Norway to Israel: Dialogue is no, Jonas

AUF leader Eskil Pedersen believes it is time for stronger measures against Israel.

DAGBALDET - July 20, 2011

Ed. Note: The following is a literal translation using Google Translate from Norwegian to English from the website of Dagbaldet posted the day before the Norway terror attacks.

This week is about a thousand members of Labour Youth (AUF) collected Utøya to discuss politics.  On Thursday comes Jonas Gahr Store to Utøya to debate the Middle East.

The foreign minister believes in dialogue in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, but the leader of AUF Eskil Pedersen has a clear message to the Minister.

- We like to talk, but as we have seen so has Israel not been interested, and have not listened to any of the clashes that have been made. The peace process is the wrong way, and though the whole world screaming for Israel to comply, they do not. We in Labour Youth will have a unilateral economic embargo of Israel from the Norwegian side, says Pedersen.

Extreme

AUF leader says dialogue can no longer have anything to offer in the face of Israel, and believes it is high time that the new measures are adopted. Pedersen believes that the Israeli authorities have now moved so far right that it is impossible to have any conversations with them.

 - Norway has little opportunity to influence in any way, and we are no closer to any peace in the conflict. Rather the contrary. Israel has moved very far to the right, which means that it will get the dialogue partners. I would dare say that even foreign politicians from the Progress Party will struggle to find conversation partners in Israel. There is no call web anymore. I mean is that we should talk to everyone, but we can not sacrifice our principles and our policies, just to talk, he said.

Rent

AUF has long been an international boycott of Israel, but the decision at the last congress, demanding that Norway imposes a unilateral economic embargo of the country, was sharper than before.

- I acknowledge that this is a drastic measure, but I think it gives a clear indication that we are tired of Israel's behavior. Large parts of the world react all the time, but Israel will not listen. I think the decision is a sign that we in the AUF is tired of Israel, quite simply, he says.

http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/07/20/nyheter/politikk/innenriks/auf/17367745/

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Jewish bodies found in medieval well in Norwich

BBC NEWS [PSB operated by BBC Trust] - June 22, 2011

The remains of 17 bodies found at the bottom of a medieval well in England could have been victims of persecution, new evidence has suggested.

The most likely explanation is that those down the well were Jewish and were probably murdered or forced to commit suicide, according to scientists who used a combination of DNA analysis, carbon dating and bone chemical studies in their investigation.

The skeletons date back to the 12th or 13th Centuries at a time when Jewish people were facing persecution throughout Europe.

They were discovered in 2004 during an excavation of a site in the centre of Norwich, ahead of construction of the Chapelfield Shopping Centre. The remains were put into storage and have only recently been the subject of investigation.

Seven skeletons were successfully tested and five of them had a DNA sequence suggesting they were likely to be members of a single Jewish family.

DNA expert Dr Ian Barnes, who carried out the tests, said: "This is a really unusual situation for us. This is a unique set of data that we have been able to get for these individuals.

"I am not aware that this has been done before - that we have been able to pin them down to this level of specificity of the ethnic group that they seem to come from."

'Ethnic cleansing'

The team has been led by forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black, of the University of Dundee's Centre for Anthropology and Human Identification.

Professor Black, who went to the Balkans following the Kosovo war - where her job was to piece together the bodies of massacred Kosovan Albanians - said this discovery had changed the direction of the whole investigation.

Regarding the nature of the discovery, Professor Black said: "We are possibly talking about persecution. We are possibly talking about ethnic cleansing and this all brings to mind the scenario that we dealt with during the Balkan War crimes."

Eleven of the 17 skeletons were those of children aged between two and 15. The remaining six were adult men and women.

"In terms of the brutality of the ethnic cleansing, it was thought women and children quite frankly weren't worth wasting the bullets on," added Professor Black.

"Pregnant women were bayoneted because that way you got rid of a woman because that wasn't important and you got rid of the next generation because you didn't want them to survive. So I know what sort of pattern I am looking for."

Cushioned fall

Pictures taken at the time of excavation suggested the bodies were thrown down the well together, head first.

A close examination of the adult bones showed fractures caused by the impact of hitting the bottom of the well. But the same damage was not seen on the children's bones, suggesting they were thrown in after the adults who cushioned the fall of their bodies.

The team had earlier considered the possibility of death by disease but the bone examination also showed no evidence of diseases such as leprosy or tuberculosis.

Giles Emery, the archaeologist who led the original excavation, said at first he thought it might have been a plague burial, but carbon dating had shown that to be impossible as the plague came much later.

And historians pointed out that even during times of plague when mass graves were used, bodies were buried in an ordered way with respect and religious rites.

Norwich had been home to a thriving Jewish community since 1135 and many lived near the well site. But there are records of persecution of Jews in medieval England including in Norwich (see fact box).

Sophie Cabot, an archaeologist and expert on Norwich's Jewish history, said the Jewish people had been invited to England by the King to lend money because at the time, the Christian interpretation of the bible did not allow Christians to lend money and charge interest. It was regarded as a sin.

So cash finance for big projects came from the Jewish community and some became very wealthy - which in turn, caused friction.

"There is a resentment of the fact that Jews are making money... and they are doing it in a way that doesn't involve physical labour, things that are necessarily recognised as work... like people feel about bankers now," said Ms Cabot.

The findings of the investigation represented a sad day for Norwich.

Ms Cabot added: "It changes the story of what we know about the community. We don't know everything about the community but what we do know is changed by this."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13855238

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner

Secret behind Norwich skeletons revealed

GREAT YARMOUTH MERCURY, Great Yarmouth, England, UK [Archant] - By John Owens - June 22, 2011

They lay hidden for centuries, a gruesome 13th-century secret left untouched until chanced upon by workmen digging the foundations for a new Norwich consumer haven.

But this week, the mystery behind 17 skeletons discovered during excavations for the Chapelfield shopping centre in 2004 will be unravelled before an audience of millions - and with it, an unsettling tale of persecution.

Combining detective skills and 21st- century forensics, a team of experts pieced together evidence for a BBC2 History Cold Case programme to be broadcast on Thursday.

It will reveal that the bodies, found down a well, are believed to have been murdered or committed suicide.

The reason for those people’s deaths? They were Jewish.

Giles Emery was working for the Norfolk Archaeological Unit when the “one-off” remains were found and has followed their fate ever since.

“What happened is a tragedy, but now we can see these people as human beings again and they are able to tell their story,” said Mr Emery, who now runs Norvic Archaeology.

He and fellow researchers knew they were on to something special when the bones were found accidentally by a builder about five metres below ground. Of the skeletons, 11 were small children.

However, their funding and studies could only take them so far, and, when the BBC first contacted them two years ago, it proved an opportunity not to be missed.

Having visited the site earlier this year, the real breakthrough came through when analysis of some of the bones revealed they had DNA consistent with Jewish communities and belonged to family members who had lived in the area for many years.

It proved a key finding. The group had lived in a time rife with anti-Semitism as Europe became more Christian. Norwich was known too to have had a thriving Jewish community since 1135: it had lived just a few hundred yards from the well.

Miri Rubin is a professor and historian at Queen Mary, University of London and was part of the most recent studies. She said: “There was a real deepening of this sense of Jewish evil, so it is a picture of worsening and, ultimately, the age of expulsions.”

With natural death ruled out, and neither the Christian nor Jewish communities ever having been found to bury members of their communities in this way, the team was left with only the bleakest of conclusions.

Mr Emery was one of those present when the findings were first presented to a recent gathering of historians in Norwich Guildhall. He said: “It was astounding when we found out.

“Everyone recognised that it was quite an unusual thing to be able to find out something we couldn’t have done a few years ago, and now we’re just trying to spread awareness of it.” ...

john.owens@archant.co.uk

http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/secret_behind_norwich_skeletons_revealed_1_929821

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.