March of the Living

We appreciate the CJN sharing with us the perspective of Holocaust survivor Eli Pfefferkorn after meeting with the students who interviewed him in advance of the March of the Living (“New methods needed to keep memory of Shoah alive,” Feb. 26). 

Pfefferkorn takes to task the March of the Living for the sample questions the students came prepared with. We would like to point out that these young people are just at the start of their March of the Living experience, which entails about four months of pre-trip education. Tackling a subject as enormous and as complex as the Holocaust would be a daunting task for anyone of any age, especially for those so young.  

What Pfefferkorn was trying to convey to the students, the utter cruelty and arbitrary nature of life in the camps, is not a concept all students will grasp right away in a one-time interview, even with someone as eloquent and as insightful as Pfefferkorn.

But after their experience on the March, after spending considerable time in the presence of Holocaust survivors, in Canada, Poland and Israel, we hope the students will have gained the kind of in- depth understanding that Pfefferkorn tried to convey to the students in his initial meeting. 

Undoubtedly, some will. Others, even after this experience may still struggle to understand the complete reality of the Holocaust in its totality. But all of them will remember the stories of the Holocaust survivors and, pledge, each in their own way, to keep alive the memory of their experiences, along with the memory of their lost loved ones

Eli Rubenstein
National Director
March of the Living Canada, Toronto

PLO unveiled in court

The jury in federal court in Manhattan has finally ripped the veil covering the face of evil that is the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

No more can the PA claim anything was spontaneous – not the first and second intifadahs, not the attacks by rock-throwing youths who wounded and killed Israeli motorists, not the murderers who plowed vehicles into crowds at tram stops, not the thugs who stabbed unsuspecting civilians in synagogues and in the streets, and certainly not the terrorists who crept into homes at night to slaughter men, women and children.

The PA, the so-called charities that fund them and the countries and banks that facilitate their activities are all guilty of terrorism and deserve the scorn and sanction of the civilized world.

Never again can any Islamists hide behind the facade that terror attacks were unplanned and in response to a cartoon, video or some other perceived offence. Terror attacks in New York, Madrid, London, Benghazi, Paris and Ottawa did not just happen. They were planned. No individual or group would dare take action without the express urging and approval of their tribal rulers. This trial has bared the truth. 

Len Bennett
Montreal

Iran’s nuclear ambitions 

In a letter “Iran is not the threat,” (Feb. 12) the letter writer indicates that a previous letter had wrongly assumed that Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Why would Iran, which is a major oil exporter, require 10,000 centrifuges at great cost unless it wished to have nuclear weapons capability?

Iranian officials have not stated that they wish to have a nuclear weapons stockpile, for obvious reasons, but all of the evidence before us is clear – there is no reason for the centrifuges except to make nuclear weapons. And the value to Iran, which has clear ambitions to be the power in that part of the world, is clear – the leverage associated with having nuclear weapons would provide material support for that objective. 

Certainly, the messaging coming out of Iran’s Sunni opponents in the Middle East is clear, and once Iran acquires the bomb, we will see Saudi Arabia and perhaps Egypt moving in the same direction. They know what Iran is up to, even if the president of the United States does not. 

This is clear: Iran is the world’s greatest state sponsor of terror. And given Iran’s long-range missiles and its proven ability to wreak havoc around the globe, that would not be something that would make this world a better or a safer place. 

Michael Diamond
Toronto