In Poland lamp of Jewish culture shines anew
The News Review:
- In Poland lamp of Jewish culture shines anew
- … birthplace: Shipyard that symbolizes one of Poland’s…
- MEPs overstep Poland in campaign against death penalty
- Poland’s showcase of communism becomes offbeat tourist draw
- History weighs on German-Polish links
- Volleyball: ITALY CELEBRATE FIRST INDESIT EURPEAN CHAMPINSHIP TITLE
- The Peninsula n-line: Qatar’s leading English Daily
In Poland lamp of Jewish culture shines anew
Boston Globe – Sep 30, 2007
An estimated 70 percent of Jews of European ancestry – and two-thirds of Jews in the United States – can trace their origins to Poland. Now Poland’s small but growing Jewish community while remembering the tragedy of the Holocaust is trying to get both their fellow Poles and the world to think not just of death but of life. Groundbreaking on a new Jewish museum here took place in June. By not focusing on the Holocaust and Nazi persecution organizers hope the museum will foster remembrance and celebration of Jewish life in Poland before the war a subject that many even inside the country know little about.
… birthplace: Shipyard that symbolizes one of Poland’s…
Free with registration – Chicago Tribune – AccessMyLibrary.com – Sep 30, 2007
The European Union is pressuring the Polish government to shut it down. The EU complains that the subsidies that are used to keep the state-owned shipyard afloat violate Brussels’ competition guidelines. It has threatened to cut off its own subsidies to Poland unless the shipyard closes two of its three surviving. CPYRIGHT 2007 Chicago Tribune.
MEPs overstep Poland in campaign against death penalty
New Europe – Sep 30, 2007
Members of the European Parliament supported a Councilbacked resolution calling for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty to be presented at the current 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and overwhelmingly voted in favour 504-45 to establish a European Day against the Death Penalty. Europe has always been the forerunner in campaigning against executions. The “EU is on the frontline amongst abolitionists throughout the world” Secretary of State for European Affairs Manuel Lobo Antunes said. He was in Strasbourg representing the Council Presidency of Portugal the first EU country to abolish the death penalty.
Poland’s showcase of communism becomes offbeat tourist draw
South Asian Women's Forum – Sep 30, 2007
Nowa Huta is a mostly working class community on the edge of Krakow in southern Poland and home to 200000 people — a large slice of the overall population of 780000. It is only a short ride from the spires and tourist-trap cafes of Krakow’s picturesque ld Town. But with its grid of streets lined with Stalinist concrete buildings fronted by neo-classical colonnades it might as well be on another planet. Even its name is a turn-off for potential visitors: Nowa Huta means “New Steel Mill” in honour of the vast complex which was long its raison d’etre… Wiktor Bruchal 21 who was born in Nowa Huta and who had only joined the company the day before added: “Architects come here because they study this but not so many ordinary tourists. They don’t know what they’re missing!”"This is a relic of the communist period. You won’t see anything like it in Poland” he said. Tour participants were treated to lunch in a local restaurant called the Stylowa — which is only “stylish” if you are a fan of unchanged 1960s vinyl decor — as the waitresses slapped down plates of ravioli-like cheese pierogis which were often the only thing on the menu as shortages struck during the dying days of the old regime. “You get what they have just like in communist times” said Nowak. Later after a walking tour taking in the old Lenin Square — today named after Ronald Reagan — the visitors headed to an apartment which has remained stuck in the communist period with its linoleum floor cream-yellow-brown wallpaper and cough-inducing Eastern bloc cigarettes. There Staszek Cempa a former steelworker who has lived in the area for 30 years recounts beatings and repression faced by strikers who turned Nowa Huta into a symbol of resistance to the regime in the 1980s.
History weighs on German-Polish links
Kuwait Times – Sep 30, 2007
In the view of Kai-laf Lang who observes Eastern Europe for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs the German government will be hoping for a victory by Donald Tusk’s liberal- conservative Civic Platform (P). If Tusk can form a new government independently of current Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) that would be a bonus. The German government would want a government in Poland interested in setting up a constructive German-Polish agenda within the European Union a government not focused on historical questions” Lang says. He notes the difficulties facing German government officials. “The official position will have to be very cautious in the weeks ahead because every comment could be used as ammunition in the campaign. German-Polish relations have been bedeviled by issues like relative weight in EU voting by plans to build a gas pipeline under the Baltic from Russia directly to Germany thus circumventing Poland and by the activities of ethnic Germans expelled from eastern Europe at the end of World War II. These concerns run across Polish society but Lang believes there will nevertheless be an important change once the PiS ceases to dominate Polish politics… She added emphatically that the German government would not be drawn into the looming Polish election campaign. That was in line with what Lang calls Germany’s “teflon policy” vis-a-vis Poland. After the 2005 elections in Poland the Germans responded to provocation from Warsaw by saying repeatedly they were ready to cooperate with the Polish government” even though there was increasing frustration he says. Despite the sour atmosphere between the politicians Lang sees a different picture in wider society. “The perception among ordinary Poles of Germany is quite positive. Germany is the most important economic partner and the most important political partner in Europe” he says. It is even seen as a military partner after the United States and Britain.
Volleyball: ITALY CELEBRATE FIRST INDESIT EURPEAN CHAMPINSHIP TITLE
volleyballer.de – Sep 30, 2007
Aguero fired from the left before Lo Bianco brought up match point for Italy with a block kill at 24-21. Serbia looked to Ivana Isailovic to get them out of trouble but she sliced her serve two centimeters too long causing a cheer of relief and happiness amongst the faithful Italian fans. World champion Russia started and finished strongly to beat Poland 3:1 and win the bronze medal at the 2007 Women’s Indesit European Championship on Sunday. The Poles took the first set 25-17 but Russia fought back in spectacular style to win the next three 25-22 25-14 25-20. n their second match point Ekaterina Gamova finished the match 25-20 to spark wild Russian celebrations at “Le Coque” in Luxembourg. Poland won the first set 25-21 as the Russian attack failed to spark. The Russian relied heavily perhaps too much in fact on Ekaterina Gamova and the Polish block responded accordingly… The Poles took the first set 25-17 but Russia fought back in spectacular style to win the next three 25-22 25-14 25-20. n their second match point Ekaterina Gamova finished the match 25-20 to spark wild Russian celebrations at “Le Coque” in Luxembourg. Poland won the first set 25-21 as the Russian attack failed to spark. The Russian relied heavily perhaps too much in fact on Ekaterina Gamova and the Polish block responded accordingly. Katarzyna Skowronska on the right wing was crying out for more action and she sent some sizzling winners across court when given the chance. Poland though looked slightly slicker in all departments. Malgorzata Glinka who has had an excellent tournament for the Poles scored an important point on the left to force a Russian time-out when they fell behind 21-23.
The Peninsula n-line: Qatar’s leading English Daily
Peninsula n-line – Sep 30, 2007
The government’s deeply Catholic leaders had already blocked similar EU moves to designate an anti-capital punishment day insisting that right-to-life issues like abortion should be similarly marked. Most European countries have either abolished the death penalty or no longer apply it but the Polish prime minister and president have in the past voiced regret about the demise of capital punishment. “Poland is a tremendous country with tremendous people but sadly a very poor government” said Martin Schulz a German lawmaker who is head of the European Parliament’s Socialist group. Schulz who has faced Polish calls for his sacking because of his anti-Kaczynski stance questioned how many more times other European nations would put up with the antics of Poland’s government. Even if the European leaders usually avoid hard-hitting public swipes with the Kaczynskis top officials across the continent regularly say they are exasperated by Warsaw. Stephen Bastos a researcher at the German think tank DGAP said the root of the problem is that “mentally the Kaczynski brothers still haven’t joined the EU” even though Poland became a member in 2004. “They don’t see the union as being part of themselves but as a potential adversary… It is up to governments to make formal invitations to observers but the SCE sometimes prods countries to take action and did so with Poland. Fotyga said the SCE was “out of line”. Warsaw has responded that Poland has been respecting democratic principles since the fall of communism in 1989 and would not be treated like a “Third World country. ” SCE officials have denounced Poland’s “unprecedented” stance. The Polish government has indicated it may give ground as long as the SCE eats humble pie and rewords its original “clumsily phrased” request. Besides sparring with the Council of Europe and SCE Warsaw has also in recent weeks returned to the more familiar battleground of the EU refusing to respect a temporary ban on fishing for cod in the Baltic Sea which Brussels says it essential to help protect threatened stocks. bservers suggest that Warsaw’s current tactics are largely meant to portray a tough image ahead of next month’s elections which were called two years early in a risky move by the Kaczynskis to try to increase the clout of their Law and Justice party after the collapse of the coalition which it headed.
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