Remembering Susan Goldberg; Delta shifts on Saudi Arabia
NOMINATIONS BEING SOUGHT
FOR SUSAN GOLDBERG AWARD
"L'Chaim -- Celebrating the Lives and Legacies of Our Holocaust Survivors" will be held tonight from 5-6:45 pm in the Temple Beth-El Cultural Center, 2179 Highland Ave. L'Chaim, is Hebrew, meaning "to life." It is being sponsored by the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center (BHEC). Tickets are required and the event is sold out.
Over the last eight years, our Alabama survivors have told their stories in person at more than 125 schools, libraries, and community centers across the state. They re-tell and re-live their emotional past so that the young people of Alabama can learn the truth about what happened in the Holocaust. At present we have 20 Holocaust survivors living in Alabama.
The BHEC was created in 2003 by a group of interested members of the Birmingham community, Holocaust survivors and members of the already existing Alabama Holocaust Commission. The BHEC, which is the hub of Holocaust education and programming in our city, is one of the 32 agencies and programs funded by dollars raised through The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.
DELTA SHIFTS POSITION ON SAUDI ARABIA
Delta Airlines has announced that it will not ask its customers to disclose their religious affiliation, despite partnering with Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The announcement followed a controversy two months ago when a Delta spokesperson suggested that, because Saudi Arabian Airlines was joining the SkyTeam Alliance, of which Delta is a part, Delta might have to refuse boarding to passengers with Israeli stamps on their passports. The Saudi government requires that travelers disclose their religion, and American Jews and others with Israeli stamps in their passports have been refused visas to the country.
At the time, the Delta spokesperson said that the airline "must comply with all applicable laws in every country it serves" because it would face fines if a passenger arrives at a destination without proper documents.
In a letter sent recently to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Delta Senior VP Andrea Fischer Newman wrote: "Delta employees do not currently and will not in the future, request that customers declare their religious affiliation. We would also not seek such information on behalf of any SkyTeam partner or any airline."
Delta officials met with the Wiesenthal Center's Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper at the center's headquarters in Los Angeles to clarify the airline's policy.
"Delta has now done the right thing, sending a signal to the Saudis that it will not cooperate with Riyadh's policy of religious apartheid," Cooper said in a statement. "We hope that all other U.S.-based airlines around the world will declare and follow a similar policy."
Above is from Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a worldwide Jewish news service and one of 32 agencies and programs funded by The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.
HONORING OUR SURVIVORS
"L'Chaim -- Celebrating the Lives and Legacies of Our Holocaust Survivors" will be held tonight from 5-6:45 pm in the Temple Beth-El Cultural Center, 2179 Highland Ave. L'Chaim, is Hebrew, meaning "to life." It is being sponsored by the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center (BHEC). Tickets are required and the event is sold out.
Over the last eight years, our Alabama survivors have told their stories in person at more than 125 schools, libraries, and community centers across the state. They re-tell and re-live their emotional past so that the young people of Alabama can learn the truth about what happened in the Holocaust. At present we have 20 Holocaust survivors living in Alabama.
The BHEC was created in 2003 by a group of interested members of the Birmingham community, Holocaust survivors and members of the already existing Alabama Holocaust Commission. The BHEC, which is the hub of Holocaust education and programming in our city, is one of the 32 agencies and programs funded by dollars raised through The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.
