Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated all over the world today but Parliament in Malta commemorated it yesterday with speeches by the Foreign Minister George Vella and Shadow Foreign Minister Tonio Fenech. There was also, for the first time, a commemoration at the Foreign Office.
Present in Malta for the commemoration, Israeli Ambassador Oren David found time to share his reflections with The Malta Independent.
This is the 70th anniversary from the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp and the discovery of the full extent of the atrocity of the Holocaust.
Commemorations like this are normally bigger when a decade has passed, hence the emphasis on the 70th anniversary. There are still persons who were incarcerated at concentration camps who are still alive, but in 10 years' time, their numbers will be far fewer.
The victims of the Holocaust were doomed to die by the simple fact that they were Jews.
They were a peaceful community living out their lives in the way they had been used to. But from Oslo to Crete and Rhodes, from the Jersey Islands to Benghazi in Libya they were hounded and searched out, men, women, children, old persons, those with education and those without, artisans and farmers and artists, speaking different languages whose only fault was that they were Jews.
This was genocide but even more, it was total extermination.
Malta, thankfully, was spared this, not just the small Jewish community in Malta but also the whole cruelty of the Nazi overlords.
It is thus very important that the Maltese Parliament remembers and commemorates the Holocaust.
Immediately after the Holocaust, the State of Israel was established. Unfortunately, even today, the Jews do not feel completely safe, as the latest attacks on Jewish schools and on the kosher supermarket in Paris and on the synagogue in Israel attest.
This is not the work of Muslims as such but of a radical extremist Muslim fringe. The Hamas in Gaza is committed to the destruction of the State of Israel. It is clear it is engaged in a war against the Jewish people.
There has been, in recent months, an upsurge of attacks against Israel and the Jews, starting from the murder of three teenagers, to the attack on the synagogue to the latest attack on a bus, where passengers were attacked indiscriminately.
The many extremist and terrorist groups we hear about - Hamas, Al Qaeda, Hizbollah - are all boughs from the same tree - radical Islam committed to the destruction of Israel.
Jews are the primary targets but they are not the last targets, as is evident by the reported assassination of a Japanese journalist over the past two days.
This threat against the Jews and the State of Israel has not come only from movements but also from some states, such as Iran.
Nevertheless, Israel has built a modern state, a working democracy. Despite all the threats it has faced in its 68 years of existence, Israel is a pluralistic democracy, a heterogenious country, with minorities existing within it, with all citizens participating in the democratic process, with a vibrant economy and with a rich cultural life.
It contributes to science and technology developments especially in the agricultural and in the technological areas not just by the exchange of ideas but also by the training of no less than 260,000 persons by Israeli world external aid activities.
Only the other day, the Japanese prime minister visited Israel to thank the country for the help extended after the Fukushima disaster.
During the fighting in Gaza, wounded and sick Gaza residents were taken to get cured in Israeli hospitals, together with their families. Trucks with humanitarian supplies were allowed to cross from Israel to Gaza and even today some 180 trucks cross in this manner loaded with provisions and equipment, food and medicines even though Israel understands this is a risk because the cement may be used to shore up tunnels dug into Israeli territory (as happened) and the metal used to build rockets and other weapons.
Despite all the attacks over the years, the Israelis have not succumbed to panic. On the contrary, their greatest achievement has been the creation of an ordered daily life for all citizens, a good economy, a high standard of living, a superior health system and a very high GDP.
In this state, all peoples- Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Arabs (who make up 20% of the total population) - have equal rights.
The Palestinians who left in 1948 and have since lived in Arab countries have still mostly not been recognised as citizens of that country (so as to continue to exert pressure on Israel to take them back) while those who live in Israel have normal citizenship rights right from the beginning.
Over the years, Israel has many times faced up to less solidarity and support that it should have expected - maybe this is just the other face of the less than heightened sense of security and awareness. But one thing must be made clear: what Israel has faced today and in the past, should draw solidarity and sympathy from the Free World which has now been exposed to some of the same challenges.
Malta and Israel enjoy very good relations
Prime Minister Muscat has been the very first prime minister from Malta to visit Israel. Previous Prime Minister Gonzi was about to leave to visit Israel but had to abort the visit because of the uprising in Libya.
Besides, Dr Muscat, a number of Maltese ministers have visited Israel over the past months.
Relations between the two countries focus on two primary sectors - the health sector and the water sector.
There are a number of Israeli enterprises present in Malta - in the hi tech, finance and online gaming sectors. Their decision to relocate to Malta or open up a subsidiary in Malta have been proved to have been the right decision considering Malta's place as an EU member and also the proximity with Malta, the common use of the English language and the availability of direct flights.
Air Malta's direct charter flights have proved to be very successful, bringing to Malta some 30,000 Israelis, apart from those who come on cruise liners and through indirect means. Not as many Maltese go to Israel, mostly people go on religious pilgrimages but Israel has a lot to offer to Maltese not-necessarily religious tourists - four seas (the Med, the Red Sea, the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee), snow covered mountains where one can ski and where one can ski in the morning and swim in the sea in the afternoon.