UK: A Times of London journalist, Donald Trump and the ‘Judaization of bad deeds’

The hysteria about the election of Donald Trump has reached such levels that one of the most distinguished British historians Antony Beevor wrote on The Telegraph that "this is no rerun of the Thirties"...

 Adam Levick @ UK Media Watch: 

(...)  Even in Israel, where most generally view the Republican presidential candidates more favorably than the Democrats, polls showed that Israelis strongly preferred Hillary to Trump. This brings us to the following tweet by Gregg Carlstrom, who covers the Middle East for Times of London and The Economist, responding to a tweet about Marc Zell, co-chair of Republicans Overseas Israel. 

Gilead Ini, a senior researcher for CAMERA, responded. Here’s the series of exchanges between Carlstrom and Ini.The exchange was quite revealing. Despite the fact that American and Israeli Jews strongly favored Trump’s opponent, Carlstrom somehow found it necessary to not only highlight the pro-Trump sentiment (‘bad deed’) of one Jew, but to suggest (as Bradley Burston in Haaretz did yesterday, and as others have done even more viciously in different contexts) that even one such Jewish bad deed reflects poorly on all Jews. 

Ini’s point that “Jews shouldn’t have to wince anymore every time a Jew does something unseemly, for fear of how *they* will be perceived” is an important one within the history of antisemitism.  As Leon Wieseltier has has argued, this tendency amongst some on the left today to divide American Jews into good Jews and bad Jews is a practice with an extremely sordid – and historically ‘right-wing’ – political history. 

So, was the tweet by Carlstrom – who, we should add, is normally one of the more sober voices among the foreign journalists we cover – simply a generic act of virtue signalling? Or, was he playing into the ‘good jew-bad Jew’ paradigm?  We of course don’t know for sure. 

However, one thing should be clear: Marc Zell certainly did not represent Jews – American or Israeli – when he visited the Kotel by himself and thanked G-d for Donald Trump. He only represented Marc Zell.

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Germany: The influx of Middle Eastern refugees from anti-Israel countries and anti-Semitic cultures

From the Times of Israel:

[...] The question has arisen today as to whether Germans now over-identify with the Holocaust, causing them to see Jews only as spectral victims, instead of fellow Germans living among them. It’s been suggested that there has been an over-saturation of Holocaust education, and that it might be time to stop the ever-present discussion.

Then again, it may not at all be time to stop.

“Germans & Jews” was completed before the current influx of more than a million Middle Eastern refugees into Germany. One cannot wonder what a future sequel to this film might be like, taking into account that a significant percentage of Germany’s foreign-born population now comes from anti-Israel countries and anti-Semitic cultures.

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France: Jews still associated with negative stereotypes (persecuted, pariahs...)

There is nothing to suggest that the Mayor is antisemitic.  But his statement indicates that Jews are still associated with negative stereotypes and perceived like in this case as victims and persecuted pariahs.   If you feel you are being treated unfairly, just trot out the usual complaint that you are being treated like Jews were treated for centuries in Europe. 
 
La Dépêche reported that representatives of the Jewish community did not wish to respond formally to remarks made publicly by Jacques Tene, the outgoing Mayor of Saint-Lys. But the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions) did not appreciate the reference made by the Mayor, who was angry at his opponents vying for the first round of the municipal by-election in Saint-Lys.

Jacques Tene said that people are made to believe that Saint-Lys is bankrupt, but that's untrue.  He added that Saint-Lys was made to look like a Jewish town and as a result it will trigger the usual finger-pointing.

When challenged about the comparison Mr Tene reiterated the accusation against his opponents: "This is the truth: some have marked the city of Saint-Lys in yellow as in the past Jews were made to wear a yellow mark. I am in no way anti-Semitic and my comments have nothing to do with it!"

German universities neglect Holocaust studies

 I 24 News reports:

Trying to come to grips with its past, Germany has invested significant resources in Holocaust research, but in one aspect its efforts appear to be lacking: Educating university students on the topic. German universities offer an insufficient number of courses about the Holocaust, claims a new study, strengthening experts' outcry over the overall neglect of the field.

Reviewing the course list of 79 German universities over the last two years (excluding institutions focused on science, medicine and music), researchers of the Center for Digital Systems (CeDiS) in Berlin found that on average each of them offers only 1.5 courses in connection with the Holocaust per semester.

A quarter of the reviewed institutions were found to offer no such lectures or just one course in the last four semesters. “It is clear that not at every university a basic knowledge about the Holocaust is provided,” deemed the study.

These findings illustrate the extent of the problem, says political scientist Dr. Johannes Tuchel, who advised the researchers. “We have no basis for teaching the Holocaust in German universities and it's a problem, an institutional problem.”

“Holocaust studies were never established in the academic world,” he continued. “Germany has a strong tradition of Holocaust research but it does not translate into a strong tradition of teaching. In other countries, like the US or the United Kingdom, these are accepted topics for teaching.”

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Belgium declines Israeli teens’ aid request after parents killed in museum attack

In the meantime, Islamic violence and terrorism has cost Belgium huge suffering and billions of euros. It is understood that victims' families will not be entitled to compensation until the killer, Mehdi Nemmouche who had been living in Molenbeek at the times of the attack and was arrested in France, is tried and then found insolvent.  The whole procedure will take years.  Shira and Ayelet Riva are being helped by the Israeli government.

JTA reports:

Mira and Emmanuel Riva

Belgium has turned down a request for financial assistance from the daughters of an Israeli couple killed in a 2014 attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels.

Shira and Ayelet Riva were 15 and 17 at the time of the attack.

Mira and Emmanuel Riva were on vacation and touring the museum in May when Mehdi Nemmouche, a Frenchman who French authorities believe left for Syria via Belgium to fight with jihadists in 2012 before returning to Europe, opened fire on museum visitors and staff. Along with the Rivas, a French volunteer at the museum and a Belgian employee were killed in the attack.

The Riva teens, who live in Tel Aviv, filed an application for the assistance 10 months after the attack. They applied for the usual allocation of 15,000 euros, or about $17,000, which is generally provided without question, according to French-language news reports.

The commission that decides on assistance for victims of intentional acts of violence refused to grant the allocation, saying there was no “urgent need.” Urgent need is defined as a request in the first six months following an attack. The teens’ attorney said since the girls were not Belgian citizens, it was more difficult to file the request and took longer.

UK: British museum Jewish history denial

Brian of London @ Israelly Cool:

Last week I was in London to speak on a panel: “Two State Solution: dead or alive?”. A video will be coming out soon and I’ll post about it. On the day of the debate I strolled into the British Museum to have a look at the vast array of historical treasures the British half inched largely in the course of running two thirds of the world for a while.  [...]I searched out one hall of interest: “Ancient Levant”. The hall begins with the following information.

Ancient Levant 7500BC – 332BC
The ancient Levant comprises modern Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and western Syria. The region was home to two great indigenous peoples – the Canaanites and the Amorites.
Life for the people in the Levant was defined by their dealings with their neighbours – firstly through trade and commerce, then through domination by the Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires.

I started my panel talk by asking “The Levant was home to two great indigenous peoples – the Canaanites and who else?”. If anyone said Amorites, I didn’t hear them. Well I guess I should be grateful they don’t list “Palestinians” as a great indigenous people shouldn’t I?

While the first sentence, listing “modern Palestine” – whatever that is – before the state of Israel is bad enough, the second sentence, which wipes out Jewish connection to the land of Israel, is absolutely astonishing.

Here is the British Museum, a few miles from the largest population of Jews in the UK and none of them have managed to get this changed. Has there ever been any official opposition? In my opinion having this sign, in London and presented as viable history, is far, far worse than a Bradford MP tweeting out a map that moves Israel to the USA. She’s trying to change our future, the British Museum has wiped out our history!
Consider for a moment what the “great indigenous” civilisations of the Canaanites and the Amorites have given to our western culture. A moment is all you’ll need, most of you can’t think of anything.

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France: Anti-racism movement spokesperson: “Zionists to the Gulag!”

Indigènes de la République is an anti-racist, anti-colonialist movement which also defines itself as "anti-Zionist".

Via Tendance Coatesy (h/t glykosymoritis):

The left-wing political scientist,  Thomas Guénolé,  recently (18th March) rowed with the spokesperson of the Parti des Indigènes de la République, Houria Bouteldja on the French television (France 2) programme, “Ce soir (ou jamais !)” sur France 2 (Atlantico).

He took out a photo of her posing with the slogan, Zionists to the Gulag (note, which adds, Peace, mais gulag quand même, but Gulag even so).

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Russia/Ukraine: Missionaries organize Jewish festivals to lure Jews

Jews who fight antisemitism are often confronted by people who say "I'm Jewish, and therefore, no matter what I do, I can't be antisemitic".

This is most often found in anti-Zionist circles, but of course, Jewish antisemitism is not confined only to anti-Israel activities.

I recently ran across this site, run by Jonathan Bernis, a Jew who had ‘found Jesus’.  Make no mistake, he still defines himself as a Jew.  His goal? 

Jewish Voice is an evangelical ministry committed to taking the Gospel to the Jew first, and also to the Nations. The ministry is dedicated to two missions: 1) Introducing Jewish People around the world to their Messiah, Yeshua; and 2) teaching the Church about her Hebraic roots.

Who is Jonathan Bernis?

Founder of Hear O Israel Ministries, Bernis’ outreach organization produced large-scale, international Festivals of Jewish Music & Dance throughout Eastern Europe and Russia, sharing the Good News to eager audiences of both Jews and Gentiles.

They claim thousands of Jews have converted thanks to their efforts.

More than 560,000 people have attended our vibrant Hear O’ Israel! Festivals of Jewish Music & Dance throughout Eastern Europe, India, and South America. Millions more have participated via television broadcasts. Thousands have responded to altar calls, and about one third of those who have responded have been Jewish. More than a dozen new Messianic Jewish congregations have been birthed in the former Soviet Union through these outreaches. JVMI also partners with several other Messianic ministries to establish and operate Messianic Jewish Bible Institutes around the world to train leaders for Jewish ministry.

Other misconception I've encountered is that anybody who is pro-Israel cannot be antisemitic

How can pro-Israel be antisemitic?  Watch and see

See also: "Ukraine highly influential for reaching Jewish people globally with the gospel"

Switzerland: Museums under pressure over art that Jews were forced to sell

Via The Art Newspaper:

Pressure is growing on Swiss museums to accept that works of art sold by Jewish refugees to help them escape from the Nazis were forced sales, and that the works should therefore be returned to their heirs. Speaking in Zurich last month, Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, proposed a plan of action, which he described as “long overdue”.

Lauder said he had turned his attention to Switzerland after Cornelius Gurlitt bequeathed his entire collection—some of which had been looted from Jews by the Nazis—to the Bern Kunstmuseum. The museum has said it will refuse to accept any Gurlitt works with tainted or unclear provenance, and that they will remain in Germany for further research.

Whereas the German government has pledged to return any art in Gurlitt’s hoard that had been “lost due to Nazi persecution”, Swiss museums have traditionally rejected claims for what they term fluchtgut (flight assets)—art sold by Jewish refugees to fund their escape or to start new lives after losing the rest of their possessions, their homes and their livelihoods under the Nazis.

One of Lauder’s demands was that Switzerland treat fluchtgut claims in the same way as claims for looted art. “Could it possibly make any difference if the painting was taken off the wall by a Nazi or if its Jewish owner was forced to sell that same painting to one of Hitler’s art dealers for almost nothing?” he asked in his speech at Zurich’s Kunsthaus on 2 February.

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Ukraine: "Ukraine highly influential for reaching Jewish people globally with the gospel"

Via Christianity Today:   

In Ukraine, where nearly 1 million Jews were murdered during World War II, Holocaust references are usually used to make political points. During January’s 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Russian and Ukrainian leaders compared each other to Nazis and publicly fought over which country should get the credit for freeing the concentration camp in occupied Poland.

But Ukraine’s Messianic Jewish community is talking about the Holocaust in its evangelistic efforts. And now Messianic congregations are thriving in many of the same communities that suffered the deepest Holocaust wounds.

(...)

“We . . . rejoice that many Jewish people are coming to faith in Messiah in places that witnessed some of the worst atrocities of the Holocaust period,” stated the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE). The group met in Kiev for its 10th European conference last April. More than 80 participants from 19 nations gathered largely “to affirm and encourage these Jewish followers of Jesus,” and to recognize “the enormous number of Jewish followers of Jesus who perished in the Holocaust.”

(...)
 
 “We live in a special time of restoration,” says Boris Grisenko, KJMC’s leader and founder. “Now we see hundreds of Jewish Messianic congregations in different countries. It’s an unusual moment when Jews are coming to the Lord—to their own Master, King, Messiah, Savior.”

Ukrainians are also shaping Messianic life in Israel. Michael Zinn, Israel director for CPM, estimates that almost half of the 20,000 Russian-speaking Jews in Israel who believe in Christ are from Ukraine.

All these trends together make Ukraine highly influential for reaching Jewish people globally with the gospel, said Jonathan Bernis, founder of Phoenix-based Jewish Voice Ministries International. “Ukraine probably represents the greatest opportunity to reach Jewish people,” he says.

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Netherlands: Amsterdam Housing accused of hiking rents on Jews forced into ghettos

Via NL Times:

The Amsterdam Housing agency increased the rents in the ghettos Asterdorp and Transvaalbuurt with 25 to 30 percent when Jews were forced to move there during World War II. The Housing agency likely never gave the 10 guilders deposit charged back to the Jews who lived in the ghettos, but did declare the expenses for housing the Jews three times, according to the Book Asterdorp, Het Parool reports.

The book Asterdorp was written by political scientist Stephan Steinmetz. He received his doctorate at the University of Amsterdam on Thursday.

According to the book, some 300 Jews were housed in the former “reeducation camp” Asterdop in Amsterdam-Noord from the summer of 1942. This was to make the deportation to concentration camps more efficient.

Amsterdam Housing increased the rents in Asterdorp because they were afraid they would lose out on the annual government subsidy for social housing. The subsidy came with the condition that no one in social housing lived below or above the rents they can afford. The officials did not know what the Jews’ income were so worried that the subsidy would not be paid. Amsterdam housing also increased the rents in the Transvaalbuurt, where the Germans took homes to rehouse Jewish families.

The Germans did not ask for the rent increases and did not seem to care about it at all, according to the book.

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UK: Scottish politician criticised after describing Israel's condemnation of Iran as 'inappropriate'

The Jewish Chronicle reports:

Former Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond has been criticised after he said it was “inappropriate” for an Israeli official to condemn Iran during a Holocaust Memorial Day event.

Mr Salmond’s comments came on the same day that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had marked last week’s memorial day by denying the Shoah.

Now an SNP MP and the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Salmond also represents Britain at the Council of Europe.

He said it was wrong for Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, to criticise Iran president Hassan Rouhani’s visits to France and Italy at the council ahead of an HMD service.

Mr Salmond said there was a “time and place for international politics” and that Mr Oren had been wrong to make the critical comments “during a solemn commemoration service”.

Former Labour Friends of Israel chairman John Woodcock MP said Mr Salmond, who visited Iran in December, had displayed “breath-taking pomposity”.

Read this on Axel Salmond:
Scottish politician compares Islamic State terrorism to the policies of Israel

Belgium: Chief Rabbi of Brussels: There is no future for Jews in Europe

Sad but not surprising.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

In the shadow of the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people and as Belgian police sweep the country for terror suspects, the Chief Rabbi of Brussels said Monday that there is no future for Jews in Europe. 

Rabbi Avraham Gigi spoke to Israeli radio station 103 FM about the atmosphere of fear in the Belgian capital that has been in a state of near lockdown for the past three days.

"There is a sense of fear in the streets, the Belgians understand that they too are targets of terror. Jews now pray in their homes [as opposed to at synagogues] and some of them are planning on emigrating," Gigi said.

"Since Shabbat the city has been paralyzed. The synagogues were closed, something which has not happened since World War Two. People are praying alone or are holding small minyanim [small prayer groups] at private homes. Schools and theaters are closed as are most large stores and public events are not permitted. We live in fear and wait for instructions from the police or the government," he said.

Gigi gave a breakdown of the Belgian Jewish population which he said numbered 50,000.

"There are 25,000 Jews in Brussels, 18,000 in Antwerp and the rest live in smaller places. There has been aliya to Israel as well as emigration to Canada and the US. People understand there is no future for Jews in Europe," he said.

He added that economic conditions are also pushing young people to leave Belgium and move to Israel or to other places. 

"I think making aliya to Israel is an important thing for every Jew," Gigi said. 

"It is something that Jews in every generation yearned for. But Jews should not make aliya out of fear because this will result in a poor absorption experience as a feeling that something was left behind will always remain. People should make aliya out of a love for Israel," the rabbi said.   
  

France: France2 sets out to prove Jews are lying about antisemitism

Vincent and Nativel are not the first reporters to conduct this experiment, nor are they the first to which nothing happened.  Sometimes Jews are attacked, and sometimes they're not.  But they are the first to cast doubts about the experiences of a Jew.   

Their logic: "If we spent X hours in the streets and weren't attacked, then obviously a Jew who experienced otherwise must be lying."

Way to go French media!

Here's my theory: Jews are fleeing France because the French media (and police and general public etc), don't take Jewish concerns seriously.  They speak high and mighty about fighting antisemitism, but when it comes down to it, the nitty-gritty little details, they'd rather prove Jews are lying then actually do something about the Jewish experience of fear.   

Via Algemeiner:

(...)

Two France 2 reporters, Thierry Vincent and Julien Nativel, decided to put Klein’s thesis about French antisemitism to the test, by producing a video of their own, using the same model. Vincent, though not a Jew, donned a kippah and spent days wandering around Paris. The finished product was released last week.

Lo and behold, as Vincent said he had expected, the results were nothing like those of Klein.
“In the 12 days [I spent] with a kippah [on my head], I experienced no violence or insult,” Vincent asserted. “Antisemitism exists, as all the numbers say, but how is my video so different from that of Zvika Klein? Who is this journalist?”

Casting aspersions on Klein — whose newspaper is one of two media outlets owned by American-Jewish casino magnate Sheldon Adelson (the other one being Israel Hayom) – was easy for Vincent to do on political grounds. The left-wing leanings of his network, as well as its unfavorable coverage of Israel, are no secret.

Still, he did make a special trip to Jerusalem a few weeks ago to meet with Klein and interview him for a broadcast. It was during that session, Klein told The Algemeiner, that Vincent revealed he had created his own video, which yielded opposite results. Far from taunting him, Vincent showed, the public was friendly.

“I told him I was glad to hear that his experiences as a ‘Jew’ in Paris were positive, because all the French Jews I’ve spoken to say they’re afraid to be visibly Jewish,” Klein said. “And I stood by my own findings, which are more in sync with statistics about French antisemitism than his.”

When asked why Vincent and his crew were so keen on refuting his work, Klein used an exchange he had with Vincent’s cameraman – a non-Jew with a Jewish girlfriend. “He told me that when she saw my video, she said she had to leave the country. He then asked me in an accusatory way whether I grasped the detrimental effect such a video can have on French citizens.”  more

UK: Professor says Arabs should turn the antisemitism label "on its head"

Annabelle Sreberny is Professor of Global Media and Communication in the Centre for Media Studies at SOAS, University of London.

Her idea on solving Muslim antisemitism?  Redefine it!

What if the label of ‘Semite’ were to be readopted by Arabs and Muslims as part of their identity-formation, so that any antisemitism would also include them? As other negative and hostile discursive tropes – think of nigger and queer – have been decathected and turned on their head in ironic appropriation and realignment, so could ‘Semite’.

At an international level, this might recoup some of the long history of mixed-up and fascinating Jewish-Arab encounters and social practices and take the steam out of both Hasbara propaganda and Arab state hostility. In a utopian imagining, it could also be the renewed basis for a single, egalitarian state.

Meanwhile, in Britain, echoing the rush to be Charlie Hebdo, imagine the possibility that placards claiming ‘I too am a Semite’ might put off some proto-fascist demonstrations. Protests about the ‘Jewification of Britain’ could indeed be matched by a plethora of claims that ‘we (we!) are all Semites now’. I did once promise to produce some T-shirts with that slogan, a promise I have not yet fulfilled. Anybody want one?

Of course "queer" and "nigger" were "turned on their head" by the people suffering the persecution, not by the people committing it.  But that doesn't bother Prof. Sreberny.

Arabs can define themselves as Semites as much as they want to, but  "Antisemitism" has nothing to do with "Semites".  The term was invented by European antisemites who wanted a scientific way to phrase their Jew-hatred.

Is it the best term to use?  Not really.  

But Srebern's option is even worse.  Redefining antisemitism is a basic antisemitic trope.  It denies Jews the way to express the hatred against them.  

"I too am a Semite" will not convince Nazis, who want to kill both Jews and Muslims.  In fact, it will only enforce the Nazi ideology that Jews are devious and take over everything.

However, it will (and does) enable Muslims to pretend that they can't be antisemitic.   As a Jew who constantly has to put up with this claim, I fail to see the advantages.

Netherlands: Dutch unsure whether antisemitic attack was antisemitic

An elderly Jewish couple was attacked.  The attackers called them "Dirty Jews".  But according to the Dutch embassy in Israel, we have no idea what's their motive.

But this isn't how hate crimes work.  We don't need to know the motive in order to clearly state that this was an antisemitic attack.

Via Arutz 7:

"Dutch police are seriously investigating the case, and the investigation is ongoing," the embassy continued. "Until now, no suspects have been detained, so it's hard to make unequivocal conclusions about the motive."

Turkey: Ladino language is almost extinct in Turkey

Sunday's Zaman reports (via Watch Antisemitsm in Europe):

The recently screened documentary “Las Ultimas Palavras” (The Last Words) has revealed that the Judeo-Spanish language, also known as Ladino, is on the verge of extinction in Turkey, which director Rita Ender believes to be the result of violations of minority rights.

The documentary was shown in Turkey for the first time on Thursday evening at the Lale Movie Hall on Büyükada, one of Istanbul's Princes' Islands. The islands -- which are located just an hour by ferry from the metropolis -- are one of the few places with sizable populations of non-Muslim communities in İstanbul, especially in the summer months. Each island is known for housing a non-Muslim minority: Kınalıada is known for its Armenians, Heybeliada for its Greeks and Büyükada has long been something of a safe haven for local Jews.

The film featured young people from the local Sephardic (Jews originally from the Iberian Peninsula) community between the ages of 25-35. Through the interviews with young people, the film came to the conclusion that Ladino will die with this generation. A large population of Sephardim migrated to the Ottoman Empire, finding refuge from the Spanish Inquisition and bringing with them their culture and language, which is now on its last legs. Read more.

UK: Times editor jokes that most paedophiles are Jewish or gay

Via PinkNews:

A senior gay editor at The Times, Dominic Kennedy, has apologised for causing offence after he tweeted that most well known paedophiles were “Jewish or gay” and should be identified “a system of triangles and stars”.

Outraged Jewish community leaders have blasted comments from Mr Kennedy – the paper’s investigations editor – who tweeted: “So many of the VIPs accused of being paedophiles are Jewish or gay.

“Maybe we could have a system to identify these people: triangles, stars…”

(...)

Mr Kennedy later took to Twitter to apologise, writing: “I apologise to anyone who has been upset by the message.

“I am a gay man and hate to see any witch-hunt or persecution of vulnerable minorities or individuals, alive or dead, who cannot answer back.”

Germany: "Some Germans are so over antisemitism they’re over the existence of Jews"

Via Heeb Magazine:

But earlier this week it became known that local neo-nazi groups were apparently planning attacks on Jewish athletes. Of course, you might say, it’s what neo-nazis do. And yet, Silke Burmester, a columnist for the biggest leftist daily taz and previously a blogger for Spiegel Online, was struck by something: the very existence of a Jewish sports festival.

On Twitter she wondered what the hell a “Jewish sports festival” is supposed to be and whether Jews had their own Olympic games since 1936. (Answer: kinda, which sort of comes with being banned from other sports associations.) Not satisfied with that she later tweeted, after having watched a news report, what “Jewish sports” is supposed to be – swastika-throw? (Maybe we should be grateful that she didn’t go with coin-tossing.)

Other people voiced similar concerns i.e. were antisemitic and complained about the exclusionist and chauvinist and racist nature of such an endeavour. Some couched that in a general atheist critique of religion, others said that Jews just want to exclude the goyim.

In Germany, people are always very puzzled when they encounter Jewishness not as creed but as secular culture or, Gott bewahre, ethnicity because they think that kind of thinkings lead to the Nuremberg laws. And Jews expressing their Jewish identity beyond religion will often hear they should get over it and not harp on differences.
And in fact when called out Silke Burmester said she just wants to live in a world without ethnic and religious assignments.

So there you have it: some Germans are so over antisemitism they’re over the existence of Jews.

UK: Art dealer's 'ambulance chasers' Holocaust restitution jibe criticised

The Jewish Chronicle reports:

A leading art dealer has been criticised for comparing the restitution of art looted by the Nazis during the Holocaust to “ambulance chasing”.  Julian Agnew, former chairman of the Society of London Art Dealers, said the campaign was comparable to lawyers who encourage victims to take litigious action.

In a letter published in the Financial Times he wrote: “Since 1990 and the end of communism in eastern Europe, a whole trade of researchers, aided by lawyers, has grown up which seeks to notify the descendants of Nazi-era owners and put forward restitution claims.

"The basis of the deal with the claimant is that the researchers and lawyers take a very considerable percentage of the sale proceeds of restituted items... this is not an attractive side of the art market, being comparatively close to ambulance chasing.”

But Karen Pollock, Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive, said: “This comparison is simply wrong. Both the possessions and the lives of an entire generation were stolen during the Holocaust and the symbolic importance of returning assets wrongfully taken by the Nazis should not be under-estimated.”

Anne Webber, Commission for Looted Art in Europe co-chair, said: “If the art market had been less willing to sell looted art since 1933 and profit commercially from it, much of it would have gone back to its rightful owners decades ago.  That is part of the reason so many claims remain outstanding 70 years after the end of the war. Many dealers across the art world continue to sell looted works to innocent purchasers.”   [...]

Mr Agnew’s comments were published in response to an FT article by David Baddiel. Mr Baddiel, who made a BBC documentary on Holocaust restitution in 2007, said: “It is difficult, as a Jew, to ask for your money back. 

“Even if it is rightfully yours — even if it was stolen, with intense violence, from your immediate ancestors — there’s always a troubling sense that you’re falling into some sort of cash-grabbing stereotype. And, perhaps more importantly, at some level soiling the purpose of restitution, which is justice.”