Leading Arab American Academic Adds Voice To Growing Condemnations Of British Academic Boycott Of Israeli Universities
Leading Arab American Academic Adds Voice To Growing CondemnationsOf British Academic Boycott Of Israeli Universities
“Meeting was dedicated to the memory of assassinated AMIA Prosecutor AlbertoNisman”
On the 24th anniversary of the AMIA Buenos Aires Jewish Centre bombing that left 85 dead and over 300 wounded, officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in theUnited Kingdom were hosted by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) at a Parliamentary event, entitled “In the Shadow of the AMIA Bombing: Global Terror and the ThreatToday.” 
(Pictured left to right: Tom Wilson, Anita Weinstein, Shimon Samuels, Lord Trimble, ArgentineAmbassador Sersale, Ariel Gelblung, Michael Caplan and Dana Erlich)
Chaired by Lord Trimble, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for crafting the Northern Ireland “Good Friday Agreement,” the meeting wasopened by Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, and dedicated to “the memory of its 86thvictim, AMIA Prosecutor Alberto Nisman.”
He stressed that “the meeting’s objective was to examine the application of the pending INTERPOL ‘Red Notice’ arrestwarrants, or under universal jurisdiction, for the detention and extradition to Argentina of the Iranian perpetrators.” Samuels read two messages of support from the current President ofAMIA, Agustin Zbar, and Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General, Luis Almagro.
H. E. Renato Carlos Sersale di Cerisano, Argentine Ambassador to the United Kingdom read a message from his ForeignMinister, Jorge Faurie. "Together with the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in 1992, these two attacks constitute the two major acts of international terrorism perpetrated in our country'shistory... The Argentine Government is fully committed to seeking justice on behalf of the victims.... to ensure that all those involved in the attack are brought before the Argentinecourts..."
Israeli Embassy Counsellor, Dana Erlich, of Argentine descent, also spoke of the Israeli Embassy bombing in Buenos Airesin which she had lost friends.
AMIA bombing survivor, Anita Weinstein, had come to London to present a moving testimony: "I was preparing the 100thanniversary of AMIA at the back of the building, when the explosion left me on an open ledge above the carnage below... I had become the target of hate, I, the daughter of Holocaustsurvivors."
Tom Wilson, HJS Research Fellow on Radicalization and Terrorism, claimed that "Iranian state-sponsored terrorism isnot taken seriously in the UK, while British soldiers were killed with weapons provided by Iran in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Likewise, Al-Qaeda senior figures were sheltered in Iran, from wherethey guided lone-wolf, low-tech terror with stabbings and car rammings in the UK."
Dr. Ariel Gelblung, Advocate and Buenos Aires-based SWC-Latin America Representative, explained that "there are fourparallel legal cases in Argentina emanating from the AMIA bombing:
1) President Carlos Menem and former judge Galeano, among others, are subject to a trial for cover-up;
2) Former President Cristina Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, are subject to a trial following theirMemorandum of Understanding with Iran;
3) The case for murder of AMIA Prosecutor Alberto Nisman;
4) The reopened case against the five remaining Iranian suspects."
Michael Caplan QC, British expert on extradition and universal jurisdiction, argued that any of the Iranian suspects wereto land on British soil, in view of the INTERPOL Red Notice, must be stopped and detained. The Police would then inform Argentina, whereupon Buenos Aires would issue a request for arrest andextradition proceedings.
Samuels thanked all participants, hoping that “this meeting be a first step in the pursuit of justice and closure forthe families of terror victims and survivors of terror worldwide.”
He summarized: "I am confident that if the perpetrators were to arrive in the UK, they would be apprehended and anarrest warrant issued by an Argentine judge would serve as a catalyst for their extradition."
Pictured at a reception at the Argentine Ambassador’s residence following themeeting (L-R): Lord Trimble, Ariel Gelblung, Anita Weinstein, Michael Caplan, Argentine Ambassador Sersale, Tom Wilson, Graciela Vaserman Samuels, Shimon Samuels and MiguelAbadi