Water skiing at Club Med was highlighted in this 1950s’ poster.

DANNY GOCS

CLUB Med had its beginnings 60 years ago when Gerard Blitz, a Belgian-Jewish water-polo player, came up with the idea of providing Europeans with inexpensive, bohemian vacations in the Mediterranean sunshine.

Blitz proposed that guests would eat meals at tables of eight to break down social barriers, and everyone would be addressed by their first names.

Holiday-makers were expected to help staff with the cooking and washing up. There was no need for money as everything was included in the holiday price. The only additional expense was alcohol, which was paid for with beads bought on arrival and kept on a necklace.

But first Blitz needed tents and beds for the holiday site he had located at Alcudia, situated on a deserted beach on the Spanish island of Majorca. So he turned to Gilbert Trigano, a Jewish friend from his years in the French Resistance during World War II.

Trigano’s father had a business renting out used US army tents and camping equipment, and agreed to supply all the requirements for the holiday camp.

The “village” at Alcudia opened in June 1950 and, over the summer, 2300 people attended the camps – they were so popular that almost 10,000 potential guests were turned away.
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The iconic sign over the entrance to Auschwitz. Photo: AJN file

AHRON SHAPIRO

AS dawn broke on the morning of December 18 at the entrance to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum in southern Poland, it became apparent that something was very wrong.

A sign was missing. Not just any sign –- that sign. The iconic sign that hung over the entrance, that read “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work makes you free), a lie that came to symbolise the Nazi treachery and deceit that helped facilitate their campaign of genocide against the Jewish people.

As the sun rose over Auschwitz, so began a massive two-day manhunt that spread throughout Poland and beyond. For a time, the death camp, together with Holocaust survivors everywhere, was thrust back into the international spotlight.

Then, almost as quickly as it began, it was all over. The artefact was recovered, albeit in three pieces. Police arrested five Poles. The brazen theft, police said, was orchestrated by a Swedish neo-Nazi, who they believed intended to sell the sign to a collector for millions of dollars.
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The late Yasser Arafat (left) with current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Photo: AJN file

AHRON SHAPIRO

IN Ramallah earlier this month, thousands of Palestinians rallied at the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in observance of the fifth anniversary of his death.

Amid the backdrop of the political troubles of his successor -– Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas -– the nationalistic spectacle raised the issue of leadership: Where are the Palestinian people today? Where are they going, and are they better off now than they were under Arafat, a figure who personified Palestinian national aspirations for nearly four decades?

Focusing solely on his post-Oslo era of leadership over the PA, Arafat was not a very good public servant by any measure. He was corrupt. He incited his people. He was a master at speaking out of both sides of his mouth – talking the language of peace to English audiences, while calling for jihad in Arabic.

He was accused of doing little to improve the lives of ordinary Palestinians, while he lived in palatial luxury on siphoned funds. He could be brutal with his internal adversaries, and kept a firm rein on power through a policy of intimidation and fear.
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Photo: AJN file

AMNON MERANDA

JERUSALEM - The Knesset plenum convened for a special session commemorating the 14th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Thursday.

“The secret to Rabin’s charm, for me, was the fact that he was first and foremost a patriot,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said as he took the podium. “That fateful night saw a heinous killer point a gun at Rabin’s bare back and a patriot taken down by a murderer who fired a bullet at the heart of the nation.

“In every one of the positions he held in life, from the young warrior fighting for the country, to the premiership, he made decisions he thought would be in the public’s interest,” said the PM.

“We did not always see eye to eye, but even when we profoundly disagreed I always had the greatest respect for him because I knew that his decisions stemmed from what he believed was best for the country… still, even today, there are some who refuse to accept democratic choices and the preeminence of the law.

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BOBBA RHONA

WE had a wonderful simcha in our family over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend with my parents celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary — they have been married for 60 years. You notice I did not say “happily married” because, as with most marriages, theirs has seen its ups and downs, but today they are devoted to each other.

We were very lucky as the actual date fell on the Sunday so my sister very graciously offered her home and we had a family afternoon tea. My parents were surrounded by their children, grandchildren and one great-grandchild who made a surprise visit from Sydney. The other two great-grandsons and their parents living in England sent their greetings on a DVD. Read the full story