A center in memory of the Argentinean prosecutor Alberto Nisman is to be established in the Israel-Argentina Friendship Park in Ben Shemen Forest. The foundation stone was laid at a ceremony attended by his former partner, Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and their two daughters, who are currently visiting Israel. “Truth, Justice and Peace are the foundations upon which the world rests,” said Judge Salgado at the ceremony.
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Alberto Nisman was the leading prosecutor in charge of the investigation into the terrorist attack on the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994, and he accused the Argentinian authorities of having covered up Iran’s involvement in it.
In 2015, just hours before he was due to testify before the Argentinian Congress, he was found dead at his home. Although the mystery of his death has never been solved, the presumption is that he was shot in the head in the course of a murderous assault that was disguised to look like suicide.
“He felt a personal, not just a professional responsibility to defend the Jewish People,” said Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, Nisman's former partner. “He gave his life in the quest for justice for the victims of terrorism.”
A plaque inscribed with the names of the eighty-five people murdered in the Jewish community center attack forms part of the memorial center established by KKL-JNF in the park that symbolizes the friendship between Israel and Argentina; an additional plaque bears the names of the twenty-nine victims of the attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina, which took place two years earlier, in 1992.
“Justice, justice shalt thou pursue,” said KKL-JNF Vice Chairman Hernan Felman, quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy. “This should be the obligation of us all, and we shall not continue to be the Jewish People if we do not fulfil it. We all deserve a just world, and we must all pay for our actions, be we Jews or Gentiles. We stand here today to remember what took place, and to demand justice."
The ceremony, which was held beside the memorial, was also attended by KKL-JNF Vice Chairman Nisan Cialic; Consul Gabriel Jorquera of the Argentinian Embassy in Israel; Mario Lev, president of OLEI, the Organization of Immigrants from Latin America, Spain and Portugal in Israel (Organización Latinoamericana España y Portugal en Israel); and dozens of members of the organization from the Kfar Sava area. Singer Gabriela Pochinki, who is a friend of Nisman's family, added a highly agreeable musical dimension to the proceedings.
Director of KKL-JNF's Latin American Department Ariel Goldgewicht told those present that KKL-JNF plans to refurbish and upgrade the memorial center and dedicate it to the memory of Alberto Nisman. An impressive monument will be added, an orchard will be planted and a convenient access road will be provided. “I believe that the more we do, the closer we will be to finding justice,” he said.
Among those participating in the ceremony was the journalist Miguel Steuermann, who declared: “A solitary tree in the middle of a field has little power, but over 240 million trees have been planted in Israel, and each of them is vital to the existence of the forest. Trees strike deep roots, roots that seek out truth and historical justice.”
After the speeches were over, all those present took part in a symbolic ceremony at which two adult olive trees were planted as an addition to the already green woodland. Ben Shemen was the first forest that KKL-JNF planted in the Land of Israel, and it dates all the way back to 1908. As such, it was the harbinger of a vast afforestation operation in which KKL-JNF is still engaged today. Olive trees were the first species to be planted in Ben Shemen Forest, and now two more of them are thrusting their roots deep into its soil.
Ben Shemen Forest extends over an area of some twenty-two thousand dunam (approx 5,500 acres), and it includes footpaths, cycle trails and picnic areas that comprise the principal recreation venue for residents of central Israel. At this time of year the woodland is especially inviting: fresh green grass covers the ground between the veteran trees, and cyclamen flowers peep out from among the rocks to add tints of pink and violet to the scene.
“It’s important to my daughters and myself to remember the wonderful moments we shared, especially in such a beautiful place as this, in a sun-drenched woodland that recalls the memory of so many of those who died,” concluded Judge Salgado.
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