Let's Hear it for the Haiders
By Akiva Eldar
Haaretz
October 30th, 2006

The prevalent comparison between Avigdor Lieberman and Joerg Haider does an injustice to the Austrian nationalist whose party joined the government in the winter of 2000. Haider is far from being a righteous man, but even in his most fascist days, he never called on Austria to rid itself of citizens who'd been living in the country for generations. Also, Haider never suggested standing up legislators representing these citizens in front of a firing squad. Natan Meron, at the time Israel's ambassador to Austria, noted that once the leader of the Freedom Party joined politics, he never uttered a single anti-Semitic statement. Meron emphasized that the leader of the Freedom Party "does not threaten the Jews."

With the entry of his party into the coalition, Haider signed a declaration promising to abide by the European principles of democracy and human rights, and to protect the rights of minorities. Prior to that, he apologized to the Jewish people for his statements that downplayed the Nazi horrors.

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From Massacre to Lieberman
By Tamar Gosanzky
Yediot Ahronot
October 30th, 2006

For the sake of the young generation and for those who forgot: On October 29, 1956 a group of 11 Border Guard police officers shot to death 49 Arab citizens, including women and children, and wounded 13 at the outskirts of Kfar Qassem.

On government orders, the IDF censor banned the publication of any details regarding the massacre, but after former Knesset Members Tawfiq Tubi and Meir Vilner visited Kfar Qassam, which was facing a curfew, the facts came to light and public pressure built up.

The police officers who committed the murder as well as Colonel Isachar Shadmi, the brigade commander in the region who ordered the killing of civilians, faced a military tribunal.

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