From Palestine to Virginia Tech

Every Friday, Palestinians, internationals, and Israeli nonviolent activists gather in the Southern villages of Bethlehem to protest against the building of the Apartheid Wall that will eventually destroy the livelihood of these villages. This Friday [April 20, 2007], the protest began with a silent procession by the group of about fifty participants. We carried banners and leaflets with the Virginia Tech logo and statements supporting them in this time of pain. Thirty two olive trees were also carried in the procession to remember each person killed in the massacre. The olive tree is a global symbol of peace and hope.

Once we reached the path created by the by the bulldozers for the building of the Apartheid Wall we dug the earth and plated the thirty two olive trees in a row - instead of building an ugly wall that divides people, let us plant trees that bring people together. Several of the participants made statements condemning the violence that we all, as the human family are witnessing and condemning the building of the Apartheid wall and the killing of innocents. Over 150 Israeli soldiers came to dismantle our protest. Our commitment to nonviolence and to achieve our goal completely paralyzed their weapons and their goals and eventually our power made them withdrawal.

--

Archived with permission.

Original Source: <a href="http://samiawad.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/">http://samiawad.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/</a>

Sami Awad (Text) and Muhamad Zboun - PNN (Photo)

2007-08-14

Brent Jesiek

Sami Awad (sami@holylandtrust.org)

eng

Tears, Pride for Holocaust Survivor, Virginia Tech Librescu At Israel Funeral

<b>By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency</b>

Jerusalem ----April 21...... "Daddy, tell me the story again," said the 6-year-old girl. "Tell me how he saved the big children."

It had been hours earlier in this pristine, palm tree lined Ra&#39;anana cemetery that hundreds stood mourning and praising Holocaust survivor and Virginia Tech hero for sacrificing his life so that his students would live.

"He was a good man," said Amanda. "Will he come back to life now?" she asked.

It was this young girl&#39;s first trip to a cemetery. I explained to her that in life we are born in hospitals, live our lives and then we are buried in cemeteries. "We will all be buried in a cemetery, but some people die from old age, others from diseases, but this man - he was a hero. He was buried here because he gave life to the big children in Virginia," I told her.

A link to exclusive <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi1GMAz7DSs">INA video of the Liviu Librescu funeral in Ra&#39;anana appears here</a>

I had promised my daughter when picking her up from her mother&#39;s home that we were going to visit a real hero.

Heroes come and go.

Moshe Dayan is credited for many acts of bravery, including opening up the City of Jerusalem with Yitzhak Rabin in 1967. David Ben-Gurion had the wisdom and leadership to win Israel&#39;s battle for independence, creating the modern Jewish state of Israel. But Dayan and Ben-Gurion, who became myths larger than life, had also been criticized. Ben-Gurion for attacking an Irgun ship - the Altalena and Dayan for stealing and selling archaeological treasures from Israel soil.

They had both been in the public spotlight for many years. Their achievements were many. Their faults were few but still they were mere mortals.

But Liviu Librescu was a hero with no baggage.

He had survived the Nazi holocaust, he had survived persecution in communist Romania. Only to find peace and tranquility teaching in the hills of Virginia - until last Monday.

In a remarkable act of sacrifice and bravery, the 75-year-old Israel professor and Holocaust survivor was murdered in the massacre at Virginia Tech on Holocaust Memorial Day, when he leaped between the crazed gunner and his students.

According to eye witnesses the heroic action of Liviu Librescu, a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, saved the lives of an unknown number of students in his class. Asael Arad, an Israeli Virginia Tech student told Israel Army Radio that "all the students lived - because of him."

The last person to see Professor Liviu Librescu alive appears to have been Alec Calhoun, a student at Virginia Tech who turned as he prepared to leap from a high classroom window to see the elderly academic holding shut the classroom door. The student jumped, and lived. Minutes later, the professor was shot dead.

The professor was popular among students and colleagues alike, and his ultimate sacrifice on Monday will cement that reputation.

The last stop on Cho Seung-Hui&#39;s killing spree was Librescu&#39;s classroom. The professor blocked the unlockable door with his body to hold out Cho while shouting for his students to escape through the classroom windows. Cho overpowered Librescu, pushed his way into the room and shot the professor in the head. All of his students survived.

Librescu&#39;s wife told the <i>NRG</i> Web site that her husband had loved his job with "all his heart and his soul."

Librescu was a gifted scientist in Romania, and the government tried to prevent him from moving to Israel. He was eventually allowed to leave the country after then Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin made a special appeal to President Nicolae Ceausescu, <i>Ynetnews</i> reported.

Librescu immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978 but moved to Virginia in 1986 for his sabbatical and had remained their ever since. The professor has two sons, one named Arieh who lives in Israel, and another, Joe, who resides in the US.

Librescu was described by his colleagues as a "true gentleman."

He was one of 33 people murdered in what has been described as the biggest single shooting attack in US history. They all had died in the rampage, including the gunman, 23-year-old student Cho Seung-Hui from South Korea, who committed suicide.

Cho, who had sent a package to NBC News between the first and second shooting attacks at Virginia Tech, stated in a manifesto that he hated rich people and warned that he would get even. These facts emerged from a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case.

Late Wednesday, MSNBC showed a photo from the package of Cho glaring at the camera, his arms outstretched with a gun in each hand. He wears a khaki-colored military-style vest, fingerless gloves and a backwards, black baseball cap.

Virginia Tech reported shootings on two sides of the 2,600-acre campus, the first at about 7:15 a.m. at a co-ed residential hall called West Ambler Johnston, and resuming about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

According to students, at around 7:15 a.m. the gunman appeared in West Ambler Johnston and began searching rooms for his ex-girlfriend. He killed two people, Ryan Clark, and a freshman identified by students as Emily Hilscher.

In the second attack, the gunman shot professors and students in classrooms and hallways of the engineering building, killing around 30 people.

The carnage ended Monday with the gunman shooting himself in the face.

Students complained that the university did not adequately warn them about the gunman until over two hours after the first incident and around the time that the second round of killings began. At that time, an e-mail was sent.

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger defended the university, saying authorities believed the shooting at the dorm was a domestic clash and an isolated incident. They also mistakenly thought the gunman had left the campus.

"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," Steger said.

He added, "We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You don&#39;t have hours to reflect on it."

Steger explained that it was difficult to inform everyone at Virginia Tech because there were thousands of people arriving to the campus on Monday morning.

As controversy continues to grow regarding the apparent lack of proper security response to the first shooting, and why with a shooting suspect loose, was there no shut down of the Virginia Tech campus, many have started to heal their wounds, leaving the anger stage and moving onto grief. Now focusing on the positive aspects of humanity, the acts of courage and bravery which occurred during this bloody massacre.

In his speech at the United State Holocaust Memorial, US President George W. Bush paid tribute to Liviu Librescu, the aeronautics engineering professor who died while trying to save students during the shooting spree at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

"That day we saw horror, but we also saw acts of quiet courage. We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. With the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety. On the Day of Remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others might live. And this morning we honor his memory, and we take strength from his example." President Bush said.

Liviu Librescu&#39;s body was transported to Israel last Wednesday, to be buried at the Kfar Nachman cemetery of the central Israel town of Ra&#39;anana.

Marilena, his wife, also flew also from New York Wednesday arrived in Tel Aviv Thursday, 37-year-old son Arieh told Deutsche Presse-Agentur in a telephone interview.

The funeral was attended by some 500 friends, family members, foreign diplomats and others who came to this Israel cemetery to pay their respects to this Jewish hero.

The funeral was to begin at 10 a.m. on a clear, sun drenched day.

Speaking at the ceremony, Librescu&#39;s son Joe wearing a ripped black shirt, reflected on the questions he had never asked his father. It is Jewish custom to rip a part of your clothes when mourning a relative.

"They&#39;re asking me today about your past, and I don&#39;t know what to tell them," he said. "I&#39;m proud of you. I walk today with my head held high."

"Sometimes I didn&#39;t hear you, but my ears are now wide open to your legacy," he went on. "I&#39;m doing my best, reaching to the moon - I know I can reach it because of you."

Librescu&#39;s wife, Marlena, had lost any remnants of composure. She spoke to her husband Liviu who was wrapped in a white and black prayer shawl according to Jewish tradition. "My sweetheart, I am in such pain. So much pain. I have lost not just a husband, but my best friend," she said.

"I was blessed to be with him each day for 42 years - to learn from his wisdom, to receive his advice - and I thank you for giving me our two children. I&#39;m now blessed to be with them," said Marlena.

"It&#39;s so painful for me to think of your last moments, in which you suffered. I&#39;ll never know what went through your mind, but I hope very much that wherever you are, you will watch over your family," Librescu&#39;s weeping wife, Marlena, said.

"I ask forgiveness from you for every time I upset you. I hope you will protect your family from where you reside now," she said, adding, "I have only the good left from you.... May it go easy for you, my sweetheart."

The professor&#39;s other son, Arie, said his father had "always said to be strong."

"Father, I believe that at this moment you&#39;re looking down on us from above and saying, what is all this crowing around? I only did what I had to do. From our childhood, you taught us to care for people, to work hard, to succeed, but you never taught us to be heroes. It is more theoretical a lesson than aerodynamics," he said. "A hero must have the right combination of certain attributes, and you had them."

According to Arie, his father "used every spare minute to do what he loved." Speaking of his father&#39;s teaching, Librescu said that "the courses in aerodynamics have ended. On the 16th of the month, you started a new career, teaching a new subject - heroism - which millions of students are learning."

Arie thanked family, friends and neighbors in Israel and around the world for all they had done for the family - and particularly for his mother - in their time of loss.

He added special thanks for "a righteous man, an organization, Chabad, someone who drove five hours to mother [the day of the shooting] and made sure the body would come to Israel as soon as possible."

Rabbi Danny Cohen, a Chabad representative in Hebron and a close friend of Arie, said at the funeral that "Librescu&#39;s last act lit a fire of unity throughout the world. This evening, tens of thousands of Jewish women will light Shabbat candles at the special request of Marlena."

Librescu&#39;s wife stated that lighting Shabbat candles was his favorite mitzvah.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Arie said his mother would now move to back Israel once she has completed the arrangements in the US.

Gheorghe Angelescu, adviser to the president of Romania, presented Marlena Librescu at the funeral with the Grand Cross of Romania - the country&#39;s highest civilian honor, which was previously granted to the prime ministers of France and Italy.

Librescu was given the award for his scientific achievements and the heroism surrounding his death. According to Angelescu, Librescu "was a very important scientist - not just for Israel or Romania, but for the world."

Liviu Librescu was murdered on Holocaust Memorial Day and buried on Hitler&#39;s birthday.

It appears that his act of bravery has reinforced one day and has overshadowed the other.

A child in Nazi-allied Romania during Second World War, Librescu was deported along with his family to a labour camp in Transnistria and then to a central ghetto in the city of Focsani, his son said. According to a report compiled by the Romanian government in 2004, between 280,000 and 380,000 Jews were killed by the Romanian regime during the war.

Librescu later worked as an engineer at Romania&#39;s aerospace agency under the postwar Communist government, his son recounted, but his career was stymied in the 1970s because he refused to swear allegiance to the regime. He was later fired when he requested permission to move to Israel.

After years of government refusal, according to his son, Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally intervened to get the family emigration permits. They moved to Israel in 1978. The family left Israel in 1985 for Virginia, where Librescu took a position teaching mathematics and engineering at Virginia Tech.

"Daddy, who is worse, Hezbollah or Cho," my daughter asked as we stood over Liviu Librescu&#39;s grave. A small white sign bearing Librescu&#39;s name in Hebrew stood next to earth which was decorated with several colorful wreaths and flowers.
"They are both bad. But today we are here to say thank you to a hero."

My small daughter picked up a small white stone from a basket sitting next to the grave. She placed the stone on the freshly packed brown dirt.

"Goodbye professor teacher who saved us. Goodbye."

--

Original Source: Israel News Agency
<a href="http://www.israelnewsagency.com/liviulibrescuvirginiatechherofuneralisraelholocaust48042107.html">http://www.israelnewsagency.com/liviulibrescuvirginiatechherofuneralisraelholocaust48042107.html</a>

Joel Leyden

2007-08-12

Adriana Seagle

Joel Leyden; israelnewsagency@gmail.com

eng

[Untitled]

Photo: INA / Andy Princz

The body of Liviu Librescu, wrapped in a white and black prayer shawl according to Jewish tradition, shown prior to his April 20 funeral in Israel. Librescu will be buried at the Kfar Nachman cemetery of the central Israel town of Ra&#39;anana.

--

Original Source: Israel News Agency
<a href="http://www.israelnewsagency.com/liviulibrescuvirginiatechherofuneralisraelholocaust48042107.html">http://www.israelnewsagency.com/liviulibrescuvirginiatechherofuneralisraelholocaust48042107.html</a>

INA / Andy Princz

2007-08-12

Adriana Seagle

Joel Leyden, Publisher; israelnewsagency@gmail.com

eng

Entre Moynihan y Librescu

Creado por Gustavo D. Perednik
El catoblepas - numero 64 - Junio 2007 - pagina 5

Sobre los defensores selectivos de derechos humanos, que son permisivos sólo con dictaduras.

Borges advertía de no convertir la ética en una rama de la estadística, vicio que podría empujar a erróneas conclusiones, por ejemplo que la Segunda Guerra Mundial estalló por una agresión anglonorteamericana contra la inocente Alemania. Ello se deduciría de descontextualizar algunas cifras: durante la contienda fueron muertos cerca de diez mil civiles estadounidenses y unos cien mil británicos, cifras que contrastadas con los casi dos millones de civiles alemanes caídos podría hacer sospechar que el Tercer Reich fue veinte veces más víctima que sus enemigos.

Acaso así lo habría planteado <i>Amnistía Internacional</i>, cuyo reciente informe acerca del año 2006 condena a Israel por «crímenes de guerra» durante la Segunda Guerra en el Líbano (12 de julio/14 de agosto de 2006.

A.I. se basa en una asimetría insustancial: que han muerto miles de civiles libaneses y «apenas» centenares de hebreos. No repara en la causa de la asimetría: mientras el ejército israelí protege a sus civiles, los grupos terroristas como Hezbolá usan cínicamente a sus propios niños como parapetos para lanzar la agresión.

Por medio de disparar sus misiles desde aldeas indefensas, los islamistas especulaban con que, cuando llegara la represalia israelí, sus mecenas mediáticos se apresurarían en exhibir a los judíos como agresores. Su cálculo mostró estar bien fundado y por ello fueron favorecidos por las agencias de noticias.

Consistentemente antiisraelíes, los informes de A.I. revelan una conspicua tendenciosidad. Mucho más que Norcorea o Arabia Saudí, el país judío es permanente blanco de sus monitoreos. El <i>Centro de Asuntos Públicos de Jerusalém</i> publicó en 2004 un estudio que compara los informes de A.I. contra Israel con aquellos emitidos acerca de Sudán (éste es un excelente ejemplo después de que dos décadas de violencia étnica y religiosa resultaran en dos millones de muertos y cuatro millones de refugiados). Durante 2001 A.I. produjo siete informes sobre Sudán y 39 sobre Israel.

Del estudio se desprenden dos datos elocuentes:

1) A.I. ignoró la destrucción de decenas de aldeas sudanesas, pero condenó una y otra vez la destrucción de cada casa palestina, aun cuando éstas sirvieran de refugio para terroristas;

2) A.I. soslayó miles de asesinatos de civiles sudaneses, pero criticó acremente cada muerte de terroristas activos a manos del ejército israelí.

Pese a las críticas a su parcialidad, A.I. no modificó su rumbo y hasta 2003 produjo 52 informes sobre Sudán y 192 sobre Israel.

Este año, para envolver su antisionismo en un manto de pretendida ecuanimidad, el informe de A.I. también critica al Hezbolá. La equiparación es de por sí agraviante, ya que pone en un mismo plano una sociedad pujante y democrática de casi siete millones de habitantes, con una banda terrorista teocrática de algunos miles que difunde en el sur libanés el odio de los ayatolás.

A.I. pone en un mismo plano a un país que actúa bajo la ley para aplicar su inalienable derecho de autodefensa, con una caterva que esgrime el Corán para bombardear las ciudades de la Galilea con el objeto explícito de destruir nuestro país.

Israel no tiene ningún reclamo frente al Líbano, y está dispuesto a firmar con esta nación un tratado de paz sin condiciones, tal como lo hiciera en el pasado (17 de mayo de 1983) hasta que el régimen fascista sirio obligó a que el tratado fuera unilateralmente anulado (los medios jamás volvieron a mencionar este tema para que nadie dedujera que Israel quiere paz).

Sin duda los civiles libaneses sufrieron descomunalmente durante la guerra. Sin embargo, aunque no llame la atención de la prensa ni de AI, los civiles israelíes también sufren: cientos de miles de hebreos fueron repetidamente evacuados de sus hogares y albergados en refugios, tal como le está ocurriendo en estos días a la población de la ciudad de Sederot debido a la agresión de misiles del Hamás, ante la indiferencia de A.I. y del mundo.

<b>Síndrome confirmado</b>

Presidida hoy por una mujer musulmana, A.I. fue fundada en julio de 1961 por un abogado de origen judío que se había convertido al catolicismo pocos años antes. Se trata de un grupo de presión que promueve derechos humanos, aunque sólo en ciertos países.

Su rama española presentó en mayo de 2004 en Barcelona un informe del conflicto de Oriente Medio en el que se alinea abiertamente con una de las partes y reclama que el gobierno español se oponga aun más de Israel. Su director, Esteban Beltrán, hace caso omiso al volcán del terrorismo islamista, y fiel al bizantinismo suicida de la extrema izquierda, exhorta a los españoles a distanciarse de Israel.

Ese año un profesor de filosofía de la Universidad de Carolina del Norte, Don Habibi, condenó a A.I. en estos términos:

Su obsesión sería sensata si Israel fuera el peor violador de derechos humanos en el mundo. Pero cualquier criterio objetivo mostraría que ello no es cierto. Incluso si salteáramos causa y efecto, y la necesidad de Israel de enfrentar una guerra existencial, nunca podría compararse su contienda con las de Sudán, Argelia o Congo. Como la de la ONU, la posición de la A.I. se relaciona más con la política que con los derechos humanos.

El sociólogo Daniel Patrick Moynihan, quien activó con los Kennedy en el Partido Demócrata norteamericano y fue embajador de su país en la ONU a mediados de la década del setenta, acuñó un principio que lleva su nombre y reza más o menos así: «La cantidad de violaciones de derechos humanos en un país es inversamente proporcional a la cantidad de quejas sobre derechos humanos que se oyen en ese país». <b>Cuantas más protestas hay en algún lugar, más protegidos parecen estar allí los derechos humanos.</b>

Aunque no se deduce de las ciencias exactas, la ocurrente definición refleja un aspecto olvidado de la realidad: como los Estados que más violan los derechos humanos también ahogan la libertad de expresión, las quejas provendrán habitualmente desde las zonas en donde es posible protestar.

Un estudio de este año mostró que A.I. dedicó 48 documentos a Israel, 37 a Sudán, 17 a Hezbolá, 10 a la Autoridad Palestina y 2 a Arabia Saudí.

La crítica ante datos tan contundentes generó una ilustrativa respuesta de parte del representante de A.I. en Israel, Amnon Vidan. Por un lado, éste admitió que a la organización le cuesta mucho contar con precisión los civiles libaneses muertos, debido a que los terroristas de Hezbolá en general no están uniformados y por ese detalle se los incluye en la categoría de «civiles». Pero por otro lado Vidan reiteró un principio moralmente pérfido: que A.I. espera de Israel un compartimiento mejor que el de sus enemigos precisamente por ser una democracia. Así se ratifica el síndrome Moynihan.

Al momento de juzgar, A.I. será más estricta con los defensores de los derechos humanos que con quieres los infringen.

Hay precedentes. Cuando se publicaron las caricaturas que mucho enojaron al mundo musulmán (30 de septiembre de 2005) A.I. aseveró que «el derecho a la libre opinión y expresión no es absoluto... conlleva responsabilidades y puede ser objeto de restricciones a fin de salvaguardar los derechos de otros...» En contraste, A.I. nunca ha salido en defensa del «otro» cuando éste es el judío, objeto en los países árabes de frecuentes campañas deshumanizadoras.

A.I. reprende a Occidente cuando se defiende y cuando expresa libremente opiniones polémicas, pero perdona a sus enemigos cuando atacan y cuando difaman. Como no se trata de regímenes democráticos, pareciera que hay que ser más condescendiente con ellos.

Junto a Moynihan cabe recordar a otro prohombre que bien simboliza la guerra que nos ha impuesto el islamismo. Cuando se produjo la masacre de 32 personas en la Universidad de Virginia (16 de abril de 2007) se destacó el heroísmo de un matemático israelí, Livio Librescu, sobreviviente del Holocausto y profesor de aerodinámica. A los 76 años de edad, Librescu usó su propio cuerpo como barricada para trabar la puerta del aula donde dictaba clase, y así impidió que el asesino Cho Seung-Hui ingresara a la sala de conferencias. Salvó de este modo la vida de sus estudiantes, que escaparon por las ventanas hasta que Librescu fue ultimado a balazos.

Israel es Librescu: para sostener el portal de Occidente y sus libertades amenazadas, el país resiste solo la agresión de grupos como Hamás y Hezbolá. En lugar de gratitud, en general cosecha en los medios occidentales la acre incomprensión de aquellos a quienes está defendiendo. Parece que tienden a identificarse con los enemigos de Israel porque éstos no son democráticos, ergo hay que disculparlos.

--
Fuente Original: EL CATOBLEPAS - Jerusalén
<a href="http://www.nodulo.org/ec/2007/n064p05.htm">http://www.nodulo.org/ec/2007/n064p05.htm</a>

Gustavo D. Perednik

2007-08-01

Elva Orozco

Gustavo D. Perednik
perednik@netvision.net.il
August 1, 2007

spa

Virginia Tech: El profesor que se convirtió en héroe

Publicado por Jose Kaulen C
April 18, 2007, 10:03 PM

La de a continuación, es una historia emocionante, llena de sentido y digna de admiración por parte de todos nosotros.
In Memoriam Liviu Librescu.

Liviu Librescu, un profesor de 76 años y muy respetado ingeniero aeronáutico que enseñó en Virginia Tech por 20 años, salvó la vida de varios estudiantes bloqueando la puerta de su sala de clases antes de que fuera muerto a balazos en la masacre, de acuerdo a los e-mails enviados por los alumnos a su señora.

"Mi padre bloqueó la puerta con su cuerpo y les dijo a sus alumnos que escaparan" ha dicho su hijo, Joe Librescu, en una entrevista telefónica desde su casa en las afueras de Tel Aviv. Agregó además que los "estudiantes comenzaron a abrir las ventanas y a saltar hacia afuera".

En el campus, los estudiantes hablan sobre el arrojo de Librescu:

"Él debiera ser reconocido como un héroe" dice el estudiante de Virginia Tech Philip Huffstetler además de sentir "que están en una gran deuda con su familia por el resto de nuestras vidas".

"Él es la razón de que el estudiante (Seung-Hui) no entrara y matara a más gente; obviamente es un héroe", dice Asal Arad, otro estudiante.

Librescu supo de una vida difícil desde que era niño.

Cuando Rumania se unió a las fuerzas nazis en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, primero fue internado en un campo de trabajos forzados en Transnistria y luego deportado junto a su familia y miles de otros judíos al ghetto central de Focsani. De acuerdo a un informe recopilado por el gobierno de Rumania en el 2004, entre 280 y 380 mil judíos fueron asesinados por el régimen rumano-nazi durante la guerra.

Como un exitoso ingeniero durante el gobierno de postguerra comunista, Librescu encontró trabajo en la agencia aeroespacial de Rumania, pero su carrera fue interrumpida en los 70&#39;s porque rechazó prestar juramento de obediencia al régimen y finalmente fue despedido cuando pidió autorización para irse a Israel.

De acuerdo con su hijo, después de años de rechazo gubernamental, el primer ministro israelí, Menachem Begin, intervino personalmente para que obtuviera el permiso de emigración para toda su familia. Se mudaron a Israel en 1978.

Librescu deja Israel en 1985 para irse a Virginia en un año sabático, pero terminaría quedándose. Joe Librescu estudió en Virginia Tech entre 1989 y 1994.

En Rumania, la comunidad académica lamenta profundamente la muerte de Librescu.

"Es una gran pérdida" dijo Ecaterina Andronescu, rector de la Universidad Politécnica de Bucarest, desde donde Librescu se graduó en 1953. "Tenemos una tremenda admiración por la forma en que reaccionó y defendió a sus alumnos con su vida", agregó.

En la Universidad Politécnica, donde Librescu recibió un título honorario en el 2000, su foto ha sido puesta sobre una mesa, junto a ella una vela encendida y las personas dejan flores alrededor.

"Lo recordamos como un gran especialista en temas de aeronáutica. Deja cientos de importantes documentos", dice uno de los profesores, Nicolae Serban Tomescu.

Librescu hizo muchas publicaciones y recibió varios premios por sus trabajos.

"Su trabajo fue en algún sentido su vida", dijo Joe Librescu.

Texto traducido desde Foxnews.com

--
Fuente Original -- Realidades Varias a.k.a El Blog de Jose Kaulen

<a href="http://josekaulen.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/virginia-tech-el-profesor-que-se-convirtio-en-heroe/">http://josekaulen.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/virginia-tech-el-profesor-que-se-convirtio-en-heroe/</a>

Derechos Reservados:
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported</a>.

Jose Kaulen C

2007-07-20

Elva Orozco

Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported

spa

Focsanenii au fost la mormintarea eroului din America

De, Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita | 21.04.2007

<b>Focsaneanul Zvi Ben Dov, emigrat in Israel in urma cu jumatate de secol, ne-a transmis ieri amanunte despre funeraliile profesorului Liviu Librescu</b>

Liviu Librescu, profesorul care si-a salvat studentii din fata unei ploi de gloante sacrificindu-si propria viata in amfiteatrul Universitatii Tehnice din Virginia, a fost condus ieri pe ultimul drum, in Israel, tara in care locuiesc si cei doi fii ai sai. La funeralii au fost prezenti si citiva focsaneni israelieni, care au copilarit cu profesorul Liviu Librescu in perioada celui de-al doilea razboi mondial, cind au fost nevoiti sa indure ostilitatea dusa pina la extrem fata de populatia de origine evreiasca. "Am participat impreuna cu prietenul meu focsanean Jack Gheber la mormintarea lui Liviu. Au fost sute si sute de oameni, rude, prieteni, profesori de la universitate, plus o delegatie special venita din Romania, in frunte cu ambasadorul Romaniei in Israel, pentru a inmina familiei ordinul national «Steaua Romaniei» in grad de mare cruce, oferit post-mortem de presedintele Traian Basescu pentru eroismul de care a dat dovada. Impreuna cu Jack, ne-am dus la Marilena, sotia lui Liviu, si ea tot din Focsani, si am consolat-o. Eu i-am inminat «Ziarul de Vrancea», care a sosit in Israel in urma cu doua zile, adus de prietenul nostru Nicu Stoinescu. I-am transmis condoleante de la grupul vostru din Focsani", ne-a transmis ieri, prin e-mail, Zvi Ben Dov, liderul focsanenilor din Israel, directorul general al organizatiei A.M.I.R. Acesta si-a ebraizat numele dupa ce a emigrat, in Focsani fiind cunoscut sub numele de Puiu Zilberman. De precizat ca Zvi Ben Dov si Jack Gheber au fost colegi cu Liviu Librescu la Focsani, inainte de a emigra in Israel.

"Mama lui Jack a fost directoarea scolii evreiesti de fete din Focsani, unde a studiat si Marilena, sotia lui Liviu. L-a recunoscut si pe Jack si pe mine imediat. La funeralii am intilnit si alti prieteni focsaneni, pe dr. Fritz Scwartz, pe ing. Armand Rotenstraih cu sora lui Emilia si altii", ne-a mai relatat Zvi Ben Dov. Focsanenii care locuiesc in Israel ne-au spus ca la inmormintarea profesorului Liviu Librescu au participat zeci de jurnalisti din toata lumea, care au fost interesati de viata pe care "eroul din America" a dus-o in Romania, ca victima a regimurilor Mihai Antonescu si Nicolae Ceausescu. Reamintim ca "Ziarul de Vrancea" a relatat in exclusivitate povestea de viata a "eroului din America", care a trait din plin opresiunile antisemite la Focsani, in timpul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial, unde locuiau bunicii din partea mamei. Tot in orasul de pe Milcov, tatal profesorului Liviu Librescu, un avocat eliminat din barou pe criterii etnice, a avut domiciliu fortat inainte sa fie trimis in lagarele din Transnistria. Liviu Librescu fusese invitat sa viziteze Focsaniul in luna mai, invitatie pe care a declinat-o cu parere de rau din cauza proiectelor stiintifice in care era implicat. Sotia profesorului a anuntat ca nu se va mai intoarce in America si a multumit tuturor celor care au fost alaturi de familie in aceste momente grele. (Silvia VRINCEANU)

--

Sursa Originala: <a href="http://www.ziaruldevrancea.ro/index.php?articol=11809">http://www.ziaruldevrancea.ro/index.php?articol=11809</a>

Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita

2007-06-08

Adriana Seagle

Silvia Vrinceanu Nichita (silvia@ziaruldevrancea.ro)

ron