Jan. 27, 2006 — U.N. Holds First Holocaust Remembrance Day
The first U.N.-recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Day is held on the 61st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The president of the U.N. General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, says the commemoration should be “a unifying historic warning around which we must rally, not only to recall the grievous crimes committed in human history, but also to reaffirm our unfaltering resolve to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.”
Jan. 28, 1996 — Dumping of Donated Ethiopian Blood Sparks Riots
About 10,000 Ethiopian Jews demonstrate outside Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ office to protest the government’s decision to accept blood donations from thousands of Ethiopian Israelis, only to throw away the blood for fear of spreading the AIDS virus. The disposal builds on feelings of humiliation and discrimination. When police deploy water cannons and tear gas, the protest turns into a riot, injuring several officers and damaging many cars.
Jan. 29, 2004 — Israel Swaps Prisoners for Man, 3 Bodies
Israel frees more than 430 Arab prisoners to win the release of an Israeli businessman abducted in Dubai in October 2000 and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers captured the same month along the Lebanese border by Hezbollah and killed in captivity. The Palestinian Authority and Hezbollah celebrate the exchange. Israelis are divided, in part because the swap happens the same day as a bus bombing in Jerusalem.
Jan. 30, 1958 — U.S. Commits to Baghdad Pact
During a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles says the United States is committed to the defense of the Baghdad Pact nations: the Muslim-majority states of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey, plus the United Kingdom. Dulles’ statement is seen as an extension of the Eisenhower Doctrine, under which any Middle Eastern country threatened by a Communist regime can seek U.S. economic aid.
Jan. 31, 1961 — Ben-Gurion Resigns Over Lavon Affair
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion resigns, triggering Israeli elections in August, to protest a Cabinet decision to exonerate Pinchas Lavon for his role in a botched Israeli spy operation in Egypt in 1954. Lavon had resigned as defense minister in 1954, although an investigative committee was inconclusive about what went wrong. The Lavon Affair resurfaced in 1960 over revelations that two senior officers had given false testimony against Lavon.
Feb. 1, 1979 — Khomeini Returns to Iran
Two weeks after a popular uprising forced the Shah to flee, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile. Under his guidance, Iran votes in March to establish an Islamic republic and later enacts two constitutions that give ultimate power to Shia clerics. Iran’s Jews become second-class citizens, and a third of them emigrate within two years. Decades of close military and economic ties between Iran and Israel come to an end.
Feb. 2, 1965 — Sale of Waqf Property Is Approved
The Knesset revises the Absentees’ Property Law to allow a government office to maintain, rent or sell property held in a waqf, an endowment created under Islamic law. Any proceeds are meant to benefit absentee owners whenever Israel achieves peace with its neighbors, but in the meantime, the law enables Israel to use as much land as possible to accommodate its rapid population growth since independence.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
