Author: Reena Ninan

 

I was  eight years old when we went on a class field trip to a Tampa theater to see “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

 

I knew nothing about the Holocaust. The play ended with the secret police capturing the entire family.  I suppose the playwriters thought concentration camps were too much to show young American kids.

 

 The sound of the police sirens from the play still haunt me.

 

Today at 10 a.m., sirens sounded for two minutes throughout all of Israel. It’s done every year.

 

Israelis stand and stop what they’re doing as the siren wails.

 

I stood  on my balcony overlooking the Old City and listened.  I watched the cars on the road stop as people got out and stood. Israeli flags waved proudly on many of the cars.

 

Anne Frank never lived to see the creation of the Jewish state.Today I can’t help wonder what she would tweet if she had a Twitter account–the 21st-century version of a diary.

 

Would she spend her 140 characters lamenting a new study from Tel Aviv University that suggests anti-Semitism is on the rise?

 

 Would she agree with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who  last night compared the threat from Iran to the Holocaust?

 

“If we have learned anything from the Holocaust, it is that we must not be silent or be deterred in the face of evil,” he said.

 

Or would the young girl whose diary has become the most recognized Holocaust account in the world spend her time on Twitter looking for the voices of the voiceless–Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank?

 

63 years after Anne Frank’s diary was published, Jews all over the world are finding innovatives ways to keep the memory of the victims alive.

Ends.

A high-level Arab source tells Fox News that Arab countries had no intention of raising Israel’s undisclosed nuclear program at next week’s Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

The diplomat, who is involved in the conference asked not to be named, said this was a way for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dodge President Obama and avoid committing to peace talks.

Sources close to the prime minister tell Fox that Netanyahu had “every intention” of attending, but when he realized some Arab countries planned on “bashing” Israel into signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty–which would mean Israel’s undisclosed nuclear program would be monitored–Israel decided to pull out the prime minister.

Israeli officials won’t disclose where they got the information that Arab leaders plan to raise the issue. They announced they will instead send Deputy Prime Minister and Intelligence Affairs Minister Dan Meridor to represent Israel.

The Arab source says next week’s summit is not the proper venue in which to raise such a matter.

A better venue might be in May at a United Nations conference in New York where the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will be reviewed, the source said.

It is believed that Israel has at least 200 nuclear warheads, according to independent experts.‪‪

Next week’s Nuclear Security Summit was supposed to also give Netanyahu a chance to rally other countries behind sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program.

President Obama’s 47 country nuclear security conference begins on Monday.

If I had told you yesterday Anat Kamm’s story, I might have been arrested.

 

A gag order on the case has prevented journalists from reporting it. The media ban was lifted today.                       

 

Anat Kamm is a 23-year-old journalist charged with espionage for allegedly taking more than 2,000 documents while completing her required military service—700 pages of top secret, classified documents according to the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret service.

 

She was doing her military duty in Israel’s Defense Forces Central Command. She’s been under house arrest for the past four months.

 

Here’s what no one is talking about in this case:

 

The documents are reported to have exposed that senior members of Israel’s military disobeyed Supreme Court guidelines and launched targeted assassinations against Palestinian militants. Assassinations are not illegal, but they’re not supposed to happen if it is possible to arrest the militants.

 

It’s likely Kamm passed on these documents to expose what she believed was the military’s misuse of power.

 

She’s being charged with espionage–but she didn’t pass off these documents to Hamas or Hezbollah. According to the court order, she gave them to Haaretz newspaper journalist Uri Blau, who reported on the matter. He’s now believed to be in London. If he returns to Israel he could face arrest and prosecution. Haaretz is trying to negotiate his return to Israel.

 

As for Kamm, she will continue to remain under house arrest until further notice.

 

 

 

Cisco Systems has teamed up with the Peres Center for Peace to offer unemployed women computer courses.  It’s part of an effort to give women who don’t have the money for school a chance to get educated and hopefully placed into a new job.

President Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Israeli sources confirm to Fox News.   A group of senior Israeli cabinet members–known as the “Forum of Seven”–have agreed that Israel will not make any concessions on building in Jerusalem.

Israel’s Interior Ministry announced last week plans to expand Jewish settlements by 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem. The news coincided with Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to the region, likely torpedoing any forward movement on peace talks.

The next head-to-head between the Israeli government and the White House could come at the end of September when a ten month settlement freeze will end.  It is not expected to be renewed.

Netanyahu is expected to meet U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Sunday in Jerusalem.  The prime minister will then travel to Washington to deliver a speech at the AIPAC conference.  He is expected to meet congressional members on both sides of the aisle on Tuesday.

Male hair stylists in Gaza are now under threat. A new order from Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, says any man who cuts a woman’s  hair will face legal consequences.

For women who wear the hijab, or headscarf, Islamic tradition forbids showing their hair to men who are not related. But hair stylists were never a problem for Hamas–until now.

“I am worried,” said hair salon owner Adnan Barakat. “This is my work. This is my life.”

Barakat has owned his salon in Gaza for 19 years. He says he is one of only five men who cut hair in Gaza.

Fox News has learned that a  bomb was even placed outside his salon recently by extremists.

Women who come to the salon but do not want a man to touch their hair are whisked behind a gold satin curtain.

Hamas officials refused to comment on this story.

For now Adnan Barakat says he will continue to work–unless told otherwise.

Freelance journalist Paul Martin, who was arrested and detained by Hamas 26 days ago on alleged spying charges, was released in Gaza today to British authorities, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar confirms to Fox. 

Zahar made the announcement from his home alongside officials from the British and South African consulates. Martin holds both British and South African citizenship.  

The journalist was arrested in a Gaza court on Feb. 14, where he had intended to testify on behalf of a Palestinian militant charged with collaborating with Israel.

“Martin was doing activities against our situation,” said Zahar. “He is not allowed to return to Palestinian areas that Hamas controls.  If he returns he will face real consequences.”

A barrel filled with explosives washed up on a Tel Aviv beach on Wednesday–the third such barrel discovered this week. The containers were all similar, complete with cell phone detonators sealed in waterproof wrapping. The other two were discovered earlier this week  on public beaches in the Israeli port cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod. The Israeli military detonated the bombs.

The Israeli Navy believes the explosives were meant to be detonated near its naval vessels. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will respond to what he says was an attempted attack. Today the Israeli air force pounded Hamas smuggling tunnels in the area separating the Gaza Strip and the Egytian Sinai.

Three Palestinian militant groups — Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Fatah faction’s Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades — all claimed responsibility for the attacks.  Meanwhile Israeli police continue combing the area for more explosives.