Israeli Embassy In Dublin Speaks About HETI

The following Press Release from the Israeli Embassy in Dublin, Ireland was sent to me concerning the ongoing controversy over the Holocaust Education Trust of Ireland. You may remember that HETI had ordered it’s Master of Ceremonies at the next Holocaust Remembrance day event not to mention Israel or the Jewish State.

Embassy of Israel, Dublin

In recent weeks, reports circulated in Dublin and elsewhere that, at the Holocaust Memorial Day event to be held in Dublin on Sunday, 25 January 2015, public mention of Israel or the Jewish state by the participants would be prohibited.

As a result of these reports, the Embassy of Israel in Dublin held a meeting on Friday, 19 December, with the heads of the Holocaust Education Trust of Ireland (HETI).

At this meeting, the whole issue was discussed and clarified.  For his part, the ambassador, Mr. Boaz Modai, emphasized the indelible links between the State of Israel and the Shoah (Holocaust).

The outcome of this meeting was an understanding that, at future events marking Holocaust Memorial Day, the ambassador of Israel or his representative will deliver an address in which the clear connection between the Shoah of the Jews during World War Two and the State of Israel will be stated.

The Embassy welcomes this outcome and believes that this understanding satisfactorily resolves the issue.

We wish continued success to HETI in its valuable work of propagating awareness and knowledge of the Shoah amongst Irish people, in particular the younger generation.

Obviously the inclusion of the Embassy of Israel and the Israeli Ambassador in the event at this and all future events is an obvious recognition of the importance of the Jewish State of Israel.

However once again there is still no mention that the original order by Peter Cassells and the board of HETI to Yanky Fachler not to mention Israel in his (now terminated) capacity as MC. In fact, new information emerged as to exactly what prompted HETI to issue the original letters to Yanky Fachler. CIF Watch coverd this a few days ago and it stems from an argument over what was said in the ceremony this year (2014):

It seems that (according to our sources) objections were raised over Fachler saying “And we owe it to the victims, to the survivors, and to ourselves, to prevent the memory of the Holocaust being cynically distorted and hijacked by a vicious campaign that denies the Jewish people and the Jewish state – our past and our future.”

Fachler gave in and omitted the phrase “and the Jewish State” because he did not want to cause trouble. Hence the letter – signed by HETI Chair Peter Cassells – dated October 7th to Fachler, saying that in future, MCs would not be allowed to mention ‘Israel’ or ‘the Jewish State’.

Even the UK’s Board of Deputies (an organisation I’ve frequently had issues with) commented:

“Israel was the aspiration of so many of the victims of the Holocaust and provided refuge for survivors.  Had it existed earlier it could have been the refuge of so many more.”

2 thoughts on “Israeli Embassy In Dublin Speaks About HETI”

  1. Considering the fact that Ireland maintained diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany to the very end and that President Eamon de Valera signed a condolence book at the German Embassy in Dublin in April,1945 when Hitler’s death was announced – why even bother holding a Holocaust Memorial Day? Ireland also treated Irishmen who went off to fight the Nazis in the British Army as pariahs.

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