that sent out nearly 100,000 tweets during the course of seven hours. Batebi and many other anti-regime activists said they were frustrated with the Iranian nation’s wealth being handed over to Palestinian terrorists in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East for decades while average people in Iran have suffered economically. “For 40 years, the Palestinians have taken Iranian money but never thanked us; they still express hate for Iranians and even supported Saddam [Hussein] during the Iran-Iraq war [in the 1980s]!” said Batebi who lives in Washington, D.C. “Enough is enough! The money that could be used to put food in the mouths of Iran’s children shouldn’t be given to these Palestinian murderers and terrorists.” One reoccurring message from anti- regime activists in social media was their extreme anger at the Iranian regime for spending the county’s wealth on funding Hamas rockets instead of on coronavirus vaccines. Iran is currently among the nations of the world with the highest rates of deaths from the virus. “Are you seeing the Iranian people’s vaccine money exploding over the skies of Tel Aviv tonight?” asked one Iranian opposition activist in a Persian-language tweet. At the same time, various Iranian opposition activists within Iran also boldly sent out video messages in support of Israel while hiding their faces. Any public displays of support for Israel in Iran are punishable by long prison terms or even execution, according to the regime’s laws. Yet those who follow Iranian internal affairs said the current situation is reaching a boiling point for many who are willing to take the risks and defy the regime’s authorities by speaking out. A BY KARMEL MELAMED 25 CUFI FALL 2021 “THEY DO NOT REPRESENT US BY ANY STRETCH OF IMAGINATION” “The Iranian people have long chanted in their protests, ‘Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon. My life is only for Iran!’ and ‘Syria and Palestine are the cause of our problems!’ because the Islamic Republic has spent untold billions to support terrorist groups like Hamas,” said Cameron Khansarinia, policy director of the “National Union for Democracy in Iran,” an anti-regime nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C. Mariam Memarsadeghi, a non- Jewish Iranian opposition activist in Mayland, said the vast majority of Iranians in Iran do not believe the Iranian regime’s 42-year, anti- Israel propaganda because they see Israel as a beacon of freedom, peace and economic opportunities in the region they desire for themselves. “The affinity the regime in Iran has expressed for the people of Gaza and Lebanon is seen by many people in Iran as a big lie that the regime uses to maintain their stranglehold on the population in Iran and the people see right through it,” she said. Dr. Reza Behrouz, a non-Jewish Iranian activist and neurologist in San Antonio, said many Iranian Americans have been especially vocal about supporting the Jewish state right now because a few Iranian organizations purporting to represent all Iranians in the United States have in recent years been spewing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic messages they strongly oppose. “These organizations and people are very well known to the larger Iranian-American community, and there are justifiable speculations that they work on behalf of the Islamic regime [in Iran],” said Behrouz. “We have nothing to do with them, and they do not represent us by any stretch of the imagination.” Indeed, one organization—the National Iranian American Council (NIAC)—has been accused of ties with the Iranian regime, including cooperation between the organization’s founder Trita Parsi and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Last year, three Republican senators—Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Braun of Indiana— said that the NIAC violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by “amplifying regime propaganda in the U.S.” The NIAC signed on to a letter urging the Biden administration to press Israel to halt “the illegal and forced displacement of Palestinian residents from Sheikh Jarrah [in eastern Jerusalem], which precipitated the dangerous escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.” “We condemn without reservation the violence from Israel’s armed forces, armed Palestinian groups like Hamas, and mob attacks that have targeted civilians along sectarian lines,” said NIAC. ‘ISRAEL IS THE GOOD WE DO NOT HAVE IN THE MIDDLE EAST’ Other non-Jewish Iranian activists outside of Iran said they supported Israel because of its culture of promoting tolerance and the long- standing friendships they have enjoyed with Jews, which were first developed by the ancient Persian king Cyrus the Great. “The one thing I know about Iranians is their love for peace and co-existence—the Islamic regime’s revolutionary destructive slogans or actions are not generally in the Iranian blood,” said Mina Bai, a non-Jewish Iranian journalist based in Norway. Dr. Danial Jafari, president of the “Iranian-Americans for Liberty,” a nonprofit advocacy group opposed to the Iranian regime and based in Washington, D.C., said many Iranians have sympathy for Israelis facing Hamas rockets because they, too, experienced the horrors of Iraqi missiles attacks on Iranian cities during the Iran-Iraq War from Sept. 22, 1980 to Aug. 20, 1988. “Iranians understand that no government should tolerate an act of war and must do everything in their power to protect its citizens,” said Jafari, a non-Jewish physician living in New York. “This is not a hard decision to make for those of us who woke up in the dark of the night rushing down the stairs, grabbing our loved ones by an arm to seek shelter.” At the same time, other non-Jewish Iranian activists outside of Iran said they joined Jewish pro-Israel groups in recent public demonstrations in support of Israel. One such activist was Salman Sima, an Iranian Muslim anti-regime activist in Canada. Sima posted a message on Twitter about being attacked along with a Jewish man by pro-Palestinian militants on May 16 during a pro- Israel rally in Toronto. Despite the growing rate of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel demonstrations in Canada, Sima said he will still continue to voice support for Israel. “Israel alone is all the good we do not have in the Middle East today,” he said. “In short, Israel is at the forefront of the fight against Islamism and radicalism, so we must therefore stand with the Israelis.” For their part, Iranian-Jewish activists in Southern California said they were not surprised by the growing number of Iranians in Iran and elsewhere in the world voicing support for Israel. Said George Haroonian, an Iranian- Jewish activist based in Los Angeles: “Ordinary Iranians see much more of a benefit in friendship and support with Israel and Israeli people as natural allies of Iranian people than supporting an Islamic terrorist organization that is indiscriminately attacking civilians.” REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FORM THE JEWISH NEWS SYNDICATE KARMEL MELAMED is a journalist and commentator covering Iran and Middle East affairs for various local, national and international publications. HOW BIDEN SHOULD HANDLE ISRAEL, HAMAS & IRAN BY PASTOR JOHN HAGEE WIKIMEDIA COMMONS27 CUFI FALL 2021 So the great consternation of Palestinian human rights activists and the innocent Palestinian people living under Hamas rule in Gaza, terrorists, Europeans and the media are spreading a false narrative about the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. Bassam Eid, a well- respected Palestinian activist living in Jerusalem, said as much last week in a guest column that ran in Israeli media. It’s about influence, Eid says, and Hamas started a war with Israel “to seize the narrative and increase its own influence and control over Palestinians in Jerusalem.” Hamas always wants to increase its influence and views terror as the means to that end. So, what made Hamas believe it could get away with raining missiles down on Israeli civilians? Hamas would have you believe it was a court decision, a police action or anything that Israel has control over. And that would be a lie. The violent confrontations between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem that immediately preceded Hamas rocket attacks were just a convenient foil—precisely how the terrorist playbook has read for more than two decades. Just as former U.S. Senator George Mitchell (D-ME) found in his role as lead investigator for the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in 2000 did not cause the Second Intifada (as the terrorists’ narrative suggested), so too will other investigators find that litigation over property in Sheikh Jarrah did not cause this latest spasm of rocket fire. Rather, Hamas remains as committed as ever to killing Jews. The proximate cause for its aiming to do so now was an astounding display of weakness by the United States. The facts bear this out. Just five weeks after the Biden administration reopened negotiations with Iran—the patron of Hamas—and announced it would be restoring U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority, Hamas attacked. What has happened as a result of the administration’s weak posture stands in stark contrast to the results of the previous administration’s foreign policy, which united Arabs and Jews behind greater pressure on Iran, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and drastically increased the number of Arab states maintaining normalized relations with Israel. In the Middle East, weakness begets conflict and strength begets stability. The Biden administration’s resistance to this simple reality is now playing out in Gaza. But it’s not too late to change course—and the White House is demonstrating that it understands Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorist predations. It was wise to block U.N. Security Council attempts to effectively allow Hamas to get away with attacking Israel by imposing a ceasefire. So, too, was the decision to resupply armaments to Israel. President Biden is doing what is necessary to ensure Israel has the time and capabilities it needs to effectively respond to the terrorist threat. Now, however, the Biden administration must learn from what has taken place in recent weeks by fundamentally changing its perspective on engagement with Iran and the Palestinian leadership. The Biden administration should immediately make clear to Tehran that support for terrorism is central to the discussions in Vienna. Iran cannot be allowed to blackmail the world into receiving sanctions relief, only to funnel more money to Hezbollah and Hamas. In addition, the White House should make clear to the Palestinian leadership that further U.S. aid will be tied directly to democratic reforms, including enabling dissent to flourish inside all Palestinian controlled-territories— Gaza included. Finally, the U.S. should return to emphasizing efforts to help Arab nations normalize relations with Israel. This is not just good for Israel or the Arab world—it also solidifies a coalition of stability-oriented countries across the region that can serve as a further bulwark against Tehran’s tyrants. Such an approach will no doubt be met with vitriol from anti-Israel elements around the world. Armchair revolutionaries, closeted (and open) anti-Semites and the foreign policy intelligentsia all believe weakening Israel is the answer to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Recent history has shown just how backwards that thinking truly is. Since its founding, Israel has shown the risks it is willing to take for peace. But prior to the Abraham Accords, every peace agreement that Israel’s adversaries signed came after Israeli military victories. The stronger Israel is, the more likely her adversaries will be to finally negotiate in good faith. And as the recent normalization agreements between Israel and several Islamic nations make clear, strong support of Israel and U.S. diplomatic engagement in the Middle East are the key ingredients for regional peace and stability. Peace through strength has worked for decades—and as the Bible says, there is “nothing new under the sun.” THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN NEWSWEEK Pastor John Hagee is the founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel. T28 CUFI FALL 2021 or ten years, the important site allowed free entry for visitors touring the small but extremely moving museum. Photographs and exhibits portray the vibrant pre-war Jewish community and then the atrocities perpetrated during WWII. A house remains as an example of the squalid living conditions. A cattle truck in the centre of the cobbled courtyard provides an evocative memory of the final journeys of a community that was virtually wiped out. During the years of the Nazi occupation, over 70,000 Jews in Latvia were murdered. Every name of every victim is etched on a large wall of remembrance together with the names of more than 25,000 Jewish victims transported to the ghetto from elsewhere. To compound the tragedy, the Nazis were infamously aided by Latvian collaborators. The Jews were completely isolated. The persecution of Jews at the hands of the Nazis began immediately after the German army entered Riga on 1 July 1941 after driving out the Soviet Red Army. Many of the non-Jewish population of Riga welcomed the Nazis, but for Jews it was disastrous. Within a just few months, the Jewish community of Riga – approximately 10 per cent of the city’s population– were murdered. On 2 July, the day after the German invasion, Latvian armed auxiliary units, instigated by the Germans, went about the city dragging Jews out of their homes and arresting them. They assaulted a number of Jews, some so severely they died, and others were shot dead. The same morning, all the telephones of Jewish homes were disconnected. These anti-Jewish riots, known as pogroms, included the burning of Riga’s synagogues where many Jews had been rounded up and forced into. The Great Choral Synagogue was set alight on 4 July, with 20 Jews locked in the basement. The holy scrolls were dragged out of the synagogues and burned. This barbarism was fuelled by an anti-Semitic propaganda campaign. A Riga newspaper, Tèvija (‘Fatherland’), published an editorial on 11 July entitled The Jews—Source of Our Destruction. Jews were arrested and taken to police headquarters, or the ‘prefecture’. There, young women were stripped naked and confined to cellars where they were raped sometimes in front of their husbands and children. Old and sick people were brought in naked. Traditionally-attired Jews, especially those with beards, were targeted for humiliations such as dragging them around by their beards and forced shaving. Others were forced at gunpoint to put on the talith (prayer shawl) and tefilin then dance and sing Soviet songs to smear them as ‘communists’. F Situated a short walk from the centre of Latvia’s capital, located by the Daugava river, the Riga Ghetto Museum and Latvian Holocaust Museum is one of the last few preserved examples of life in the Jewish ghetto during the Nazi occupation. But 2020 was a challenging year for the museum. And its survival remains uncertain. VISITING THE RIGA GHETTO MUSEUM IN LATVIA An elderly Jewish woman wears the star in the Riga ghetto. Yad Vashem Photo Archives US Holocaust Museum BY-SA 3.0 BY ALASTAIR KIRK29 CUFI FALL 2021 By August 1941 the Germans were firmly established as occupiers and introduced measures of apartheid. Jews were banned from public places, including city facilities, parks, and swimming pools. A yellow star was required to be worn on their clothing, with violation punishable by death. Jews were also allotted only one-half of the food ration of a non-Jew. A second yellow star was also issued to prohibit the Jewish wearer from walking on the pavement, forcing them to walk in the road instead. This was worn on the middle of the back so that they could be distinguishable in a crowded street. Within the first three months of German occupation, more than 6,000 Jews were killed in the city and on 25 October the Riga Ghetto was created. Around 30,000 Jews were relocated to a small, 16-block area separated from the rest of the world by barbed wire fences and armed guards. But their stay in the ghetto was short. Around 26,000 were massacred on 30 November and 8 December 1941 in the forest of Rumbula outside Riga. New space was created for 25,000 Jews from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, 20,000 of whom were later massacred in a similar manner in the forest. After the Riga Ghetto was shut in 1943, the remaining Jews were transferred to concentration camps in Latvia. One of the thousands of victims was Simon Dubnow, regarded as one of the greatest Jewish historians. He had originally fled Berlin to Riga for his safety. On 8 December 1941, aged 81, Dubnow was to be one of the many in the Riga ghetto to be transported to the nearby Rumbula forest, but being too weak and frail he was shot dead in the street. Surviving witnesses have said that just before his death, the historian turned to other Jews surrounding him and implored them saying, “If you survive, never forget what is happening here, give evidence, write and rewrite, keep alive each word and each gesture, each cry and each tear!” As the Red Army closed in on retaking Riga, the Germans hurriedly attempted to exhume the mass burial sites in the forest to burn victims’ remains to cover up their heinous crimes. But we can be certain that no vain attempt can ever cover-up the crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators. Their monstrous actions are recorded for eternity. Our responsibility is to ensure that the memory of their victims and lessons of their plight are never forgotten. Since gaining independence in 1991, public and official apologies have been made in Latvia and a number of museums and cultural centres have opened and monuments have been erected. But the Riga Ghetto Museum, one of the Latvian capital’s three Holocaust museums, faced possible closure in 2020 after the city’s government announced it would begin charging it about $12,000 in rent per month. The museum’s previous 10-year lease, which expired this year, did not charge any rent. The city also reclaimed part of the land that the museum had been originally given, according to the head of the Shamir Association that runs the museum. Thankfully, in October 2020 the government did a u-turn in its decision. Rabbi Dr. Menachem Barkahan told Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), “The Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum has made and continues to make a great contribution to educating the public about the fate of Latvian Jews, the Holocaust and the invaluable importance of an active public stance. The relocation of the museum would become an unbearable burden for us; in fact, it will mean the destruction of everything we have built so far.” JNS reported the Shamir Association believes that in recent years the museum has been subjected to continuing deliberate attacks from private businesses for the purpose of territory seizing; there have been lawsuits, complaints to various authorities, as well as the unauthorized seizure of territory. “The Holocaust was not only caused by those who killed; it happened with the tacit consent of the indifferent majority,” Rabbi Barkahan continued. “I would like to hope that nowadays, nothing like that is possible. In this sense, the decision on the fate of the museum is also symbolic, as it shows the values of the authorities and society. We are asking for the support of the entire community because the future of the museum depends on the active participation of each and every one of us.” Jews in the Latvian capital, Riga, were forced to walk on the road. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-N1212-319 / Donath, Herbert / CC-BY-SA 3.0 Alastair Kirk is the Development Manager for Christians United for Israel UK.Next >