Remembering the Nariman House victims

by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
February 4, 2009

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/173/remembering-the-nariman-house-victims

Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg [born 1979, raised in Brooklyn, New York] and his wife Rebbetzin Rivka Holtzberg [born 1980 in Afula, Israel], who was five months pregnant, were brutally killed by Islamist terrorists in Mumbai's Nariman House in November 2008. Others who were also brutally murdered by the Islamist millitants in Nariman House are, Bentzion Kruman, Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, Yoheved Orpaz and Norma Shvarzblat Rabinovich.

After the tragic incident, Chabad-Lubavitch - Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch released a statement stating, "Gabi and Rivky Holtzberg made the ultimate sacrifice. As emissaries to Mumbai, Gabi and Rivky gave up the comforts of the West in order to spread Jewish pride in a corner of the world that was a frequent stop for throngs of Israeli tourists. Their Chabad House was popular among the local community, as well as with visiting business people. For five years, they ran a synagogue and Torah classes, and helped people dealing with drug addiction and poverty. Their selfless love will live on with all the people they touched. We will continue the work they started."

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd told more than 1,000 people at a memorial service at the Yeshiva Center in New South Wales that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, had "devoted their lives to acts of goodness and kindness and compassion for others ... but they lost their lives in a senseless act of hatred. In the face of this terror we must not bow to fear. We must respond by spreading our own message of tolerance and respect for people of other backgrounds and other beliefs."

Federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. Consul-General Judith Fergin also spoke at the memorial service. A representative from the Indian Consulate was also present. In a speech to Federal Parliament, Michael Danby, a Jewish member of the ruling Labor Party, said it was important to remember the names of the innocent victims of Mumbai attacks, stating that "I raise my voice in this national parliament and praise the memory of those innocent kedoshim who were killed in the Chabad House in Mumbai only because they were Jews."

Israeli - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "this terrible sight of Chabad House leaders wrapped in prayer shawls is shocking. These are pictures that bring us back to the moments in history which we had hoped would never return. It seems that hatred of Jews and Israelis provides motivation for such murderous acts.

"...Last week was marked by among the most serious terrorist attacks India has ever known in Mumbai and which were the product of extremist Islam – brutal and unrestrained, which tries to sow death and destruction wherever it can. There is no doubt that these attacks were designed, inter alia, to intentionally harm Jewish institutions. The hatred of Jews, the state of Israel, and Jewish symbols is still a factor that spurs and encourages such murderous acts."

Foreign Minister and Acting Prime Minister Tzipi Livni said: "The fact that the assault happened at a Chabad House symbolizes more than anything the fact that this assault targeted Jews, Israelis. Israel, India and the rest of the free world are positioned in the forefront of the battle against terrorism and extremists."

The Mumbai Massacre took place at Nariman House, Taj Hotel and Oberoi Hotel, where Islamist militants ruthlessly killed innocent people, which surely is a result of religious hatred and intolerance.

The choice of Nariman House as a target also signals the international nature of this terrorist attack. India has never had any significant anti-Semitic feelings, or attacks against Jews. That may be in part due to the small numbers of the Jewish community—-there are only 15,000 Jews in India, which is less than 0.0005% of the population. Like another small minority, the Parsis, a lot of Jews have lived in Mumbai for long—-the earliest Jews came to India more than 2000 years ago and the most recent immigration came from Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan about 250 years ago.

A majority of the community is very successful and integrated into the mainstream. One the most well known personalities from the small community, is retired general JFR Jacob who was a senior army officer before becoming governor after retirement.

Notoriety in Mumbai leaves a very strong signal to the entire world that, it is high time in raising voice against religious fanatism and extremism. It is high time to end all forms of anti-Semitic notions in the entire world, especially in the Mulsim nations.

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