Elie Wiesel calls upon Israel to take in Darfur refugees - Haaretz

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Sun., April 26, 2009 Iyyar 2, 5769

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		Elie Wiesel (L) and civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton waiting to speak at a rally in Washington in April on ending the crisis in Darfur. (Reuters)

Last update - 00:00 08/06/2006

Elie Wiesel calls upon Israel to take in Darfur refugees

By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent

Nobel Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel has called on Israel to take in refugees from Darfur. In an interview in the upcoming issue of Haaretz Magazine, Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, says, "We as Jews are obliged to help not only Jews. I was a refugee and therefore I am in favor of admitting refugees. I thought it was very laudable when Israel became the first country to admit the Vietnamese
boat people. History constantly chooses a capital of human suffering, and Darfur is today the capital of human suffering. Israel should absorb refugees from Darfur, even a symbolic number."

Wiesel, 76, believes that all genocides in the last half of the 20th century among them in Rwanda, Bosnia, Biafra and Darfur "are the result of what happened in the Holocaust. The Holocaust proved that it is possible to do
t

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his, and if it is possible, then why not?"

Israel, Wiesel said, needs the cooperation of Europe and the United States because, "come what may, Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons." Wiesel says he has no doubt that Iran is a danger "not only to Israel, [but] to the whole world. The man [Iranian President Ahmadinejad] is insane, clinically insane. He is simply completely clinically insane." Wiesel says he does not want to see all-out war and jokingly adds: "Maybe we should incite James Bond to help us ... I say that as a joke ... We are in a James Bond period."

Wiesel's memoir on the Holocaust, "Night," published in 1958, has so far sold eight million copies in the U.S. alone. After talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey selected it for her book club in January for the second time, it sold 1.7
million copies. The book is said to describe "the death of God" from Wiesel's perspective, but Wiesel says, "I never lost my faith in God. I rose up against God's silence ... I had questions and protests."

With regard to the debate in the U.S. in recent months over the accuracy of some scenes in "Night," Wiesel says, "If it is no longer possible to believe the testimony of a survivor, what shall we believe?"

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1.	Wiesel is wrong	05:59	\|	Meir Weinstein	08/06/06

2.	Thank You, Elie Wiesel!	06:15	\|	CHGODMK	08/06/06

3.	Except Palestinian Refugee`s	06:35	\|	Never Again	08/06/06

4.	To Mr. Wiesel	06:38	\|	David James Vickery	08/06/06

5.	Left Field	07:03	\|	dave	08/06/06

6.	hypocrisy	07:26	\|	Mohammad Sami	08/06/06

7.	Darfur refugees and Israel	07:33	\|	Judy Eliasov	08/06/06

8.	The hypocrisy is yours, Sami	08:36	\|	David Teich	08/06/06

9.	More comparisons for you, Sami	08:40	\|	David teich	08/06/06

10.	Darfur Refugees - Elie	09:19	\|	Mel (M)	08/06/06

11.	Why not settle one of the to be evacuated settlements	09:41	\|	bruce	08/06/06

12.	This man is a hypocrite	09:45	\|	Khalid	08/06/06

13.	wiesel always wrong	09:45	\|	arab	08/06/06

14.	refugees and Jewish help for the oppressed?	09:53	\|	ROSETTa stone	08/06/06

15.	dave in nyc	10:03	\|	Dror	08/06/06

16.	African flood	10:08	\|	Dror	08/06/06

17.	Differences between Darfur and Palestine	10:27	\|	uruandimi	08/06/06

18.	Total senility	10:30	\|	Richard	08/06/06

19.	#6 Mohammad Sami	10:38	\|	Proud Israeli Jew	08/06/06

20.	Elie Wiesel`s record on compassion for the Palestinians	10:39	\|	Zumbush	08/06/06

21.	monkey chased the wiesel-pops goes the wiesel	10:39	\|	love it or leave it	08/06/06

22.	David Teich`s misinformation	10:57	\|	Sami	08/06/06

23.	Re: Meir Weinstein You Are Wrong.	11:01	\|	The King	08/06/06

24.	Proud Israeli Jew	11:06	\|	Sami	08/06/06

25.	Muslim Countries Must Absorb These People	11:16	\|	M. Duvduvani	08/06/06

26.	Bizarre idea of Weisel	11:17	\|	David Howard	08/06/06

27.	Palestine Should Absorb Palestinian Refugees	11:20	\|	M. Duvduvani	08/06/06

28.	No return to tribal consciousness	11:43	\|	uruandimi	08/06/06

29.	Re;Never Again and david James	11:50	\|	e.m	08/06/06

30.	Elie, some genocides are politically more convenient to deal with	12:00	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

31.	Uruandimi	12:13	\|	Sami	08/06/06

32.	The U.S. Role in Darfur, Sudan	12:20	\|	Sara Flounders	08/06/06

33.	Uruandimi	12:42	\|	Yaron	08/06/06

34.	Darfur is not Israel`s responsibility but...	12:57	\|	Ronnie Wolman	08/06/06

35.	Darfur is not Israel`s responsibility but...	12:57	\|	Ronnie Wolman	08/06/06

36.	Tribal refusal to share the world with others	13:02	\|	uruandimi	08/06/06

37.	Their children will want to kill ours	13:02	\|	Yosef	08/06/06

38.	hypocricy married cynicism with the help of malice	13:06	\|	Cipora Julianna Kohn	08/06/06

39.	Goodness, Elie, there must be limits in voicing the ridiculous!	13:08	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

40.	Elie Wiesel is a traitor to fellow survivors	13:34	\|	Laura Goldman	08/06/06

41.	Khalid	14:07	\|	Bill	08/06/06

42.	#12 Stop your...	14:19	\|	Josef	08/06/06

43.	#24 Arabs...	14:24	\|	Josef	08/06/06

44.	"When you change the way	14:28	\|	Jenna	08/06/06

45.	Wiesel is A Good Writer	14:52	\|	Joe Levi	08/06/06

46.	Let the other side do it for once	14:58	\|	Brant	08/06/06

47.	Jews and Muslims, Both Victims	15:02	\|	Joe Levi	08/06/06

48.	Zmogus on Wiesel	15:09	\|	Ronnie Wolman	08/06/06

49.	Elie Weisel Great hero of the Jewish people and of Humanity	15:18	\|	Shalom Freedman	08/06/06

50.	Elie Weisel Great hero of the Jewish people and of Humanity	15:19	\|	Shalom Freedman	08/06/06

51.	Elie Weisel Great hero of the Jewish people and of Humanity	15:20	\|	Shalom Freedman	08/06/06

52.	Sheer Proganda Move	15:30	\|	Yaakov Sullivan	08/06/06

53.	# 24 Sami	15:37	\|	Proud Israeli Jew	08/06/06

54.	Wiesel represent the very best and very worst about Jews	15:40	\|	El-Birawi	08/06/06

55.	Meir Weinstein: Your Ignorance is Amazing	15:46	\|	CHGODMK	08/06/06

56.	Joe Levi`s Incredible Feats of Contradiction	15:50	\|	CHGODMK	08/06/06

57.	Darfur	15:56	\|	G. Ron	08/06/06

58.	When Khalid Is Proven Right	16:00	\|	CHGODMK	08/06/06

59.	To Laura Goldman	16:07	\|	G.Ron	08/06/06

60.	#48,Ronnie Wolman. Here is the problem:	16:32	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

61.	#48, Ronnie Wolman. Easy test for checking what`s the problem	16:54	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

62.	Send the Darfur Refugees to Gaza now that Israel left..	16:57	\|	pace306	08/06/06

63.	Let`s get real here	17:58	\|	Gee	08/06/06

64.	#47, Joe Levi.	18:12	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

65.	Israel Must Take in Darfur Refugees	18:16	\|	Dan	08/06/06

66.	RE: Wiesel is wrong	18:39	\|	Michelle	08/06/06

67.	Re#55 CHGODMK, GIVE ME A BREAK	18:46	\|	MEIR WEINSTEIN	08/06/06

68.	Zmogus On the side of the Barrier	18:47	\|	Ronnie Wolman	08/06/06

69.	RE: Cipora Julianna Kohn	19:00	\|	Michelle	08/06/06

70.	Charity begins at home this ought to be Wiesel`s message	19:01	\|	Dutch	08/06/06

71.	Zmogus: the Dichotomy most Israelis go through	19:03	\|	Ronnie Wolman	08/06/06

72.	#67,MEIR WEINSTEIN. Israel is no more Jews-only than US Judenfrei	19:34	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

73.	JUST WHAT ISRAEL NEEDS. MORE MUSLIMS	20:10	\|	gary	08/06/06

74.	#6 Sami, It`s unconsionable for a man like Wiesel	20:17	\|	Dutch	08/06/06

75.	#71. Ronnie Wolman. Being in one side 1	20:28	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

76.	Ronnie Wolman, i love you	20:54	\|	hadag nakhash	08/06/06

77.	#76. hadag nakhash to Ronnie Wolman. So do I.	21:13	\|	zmogus	08/06/06

78.	#8 David Teich`s hypocrisy	21:13	\|	Dutch	08/06/06

79.	zmogus @ # 60	21:17	\|	hadag nakhash	08/06/06

80.	Darfur refugees	21:46	\|	Raoul Schur	08/06/06

81.	This laughable bordering the absurd!	22:00	\|	Joe	08/06/06

82.	Zmogus and Hadag: A Difficult World	22:18	\|	Ronnie Wolman	08/06/06

83.	Dutch`s credibility on Eli Wiesel	22:28	\|	Jacob Blues	08/06/06

84.	To all	22:34	\|	G. Ron	08/06/06

85.	#73 Gary	22:46	\|	Dan	08/06/06

86.	Yaron on Immigration Rights	23:33	\|	uruandimi	08/06/06

87.	#60, zmogous	23:54	\|	Cipora Julianna Kohn	08/06/06

88.	Ronnie Wolman	23:56	\|	Cipora Julianna Kohn	08/06/06

89.	I Invite Them	00:40	\|	ERETZ YISRAEL	09/06/06

90.	#83 dan	00:46	\|	gary	09/06/06

91.	Darfur our brothers in History.	01:42	\|	Akram Zekaria	09/06/06

92.	@81: G. Ron	02:28	\|	CHGODMK	09/06/06

93.	Meir Weinstein: Wrong Again	02:31	\|	CHGODMK	09/06/06

94.	Elie Weisel is a businessman, not a moralist	02:32	\|	El-Birawi	09/06/06

95.	Jacob Blues, Israel self destructive behavior	03:00	\|	Dutch	09/06/06

96.	Wiesel	03:05	\|	David	09/06/06

97.	#5 - Dave	03:10	\|	Bonnie Harris	09/06/06

98.	Gary	03:36	\|	Dan	09/06/06

99.	#91, El-Birawi	04:20	\|	Cipora Julianna Kohn	09/06/06

100.	#3; There is no "Palestine" or "Palestinian" people.	04:31	\|	Palestiniansareamyth	09/06/06

101.	CHGODMK	05:08	\|	Gershon Ron	09/06/06

102.	Re#101 Gershon Ron,	05:35	\|	Meir Weinstein	09/06/06

103.	Gershon Ron: You Are Right	05:36	\|	CHGODMK	09/06/06

104.	Re#103 CHGODMK, REALITY TIME	06:51	\|	MEIR WEINSTEIN	09/06/06

105.	#103, CHGODMK	07:26	\|	Cipora Julianna Kohn	09/06/06

106.	Sami: 50% Israelis refugees from Arab lands	09:32	\|	semsem	09/06/06

107.	#71. Ronnie Wolman. Being in one side 2 (sent yesterday)	10:53	\|	zmogus	09/06/06

108.	uruandimi	11:10	\|	Yaron	09/06/06

109.	inhumanity of responses	12:58	\|	harold	09/06/06

110.	#87,Cipora Julianna Kohn. The humanism and humanists	13:16	\|	zmogus	09/06/06

111.	#87, Cipora Julliana Cohen. Humanists and Humanisms	13:40	\|	zmogus	09/06/06

112.	#87, Cipora Julliana Cohen. Concerning the great Jewish people	14:20	\|	zmogus	09/06/06

113.	#79, hadag nakhash."HEART of the narrative" (again)	15:12	\|	zmogus	09/06/06

114.	#97 dan	20:16	\|	gary	09/06/06

115.	a relative point of view	12:21	\|	ana Wapner	10/06/06

116.	ELI Wierel Darfur	02:38	\|	Micha	11/06/06

117.	Sami: Quit lying	09:25	\|	David Teich	11/06/06

118.	Poor Dutch	09:29	\|	David Teich	11/06/06

119.	Yaron and the historical record	09:43	\|	uruandimi	11/06/06

120.	uruandimi: Yes, many do work here	19:57	\|	David Teich	11/06/06

121.	There is a time to stand up	20:28	\|	Elizabeth	13/06/06

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