Struggle
02-01-2009 / Denmark
Denmark - Police arrest man in mall shooting
Danish police say they have arrested a man of Palestinian descent on suspicion of shooting and wounding two Israelis at a shopping mall.
Police spokesman John Jacobsen says without naming the suspect that he is a 27-year-old Dane born in Lebanon of Palestinian parents.
A court on Thursday ordered the suspect held for up to four weeks while police investigate.
Police say the suspect has denied attempting to kill the Israelis but acknowledged carrying a gun Wednesday at the mall in the central Danish city of Odense.
Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3649055,00.html
30-12-2008 / Germany
Germany – A demonstrator arrested in Berlin
The police arrested a demonstrator who participated to a manifestation against Israel in Berlin because he grabbed a poster comparing the Star of David and the swastika.
25-12-2008 / Britain
Britain - Life lesson for "fit Jew" students
Oxford students will attend a cultural diversity course as punishment for their “bring a fit Jew” party.
Members of the under-21 rugby team will take part in the special seminar in January, but university proctors have refused to reveal details.
The event was cancelled following complaints from Jewish students, but some team members went ahead as planned.
Rabbi Aaron Katchen, Oxford’s student chaplain, said this week that party-goers had not worn fake sidelocks and carried money bags, as previously believed, but had instead donned Borat-style “Jew-fro” wigs.
An earlier party had seen them “black-up” and wear loincloths as part of an African theme. University proctors investigated and said that reports of the event had been “exaggerated”. A University spokeswoman said: “The proctors are satisfied that there were no breaches of regulations. A special seminar on cultural diversity for all members of the team will take place early next term.”
The unnamed student who sent the invitations has been told to write a letter of apology to the Oxford University Jewish Society.
Rabbi Katchen said: “The university’s response was appropriate for what happened. Everybody’s conclusion was that this was not an antisemitic incident, but the players’ thinking was stupid, insensitive and very hurtful.
“Part of the university experience is to make mistakes and learn from them. The rugby team will now be under greater scrutiny and the concept of banter will be second-guessed. People will have to think twice before having a lark with friends.”
23-12-2008 / United States
USA - Defacing synagogue gets teen 9-18 months
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. on Monday sentenced 19-year-old Nora Rynkiewicz to nine to 18 months in county prison followed by three years of probation.
Rynkiewicz faced charges of institutional vandalism, criminal mischief and ethnic intimidation for defacing a Wilkes-Barre synagogue in March with swastikas and other anti-Semitic messages.
Olszewski wasn’t sure Rynkiewicz, who psychiatrists say suffers from bi-polar disorder and other psychological problems, would stop associating with white supremacist groups. And the judge wanted the sentence to serve as a deterrent to Rynkiewicz and others who commit similar crimes.
23-12-2008 / Russia
Russia – Football supporter sent to prison following antisemitic slogans
Feldbloom and Maccabi Moscow Maccabi: Pavel Feldbloom, a Jew living in Moscow, is also the President of the football Maccabi Moscow. This is modest team that plays in a regional league and whom only some of its players are Jews. About a year and a half ago, Maccabi Moscow played against P.Z. Alliance and Nokovo in the framework of the league.
During this game, about 30 supporters of the hosting team called antisemitic slurs against the Moscow players. They hanged banners that supported Nazism and sang antisemitic songs that included harsh slurs against Jews. There was no physical violence during the game but only verbal abuse. This was sufficient for Feldbloom. He complained to the policemen who insured the game security and required to arrest the supporters' leaders. The trial took place for above a year against the three main provocateurs and yesterday, the verdict was sentenced. The supporters' leader was sent to one year in jail and the two others were sent to half a year each.
Feldbloom, who has already visited Israel several times with a Jewish delegation from Russia to take part in the Maccabia, seemed very touched by the decision. "I am prouder than ever to be a Jew living in Russia. This is an unseen verdict. There has never been something like that and this is the only way to combat racism and antisemitism. To punish a club or to give ridiculous sentences to the supporters will not solve anything. What happened today will bring a change. I do not believe that any football supporter will now stand up and call anti-Semitic slogans, when he knows that he faces a one-year prison sentence."
19-12-2008 / Hungary
Hungary - Fidesz reinstates former member accused of antisemitism
The Fidesz membership of Gabriella Cs. Kovács was reinstated earlier this week following her suit against news portal Hírszerző, in which she charged the portal of attributing antisemitic slurs to her.
According to a Hírszerző reporter and editor, Kovács gave a press release in the summer of 2007 which contained antisemitic declarations. In response, Kovács resigned her post as a local government representative for Leányfalu, so that the charges could not be pinned on Fidesz, and promptly launched a libel suit.
A Budapest court ruled that the reporter and editor were guilty of defamation of character. No details were given about a possible monetary settlement, but following the ruling, Fidesz welcomed Kovács back into the party.
Source: www.politics.hu
17-12-2008 / Greece
Greece-Neo-Nazi Author Convicted
A Greek court
sentenced a neo-Nazi author of an antisemitic book to a 14-month suspended sentence, in the first case of its kind in Greece. Constantine Plevris was found guilty of inciting hatred and racial violence with his book The Jews -- The Whole Truth.
In his 1,400 page book, Plevris glorifies Hitler and calls for the extermination of the Jews. He declares himself “a Nazi, a fascist, a racist, an anti-democrat, an anti-Semite. Jews are mortal enemies and deserve the firing squad."
“Hitler is only criticized for not clearing Europe of the Jews. “Afterwards, history of humankind will accuse him (Hitler) of having done nothing to rid Europe of the Jews, though he could,” the author writes.
Moses Costantinis, President of the Jewish community of Greece, testified in court that after the book was published, attacks against Jewish sites increased.
Defense lawyers said their clients were being persecuted for freely expressing their views. The Jewish community saw the trial as a key test of the Greek authorities determination to deal with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.
The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece issued the following press release:
“Regarding the decision of the Athens Court of Appeal for Indictable Offences to find against K. Plevris, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece expresses its contentment with the decision of the Court as it effectively condemns modern-day racism and Nazism in any form. This decision is an instrumental parameter in the on-going, unceasing battle being waged by society and humanity against barbarity and racism, anti-Semitism and fascism”.
Mr. Plevris, who plans to appeal, claimed that if he was convicted, it would merely show that the judges had been "bought by the Jews."
On trial together with Plevris, the publisher, the editor and a journalist of the extreme-right weekly newspaper “Elefteros Kosmos” were found not guilty.
Once the book was published in May 2006, the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) immediately filed a suite against it under the anti-discrimination law. But a district attorney later dropped the charge of discrimination and instead charged the book with a lesser offence of disseminating false facts.
The anti-Nazi Organization of Greece and the Greek Jewish umbrella organization Central Jewish Board of Greece (CJBG)
iled a suit to oblige the district attorney to accept the charge of discrimination.
The trial had a rocky start when district attorney L. Lazarakos moved to have the GHM and the CJBG removed from the trial claiming that no individual Jew was in any immediate danger and that two organizations had no legal claim or standing. The three judges accepted Lazarakos argument.
The district attorney also surprised the court when he called the book "a scientific research" and asked for the acquittal of all defendants. But the court decided with a 2-1 decision to convict Plevris.It was the first trial in Greece on the recently introduced incitement charges, under the 1979 anti-discrimination law.
This article comes from Greek News
http://www.greeknewsonline.com
The URL for this story is:
16-12-2008 / Germany
Germany-Drivers warned of Nazi codes on license plates
Thousands of Brandenburg residents could come under suspicion for being neo-Nazis or right-wing sympathisers because of the letter and number combinations on their license plates.
In the struggle against right-wing extremism, the Brandenburg Constitutional Protection Authority has warned of several license plate letter and number combinations that extremists use to identify themselves to the public. “These also serve as identifying marks among the like-minded,” the authority reports in their brochure and internet article “False Identification—Critical Combinations on Motor Vehicle Codes.”
The authority warns of license plate codes that indicate an “anti-democratic mindset.” Examples of telling letter combinations include “HJ” (Hitler youth),” NS” (National Socialism) and “KZ” (concentration camp).
Number combinations that have recently been identified include “18,” which represents the first and eighth letters of the alphabet, or “AH” for Adolf Hitler), “88” stands for “HH,” or “Heil Hitler,” and the number “14,” which alludes to a fourteen-word (German) slogan uttered by an American neo-Nazi leader: “We must secure the future for our people and the future of our white children.”
Thousands of Brandenburg residents bearing these combinations could now be suspected of extreme right-wing affiliations, though in some cases the combinations may be accidental. The cars of supposed right-wing extremists can be subject to attacks, daily newspaper Die Welt reported on Monday. Someone destroyed a neo-Nazi car in Königs Wusterhausen this October, the paper said.
The German Federal Ministry of Transport recommended in 2000 that German states refrain from using combinations that allude to former National Socialist associations or institutions, such as “SA,” “HJ,” “SS,” “KZ,” and “NS.” The German government is now recommending auto registration offices stop assigning combinations that “refer to controversial organisations and parties” too.
The authority warns of license plate codes that indicate an “anti-democratic mindset.” Examples of telling letter combinations include “HJ” (Hitler youth),” NS” (National Socialism) and “KZ” (concentration camp).
Number combinations that have recently been identified include “18,” which represents the first and eighth letters of the alphabet, or “AH” for Adolf Hitler), “88” stands for “HH,” or “Heil Hitler,” and the number “14,” which alludes to a fourteen-word (German) slogan uttered by an American neo-Nazi leader: “We must secure the future for our people and the future of our white children.”
Thousands of Brandenburg residents bearing these combinations could now be suspected of extreme right-wing affiliations, though in some cases the combinations may be accidental. The cars of supposed right-wing extremists can be subject to attacks, daily newspaper Die Welt reported on Monday. Someone destroyed a neo-Nazi car in Königs Wusterhausen this October, the paper said.
The German Federal Ministry of Transport recommended in 2000 that German states refrain from using combinations that allude to former National Socialist associations or institutions, such as “SA,” “HJ,” “SS,” “KZ,” and “NS.” The German government is now recommending auto registration offices stop assigning combinations that “refer to controversial organisations and parties” too.
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20081216-16161.html
12-12-2008 / Norway
Norway - Wiesenthal Centre Condemns Norwegian Comedian’s Antisemitic Jokes
In a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International
elations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed “grave concern at increasing antisemitic expression in Norway.
The letter noted that “within the context of our research, we have encountered the rhetoric of Otto Jespersen – co-host of TV2’s ‘Thursday Club’ - who, under the cover of a perverse humour, burned the Old Testament, Goebbels-Style, on his show. Since then he has become exponentially more offensive”.
Samuels pointed out that “two experts on freedom of expression remarked that these statements possibly violate the hate-speech provisions of the Council of Europe (COE), of which Norway is a member”.
The letter called on the Prime Minister to “forcefully condemn Jespersen as an aberration to Norwegian values. We pray that the shadows of Quisling Nazi-collaboration be eclipsed by the human grandeur of Nansen and Nobel.”
“For that to happen, Jespersen must be shunned as a national pariah”, concluded Samuels.
11-12-2008 / Britain
Britain - Teenager arrested for antisemitic abuse
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested for allegedly racially abusing Jewish school children in West Hendon.
The arrest follows an operation by police to crack down on a gang of teenagers who reportedly bullied and yelled antisemitic abuse at pupils from the Jewish Free School (JSF)
The gang have carried out a campaign of abuse against the pupils over the last month, in once incident shouting that the pupils were “Jewish pigs” and “scum” and throwing stones at bus windows.
In another incident students were allegedly told they would be stabbed.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested and charged with racially aggravated harassment, common assault and abusing police officers.
Barnet police Inspector Dave Lobb, who led the operation, said: ”This arrest sends out a clear message to people using transport networks through Barnet, who think they can get away with being abusive or violent without ever facing the consequences.”
Source: www.times-series.co.uk
11-12-2008 / Britain
Britain - Boycott is now over say Oxford academics
Two Oxford academics who have mounted a legal challenge the University and College Union (UCU), said this week that the union had dropped its proposed boycott of Israeli academics.
But in a statement, the union said “There was never a boycott motion passed at its Congress”. Its general secretary, Sally Hunt, insisted: “We have passed a motion to provide solidarity with the Palestinians, not to boycott Israel or any other country’s academic institutions.” Implementation of the motion “within the law”, she said, “will now fall to the national executive committee (NEC("
After the motion was passed, two Oxford professors, Michael Yudkin and Denis Noble, assembled a group of 12 UCU members from universities all over England. They then obtained an opinion from two QCs, Michael Beloff and Pushpinder Saini, who said that the boycott motion was contrary to the union’s rules and unlawful.
Professor Yudkin said: “It goes against the grain for members to have to use the law against their union, but if the union violates its own rules on such an important matter there is no choice. It’s now time for the union to give up its obsession with imposing boycotts and do its best to restore the reputation of UK scientists and scholars.”
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “UCU has a proud record of solidarity with academics throughout the world, which will continue. Policy set by UCU Congress, the union’s sovereign body, must be respected”.
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According to anti-boycott campaigner Jon Pike, a member of the NEC, at the meeting at which there was an effective UCU climbdown, “what we saw was the large-scale abandonment of Motion 25.” But he noted there was still an “antisemitic canteen culture” in the union which the leadership had yet to deal with.
Speaking on behalf of Stop the Boycott, a coalition of organisations and individuals working to fight the academic boycott of Israel, Henry Grunwald QC said:
"UCU's decision is a victory for common sense and for all those who oppose a boycott of Israeli academics. We have always known that such a boycott was discriminatory. UCU should have taken notice of the legal opinion we sent them six months ago. We hope this move marks the end of UCU's destructive flirtation with a policy that discriminates against Israelis and does nothing to help Palestinians.”
Source: http://www.thejc.com/
11-12-2008 / United States
USA-ADL Joins Youtube to Fight Hate
YouTube has reached out to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for its expertise in dealing with hate on the Internet. In one outgrowth of that partnership, the League is now a contributor to YouTube's newly launched Abuse & Safety Center, where users are empowered to identify and confront hate, and to report abuses.
The YouTube Abuse & Safety Center features information and links to resources developed by ADL to help Internet users respond to and report offensive material and extremist content that violates YouTube's Community Guidelines on hate speech.
"YouTube is an incredible tool for sharing videos and giving individuals an opportunity to broadcast themselves, but like other social networking sites it can be abused or used for sinister and dangerous purposes," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "There are those who may try to exploit the technology to spread racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of hate."
04-12-2008 / Poland
Poland - Polish archbishop calls antisemitism 'irrational behavior'
A Polish archbishop said the Catholic Church must not accept antisemitism within its ranks, calling it "irrational behavior."
Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin spoke to Catholic News Service during a Nov. 30-Dec 1 conference in Jerusalem focusing on the relationships among the Polish Catholic Church, Jews and Israel.
"In the case of Lublin ... We emphasize that (the Jews) were present in our life, in cultural solidarity. It is part of our cultural heritage," he said.
Some antisemitic incidents show a "generational problem" and a problem of "social frustration" more than a cultural phenomenon, he said.
He cited as an example the issue of Radio Maryja's Redemptorist Father Tadeusz Rydzyk,(
in small pic.) who has been accused of antisemitic remarks and insulting the Polish president.
Even the younger generation of Redemptorist priests are skeptical of Radio Maryja's message, said Archbishop Zycinski, noting that the ideas predate the Second Vatican Council and the followers are a minute percentage of the population.
An antisemitic idea "shouldn't be accepted, but there are groups where it plays a factor. It is hard to understand a return (to anti-Semitism), but for the elderly it is a form of psychological support to defend Polish identity," he said, adding that Father Rydzyk "is 'anti-' in general."
He said that today dialogue between Catholics and Jews is a "much stronger trend."
"In a few years there will be a cultural transformation," said the archbishop. "The younger generation is pro-dialogue."
Source:
www.catholicnews.com
By Judith Sudilovsky
04-12-2008 / Britain
Britain - London gallery shows antisemitism in Arab media
An exhibition documenting the widespread use of antisemitic cartoons in the Arab press opened in London.
"Cartoons and Extremism: Israel and the Jews in Arab and Western Media" will run until January 16, with a possible extension, at the Political Cartoon Gallery in central London.
The exhibition shows the frequent use of classic antisemitism to demonize the State of Israel. Appearing in publications across the Arab world, the cartoons revive depictions of Jews as sadistic and bloodthirsty monsters, solely interested in money, power and blood, to use as anti-Israel propaganda.
They depict Jews as set apart from the rest of humanity, agents of the devil, all-powerful manipulators, warmongers, killers of prophets and innocents, and the eternal enemies of all mankind.
The exhibition was curated by the Community Security Trust (CST) and Dr. Simon Cohen. Speaking at the launch, Labor MP Denis MacShane, chairman of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Semitism and author of the recently published book, Globalizing Hatred: The New Antisemitism, said the exhibition needed to be seen by the wider world.
Source:
http://www.jpost.com/
Photo: Jonny Paul
02-12-2008 / Germany
Germany - Holocaust denier detained
The County Court in
Springe
(Lower Saxony) sentenced the Holocaust denier Arnold Hoefs to 4 month in prison and a fine of 1500 Euros. The 72 years old Hoefs wrote more than 100 letters to public authorities and media under the pseudonym “Herbert Hoff”, in which he claimed that the remembrance of the Holocaust in the USA is only used for fundraising campaigns but is historically wrong. Hoefs participated under his pseudonym in the Holocaust denier conference in Teheran in December 2006. He also published a book with the title: “Hitler’s Benefits for the Folk, Why the Folk Loved Him”.
Source: www.european-forum-on-antisemitism.org
27-11-2008 / Serbia
Serbia – A law against the neo-Nazis
A proposal for a law forbidding neo-Nazi's organizations and the use of Nazi symbols is taking shape in Serbia. The Law is submitted by the ruling parties, the DS and the LSV.
23-11-2008 / Israel
Israel - 8 Neo-Nazi gang members sent to jail
The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced to prison terms eight young men convicted of membership in a neo-Nazi gang operating in central Israel.
The gravest punishment given to one of the gang members was seven years in jail.
Judge Zvi Gurfinkel wrote in the ruling, "These are horrifying actions no Jews can accept."
As part of the organization, which also included three minors who were also convicted, the gang members drank alcohol, took photos with a Nazi salute and spoke of the Nazi ideology. The first convict, Arik Buanitov, who was sentenced to seven years in prison, preached the Nazi ideology to his friends.
On various occasions, gang members would attack different people, be it for the color of their skin or for their ethnic affiliations. The group called itself "Patrol 36" and chose a skull as its logo.
"We have recently marked the 70th anniversary of Krystallnacht (Nazi pogrom) around the world and here, before us, we see event reminiscent of those dark times," Judge Gurfinkel wrote in his ruling.
"The fact that these are Jews who immigrated to Israel and have chosen to adopt racial theories is grave. The notion that they did so in order to please others is unacceptable… there is no manner in which the court can be lenient, despite the circumstances and the defendants' young age," added the justice.
Source: www.ynet.co.il
22-11-2008 / Germany
Germany - Police suspect man of antisemitic vandalism
Police in Germany searched Friday the home of a man whom they suspect hung a pig's head over the entrance of an historic Jewish cemetery a week ago. They said the suspect, 48, from the town of Gotha had a criminal record for similar hate offences.
Source:
http://www.ynet.co.il/
22-11-2008 / Canada
Canada - New trial for leader who made antisemitic comments
Canadian aboriginal leader David Ahenakew will appear before a Saskatchewan court next week after successfully appealing his original 2005 conviction on antisemitic incitement charges.
In a recorded 2002 interview with Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter James Parker, Ahenakew praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler as having “cleaned up a hell of a lot of things” with the systematic killing of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and other minorities during World War II.
Ahenakew was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, and was subsequently stripped of the Order of Canada, which he was awarded in 1978 in recognition of his efforts to advance education within his community.
“The Jews damn near owned all of Germany. Prior to the war. That, that's how Hitler came in, that he was going make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or Europe. That's why he fried six million of them you know,” Ahenakew is heard telling Parker in the audio recording of their conversation after asserting the war itself had been started by Jews.
When asked by Parker how he could justify the Holocaust, Ahenakew said that was “how you get rid of a disease like that.”
Jewish human rights group ‘Bnai Brith’ – the only organization granted third-party status in the trial – is expected to send a representative to observe the proceedings.
Source: www.ynet.co.il
21-11-2008 / Germany
Germany - Germany bans Hezbollah television station Al-Manar
Germany's Interior Ministry has banned Hezbollah's television station on grounds that it violates the country's constitution, a spokesman said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Markus Beyer said Al-Manar television programming was forbidden under Article 9 of Germany's constitution, which says that organizations cannot operate with the purpose of violating "international understanding."
Beyer was not more specific on why the ban was instituted, but Hezbollah's Al-Manar television is known to be staunchly anti-Israel and frequently broadcasts footage of Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah, which has been fighting Israel since the early 1980s, has broad support among Lebanon's Shiite population. Israel and the U.S. consider it a terrorist organization and accuse it of being behind deadly attacks in Lebanon and abroad.
The U.S. has also banned Al-Manar.
Source: The Associated Press
