42 Comments

Lovely Mehdi, you are wonderful with all that you bring for us, great interview.

Thank you for your voice ❤️❤️❤️

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This gentleman really has all his marble and speaks volumes of truths. Very clear eyes on what Israel is doing and the hypocrisy of both the U.S. government and the Israelis. Amazing how Israel and a few other governments still have the ability to shut-up anybody criticizing the Zionists, even if they speak about peace for the Palestinians. This is seen as a crime against Israel and anti-Zionist and all that crap. That is all wearing very thin and no longer has an impact. You can call me anti-Zionist all you want and I wouldn't give a fig because I detest what they are doing. I applaud Rene Lichtman for telling it like it is.

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Amazing- “never again means never again for anyone” is not allowed! Our genocide tax buys only apartheid from the river to the sea.

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I don’t see how Israel is using the holocaust as justification since it wasn’t the Palestinians who perpetrated it and Germany has paid $92Bn in reparations to the survivors and their descendants and a billion dollars every year. That’s why they are wealthier than most people.

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I’ve seen interviews with Holocaust survivors in Israel who are living in extreme poverty. I believe what you’re saying, but I wonder who is receiving this money.

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Well, I just googled a few things and it looks like Germany has been giving the money to Israel and Israel is the one not distributing the money to the holocaust survivors. Also some holocaust survivors who didn’t get to Israel until after 1953 or not included agreement for reparations. so it seems Israel is behind the poverty of Holocaust survivors

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Not shocked in the least.

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Many Holocaust survivors came out of the war with nothing and are still impoverished today.

Part of the Claims Conference’s annual negotiations includes working with Germany to expand the number of people eligible for compensation.

Some of the 6,500 survivors who will start getting pensions now already received one-time payments in the past but that will not bar them from receiving the new benefits, the Claims Conference said.

Since 1952, the German government has paid about $90 billion to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. In 2021, the Claims Conference will distribute approximately $625 million in direct compensation to over 260,000 survivors in 83 countries and will allocate approximately $640 million in grants to over 300 social service agencies worldwide that provide services for Holocaust survivors.

For Revzina, another 375 euros a month will allow her to enjoy the small pleasures of life that she wasn’t able to afford.

“The pension is very helpful for me,” she said. “I like going to cafes. I can do that more often now.

You are right. This article definitely says some are living impoverished but I don’t understand what happened to $90Bn. It’s definitely worth looking into.

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I don’t know but this is from the state department

Its restitution measures range from compensating former owners and heirs for assets wrongfully seized during the Holocaust to making substantial financial contributions to victims’ funds and survivors’ pensions. From 1945 to 2018, the German government paid approximately $86.8 billion in restitution and compensation to Holocaust victims and their heirs. Germany has also identified Nazi-looted objects – including art works, books, and objects within larger collections – and has returned 16,000 objects to survivors and their heirs over the last 20 years.

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I’m saying $92Bn because they are getting money every year. This year it’s 1.4 billion dollars. I’m assuming it’s been a billion every year but I could be wrong about 2019-2023

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where do you get that number from? And who are these Jews that receive them and how did they receive them? as far as I can see on Wikipedia, $714 million was paid to Israel for infrastructure after the war.

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Wikipedia doesn’t have all the truth about anything. From the United States department at state.gov it says. From 1945 to 2018, the German government paid approximately $86.8 billion in restitution and compensation to Holocaust victims and their heirs.

And they give a billion every year. So $86Bn plus 6 years is $92Bn. Wikipedia is not the place to get all the facts from. You need to research facts far beyond Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a source of information from all sorts of people who can and do edit each other’s articles.

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What a wonderful human being! Thank you for bringing on the broadcast. What a sad world we live when this is not a person whom the world is listening to, does not get the biggest platform possible but instead is being a canceled as a speaker at a Holocaust memorial?

"Never again for anyone" should be the most basic statement in this world...

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Yes. "Never Again" must include Palestinians.

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IS President Biden a "War Profiteer"? And why can;t we talk about that?

I deffinately don't want Trump to win, but we are in deep trouble (undoubtedly true in any case)

if our only choice is somelone who profits from arms sales/gifts to Israel!!

(Mehdi - THANKS for all 8your great work!

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founding

Br. Media, you're an absolute delight to listen to. Thank you!

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Thanks so much for airing this. Rene Lichtman speaks the truth, so I'm not surprised he has been ostracized. Apparently, that is the reality in today's America: dare to speak the truth and you will become a pariah. Both the US and Israel are in desperate political condition, and it's not clear if democracy will survive in either country.

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The Western and American mainstream media will never allow Rene Lichtman the chance to debunk the cynical use of the Holocaust to justify the ongoing Genocide in Gaza. To disallow a Holocaust survivor to speak about the Holocaust and Holocaust-like issues of today is an indictment of their Hypocrisy and zionist double-speak.

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Now this octogenarian has my utmost respect 🙏

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Very interesting interview. I'm still at a loss why being pro-Israel translates into being so rabid, vicious, and blind. People being fired, beaten, arrested, cancelled, ostracized, vilified. WTF

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It is unfortunate that almost a century after the Holocaust, some Jewish people seem unable to get past it. Had this been the case throughout history, humankind would still be living in caves!

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Deena, this is not an appropriate comment. “Getting past it“ is not the solution. We should never forget so that we never repeat. Also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed the uptick in hate crimes against Jews in America. Especially the ones that stand with the Palestinians, not Hamas, mind you, but the people.

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It is sad but predictable that any horrific conflict encourages the demonization of one side over the other. These are the predictable fruits of war. Many people won’t differentiate between governments and people. The hatred goes on. It is necessary but not enough to just stop fighting. Because then it just goes underground and regurgitates again and again. Neo-nazis want another Reich with a master race in charge, white nationalists in the US look for a second chance to overcome their civil war loss. The seeds of revenge have been abundantly sown in Palestine while “killing them first before they kill us” mentality prevails in Israel. Behind it all are money, power and military arms. We need some true leadership and out of the box thinking before the world is destroyed.

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Well said. We have to keep fighting for the future we want to see. I wish all citizens would stand and fight, before it’s too late.

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Absolutely never forget especially the natives and blacks. The Jews received $92Bn in reparations from Germany since 1945 and continue to get a billion dollars every year

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History is a series of revenges, with the 20th century UN an endeavor to get past that behavior.

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Still everyone needs to know that Germany has paid reparations to the Jewish survivors and descendants in the amount of $92Bn since 1945 and continues to give a billion dollars every year

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Is that 'ad vitam eternam' (for Germany...)?'

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Holocaust Survivors Will Continue to Receive Additional One-Time Payments from the German Government Until 2027 As a Result of Claims Conference Negotiations

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"Additional"? or "one-time"?

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Revenge begets revenge.....

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Especially when they received reparations from Germany in the amount of $92Bn since 1945 and a billion every year

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So Rene Lichtman has done what we are supposed to do, which is use history to inform our contemporary situation and the Holocaust Museum removed him... that museum has forfeited its right to be an institution of open-ended inquiry. It is now just a propaganda institution, telling the story of the Holocaust to justify the violence of a foreign ethno-nationalist nation-state

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I have deep respect for Rene and the principled stance. However, I disagree with the statement about Israel previously having a moral compass. Ethnic cleansing and propaganda propelled Israel into existence and have continued on since then.

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