Jews, Tutsis unite around genocide

paris (jta) | Jews and Tutsis joined together in Paris for the opening of a Jewish organization’s photo exhibit marking the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.

The exhibition, titled “The Wounds of Silence,” is being held at the Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center, created at the height of the Nazi occupation of France to preserve records of Jewish life.

Both Holocaust survivors and Tutsis who escaped the 1994 killings by Hutu militias gave moving testimonies at the Thursday, April 8, ceremony. The exhibition runs until May 14.

More appeals OK in Nazi case

toronto (jta) | The Canadian government will be allowed to appeal a ruling in the case of a man whose citizenship was stripped for his World War II activities.

The government will be allowed to challenge a ruling that gave Helmut Oberlander, 80, the right to appeal his pending deportation.

Oberlander was stripped of his citizenship after a court found he lied about his service as an interpreter for a Nazi death squad when he immigrated to Canada in 1954.

Next year in Kabul for last two Jews

kabul (jta) | Afghanistan’s last two Jews celebrated Passover — separately. Yitzhak Levy and Zevulun Siman-Tov inhabit the same building in the Afghani capital of Kabul but are barely on speaking terms.

Both Siman-Tov, 50, and Levy, 73, have large families in Israel but do not intend to make aliyah.

“Levy and Siman-Tov do not want to immigrate to Israel because neither wants the other to become the last Jew in Afghanistan,” an acquaintance of the two men told the Israeli daily Ma’ariv.

Libya makes overture on compensation

tripoli (jta) | Libyan Jews are entitled to compensation for lost property, Moammar Kadhafy’s son said.

The comments by Saif Al-Islam Kadhafy came after several recent overtures from the Libyan regime toward Israel and the international Jewish community.

In his comments this week, Kadhafy also invited Libyan Jews to return to Libya and leave their Israeli homes to the Palestinians.

But Kadhafy said Libya would no longer be involved in Middle Eastern politics. “If interested parties have decided to cease the war against Israel, why should we go on with it? Should we be holier than the pope?” he asked.

Canada plans fight against hate crimes

toronto (jta) | Canada is finalizing a plan aimed at combating racism and hate crimes.

The government plan comes after the firebombing of a Jewish school in Montreal and a recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents in Toronto.

Now in the final stages of Cabinet approval, the plan encourages law enforcement agencies to establish dedicated hate-crime units and provides new funding for crime-prevention programs aimed at reducing racist acts. It also proposes a national advertising campaign to make Canadians more aware of the dangers of racial hatred.

Azerbaijan scales back Passover

baku (jta) | The Jewish community in Baku, Azerbaijan, downsized its Passover celebration after threats. Jewish organizations in Azerbaijan received unsigned letters threatening to avenge the death of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, leaders of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Former Soviet Union said.

Only 250 Jews showed up for a community seder this week in Baku, instead of the expected 1,000.

Controversial film on Israel wins prize

london (jta) | A BBC documentary that prompted Israel to briefly cut ties with the broadcaster won a prestigious U.S. journalism prize.

“Israel’s Secret Weapon” won a Peabody Award. When it was broadcast in Israel last year, the head of Israel’s government press office, Danny Seaman, said the film contained “ridiculous false assertions.”

The University of Georgia, which hands out Peabody Awards, called the documentary on Israel’s alleged nonconventional weapons an “important program” that “contributes vital information to the ongoing exploration of a crucial issue in international relations.”

The awards will be presented May 17.