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2 minute silence as Israel remembers Holocaust
Published Monday 28/04/2014 (updated) 29/04/2014 22:47
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Israelis stop their vehicles on the highway and stand still in the
Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on April 28, 2014, as
sirens sounded across Israel for a two-minute silence in
memory of Holocaust victims.(AFP Jack Guez)
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Traffic across Israel ground to a halt for two minutes on Monday to remember the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

As sirens wailed at 10 a.m., the activity on the normally-bustling streets of Jerusalem abruptly stopped as people froze to observe a ritual which takes place every year on Holocaust memorial day, which began at sundown on Sunday.


This year's memorial is focused on the memory of more than 400,000 Hungarian Jews who were massacred in 1944.

During the morning, top Israeli dignitaries including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres were to lay wreaths at a ceremony at Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.

Opening the memorial events at a ceremony on Sunday evening, Peres said Israel and the world must remain ever vigilant against the global threat posed by anti-Semitism.

"We must not ignore any occurrence of anti-Semitism, any desecration of a synagogue, any tombstone smashed in a cemetery in which our families are buried," he said.


On Sunday, Netanyahu dismissed President Mahmoud Abbas' remarks mourning victims of the Holocaust as a public relations stunt aimed at placating the international community.

"Instead of issuing statements designed to placate global public opinion, Abu Mazen (Abbas) needs to choose between the alliance with Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel and denies the Holocaust, and a true peace with Israel," he said.

Earlier, Abbas called the Holocaust the "the most heinous crime against humanity in modern history" and extended his condolences to the "families of the victims and the innocent people who were killed by the Nazis including the Jews and others."

For many Israeli Jews, Palestinian recognition of the widespread killing of Jews in Europe during the Holocaust is considered important because it entails recognition of the historical trauma suffered by the Jewish people.

Palestinian leaders, however, have not historically made statements on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, pointing out that Palestinians had nothing to do with the tragedy.

Ma'an staff contributed to this report
1 ) Tom / US
28/04/2014 13:08
Yes whilst Israel carries it's own holocaust upon the Palestinians!

2 ) Johnny benson / USA
28/04/2014 18:31
Tom....you can't believe it?....there is no comparison what so ever....

3 ) Yes TOM / in the last 70 years
28/04/2014 23:25
the Number of Palestinians grew from 750,000 to 10,000,000 what a holocaust!!!

4 ) Paul / Kenya
28/04/2014 23:29
Yeah, Tom like the massacre of millions of native Americans (Red Indians) by white settler thugs like you.

5 ) no / clue
28/04/2014 23:58
I stand in silence, for all who fell pray to the Jewish Bolsheviks, who tortured and murdered so many , many people.

6 ) JoeFattal / USA
29/04/2014 04:12
While they stood remembering the Holocaust I wish they remember who help the Jews most escaping and opening their doors during the Nazis. It was mostly a Muslim country, the Philippines, not the US that refuse to allow them to enter. A reminder that can be authenticated by reading into the Web. Israel behavior in the occupy territories against the Palestinians shows vividly their indifferences over religious and political freedom suffered by the Palestinians in Palestine and world wide.

7 ) Tom--you are such a liar / and filthy at that
29/04/2014 08:23
Arabs have the best conditions in ISRAE they are Doctors Nurses Lawyers Judges

8 ) Sarah / The Netherlands
29/04/2014 11:40
For the first time in 56 years I wasn't silence during the Jewish holocaust remembrance day. About 50 million people died in WOII, I don't want to remember only the Jewish victims but all. I also lost almost all of my family and I remember them almost every day. Why wasn't I silence this year? Because of "Israel" and his behaver. They behave like nazis against Palestinians. Never again is not only for Jews but for all people around the world. Tom, you are right!

9 ) Sarah / The Netherlands
29/04/2014 11:42
If the Palestinians remember their victims, what happens? They are being gassed by IDF. Shame on you "Israel" You didn't learn anything!

10 ) Sarah / USA
29/04/2014 11:42
The truth hurts the Zionists once again. Good going Tom.

11 ) Maureen / Australia
29/04/2014 12:01
Israel, the apartheid state, pauses to remember the Holocaust???

12 ) Outlier / USA
29/04/2014 23:05
Tom, Sarah, Maureen - that's some bizarre equivalency. Show me the death camps in Israel or the territories and then you have an equivalency.

13 ) Violet Haversham (Miss) / GB
29/04/2014 23:06
As a much younger person growing up after WW2, we learnt about the holocaust from the then, uncensored newspapers, which were complete with graphic pictures and articles. I worked as a part time book-keeper for a Jewish gentleman who had been liberated from one of the camps. In the summer he wore a plaster on his forearm to hide his tattoo. I wondered how people could be so inhumane to others. Now I learn about Palestine. Sarah is so brave to speak so candidly, 'never again' does mean just that.

14 ) Chimo / USA
30/04/2014 09:42
Both "Sarah" and "Maureen" are 2 of the dumbest and most uneducated fools that post on Maan. Maureen, you are the epitome of a mindless drone who repeats the same lie over and over because you don't have brains to understand propaganda. Sarah is just another brainless minion who thinks she is actually saying something important. "Gassed' by IDF"? really? When?, where? Even Hamas has never made up lies like that Leave the U.S.A Sarah, go live in Gaza, or better yet, Syria. They'd love you there!

15 ) JoeFattal / USA
30/04/2014 20:30
@14) Palestinians are been gasses by the IDF. Tear gas when inhaling it in quantities especially if the person already have breathing problems can be fatal.
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