ZGram - 1/13/2003 - "Americans should ask themselves: Does the Holocaust belong in the Space Program?"

irimland@zundelsite.org irimland@zundelsite.org
Mon, 13 Jan 2003 19:53:14 -0800


ZGram  - Where Truth is Destiny

January 13, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

"I find it tacky for Ramon to use the US Space Shuttle as a platform 
for Israeli propagandizing," writes Michael Rivera of 
Whatreallyhappened.com.  "You don't see black astronauts 
grandstanding about slavery during their flights, do you?"

I second that.  One of the many reasons there is generalized 
revulsion in the world about incessant Holocaust propaganda is that 
these people are absolutely shameless in their pushiness!

Read this:

[START]

Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon will carry Holocaust art into space
By Reuters

CAPE CANAVERAL - When Israel's first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, 
lifts off for space aboard the U.S. space shuttle Columbia on 
Thursday, he will carry a pencil sketch of Earth, as seen from the 
moon, drawn by a 14-year old boy who died in the Holocaust.

Ramon, whose mother survived Auschwitz, the same Nazi concentration 
camp where the young artist, Petr Ginz of Prague, was killed in 1944, 
sees his flight as the fulfillment of many people's dreams.

"I know my flight is very symbolic for the people of Israel, 
especially the survivors, the Holocaust survivors," said Ramon. 
"Because I was born in Israel, many people will see this as a dream 
that is come true."

Ramon and six U.S. astronauts will be under heavy guard until 
liftoff. The launch time will not be announced until Wednesday as an 
additional security measure.

Ramon began training for this 16-day science flight almost three 
years ago, when prospects of Middle East peace seemed much brighter. 
Despite the collapse of peace talks and the escalation of violence, 
48-year-old Ramon, an Air Force colonel, is still optimistic about 
the meaning of his flight.

"There is no better place to emphasize the unity of people in the 
world than flying in space. We are all the same people, we are all 
human beings, and I believe that most of us, almost all of us, are 
good people," he said.

Ramon is the first Israeli astronaut but will not be the first Jew in 
space. That was Judith Resnick, who later died aboard the Challenger, 
but made her first flight in 1984. Other American Jews have flown 
since them, some making small commemorations of their heritage while 
in orbit.

Ramon is garnering far more attention as an Israeli and the son of a 
Holocaust survivor.

Although he is not religious, he asked to take the first Kosher food 
into space - NASA found an Illinois company that vacuum packs Kosher 
products for hikers and campers - and he will also observe the Jewish 
Sabbath with ritual prayer, if time permits.

A debate has arisen among some rabbis over just how to mark the 
Sabbath in space, since astronauts, speeding around the planet at 
five miles (8.047 km) per second, see the sun set every 90 minutes, 
marking the start of another day, according to Jewish traditions.

By that reckoning there would be at least two Sabbaths in every 24-hour period.

Ramon is expected to rely on Mission Control's clock.

Security is the real concern for Ramon's flight, however.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks on America, Cape Canaveral has bristled 
with warships, fighter jets, missile launchers and commandos for 
every shuttle launch. Small aircraft that wander into a vast no-fly 
zone around the launch pad are quickly intercepted by F-15s.

Though no specific threat has emerged against Ramon or the shuttle 
mission, NASA acknowledges that an Israeli astronaut sitting on a 
U.S. shuttle loaded with 500,000 gallons (2.273 million liters) of 
rocket fuel could make a target.

"I think that NASA security is doing everything needed. I feel great, 
I think everyone feels safe," said Ramon.

[END]

( Source: 
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=251219&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y 
)