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Israeli envoy 'deeply concerned' by removal of Belfast monument to Chaim Herzog

Ambassador to Britain Daniel Taub writes to Northern Ireland leadership over decision to take down plaque marking birthplace of sixth Israeli president.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom Daniel Taub has sent an official letter to the Northern Ireland leadership expressing his "very deep concern" over the removal of a plaque in Belfast marking the birthplace of Chaim Herzog, the sixth president of Israel.

 

 

The monument on Cliftonpark Avenue, which was placed there in 1998, was removed in August, at the height of Operation Protective Edge, due to repeated vandalism. Herzog was president of Israel from 1983 to 1993.

 

"I am writing to express my very deep concern at the removal of the plaque," Taub wrote in a letter obtained by Ynet, which was sent Monday to First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

 

The plaque honoring Chaim Herzog has been removed (Photo: Keresaspa, Wikimedia Commons) (Photo: Keresaspa, Wikimedia Commons)
The plaque honoring Chaim Herzog has been removed (Photo: Keresaspa, Wikimedia Commons)

 

In the letter, Taub recalled the time he had spent in Northern Ireland and stressed the importance of the plaque to the local Jewish community; its removal, he said, was a concession to prejudice.

 

"I learned from my own visits to Northern Ireland together with my Palestinian counterpart in the course of the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that it is only through the recognition of the past that we can hope to move forward," he wrote.

 

"This attempt to efface both Belfast's Jewish past and its historic connection to the State of Israel is troubling because of what it says in relation to Israel and the Jewish community, but no less so because it suggests a lack of resolve or indifference to the consequences of allowing prejudice and hatred to fester."

 

President Chaim Herzog invites Labor leader Shimon Peres to form a new government, 1990 (Photo: GPO) (Photo: GPO)
President Chaim Herzog invites Labor leader Shimon Peres to form a new government, 1990 (Photo: GPO)

 

Herzog was "not only champion of security for the State of Israel but also a profound advocate of peace," Taub concluded. "Now more than ever, the principles for which he stood need to be broadcast, not silenced."

 

Herzog's son, the current Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, has expressed dismay at the decision to remove the plaque.

 

A local politician from the Democratic Unionist Party, Brian Kingston, said at the time that he was shocked by move.

 

“This is a shocking indication of the level of tension and anti-Semitism which currently exists in parts of Belfast. It is disgraceful that this item of Belfast history has being repeatedly targeted due to its connection with Israel," the Irish Times quoted Kingston as saying.

 

 

"This should serve as a wake-up call for the public to the dangerous level of intolerance and the anti-Israeli mentality which some are encouraging.”

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.10.14, 15:53
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