Elie Wiesel Passed Away!

Elie Wiesel passed away!

A man who survived the horrific genocide of the Holocaust to become an advocate for human rights passed away today.

Elie Wiesel was a Holocaust survivor and author who fought for peace, human rights and simple human decency, has died at the age of 87, a spokesman for Israel's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, said Saturday.

Wiesel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, recounted his family being sent to the Nazi concentration camps in his first book, "Night," which was published in 1955.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded Wiesel as a "master of words."

"(He) gave expression through his exceptional personality, and fascinating books about the victory of the human spirit over cruelty and evil. In the darkness of the Holocaust in which our brothers and sisters -- 6 million -- were murdered, Elie Wiesel was a ray of light and greatness of humanity who believed in the good in man," Netanyahu said.

"I was privileged to know Elie and to learn so much from him."

Born in Romania, Wiesel was 15 when he was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland with his family in 1944.

The future writer was later moved and ultimately freed from the Buchenwald camp in 1945. Of his relatives, only two of his sisters survived.

Wiesel told CNN last year that Auschwitz was "to this day, a source of shock and astonishment."

He broke his silence on his Holocaust experience 10 years after the liberation with the acclaimed memoir "Night," originally published in French as "La Nuit," which has been translated into 30 languages and has sold millions of copies since its publication.

The Nobel peace laureate, who wrote extensively about the horrors he and others endured, said he knew he'd have to write at some point but feared the words would elude him.

"I'm not sure, by the way, that I did find them," he said. "Maybe there are no words for what happened. Maybe somehow, the Germans ... the cruel killers, have succeeded at least in one way, at least that it deprived us, the victims, of finding the proper language of saying what they had done to us, because there are no words for it."

In 1986 the Nobel committee called Wiesel an important spiritual leader.

In his speech honoring Wiesel, then-chairman Egil Aarvik said: "From the abyss of the death camps he has come as a messenger to mankind, not with a message of hate and revenge, but with one of brotherhood and atonement."

Wiesel spoke of his own guilt in his moving Nobel acceptance speech.

"Do I have the right to represent the multitudes who have perished? Do I have the right to accept this great honor on their behalf? I do not. No one may speak for the dead, no one may interpret their mutilated dreams and visions," he said.

He said he sensed the presence of the tens of thousands of people who died at Buchenwald, and accepted the prize on their behalf and on behalf of his fellow survivors.

Millions of people were touched by "Night" and dozens of other works Wiesel produced. His books were deeply personal. He was honest with his readers about what he went through physically, emotionally, spiritually.

He wrote, "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God himself. Never."

Throughout his life, the writer and teacher sought to give a voice to the voiceless.

He was a professor at the City College of New York from 1972 until he left four years later to become a humanities professor at Boston University. Before that, Wiesel was a journalist in Paris and then New York.

He was, in the words of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the international leader of the Holocaust remembrance movement.

"In the aftermath of the Holocaust, at a time when the world could not bear to remember, he could not bear to forget," the museum wrote in a statement. "Through his singular moral leadership, intellect, and eloquence, he gave voice to those who had been silenced forever and devoted his life to fulfilling the promise of 'never again' for all future victims of genocide."

Wiesel also didn't shy away from making strong remarks. While at the White House in 1985, he asked President Ronald Reagan to cancel a visit to a World War II military cemetery in West Germany.

"That place, Mr. President, is not your place,'' he said, according to The New York Times. ''Your place is with the victims of the SS.''

When he returned to the site of the Buchenwald death camp in 2009, he advocated for peace in the Middle East while addressing President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Andrea Merkel.

He lamented there was no grave of his father to visit and said the hope of no more war that he felt upon his rescue in 1945 was damaged.

"What can I tell him?" he asked. "That the world has learned? I am not so sure."

He implored Obama to help bring peace to the world.

"The time must come. It's enough -- enough to go to cemeteries, enough to weep for oceans. It's enough," he said. "There must come a moment -- a moment of bringing people together."

Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, the Norwegian Nobel Committee called him a "messenger to mankind," stating that through his struggle to come to terms with "his own personal experience of total humiliation and of the utter contempt for humanity shown in Hitler's death camps", as well as his "practical work in the cause of peace", Wiesel had delivered a powerful message "of peace, atonement and human dignity" to humanity.

World News Today send our condolences to the family of Elie Wiesel. May your memory live on as a part of the global path of peace and prosperity.

Bibi And Things!

American conservatives helped elect Israeli politico Netanyahu win a fourth term. The controversial Israel prime minister had eek out a victory.

Looks like Israel is going to have six more years of Benjamin Netanyahu as their prime minister. In the latest turn of events, it seems like Isaac Herzog couldn't muster enough support.

The controversial prime minister vow to end peace talks with Palestine and keep pressure on the U.S. lawmakers to stop President Barack Obama from making a deal with Iran. He will continue to sabotage relations with the U.S. and Britain. He vows to continue settlements in the West Bank. He will continue to invoke fear of Iran getting nuclear weapons.

This may derail nuclear talks between the six nations and Iran. This latest development in Israel has already have the White House and its foreign allies wondering if Netanyahu's hard line stance may damage any chances of peace in the Middle East.

This strong challenge may have not soften Netanyahu. It probably made him more extreme. It could also make him more of a threat to the world.

But with the sides nearly evenly divided, a victory by Netanyahu's Likud Party still was not guaranteed. His chief rival, Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Union, said he would make "every effort" to form a government, and an upstart centrist party led by a former Netanyahu ally-turned-rival was set to be the kingmaker. The country now heads into what could be weeks of negotiations over the makeup of the next coalition.

Both Netanyahu and Herzog will now compete for a chance to form a coalition that commands a majority in the 120-seat parliament, a daunting task in Israel's fractured political landscape. Netanyahu appeared to have a better chance of cobbling together a government with right-wing and religious parties that he calls his "natural allies." Herzog would have to appeal to more ideologically diverse parties.

The AP reports that both parties will likely need the support of Moshe Kahlon, whose new Kulanu party captured nine or 10 seats, according to polls. Kahlon, whose campaign focused almost entirely on bread-and-butter economic issues, refused to take sides.

"I am loyal to my way," he told his supporters, saying he would work to form a government committed to social justice.

The election was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, who has governed the country for the past six years, and recent opinion polls had given Herzog a slight lead.

As the results were announced on the nation's three major TV stations, celebrations erupted at Likud's campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv.

"Against all the odds we obtained a great victory for the Likud," Netanyahu told the gathering. "Now we must form a strong and stable government that will ensure Israel's security and welfare," he added, in comments aimed at Kahlon.

He said he had already been in touch with all other nationalist parties in hopes of quickly forming a coalition.

Netanyahu focused his campaign on security issues, while his opponents instead pledged to address the country's high cost of living and accused the leader of being out of touch with everyday people. Herzog also promised to repair tattered ties with the U.S. and to revive peace efforts with the Palestinians.

At a rally of his supporters, Herzog vowed to do his utmost to form a government and said he too had reached out to potential coalition partners. In a nod to Kahlon, he said he was committed to forming a "real social reconciliation government" committed to lowering the country's cost of living and reducing gaps between rich and poor.

Netanyahu's return to power would likely spell trouble for Mideast peace efforts and could further escalate tensions with the United States.

Netanyahu, who already has a testy relationship with President Barack Obama, took a sharp turn to the right in the final days of the campaign, staking out a series of hard-line positions that will put him at odds with the international community.

In a dramatic policy reversal, he said he now opposes the creation of a Palestinian state — a key policy goal of the White House and the international community. He also promised to expand construction in Jewish areas of east Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their capital.

Netanyahu infuriated the White House early this month when he delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress criticizing an emerging nuclear deal with Iran. The speech was arranged with Republican leaders and not coordinated with the White House ahead of time.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama was confident strong U.S.-Israeli ties would endure far beyond the election regardless of the victor.

The Palestinians, fed up after years of deadlock with Netanyahu, are now likely to press ahead with their attempts to bring war crimes charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court.

"What Netanyahu is doing and stating are war crimes and if the international community wants peace it should make Netanyahu accountable for his acts," said Palestinian official Saeb Erekat. He said the Palestinian leadership will meet Thursday to discuss its next steps.

Exit polls on Israel's three main TV stations showed Likud and the Zionist Union in a near deadlock. Channels One and 10 gave Likud a 27-26 lead in the 120-seat parliament, while Channel 2 gave Likud a 28-27 edge. That breakdown could change as final results pour in on Wednesday.

Under Israel's fragmented electoral system, either Netanyahu or Herzog will have to court potential partners to secure a 61-seat majority.

Herzog could potentially try to build a coalition that would rely on support from a new Arab alliance that captured 12 to 13 seats. But Arab parties have never sat in an Israeli coalition before, complicating any potential deal.

Stav Shaffir, a leader of the Zionist Union, called the results a "clear vote of no confidence in Netanyahu."

She said the Zionist Union would wait for the official results before declaring victory or defeat, but claimed Netanyahu's opponents "have a majority."

Netanyahu has ruled out a "unity" government with the Zionist Union that would give him a broad coalition, and Herzog has also been cool to the idea.

That would indicate the next government will be a narrow majority — a recipe for further instability in which any member could bring it down. The previous government lasted less than two years before crumbling apart.

President Reuven Rivlin will now spend the next few days consulting with the various parties, whose leaders will all offer recommendations for who should be prime minister. Based on those consultations, he will ask either Netanyahu or Herzog to begin the process of forming a coalition.

Iran Leader: We Want Peace Obama!

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants to call a truce with America and Israel. But some in the junk food media are willing to destroy the peace plan that is proposed.

The secret talks between Iran and the U.S. has the agitators angry. There's talk to calm the tension between America and Iran. They are trying to reduce the nuclear intentions by the Iranian government. President Barack Obama knows that sanctions and military action isn't helping the cause for peace. But some in Washington, DC still kiss the backside of foreign leaders who make a living scaring Americans into supporting countless wars over in the Middle East.

How could the president sell out to our enemies? He didn't of course.

Because diplomacy doesn't often have to be rosy colored. It's complicated and hard work. The best advance is talks. It's not about who's got the bigger bombs. It's about trying to squash their unnecessary conflicts overseas.

Iran isn't funding the Islamic State. They actually are trying to keep this from spreading. With turmoil in Syria and Iraqi forces are not willing to protect their lands, the American military must once again step into the quagmire

Define enemies?

These two dopes don't want peace.

I've long gotten tired of hearing this tired narrative of "good guy vs. bad guy" nonsense. The Islamic Republic of Iran has 35 million people, do you honestly believe that the Iranian people are determined to destroy the United States and Israel? I bet you outside of the American junk food media, I bet you Iranians are willing to work, play and enjoy life.

Some obviously do, others don't! For all this smoke and mirrors rhetoric I find nothing wrong with the president talking with "hostile leaders". The cat cowling of the warmongering lawmakers to the partisan rancor of the agitators is basically for the

Benjamin Netanyahu will continue this "scare the world with evil" speech. Weeper of the House John Boehner (R-OH) invited the controversial prime minister of Israel for a Joint Section of Congress.

He acknowledged that he was deliberately undermining the president by inviting this foreign leader two weeks before Israeli national elections.

Nelson Mandela Tributes Continue! (Yeah, The Racist Comments Too)!

The world mourns the passing of Nelson Mandela.

The world lost a great leader. We just learned that former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nelson Mandela passed away at the age 95.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xoˈliːɬaɬa manˈdeːla]) (July 18, 1918 – December 5, 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalized racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997.

Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended the Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League. After the Afrikaner nationalists of the National Party came to power in 1948 and began implementing the policy of apartheid, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was elected President of the Transvaal ANC Branch and oversaw the 1955 Congress of the People.

Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961 but was found not guilty. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the South African Communist Party he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading a bombing campaign against government targets. In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.

Mandela served 27 years in prison, first on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison.

An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990 amid escalating civil strife. Becoming ANC President, Mandela published his autobiography and led negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory. He was elected President and formed a Government of National Unity in an attempt to defuse ethnic tensions. As President, he promulgated a new constitution and initiated the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. Continuing the former government's liberal economic policy, his administration introduced measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty, and expand healthcare services.

Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho. He declined to run for a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela subsequently became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life. The racist right denounced him as a terrorist and communist sympathizer.

He nevertheless gained international acclaim for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid stance, having received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"); he is often described as "the father of the nation".

Mandela died following a long illness at his home in Johannesburg.

Leaders around the world expressed their condolences in the wake of the announcement, reminding the world of the strength and the compassion that characterized South Africa's remarkable leader.

South African President Jacob Zuma announced the death of Mandela. "Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father," Zuma said, according to CNN. "He is now resting, he is now at peace," Zuma added.

Speaking from the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama said "Mandela has achieved more than could be expected of any man, he lives for the ages." Obama added:

A great leader.

We've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with. He no longer belongs to us, he belongs to the ages... His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was one of the first to express his grief on Twitter, calling Mandela "a hero of our time."

In the wake of his death, the world is reminded of the incredible impact Nelson Mandela had, not only on South Africa but in countries far from his own. The anti-apartheid icon was a champion for peace and equality, spreading a message of hope and reciprocity all over the world.

From his historic inaugural address, when he became the country's first black president, to his acceptance of the Congressional Gold Medal, Nelson Mandela's words will resonate through the ages carrying on his incredible legacy.

Of course, expect the racist right ignore it. Already Loserville, and the conservative agitators are pretty much saying they're glad that "NIGGER" is gone.

Some of the most vilest comments also came from the social networks of the racist right websites.

Thanks Bob Cesa of The Daily Banter.







 



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Richie Havens Passes Away!

Songs of Freedom.

Richard Pierce "Richie" Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American folk singer and guitarist. He is best known for his intense and rhythmic guitar style (often in open tunings), soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

Richie Havens, who marshaled a craggy voice, a percussive guitar and a soulful sensibility to play his way into musical immortality at Woodstock in 1969, improvising the song “Freedom” on the fly, died on Monday at his home in Jersey City. He was 72.

We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to the family of Richie Havens.

The New York Times gives a tribute to the legendary folk singer who brought peace and harmony to a bunch of young blossoms who now became either our parents or grandparents.


For the baby-boomer generation, he will live forever on the stage of the Woodstock festival, which he had the honor to open because the folk-rock band Sweetwater, the scheduled opening act, was stuck in traffic. Mr. Havens and his guitarist and drummer arrived by helicopter. They had been scheduled to go on fifth.

Mr. Havens started with “Minstrel From Gault” a few minutes after 5 p.m. on Aug. 15, 1969. He was originally supposed to play four songs, but other performers were late, so he played on. He later said he thought he had played for two hours and 45 minutes, but two bands followed him before sunset, around 8 p.m., so that was impossible.

But Mr. Havens played 10 songs, including Beatles songs. His impassioned improvisation was pitch perfect for the generation watching him, most of whom saw it later in a documentary on the festival. His clarion encore “Freedom” — made up on the spot and interspersed with the spiritual “Motherless Child” — sounded a powerful if wistful note.

“ ‘Freedom’ came from a totally spontaneous place,” Mr. Havens said.

Richard Pierce Havens was born on Jan. 21, 1941, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where he grew up. He was the eldest of nine children. His father made Formica tables for a living and played piano with various bands. His mother worked for a bookbindery.

He began singing with street-corner doo-wop groups when he was about 12. At 14 he joined the McCrea Gospel Singers. He was recruited by a street gang, and he dropped out of high school. He spent the rest of his life educating himself, and was proud of the results.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: We Shall Overcome

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was born January 15, 1929. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, this young man who envisioned millions to believe in change. A change that demanded all Americans are to be treated equal in the racially segregated South. A man who would be celebrated across the country on this third Monday, a leader to envision Civil Rights for all Americans. If Dr. King was still alive, he would have celebrated his 81st birthday.

According to Wikipedia, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded in January 1957, in the afterglow of the Montgomery Bus Boycott victory and consultations with Bayard Rustin, Ella Baker, and others, Dr King invited some 60 black ministers and leaders to Ebenezer Church in Atlanta. Their goal was to form an organization to coordinate and support nonviolent direct action as a method of desegregating bus systems across the South. In addition to Rustin and Baker, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham, Rev Joseph Lowery of Mobile, Rev Ralph Abernathy of Montgomery, Rev C.K. Steele of Tallahassee, all played key roles in this meeting.

Today, the SCLC still holds true to these standards, combat discrimination, focus primarily on education, voter registration, and support for local struggles.

As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. King, I want to remind those who are reading that King was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, and he has become a human rights icon: King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.

In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.

Somehow politicians and organizations are quick to take credit for the success of Dr. Martin Luther King.

National Black Republican Association claims that Dr. King was a Republican.

The Democratic National Convention in Denver hosted SCLC President Bernice King and her bother, Emeritus Martin Luther King, III.

To bring an end to racism will take time, patience and continuation of the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.