David Littman

David Gerald Littman (born July 4, 1933 in London , † May 20, 2012 ) was a British historian, human rights activist and lobbyist at the United Nations . He became known through a rescue operation in 1961 for around 530 Jewish children from Morocco to Israel (Operation Mural). He was also a representative of the World Union for Progressive Judaism at the UN Human Rights Commission .

biography

David Littman was born in London on July 4, 1933. He studied modern history and political science at Trinity College Dublin , graduating with bachelor's and master's degrees. He then studied at the Institute of Archeology at the University of London (with Kathleen Kenyon and Max Mallowan, among others ). In 1959 he married Gisèle Orebi, a Jew who had fled Egypt and who later became known as a critic of Islam under the pseudonym Bat Yeʾor . The following year he emigrated with her to Switzerland , where he spent the rest of his life. The couple had three children. He continued his studies from 1961 to 1963 at the University of Geneva . He also worked as one of four managing directors for his family's company. Littman died in Switzerland in 2012.

Operation Mural

The Islamic Kingdom of Morocco has after its independence from France , the emigration of Jews in 1956 ( Alija ) after Israel banned. The Israeli secret service Mossad carried out the covert "Operation Mural" to the smuggling of around 530 Jewish children under the pretext that they were going to Switzerland for a vacation. David Littman and his wife Gisèle headed the office of the Swiss aid organization Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants de l'Afrique du Nord (OSEAN; German: "Aid for Children from North Africa") in Casablanca in 1961 and assumed that they were for the state Israeli Jewish Agency immigration authorities were active (the Mossad only admitted to the action years later). They pretended to be Anglican Christians and officially offered the holiday camp in Switzerland for children of all denominations. Without the knowledge of the Littmanns, two Mossad agents persuaded Jewish parents to contact the OSEAN office to have their children brought to Israel. After months of negotiations with Moroccan authorities, the children were allowed to leave in five groups, the last of which was accompanied by Littman and his wife. The children were then able to emigrate from Switzerland to Israel.

Political and humanitarian engagement

Littman founded the Center d'Information et de Documentation sur le Moyen-Orient (CID; Information and Documentation Center on the Middle East) in Geneva in 1970 with his wife and other colleagues . From 1986 to 1991 he represented the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) at the UN Human Rights Commission (UNCHR) in Geneva. In 1987 the speech he made possible for Natan Sharanski to the UN Human Rights Commission on the emigration ban of Soviet Jews led to a scandal. The Soviet delegation left the meeting in protest.

From 1997 he was accredited as a representative of the Association for World Education (AWE) founded by René Wadlow at the UN Human Rights Commission, and from 2001 again for the WUPJ. In March 1997, he protested sharply against allegations by the Palestinian Authority that Israel was deliberately infecting Palestinians with AIDS . In connection with the World Conference Against Racism in Durban 2001, at which Israel was accused of racist actions against the Palestinians, Littman organized a parallel event on Racism: Antisemitism / anti-Zionism and Genocidal Hate . Littman also organized parallel events to the UNCHR meetings in 2004 and 2005, the focus of which was on critical considerations of hatred of Jews and “jihad ideology”. On June 16, 2008, Littman gave a presentation to the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation and violence against women in Islamic countries. The chairman, Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi , broke off this at the request of delegates from the Organization for Islamic Cooperation , as no religious questions were allowed to be discussed.

Publications (selection)

• Arab Theologians on Jews and Israel (edited by "DF Green" - joint pseudonym of Littman and Yehoshafat Harkabi). Editions de l'Avenir, Geneva 1971.
• Mission to Morocco (1863-1864). In: Sonia and VD Lipman (eds.): The Century of Moses Montefiore Montefiore. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1985, pp. 171-229.
• Human Rights and Human Wrongs at the United Nations. In: Robert Spencer (Ed.): The Myth of Islamic Tolerance. How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims. Prometheus Books, Amherst (NY) 2005, pp. 305-472.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Bat Yeʾor: David G. Littman. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 23, 2007 ; accessed on January 4, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Yair Sheleg: Code name: Operation Mural. In: Haaretz , December 17, 2007 (web archive of November 15, 2010).
3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Urie Heilman: UN won't counter Palestinian AIDS allegation. In: Jerusalem Post . April 11, 1997, accessed on January 19, 2014 (abstract. Full text is chargeable). 
5. ^ Austin Dacey: De vrijheidsmisvatting. In: Trouw , November 29, 2008.