Holocaust survivor speaks out for the Palestinians

bristol | peace | event notice Monday October 06, 2008 23:36 by Ed Hill - Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign Bristol.Nakba60 at yahoo dot co dot uk

Public Meeting Thursday 16th October 7.30pm at Broadmead Baptist Church (opp Office Shoes), Unity Street, Broadmead, BRISTOL

84 year old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein will be visiting Bristol on Thursday the 16th October. She will speak at a public meeting as part of a UK speaking-tour.

Hedy was born to a Jewish family in Freiburg, Germany, and in 1939 fled Nazi persecution via the Kindertransport to England. All but two of her family were killed at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.

She says "I was never in a camp, because of my parent's sacrifice of getting me out, so I never had the worst kind of experience that survivors have had - but I know what it's like to be discriminated against and Hitler's murderous intentions. And because I know what it's like, I feel I have a duty and a responsibility to fight the injustices that happen to other people.”

Hedy, who now lives in the States, began speaking to audiences in 1970. Her topics included her Nazi Holocaust experiences and her work at the Nuremberg Medical Trial. In 2003 she travelled to Palestine and has visited several times since. She has spoken out publicly many times on the theme of Israeli oppression of the Palestinians and the need for collective action.

She says “I can't do everything, and there are problems all over the world. But I decided that the Israeli government's treatment of the Palestinian people is an issue I am going to protest against. I will try to do whatever I can. Israel would not be able to carry out its crimes against humanity without the United States, the world, permitting it to do so and the mass media, which, with few exceptions, dehumanises Palestinians and instills fear, ignorance and loathing of them and their culture.”

Hedy will have a lot to talk about. Earlier this year she was aboard the boats carrying vital medicines and food which broke the siege of Gaza. During her visit, she and former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s sister-in-law accompanied fishing boats that were machine-gunned inside the Gaza territorial waters by the Israeli navy.

The public meeting will take place at Broadmead Baptist Church, Union Street, Bristol starting at 7.30pm.
As well as Hedy Epstein the evening will include reports from Bristol people who have also visited Palestine recently, as well as short films, discussion, and stalls of information and Palestinian produce. Admission is free. All welcome.

The meeting is organized by Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bristol-PSC/

Information on Hedy Epstein see www.hedyepstein.com
or www.afsc.org/ht/d/ContentDetails/i/3706

Background information on the boats that broke the siege of Gaza
see www.freegaza.org

Dramatic video footage of fishing boats being machine-gunned see http://speakingloudly.blogspot.com/
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTUYivihoTE

ENDS