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Holocaust ‘book box’ at German deportation memorial destroyed in apparent antisemitic arson
BERLIN (JTA) – German police are investigating a fire that destroyed a public book box dedicated to Holocaust history near a memorial at the site from which tens of thousands of Jews were deported to concentration camps and death camps in 1941 and 1942.
According to police, the fire at the “Bucherboxx” near the Track 17 memorial at the Berlin Grunewald train station was discovered in the early morning hours of Saturday. Witnesses told German news media they saw a man placing a box inside the former telephone booth that served as the “street library,” and setting it on fire.
An antisemitic note was found on the site, Helmuth Pohren-Hartmann of the Stumbling Block memorial initiative in Berlin-Friedenau told the German news agency dpa. Police have not revealed the content of the alleged note.
The book box, from which any passerby could borrow reading material related to the Holocaust, had been dedicated in 2012. Sustainability activist Konrad Kutt came up with the idea of using decommissioned telephone booths as mini-libraries some 13 years ago, according to the Bucherboxx website. The project has won several awards.
The books in the Track 17 library were almost all destroyed, according to news reports. Plans are under way to replace them.
The Track 17 memorial was dedicated in 1998. Designed by architects Nikolaus Hirsch, Wolfgang Lorch, and Andrea Wandel, it is composed of 186 cast steel plaques arranged in chronological order and set in the ballast next to the platform edge. Each plaque states the date of a transport, the number of deportees, the point of departure in Berlin and the destination.
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The post Holocaust ‘book box’ at German deportation memorial destroyed in apparent antisemitic arson appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”