logo
Argentines commemorate 1994 Jewish centre bombing, demand justice

Argentines commemorate 1994 Jewish centre bombing, demand justice

Ottawa Citizen19-07-2025
Buenos Aires — Hundreds of Argentines gathered Friday to commemorate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural centre that killed dozens, demanding justice for a crime for which there has not yet been a trial.
Article content
In the worst such attack in Argentina's history, a car bomb on July 18, 1994, killed 85 people and injured more than 300 at the seven-storey Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires.
Article content
Article content
Two years earlier, an explosion at the Israeli embassy killed 29 and wounded 200.
Article content
Article content
'Impunity persists, terrorism too' was the slogan for Friday's 31st commemoration of the AMIA attack — the second such event attended by President Javier Milei, a staunch defender of Israel.
Article content
Survivors and victims' relatives hope there will be movement under Catholic-born Milei, who has already visited Israel twice since taking office in December 2023, and has professed a deep interest in Judaism.
Article content
In April 2024, an Argentine court found Iran and Hezbollah were responsible for what it called a crime against humanity.
Article content
It ruled the likely motive for the attacks was the cancellation by the Argentine government under then-president Carlos Menem of three contracts with Iran for the supply of nuclear equipment and technology.
Article content
In June, a judge authorized a trial in absentia against ten Iranian and Lebanese defendants — former ministers and diplomats.
Article content
Article content
No date has been set.
Article content
Article content
Iran has always denied any involvement and has refused to hand over any suspects.
Article content
The Memoria Activa organization, which represents victims' families, rejects a trial in absentia as it believes it 'essential for the accused to participate' for the whole truth to come out.
Article content
The AMIA itself is in favour, but has cautioned that 'holding a trial only for it to end… in some sort of nullity or a declaration of unconstitutionality would once again be very painful for everyone.'
Article content
Both organizations have been highly critical of the Argentine state's handling of the case.
Article content
Last year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica, found the state responsible for not preventing, or properly investigating, the AMIA attack.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

UCLA reaches $6 million settlement with Jewish students and professor over campus protests
UCLA reaches $6 million settlement with Jewish students and professor over campus protests

Toronto Star

time9 minutes ago

  • Toronto Star

UCLA reaches $6 million settlement with Jewish students and professor over campus protests

The University of California, Los Angeles, reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor whose suit against the university argued it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus. The settlement comes nearly a year after a preliminary injunction was issued, marking the first time a U.S. judge had ruled against a university over their handling of on-campus demonstrations against Israel's war in Gaza.

UCLA reaches $6 million settlement with Jewish students and professor over campus protests
UCLA reaches $6 million settlement with Jewish students and professor over campus protests

Winnipeg Free Press

time9 minutes ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

UCLA reaches $6 million settlement with Jewish students and professor over campus protests

The University of California, Los Angeles, reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor whose suit against the university argued it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus. The settlement comes nearly a year after a preliminary injunction was issued, marking the first time a U.S. judge had ruled against a university over their handling of on-campus demonstrations against Israel's war in Gaza. UCLA had argued that it had no legal responsibility over the issue because protesters, not the university, blocked Jewish students' access to areas. The university also worked with law enforcement to thwart attempts to set up new protest camps. But U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi disagreed and ordered UCLA to create a plan to protect Jewish students on campus. The University of California, one of the nation's largest public university systems, has since created system-wide campus guidelines on protests. How the university handled dispersing the encampment in the spring drew widespread criticism. One night, counterprotesters attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones and firing pepper spray, with fighting that continued for hours, injuring more than a dozen people, before police stepped in. The next day, after hundreds defied orders to leave, more than 200 people were arrested. Trump administration joins lawsuit filed by Jewish students In March, the Trump administration joined the lawsuit filed by the Jewish students and Jewish professor as it opened new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at Columbia University; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; Northwestern University and Portland State University. Last week, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into alleged violations of federal antidiscrimination laws and restore more than $400 million in research grants. The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation for future agreements. Government finds UCLA violated civil rights of Jewish students On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 'by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.' 'UCLA failed to take timely and appropriate action in response to credible claims of harm and hostility on its campus,' said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The university has said that it's committed to campus safety and will continue to implement recommendations. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the settlement or the DOJ announcement Tuesday. UCLA agrees to granting students equal access As part of the settlement agreement, UCLA must ensure Jewish students, faculty and staff are not excluded from anything on-campus. The $6.13 million settlement will pay the plaintiffs' damages and legal fees and go toward eight Jewish organizations. Pro-Palestinian protesters also sue university A group of 35 pro-Palestinian students, faculty members, legal observers, journalists and activists also has filed a lawsuit against UCLA, alleging the university failed to protect those who participated in the demonstrations. Some Jewish students have also taken part in protests on campuses around the country against Israel's war in Gaza. During the 2014 protests at UCLA, at least 15 pro-Palestinian protesters were injured and the tepid response by authorities drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.

By acknowledging 'starvation' in Gaza, Trump sharpens Western pressure on Netanyahu

time2 hours ago

By acknowledging 'starvation' in Gaza, Trump sharpens Western pressure on Netanyahu

In what humanitarians are calling a make-or-break week for saving Palestinians from famine, Donald Trump's I see it moment may be a tipping point. Humanitarian organizations have for months warned that Israel's restrictions on the flow of aid were bringing Gaza to the brink of famine. The latest warning from a UN-backed hunger monitor said Tuesday that famine was now unfolding across the enclave. Yet as recently as last weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly stated there is no starvation in Gaza. He accuses Hamas of stealing available aid. Trump himself seemed indifferent until Monday when, while in Scotland, he publicly disagreed with Netanyahu, saying he'd seen the images of starving children. That's real starvation, he said. I see it — and you can't fake that. With the conflict in Gaza at a stalemate — and the civilian population paying an increasingly steeper price, including the Israeli hostages still in Hamas's hands — what Israel's allies, especially Trump, do or say is key to bringing the bloodshed to an end. Enlarge image (new window) Palestinians, mostly children, push to receive food at a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 22. Photo: AFP / Getty Images The growing chorus of calls this past week, sharpened by voices from G7 countries including Canada, for Israel to open the crossings into Gaza had already started to lead to change on the ground. Israel, which had insisted on its own controversial means of distributing aid, was forced at least to resume air drops and to slightly ease the movement of aid trucks into Gaza. It also paused the fighting in three areas daily to allow the flow of aid. Trump's public acknowledgement gave an urgency to those calls that could only come from Israel's staunchest ally, and which could help nudge Netanyahu to do more to ease Gaza's humanitarian crisis. Within hours, Netanyahu's office had issued a statement that Israel would continue to work with international agencies and other countries to ensure large flows of aid into Gaza. More West Bank settlements How Trump plans to persuade Netanyahu to pursue what the president described as a different way to bring home the 50 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza is going to be much harder. Trump was keen on making a deal that would see all the hostages released, and Israel's attacks on Gaza ended. But the U.S. and Israel withdrew their teams from the latest talks in Rome, accusing Hamas of negotiating in bad faith. WATCH | UN group warns of 'worst-case scenario' in Gaza: Those familiar with the talks suggest one of the biggest obstacles to a lasting ceasefire is that Hamas wants a permanent one, while Israel refuses to leave Gaza with Hamas still in charge. Another is Netanyahu's opposition to a two-state solution. Settlements have multiplied in the West Bank under Netanyahu, and in a non-binding vote in the Israeli Knesset last week a majority called for the annexation of the West Bank altogether. It is why Israel's closest Western allies have recently reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution — also a longtime cornerstone of Canada's Mideast policy — with some promising to recognize a Palestinian state this fall. France announced last week it intends to recognize such a state at the UN General Assembly in September. Enlarge image (new window) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there is no starvation in Gaza, while claiming Hamas has been stealing food aid. Photo: Reuters / Jack Guez/Pool Under pressure from within his own government, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday also said he would recognize a Palestinian state in September — unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire, takes steps to make clear there is to be no annexation of the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution. The U.S. is far from doing the same. But if other Western allies, maybe even Canada, join the chorus (147 other countries already recognize a Palestinian state) Trump may be forced to at least acknowledge the shift. Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to the latest developments. Netanyahu condemned France's declaration and is likely to receive the British decision similarly, arguing that they reward terror, in the wake of Hamas's killing of about 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, and abducting 250 others. But Britain preempted such accusations and again called on Hamas to release the 50 remaining hostages. Hamas are not the Palestinian people, and there is no contradiction between support for Israel's security and support for Palestinian statehood, said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Possible sanctions Some critics however are skeptical that such declarations will do anything to meaningfully move the needle on solving either the immediate or the larger conflict. Such gestures alone are not going to do any lasting change to Israeli behaviour, said Michael Lynk, a former UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian Territories. Enlarge image (new window) Palestinians collect aid that landed in the Mediterranean Sea after being airdropped over central Gaza, at the shore of Zawaida, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Photo: Associated Press / Abdel Kareem Hana Countries in the global north are going to have to take a significant step forward by looking at sanctions on Israel in order to make any lasting progress on achieving a Palestinian state. France, Canada and the U.K. signed a joint statement in May promising to not "stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response. It was not made clear what those actions might be, but Lynk says they could include sanctions. Only sanctions with respect to military sales and economic relationships with Israel are likely to have any chance of changing Israel's behavior, he said. Trump did not immediately comment on the British decision, but last week he belittled Emmanuel Macron's statement. What he says doesn't matter, he said of the French president. It's not going to change anything. How this all plays out now that Starmer has added his voice may largely depend on how Trump sees it. Nahlah Ayed (new window) · Host of CBC Ideas Nahlah Ayed is the host of the nightly CBC Radio program Ideas. A veteran of foreign reportage, she's spent nearly a decade covering major world events from London, and another decade covering upheaval across the Middle East. Ayed was previously a parliamentary reporter for The Canadian Press. Video by Nahlah Ayed (new window)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store