Israels remembers six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust
Israel is remembering the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. A 2-minute siren was sounded across the country at 10 a.m. on Monday, followed by the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem's Warsaw Ghetto memorial in Jerusalem. Among the dignitaries in attendance was US Secretary of State John Kerry, currently in Israel as part of a regional shuttle mission. At the Knesset, the "Unto Every Person There is a Name" ceremony -- a public recitation of Holocaust victims' names -- got underway in the presence of the president, the prime minister, the chief rabbis, cabinet ministers, legislators, IDF soldiers and youth movement members. Special assemblies were being held in schools. IDF chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz was taking part in Poland in the annual March of the Living, from the Auschwitz to Birkenau camps. The army chief is heading a delegation of IDF officers visiting Poland as part of Holocaust remembrance events. This year's remembrance day marks 70 years since the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. At the opening ceremony of the remembrance day at Yad Vashem on Sunday night, President Shimon Peres declared: "The Holocaust will not sink in history's gaping hole. It is here with us, blazing and real. It echoes as we step on the ghettos' stone floors." Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day will conclude on Monday evening, with ceremonies at Kibbutz Lohamei HaGettaot, in the north, and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai in the south. -------------------------- Canadian PM calls on Canadians to continue to fight against intolerance   Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that ‏on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Canadians stand together to remember the countless innocent people, including six million Jewish men, women and children, who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust. The prime minister called on the Canadian people in a statement to "renew our own commitment to continue their fight against all forms of intolerance, discrimination and anti-Semitism," as well as "pay tribute to all those brave souls who fought with the Jewish resistance during this dark period." The statement went on to say that "the atrocities of the Holocaust betrayed the fundamental value of human dignity. We must never allow such unthinkable crimes to be forgotten or repeated." Harper noted that last month, Canada became the Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. He said that as Chair, Canada is committed to an ambitious campaign to raise Holocaust awareness and fight anti-semitism at home and abroad. Canada is to host a major IHRA conference in October in Toronto. ------------------------ Kerry, Netanyahu to meet in effort to revive Palestinian peace talks   US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Israel as part of a shuttle mission aimed at nudging Israeli-Palestinian talks forward. Kerry is slated to meet later on Monday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday in Ramallah, Kerry reportedly proposed a package of Israeli concessions, including the transfer of land from Israeli to Palestinian control, in return for Palestinian agreement to return to the negotiating table. Palestinan media reported that Abbas stuck firm to his demand that Israel put a moratorium on settlement construction as a precondition for returning to the negotiating table.‏ The package reportedly included transferring control of more land in the West Bank to Palestinian rule. In addition, Kerry reportedly promised that Israel would commit to releasing frozen tax rebates and not withholding tax funds in the future.‏ Abbas reportedly told Kerry he would only budge with a settlement freeze and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Kerry arrived in Israel earlier on Sunday after visiting Turkey and attempting to mend Turkish-Israeli ties. http://www.iba.org.il