Germany seems to once again be embracing anti-Semitism

Victor Davis Hanson @ Hoover Institution:

Every 20 to 50 years in Germany, things start unraveling. Germans feel aggrieved. Ideas and movements gyrate wildly between far left and far right extremes. And the Germans finally find consensus in a sense of victimhood paradoxically expressed as national chauvinism. Germany’s neighbors in 1870, 1914, 1939—and increasingly in the present—usually bear the brunt of this national meltdown. […]

Germany has always had a “Jewish Problem.” In the late nineteenth-century, German academics became obsessed with pseudo-research about eugenics and racial purity—which often led to talk of both Aryan purity and crass anti-Semitism that played out in the real world with disastrous results during the Holocaust. After World War II, Germany tried to make amends through introspection, some reparations, and the subsidized sales of military supplies to Israel. Yet Germany seems to once again be embracing anti-Semitism quite aside from its fierce opposition to Israel. Dieter Graumann, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has warned of the present climate: “These are the worst times since the Nazi era. On the streets, you hear things like ‘the Jews should be gassed,’ ‘the Jews should be burned.’ We haven’t had that in Germany for decades. Anyone saying those slogans isn’t criticizing Israeli politics, it’s just pure hatred against Jews: nothing else.”

In response to the growing hatred, Felix Klein, Germany’s newly appointed special envoy entrusted by the Merkel government with addressing the nation’s growing anti-Semitism—much of it the result of the influx of Muslims—recently shrugged it off, simply pointing out that more and more Jews are leaving Germany: “It is quite understandable that those who are scared for the safety of their children would consider leaving.” […]

In a perfect world, Germany would address its frustrations through introspection. After all, no one forced Berlin to take in over a million problematic refugees from the Middle East. No one forced it to export goods on easy credit to leveraged buyers who visibly lived far above their means. No one forced it to renege on its NATO defense promises and responsibilities. No one forced it to have a long and catastrophic history with the Jewish people. And no one forces it to expect perpetual U.S. military protection while continually setting record trade surpluses.

Despite the long postwar history of U.S.-German friendship, and despite Germany’s financial and economic power, the country is becoming psychologically isolated, if not unhinged. While Germans broadcast their anti-Americanism, they seem oblivious that Americans may likewise be tiring of German petulance.  

If we are entering yet another historical period of dangerous German resentment, the ensuing result will bode ill for everyone involved.

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Ukraine: Jews want to drown Ukraine in blood, Ukraine's Military Prosecutor says

Via Newsweek:

In an extensive interview with the Ukrainian news outlet Insider, Anatoliy Matios, Ukraine’s chief military prosecutor, espoused anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in which he implied that Jews want to drown ethnic Slavs in blood.

Referring to Alexander Parvus, a Belarussian-born Marxist theoretician who was active in Germany’s Social Democratic Party in the late 19th century, and who also happened to be Jewish, Matios claimed that Jews can be found financing all great conflicts.

“In each war, there is always a Parvus, who brought Lenin money for a revolution which flooded Slavs with blood for decades. Parvus was also Jewish. In this case, they want to do the same to Ukraine,” Matios told the Insider.

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France: 53% believe Zionism = Jewish Conspiracy

Via Europe 1/JDD (in French):

A poll commissioned by the UEJF (Union of French Jewish Students) on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the creation of Israel has revealed that 53% of the French believe that Zionism is the product of a Jewish conspiracy.

For them "Zionism is an international organization that aims to influence the world and society in favour of the Jews". 50% believe that Zionism is a racist ideology. And an amazing 69% that Zionism is an ideology used to justify Israel’s policy of occupation and colonization of Palestinian territories

 

Sweden: Former PM Carld Bildt relativizes current anti-Semitism with odd and inaccurate historical arguments

Via Politico (Paulina Neuding, editor-in-chief of the online magazine Kvartal)

Sweden may be known for its popular music, IKEA and a generous welfare state. It is also increasingly associated with a rising number of Islamic State recruits, bombings and hand grenade attacks.

In a period of two weeks earlier this year, five explosions took place in the country. It’s not unusual these days — Swedes have grown accustomed to headlines of violent crime, witness intimidation and gangland executions. In a country long renowned for its safety, voters cite “law and order” as the most important issue ahead of the general election in September.

The topic of crime is sensitive, however, and debate about the issue in the consensus-oriented Scandinavian society is restricted by taboos. (...)

In March, Labor Market Minister Ylva Johansson appeared on the BBC, where she claimed that the number of reported rapes and sexual harassment cases “is going down and going down and going down.” In fact, the opposite is true, which Johansson later admitted in an apology.

Similarly, in an op-ed for the Washington Post, former Prime Minister Carl Bildt described the country’s immigration policy as a success story. He did not elaborate on violent crime. After repeated attacks against Jewish institutions in December — including the firebombing of a synagogue in Gothenburg — Bildt took to the same paper to claim that anti-Semitism is not a major problem in Sweden.

“Historically, in Sweden it was the Catholics that were seen as the dangerous threat that had to be fought and restricted,” Bildt claimed, seemingly unaware that the laws he cited also applied to Jews. Intermarriage was illegal and hostility was based on ideas of Jews as racially inferior. Bildt’s attempt to relativize current anti-Semitism with odd and inaccurate historical arguments reflects how nervously Swedish elites react to negative headlines about their country.

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Read also:
Sweden: Son of Holocaust survivor explains why he left Sweden to Israel
Sweden: Former PM Carl Bildt says Israel pushing US into region-wide war with Iran

German diplomats defend Kuwait Airways’ 'no Israelis allowed' policy

Via The Jerusalem Post (Benjamin Weinthal):

German diplomats have said accusations of antisemitism against Kuwait Airways for its practice of refusing Israeli passengers are exaggerated, triggering sharp criticism from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and a German lawyer who sued the airline.

The statement defending state-owned Kuwait Airways was first reported by the Düsseldorf-based business daily Handelsblatt on Monday.

A court in Frankfurt ruled in November that Kuwait Airways was within its rights to refuse service to an Israeli citizen. The Israeli in the lawsuit had booked a flight on Kuwait Airways from Frankfurt to Bangkok.

Katharina Ziegler, a German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, declined to comment on the record in response to a query from The Jerusalem Post addressed to Heiko Maas, the new foreign minister. Maas has promised improved German-Israel relations after the anti-Israel policies of his predecessor, Sigmar Gabriel. Germany’s Foreign Ministry is widely viewed as one of the harshest critics of the Jewish state within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration. The US- and EU-designated terrorist entity Hamas praised Gabriel in January for terming Israel an “apartheid regime.”

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European Parliament admits Jewish population is diminishing in the European Union

In an non-official document "prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work" acknowledges that the Jewish population in the European Union is declining.  In 2915 it stood at a little above 1 million.  It is clear from the document that there is nothing it can do to reverse the situation.

Jewish communities in the European Union

The Jewish population in the EU has been declining. It dropped from around 1.12 million in 2009 to 1.08 million in 2015, though it is difficult to give precise numbers as some countries do not collect ethnic data. The Jewish population in France, the largest in the EU, declined from about 500,000 in 2002 to 460,000 in 2015. Emigration, mainly to Israel, is the main factor behind the trend, which has intensified in recent years, among other things due to harassment, discrimination and hate crimes against Jews.  

Diminishing Jewish population  

Centuries ago, Jews were persecuted as a religious minority, while in the last century the belief that Jews were a threat to the state was a driving force behind the Holocaust. Today Jews are targeted mainly because of events in the Middle East, although some anti-Semitic sentiments also revolve around the Holocaust. According to a 2015 report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the main perpetrators of anti-Semitic incidents are neo-Nazis, far-right or far-left sympathisers, Muslim fundamentalists and the younger generation. The report states that anti-Semitic behaviour is mainly characterised by denial and trivialisation of the Holocaust, glorification of the Nazi past, anti-Semitic sentiment due to property-restitution laws and hatred because of Israeli policies. It includes verbal and physical violence; threats; insults of Jews going to synagogues; harassment of rabbis; repeated attacks on Jews wearing symbols of their religion; hate speech; anti-Semitic bullying in schools; and damage to property, including arson.

Growing violence against Jews Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, encouraged French Jews to come to Israel after the killings of kosher supermarket customers in Paris in January 2015, four years after a deadly attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse. Many Jews have considered following his advice, although some eventually return. According to a 2013 survey on anti-Semitism in eight EU Member States, 21% of respondents experienced verbal or physical violence or harassment because they were Jews. The numbers may underestimate the reality, since 76% of victims of anti-Semitic hate crime do not report it. 

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On the same subject:
Joël Rubinfeld, president of the Belgian League against Anti-Semitism, warned: Europe: Ours will be the last significant generation of European Jews

Europe: Ours will be the last significant generation of European Jews

Joël Rubinfeld, president of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, attended the 6th Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem. Upon his return, Mr. Rubinfeld was interviewed by Radio Judaica in Brussels about the future of Jewish communities in Belgium and in Europe. He declared:

"The few days I spent in Israel have not made me change my optimism or my pessimism about the situation and the way I view it.  I am a pessimist who fights.  I fear - and I sincerely hope that I am mistaken - that our generation will represent, in history books, the last significant generation of European Jews.

In 30 years, in 40 years, in 50 years, there will still be, of course, Jews in Europe but far fewer than today."

read more @ Philosémitisme blog (in French)

On the same topic:
Leading European Rabbi: ‘I have never heard so many concerned voices from my fellow Rabbis at the situation affecting Jewry in Europe’

Belgium/Iceland physicians back outlawing circumcision

Via JTA:

Hundreds of physicians in Iceland and some of Belgium’s top doctors came out in support of a bill proposing to criminalize nonmedical circumcision of boys in the Scandinavian island nation.

The approximately 500 Icelandic physicians who backed the bill that was submitted last month to the parliament cited the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki on ethical principles.

“Potential complications should offset the benefits” of male circumcision, “which are few,” the Icelandic physicians wrote in a joint statement published Wednesday.

Advocates of male circumcision include many physicians who believe it reduces the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and genital infections.

In Belgium, several prominent physicians, including Guy T’Sjoen of Ghent University Hospital, told the De Morgen daily they also support a ban.

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"Germany was always Antisemitic, that hasn’t changed much", says Holocaust survivor on TV

Via Algemeiner (Ben Cohen):

A 93-year-old survivor of Auschwitz stunned the viewers of one of Germany’s most popular political talk shows on Sunday night when — asked to compare the Nazi era with the situation today — she asserted that the two periods had more in common than many people may care to admit.

“I think that Germany was always antisemitic, that has not changed much,” Esther Bejarano — who was enslaved in the infamous “women’s orchestra” of the Auschwitz death camp — told the ARD Network‘s flagship “Anne Will Show.”

Bejarano was one of several guests on an International Holocaust Remembrance Day edition of the show that asked the question, “How antisemitic is Germany today?” Other guests who participated in the candid and often emotional discussion included two government ministers, a prominent human rights advocate and a leading scholar of modern Jewish history.

Much of the show was dedicated to a harrowing interview with Bejarano about her incarceration in Auschwitz. She began by relating that her father had been a stalwart German patriot, convinced that the German people would reject Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party. But after the Nazis came to power and prevented the family from emigrating to British Mandatory Palestine, Bejarano was imprisoned in a hard labor camp in Germany, before being deported to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland in April 1943. (...)

It was Bejarano’s status as a Holocaust survivor who has spent decades sharing her experiences with younger Germans that amplified the shocked response to her claim that Germany remains deeply antisemitic. 

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Some comments after the article are worth reading.

Europe: Fecal insults to countries are objectionable—unless the country Is Israel

Via Mosaic Magazine:

President Trump’s alleged vulgar remark last week about the homelands of certain immigrants to America has garnered much attention and generated much outrage. Very different, notes Tom Gross, were responses to the comment of the French ambassador to Britain in 2001 when he called Israel a “sh—y little country”:

When Ambassador Daniel Bernard told guests at a dinner hosted by the writer Barbara Amiel . . . that Israel was a “sh—y little country,” some journalists rushed to his defense or even praised him. For example, an article in the Independent by one of the paper’s most prominent columnists, Deborah Orr, described Israel as “sh—y” and “little” no fewer than four times. (At the time, the Independent was winning newspaper-of-the-year awards).

The French ambassador to London is not the American president, of course. But he is nonetheless the official representative of one of the world’s most important countries: a nuclear power, one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a G8 member, the land of égalité and fraternité and of a supposedly sophisticated ruling elite. And Bernard was not just any ambassador. He was one of then-French President Jacques Chirac’s closest confidantes, and had previously served as France’s UN ambassador. . . .

Yet when Bernard made his “sh—y” remark, the British and French press seemed to spend more time criticizing the messenger, Barbara Amiel, in whose home the remark was made, than the ambassador. Le Monde ran a front-page attack on Amiel for having had the temerity to reveal the ambassador’s comment. In the Guardian, Matt Wells denounced Amiel as “an arch-Zionist,” but had nothing but sympathy for Bernard who, he claimed “was struggling against a tide of anger from Israel.” In fact the Israeli government hadn’t made a single official comment on the matter at the time Wells’ article was published.

Read the full article @ Mideast Dispatch

"Europe, be a fair friend", says Fiamma Nirenstein

Via Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (Fiamma Nirenstein):

The EU Accusations against Israel

(...) And yet, if we take a close look at the relationship between the European Union and Israel we immediately hear a tune that is off-key. For years, the relationship between Europe and Israel has been strained. Europe tends to criticize Israel for simply defending itself against the continual threats and terrorist attacks it faces on all its borders and inside its cities. Europe too often disregards not only Israel’s most evident attempts to bring about peace such as its disengagement from Gaza but also chides it for its cautiousness when considering what solutions are risky and which will truly ensure the security of its citizens.

The EU has never recognized the dangers that Hamas and Hizbullah pose, as well as many other jihadist groups, including those backed by Fatah. The EU constantly blames Israel in its Commission and Assembly decisions, resolutions, papers and “non-papers,” letters and appeals. Some of Europe’s most important figures insist that sanctions against the “territories” are necessary – a political stance that will certainly not bring about a solution to this conflict that we – the Israelis – would sincerely like to resolve. Israel has repeated many times that it is ready for direct negotiation without preconditions with the Palestinians. No answer has been received. (...)

The New Anti-Semitism in Europe

The chill wind that sometimes flows from the EU towards Israel is squall that can develop into a tsunami releasing a monstrous wave of anti-Semitism which flourishes in Europe today, much to our dismay. The great historian Robert Wistrich wrote, “The Nazi poison was by no means extinguished, having infiltrated (in its day) the Soviet Union and especially the Arab Muslim world, where hard core anti-Semitism systematically defamed Israel and the Jews and was widely and officially propagated.”

The old European culture of hatred continues to permeate books, magazines, newspapers, sermons, Internet, TV, and radio on an unprecedented scale not seen since Nazi Germany’s heyday.

Europe must become aware of the demonic images circulating in much of the Islamic world which are sufficiently radical in tone and content to constitute a warrant for genocide. Europe, in the wake of its problems caused by immigration and the economy, is also infected with political difficulties that have led to widespread discontent and populism. Furthermore, it suffers overall from an anti-Semitic bigotry that can’t be understood in terms of the Arab Israeli conflict, but instead through the myths and conspiracy theories that the Nazi model propagated. The “perfidious Jewish influence” is again a myth that brings murder in Paris, Toulouse, and elsewhere. In short, terrorism is the same enemy everywhere. There is no difference between the myths of Jews seeking to the Mosque of Al Aqsa and the idea that the West is evil incarnate.

Europe, Become Our Best Friends

Remember, Europe: Israel’s fight for its survival and the survival of the Jewish people is also your battle. In addition, Israel has a love for democracy and social justice just like you. If you want to be part of a peace process, help us to stop the Palestinians from using incitement, criminalization, and demonization; stop them from fueling terrorism and violence; and invite them to come back to the negotiation table.

Be a fair friend. Now is the right time.

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Sweden: Outpouring of anti-Semitism for which officials blame Israel

Via Mosaic Magazine:

Following the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, there have been anti-Semitic demonstrations in many European countries. Particularly severe is the situation in Sweden: crowds walk through the streets threatening violence against “the Jews,” and both a synagogue and a Jewish funeral home have been firebombed. Bruce Bawer examines the reactions:

Svante Weyler, head of the Swedish Committee against Anti-Semitism, told the daily Aftonbladet that . . . anti-Semitism is, indeed, quite severe and on the rise in Europe—especially in Sweden—but, unless Aftonbladet cut something out, he was careful not to mention Islam. (That is par for the course.) . . .

Weyler [also] pointed out that “those young people who were gathered together in the synagogue [at the time of the attack] have no direct connection to what is happening in the Middle East or to what Trump does.” Rarely does a European Jewish leader—or anyone, for that matter—simply stand up and defend Israel.

It is not just European Jewish leaders who, in such cases, feel driven to draw a sharp distinction between European Jews and the Jewish state. In an interview with [another Swedish paper], a member of the city council in Gothenburg, [where the attack on the synagogue took place], lamented the fact that “Jews in Sweden are held responsible for what Israel thinks is right or wrong.” Such remarks, of course, imply, [first of all], that Swedish Jews, being Swedes, are surely too sensible and humane to agree in any large numbers with Israeli (or pro-Israeli) policies or actions, and [second], that Israel, by virtue of its supposedly provocative behavior, is at least indirectly responsible for anti-Jewish attacks in Europe. . . .

The attack on the Gothenburg synagogue may have been immediately triggered by Trump’s recognition of Israel’s capital, but it is part of a pattern of persecution and savagery that has [long] been in place, and that has been systematically ignored, denied, or played down by the news media and public officials.

read more @ Gatestone Institute

Spain: Ex Attorney General insinuates Israel/Argentine Jews killed his successor

Via The Algemeiner:

A prominent US-based Jewish human rights group has expressed outrage over an ex-Spanish official’s insinuation that Jews might have been responsible for the recent death of his country’s attorney general, José Manuel Maza, during a trip to Buenos Aires. 

The 66-year-old Maza passed away on Saturday after being taken to a hospital in the Argentine capital with a kidney infection. He was in Buenos Aires to attend an international law conference. 

Maza had been leading the prosecution of 20 Catalan politicians following the recent independence referendum in the autonomous region of northeastern Spain. 

In an Alerta Digital interview published on Monday, a predecessor of Maza in the attorney general position, Ramiro Grau, stated, “If we join the interest of some states for Catalonia to be constituted as a new country, for example Israel — as much as its president has said otherwise — and the existence of a large colony of Jews in Argentina, there are those who claim that the real controllers are the Jews, it would not be a bad idea to do an autopsy to check and verify the real causes of his death.”

Dr. Shimon Samuels — the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s director for international relations — characterized Grau’s comment as “an extreme example of obsessive antisemitism” and called on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy “to condemn Grau and take measures to strip him of his honors and state pension as the price for his hatemongering.” 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Latin American representative, Dr. Ariel Gelblung, alerted the Argentine delegation to the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) to the matter, and stated, “Grau had endangered the country´s Jewish community and thereby maligned Argentina.”

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Germany: Hezbollah-affiliated football team hires German biologist as coach

Via Jerusalem Post (Benjamin Weinthal): 

A former German soccer player and biologist, Robert Jaspert, has been hired as the new head coach of the Hezbollah-backed Lebanese football team Al-Ahed.

The Rheinische Post reported on Saturday that Jaspert, who worked for Al-Ahed ten years ago, is back this time as the team's top coach. The RP wrote that "Al-Ahed is supported by Hezbollah."

The US, Canada, Israel, the Arab League and the Netherlands classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The EU and Germany designated Hezbollah's so-called military wing a terrorist entity.

It is unclear if direct Hezbollah funds are to pay for Jaspert's salary. (...)

Jaspert previously worked for the German research organization Robert Koch Institute as a molecular biologist. Germany's domestic intelligence agency reported that as of 2017, there are 950 active Hezbollah members in the country. 

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Europe: The 2nd Intifada triggered a new form of European antisemitism intimately connected to anti-Zionism

Via The Jerusalem Post (editorial):

The US State Department’s post of special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism was established in 2004, during the presidency of George W. Bush. 

Now, 13 years later, US President Donald Trump is seeking to do away with the position.
We urge him to reconsider. Antisemitism is an issue that should be taken seriously by the Trump administration. Allowing the position to stay vacant sends the misleading message that this administration does not take antisemitism seriously enough. 

But a warm body is not enough. Filling the position is important. But no less important is choosing the right person. The ideal candidate should clarify, not obscure, the main forces behind contemporary antisemitism. There have been good and bad envoys in the past. (...) 

We do not suspect Trump is opposed to fighting antisemitism. The decision to ax the position is part of a policy to do away with special envoy posts to save taxpayers’ dollars (...) 

The driving force behind the 2004 Global Anti-Semitism Review Act that created the position, the small staff of aides and the modest budget was the late congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor. The push to pass the bill, which began in the early 2000s, coincided with an uptick in antisemitic incidents, particularly in Europe. 

The Second Intifada that broke out in 2000 triggered a new form of European antisemitism intimately connected to anti-Zionism. Attacks against Jews perpetrated by the far Right were outnumbered by attacks carried out by the masses of immigrants from Muslim countries and their offspring who were outraged by Israel’s efforts to defend itself against Palestinian suicide bombers and shooters. Adding fuel to the fire were elements on the progressive Left that depicted Israel as a colonialist occupier and conveniently ignored or justified the violence of Islamist terrorist groups. 

The French Human Right Commission reported six times more antisemitic incidents in 2002 in France than in the previous year. If anything, the situation has only gotten worse in Europe since. 

Lantos’s legacy must live on. But appointing a special envoy is not enough. The candidate should not shy away from identifying the sources of the newest and deadliest forms of violent antisemitism.

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Europe: US lawmakers pass bill requiring greater oversight on European antisemitism

Via Algemeiner:

The US House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation requiring greater State Department reporting on European antisemitism. 

The bill, known as the Combating European Anti-Semitism Act of 2017, requires enhanced annual reporting to Congress on antisemitic incidents in Europe, the safety and security of European Jews, and efforts by the US to partner with European entities to combat antisemitism. 

“This bill would require the US government — and encourage our global partners — to continue to take a hard look at anti-Semitism in Europe, provide a thorough assessment of trends, and outline what the United States and our partners are doing to meet this challenge,” said a statement by the Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism, chaired by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.). 

The bill will now head to the Senate and eventually President Donald Trump for approval.

Germany: Mahmoud Abbas, a Holocaust denier, gets German Steiger award

Via Elder of Ziyon:

From Wikipedia: 

The Steiger Award or Der Steiger is an international award established in 2005 and presented annually by the award organization based in Bochum, Germany. The title refers to steiger (mining foreman), reflecting the qualities of responsibility, honesty, openness and hard work valued in the Ruhr region where the award is presented. The award was created by private initiative and is presented annually to individuals who are notable for accomplishments in charity, music, film, media, sports, the environment and building of the European community. 

Looking at the Steiger Award page for this year, it describes the accomplishments of those that it gives the award to. But the person that received the main award has a biography that is strikingly short of actual accomplishment.

But the person that received the main award has a biography that is strikingly short of actual accomplishment. 

 STEIGER AWARD Special award for President AbbasThe Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be honored on 03.25.2017 at the STEIGER AWARD ceremony where he is getting a special prize on hopes for peace on Saturday.

President Abbas will personally accept the award at the Zeche Hansemann in Dortmund.

Mahmoud Abbas was born 1935th He studied at the University of Damascus and a doctorate at the University of Moscow. From 1996 to 2004 he was the Secretary General of the PLO, in 2003 he became Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority. Since 2004 he is Chairman of the PLO, he was elected president of 2005.

So, he actually hasn't accomplished anything except to be chosen as Abbas' successor in a kleptocracy and imaginary government.

I wonder how many of the Germans behind this award are aware of Abbas' history with Holocaust denial in his thesis and subsequent book. 

Why exactly did Abbas get this award? 

With the award, the jury would like to give a clear signal in slow-moving peace process between Israel and Palestine. 

Except if that is true, and the award is more to encourage the peace process than to recognize accomplishments towards peace,  then shouldn't they have given it to Netanyahu at the same time?  

This award shows how screwed up the world is and how the West has swallowed Palestinian propaganda whole. 

Even if you don't like Netanyahu, his accomplishments as a national leader far outweigh Abbas'.  And he has proposed more peace plans and frameworks than Abbas has. And he is not a serial liar and Holocaust denier.  He doesn't encourage terror attacks nor does he reward terrorists and their families. (...)

(The irony of an antisemite receiving the award has not been lost on German bloggers, either. )

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This comment was posted by an EoZ reader:

While in Germany, Abu Mazen can visit the scene of his greatest "achievement"-

Abu Daoud, who planned the Munich Olympics massacre, wrote in his autobiography that funds for the operation were provided by Mahmoud Abbas:

"Though he claims he didn't know what the money was being spent for, longtime Fatah official Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, was responsible for the financing of the Munich attack."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

Also, Martin Schulz, the former President of the European Parliament, who is German, is an admirer of Mahmoud Abbas. When Abbas went to the European Parliament he applauded him for his speech and tweeted afterwards that Abbas's blood libel and his calling Israel a fascist country was "inspiring" and that he is a true partner for peace.

Europe: Myopic American Jews ignore European cousins under fire

Mosaic Magazine comment: 

In recent weeks, American Jewish communities have been beset by a rash of bomb threats, acts of vandalism, and the like aimed at Jewish institutions. Responding to a rabbi who urged American Jews to see the threats they face in light of the (supposedly) far more severe dangers faced by other groups in the U.S.—like Muslims and homosexuals—Bethany Mandel suggests consideration of what their fellow Jews in Europe are undergoing:

Via The Forward:

(...)  If American Jewish groups care to appoint themselves guardians of those truly vulnerable, we needn’t look far for a group that deserves not just our sympathy, but also our full-throated defense. European Jews face regular violence and contend with widespread state apathy. 

I recently spoke with Annika Hernroth-Rothstein, a Jewish-Swedish political writer and syndicated political columnist for Israel Hayom, who has spent the last several months aghast at the priorities of liberal American Jews (Hernroth-Rothstein made news a few years back by applying for asylum in her own country to draw attention to rising anti-Semitism). 

“We [European Jews] feel so disconnected from American Jews because we don’t feel the solidarity,” fretted Hernroth-Rothstein. American Jews are talking about such silly things. I keep seeing protests in New York City with rabbis wearing a tallis protesting immigration; do they know we can’t do that here? Do they know what is going on here for the last five years? Does nobody pay attention that their Jewish cousins are fleeing Europe? American Jews have such an influence. They don’t and won’t use it for our community.”  

As if to prove her point, in the last two months the ADL has issued two press releases about “transgender” issues and three in response to Trump’s immigration executive orders, yet it rarely highlights its support for the European Jewish community. 

Just in the month of February, two brothers who wore yarmulkes in Paris were ambushed and abducted, with one having his finger sawed off in the attack. Meanwhile, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen warned French Jews in possession of Israeli citizenship they’ll have to relinquish it.  

And this week started ‘Israel apartheid week’ in France. 

Benjamin Amsellem, a French Jew, survived a machete attack last year when a Torah – literally – saved his life. Amsellem defended himself against a teen attacker of Turkish descent by holding a Bible between his body and the blade. Like many other European Jews, Amsellem now feels unsafe wearing a kippah in public, so he now dons a cap instead. 

And that’s just the bad news for Jews out of France!  

Few groups deserve our support and sympathy than our embattled European brothers and sisters. Loving our fellow is a key component of Jewish tradition, found in Leviticus 19:18 and continues to inform how the Jewish community is structured in the present. Of late, an obsession with liberal politics has changed the way we identify who is worthy enough of being a victim for many Jewish organizations and individuals. Is it so much to ask for Jewish communities and organizations to take the position that Jewish lives matter as well?

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Why do European countries exploit Israel’s capabilities with one hand and stab her in the back with the other?

Via The Augean Stables (Professor Richard Landes):

Richard Kemp

At the Balfour Declaration centenary conference convened by JCPA Tuesday, February 28, there was a particularly interesting juxtaposition during the first panel between remarks by Colonel Richard Kemp and Professor Julius Schoeps. 

(NB: the videos of the talks will only be up next week. I will link when possible and make any amendments to this post that a second hearing might impose. Thanks to Richard Kemp for sending me a copy of his remarks; for his further thoughts see “Balfour Declaration, November 2016) 

In his talk, “Israel as a Strategic Asset to Britain”, Richard Kemp drew a striking contrast between two European attitudes towards Israel. On the one hand, there are those who see her as a remarkably successful loyal ally, crucial not only to Montgomery in 1940s, but even more today in the 21^st century. On the other, there are those who repeatedly sacrifice Israel’s interests and side against her. His illustrative example concerns Italian Admiral Giampaolo Di Paolo, the Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, who: 

In 2009… visited Israel to study IDF tactics to apply to NATO operations in Afghanistan. He was particularly interested in Israeli tactics for fighting terror in civilian-populated areas. This visit came just weeks after the publication of the infamous Goldstone Report – which alleged that Israel had committed war crimes by deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza.  

The contrast was striking: within weeks of the European Parliament endorsing the report, the European Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee was visiting Israel, for the third time in four years, to study ethical methods for dealing with terrorist insurgencies without causing undue harm to civilians.

Apparently the Europeans find scolding Israel nearly irresistible, even though they know their criticism is not only untrue… but, it’s the opposite. Israel behaves better than even other Western armies; a fortiori than the jihadis they fight, whose cannibalistic strategies create civilian casualties among their own people.

Let’s call it (European) schizoid dissonance: holding two diametrically and significantly contradictory notions in one’s empirical and moral discourse at the same time. On the one hand, the (European) cultural elite – journalists, critics, public intellectuals, researchers, NGOs –conduct a conversation in which despising Israel holds an important place, in which they have flipped the symbol and insist on seeing an Israeli Goliath bullying a hapless Palestinian David. On the other hand, the military, the security people, the grown ups in charge, ask the Israelis to teach them how to limit casualties when the enemy uses civilians as shields and how to enhance their security. And that schizoid dissonance seems to hold more or less for all European countries. (...) 

Which brings us possibly back to Kemp’s explanation for this schizoid condition. 

Why do European countries exploit Israel’s capabilities with one hand and stab her in the back with the other?

he asked and paused. I was wondering which of the standard explanations he’ll highlight. Jew-baiting? Underdogma? Realpolitik?

Appeasement.

For me, the most surprising and welcome single word of the day. Kemp reads the continuing pro-Palestinian position of the European cultural elite [increasingly dominant when least appropriate, after 2000], as a way to placate Muslim populations abroad and at home: Arab nations, European Muslims whose “Street” they fear, and whose votes they want, and the Jihadis who, as we see again and again, can get very nasty with those who offend them, however slightly. So rather than go after the real villains who threaten not only Israel, but Europe, they prefer to wage a war of a million cuts against Israel, even as they profess their (former) admiration for her.

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Europe: "Jews are outsiders, not equals", says rabbi David Meyer

Via Haaretz (by rabbi David Meyer - this article was published on March 4, 2013):

Testifying at the U.S. House subcommittee hearing I described how, even after 2000 years, Europe has never really accepted the place either of individual Jews or of Judaism as a religion in its midst, leading to a deeply rooted tolerance for acts of violence against the Jewish community.

Last week I testified at the House Foreign Affairs and Human Rights subcommittee, which was holding a hearing on European anti-Semitism. I arrived in Washington with mixed feelings. If I was certainly honoured to bring my contribution to a congressional hearing, I quickly felt the burden of responsibility on my shoulders. 

Anti-Semitism is certainly not a minor issue in Europe today. But I was also slightly worried, as I knew I did not want to be the voice that would simply run the various cliches about the unspeakable dangers of living as a Jew in Europe, or even about the uncompromising hate of Jews of some of Europe's Muslims citizens. As a rabbi based in Brussels, at the heart of Europe, having served Jewish communities in both the United Kingdom and Belgium, and currently a professor of Rabbinic Literature in Rome as well as in Belgium, I felt I had the necessary background and experience to bring a more nuanced view on this issue. But would my subtle remarks be heard? 

Over the years, my encounters with anti-Semitism have been many and varied. From witnessing first hand, at the age of thirteen, a deadly terrorist attack against my synagogue in Paris, in which four people perished, to subtler and more recent forms of Jewish hatred, often dressed in a cloak of respectability. My dual citizenship and my patriotism for both France and Israel has been questioned and denounced. I have been told to “return to my country” during one particularly heated lecture during a military session in the French Senate. In a similar vein, a high official in England also kindly reminded me several years ago during, ironically, a meeting on interfaith dialogue, that I should not forget that my place was as a “tolerated minority.” In both of these instances, I was clearly the outsider and not an equal. 

Yet, my experiences of anti-Semitism pale in comparison to the renewed forms of violence against the Jewish community in Europe. How not to think of the sheer horror and panic that was inflicted on a small Jewish school in Toulouse in March 2012? There, a radical young French Muslim killed, in cold blood, three children aged 3, 6 and 8 as well as a rabbi, who was both a father and teacher at the school. As a father, how can I not look at my two daughters without a mix of fear and apprehension about what Jewish life in Europe will be for them? 

I am of course well aware that many leaders in Europe are committed to fighting this renewal of anti-Semitic violence. Their words, in this respect, have been right; their speeches moving. But anti-Semitism remains on the rise. So why are the political words and the policies put in place not enough? The uncomfortable answer is that there is a level of tolerance to acts of violence against the Jewish community that is deeply rooted in the European mentality and which is, in my view, more worrisome in the long run than even the radical Islamist brand of “Jew-hatred.” Europe has never really accepted the place of not only Jews as individuals, but also of Judaism as a religion in its midst.

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