The European origins of the 'New York Times' antisemitic cartoon

Via Jerusalem Post:

The antisemitic cartoon that ran in the New York Times International Edition was not printed by accident. It comes in the context of historic antisemitism that is common across Western Europe and is part of more than a thousand years of anti-Jewish stereotypes and caricatures. The cartoon originally was drawn by a cartoonist who is known for his work at a Portuguese media outlet. Cartoons similar to this that have appeared in European newspapers have not led to the kind of controversy that the New York Times cartoon has.

In 2016, author Mario Vargas llosa wrote an article condemning Israel in Spain's El Pais daily. The illustrative photo showed a man dressed in a black hat of the kind worn by religious Jews, wearing a blindfold, as if he was “blind” to the suffering of Palestinians. Anti-Jewish caricatures and tropes, conflating Israel with all Jews and using images of religious Jews whenever Israel is condemned, or Jewish symbols such as the Star of David, are too often the norm in European cartoons and illustrations. Unlike with the New York Times controversy where these images, caricatures and tropes were at least questioned, they appear consistently across Europe and rarely lead to the kind of controversy that the Times cartoon has elicited.

For instance, the cartoonist behind the Times cartoon appears on a website called ‘Cartooning for Peace.’ One of the other cartoons from 2006 depicted on the website shows a foot with an American flag for pants and a Star of David as spurs. The Star of David is dripping blood. Why is it dripping blood? Why is the US depicted wearing spurs of a Jewish symbol? Next to the Star of David is another leg with an Islamic crescent. The cartoon’s symbolism appears to imply: The Jews are the US weapon against Islam.

Similarly, the current cartoon depicts a dog with a Jewish Star of David, leading the US blindly, with its president wearing a yarmulke. From the 1930s until today, very little has changed in aspects of antisemitic imagery - only that Israel is sometimes the stand-in for “the Jews,” with the same use of Jewish symbols or traditional clothing.

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Poland: Southern Polish town burns effigy of Judas, made to look like Hasidic Jew

Via JTA:

A town in southern Poland reenacted the custom of casting judgement on Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, using a life-size effigy of a stereotypical Jew with a hooked nose and sidelocks.

The event in the town of Pruchnik, called “Judgment over Judas,” took place on Friday afternoon. On a pole on Pope John Paul II Street, the residents hung the large effigy of the Jew which bore the label “Judas 2019, traitor!”

The crowd cut the effigy down from the post, dragged it on a rope through the town, stopping at the square in front of the church and at the street crossing where the effigy was beaten 30 times. After reaching the local river, the head of the effigy was cut off and the effigy was burned.

The rite attracted a crowd of onlookers. Children were encouraged to beat the effigy. There were some anti-Semitic cries, such as “Five more hits for wanting compensation from Poland.”

The custom of the judgment over Judas has occurred at least since the eighteenth century and takes place in the days preceding Easter. In the past, it was accompanied by acts of direct violence against Jewish residents. In the years of the Polish People’s Republic, the tradition gradually disappeared.

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Poland: Right-wing newspaper’s front page teaches ‘how to recognize a Jew’

Via Times of Israel:

A right-wing newspaper with national distribution in Poland ran on its front page an article that instructs readers on “how to recognize a Jew.”

The Polish-language weekly, Tylko Polska, or “Only Poland,” lists on its front page “Names, anthropological features, expressions, appearances, character traits, methods of operation” and “disinformation activities.”

The text also reads: “How to defeat them? This cannot go on!”

The page also features a headline reading, “Attack on Poland at a conference in Paris.” The reference is to a Holocaust studies conference last month during which Polish nationalists complained that speakers were anti-Polish. That article features a picture of Jan Gross, a Polish-Jewish Princeton University scholar of Polish complicity in the Holocaust and a frequent target of nationalist attacks.

Only Poland is published by Leszek Bubl, a fringe nationalist political candidate and sometime musician who has sung about “rabid” rabbis. The paper was spotted Wednesday at the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, as part of this week’s packet of periodicals.

Michał Kamiński, a conservative lawmaker, protested the article and its presence at the Sejm, Polsat news reported.

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Belgium: I spoke to the creators of the anti-Semitic carnival float. They’re not sorry.

Via JTA:

I had hoped to introduce some nuance to what was condemned universally as crass racism. Were the creators aware that they were trafficking in anti-Semitic tropes? Did they get carried away in the aesthetics of the float without really considering the content? Was there a level of irony or parody an outsider couldn’t understand?

But rather than offering real explanations, or even expressing any regret for the fallout or trying to acknowledge where it came from, Soleme doubled down. The 52-year-old father of three, who works for the Aalst Police Department, said he thought the float was funny and cited the support of his mayor.

“Mayor Christoph D’Haese totally has our backs, he told us we’ve done nothing wrong,” Soleme told me. D’Haese even told the group that his office would cover any fine imposed by the authorities, Selome said.

D’Haese defended the Vismooil’n group, saying on Tuesday that its float was not intended to offend and that “such things should be allowed at the Aalst Carnaval.” The event was added in 2010 to UNESCO’s list of events that contribute to the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”

Filip de Vidts, a technician and the secretary of Vismooil’n, even referred me to D’Haese for a reaction. Treasurer Johan de Plecker, who works for the Education Ministry, did not reply to my request for an interview.

As for Soleme, he has “absolutely no regrets” about participating in the display.

“I think the people who are offended are living in the past, of the Holocaust, but this was about the present,” he said. “There was never any intention to insult anyone. It was a celebration of humor.”

The Jewish theme, he said, was “because we weren’t sure we’d be doing a 2020 tour [because of rising costs]. So that would mean we’d be taking a sabbatical, and it went on from there.”

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Belgium: Antisemitic carnival float had puppets of smiling Jews, sacks of money and a rat

Via Independent:

A carnival parade which featured Jewish caricatures standing amid piles of money has been compared to Nazi antisemitic propaganda and provoked fierce criticism in Belgium.

One float in the city of Aalst’s annual feast on Sunday was decorated with two huge figures of men with large sideburns, crooked noses and wearing shtreimels, a fur hat worn by some Orthodox Jews. One had a rat on his shoulder.

It was followed by several trucks on which dozens of dancing people wore similar outfits.

“The caricatures, like those of Der Stürmer, of Jews with a crooked nose and suitcases, are typical of the Nazism of 1939,” a spokesperson for Belgium’s Forum of Jewish Organisations said. ”This has no place in 2019, carnival or not. The Jewish community naturally accepts humour is very important in a society, but there are limits that cannot be exceeded.”

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Hungary: Magazine publishes anti-Semitic image of Jewish leader on cover

Via JTA:

A Hungarian Jewish leader was pictured on the cover of a pro-government magazine surrounded by images of money.

The image of Andras Heisler, head of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, or Mazsihisz, the country’s largest Jewish group, was published late last week on the front page of the Figyelo weekly.

The magazine accuses Heisler and Mazsihisz of accounting irregularities in connection with a state-funded synagogue renovation project in Budapest including a Jewish museum, according to the AFP news service. Mazsihisz denies the allegation.

The cover image “revives centuries-old stereotypes against our community,” the group said in a statement published on its website.

“The appearance on a front cover of such incitement against a religious leader without any factual basis is unprecedented,” the statement said, calling it “deliberate character assassination.”

The cover was published about a day after the Hungarian government pledged to spend $1.7 million every year on projects to combat anti-Semitism in Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, according to the AFP.

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Iceland: Local Icon Makes Anti-Semitic Remarks Regarding Eurovision, Takes It Back And Apologises

Via Reykjavik Grapevine:

Musician and Eurovision enthusiast Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson, who is currently pressing for Iceland to withdraw from Eurovision this year on account of it being held in Tel Aviv, made some decidedly anti-Semitic remarks on national broadcasting radio yesterday. Hours later, he posted a lengthy apology.

Thousands of Icelanders currently support boycotting Eurovision as it takes place in Israel this year; support for Eurovision, it is argued, expresses tacit support for the Israeli government’s policies regarding the Palestinian people. While Iceland ultimately decided to participate, the debate is far from over, and Páll Óskar has been amongst the most vocal supporters of a boycott.

However, when speaking with radio station Rás 1 yesterday, he made remarks regarding Jewish people as a whole that crossed the line from criticism of the Israeli government into more sweeping generalisations.

“The reason why the rest of Europe has been virtually silent is that Jews have woven themselves into the fabric of Europe in a very sly way for a very long time. It is not at all hip and cool to be pro-Palestine in Britain,” he said, saying at the interview’s conclusion: “The tragedy is that Jews learned nothing from the Holocaust. Instead, they have taken up the exact same policy of their worst enemy.”

The remarks were met with sharp criticism from many Icelanders, and hours later, Páll Óskar posted an apology and retraction.

“I admit unreservedly that I put the Israeli government, the Israeli military and the Jewish people under the same hat,” he wrote. “I made judgements and generalisations about Jewish people. … I take full responsibility for these words, take back my remarks about Jewish people, they are wrong and hurtful. I will take responsibility in actions, from this point forward, and will never again speak ill of the Jewish people, wherever in the world they may live.”

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UK: Muslims harass pro-Israel group in Hyde Park

Here you'll see a smorgasbord of antisemitism: Muslim fundamentalism, Holocaust-denial, accusations of Christ-killers

All because Jews dared stand with an Israeli flag in Hyde Park.

Poland: In secret recording, PM slams ‘greedy’ Jewish, American hedge fund owners

Via Times of Israel:

Poland’s prime minister was heard making allegedly anti-Semitic remarks in secret recordings from 2013, before he rose to power.

The recordings of Mateusz Morawiecki complaining to friends about “greedy” and rich “Americans, Jews, Germans, Englishmen, and Swiss” that run hedge funds were published Tuesday by the news site Onet.

Part of a corruption scandal, the remarks appeared in a 3-hour recording of Morawiecki, who was then a senior banker, discussing politics and finance with his friends at a prestigious Warsaw restaurant. 

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Czech Republic: Jew portrayed as money-grubbing at city festival

Via Times of Israel:

A municipally organized street show in Prague celebrating Czech nationhood featured a skit apparently mocking an Orthodox Jew.

In the skit, police characters remove a man dressed like an Orthodox Jew for demanding money from the event’s host, who wears traditional Czech attire.

Sunday’s event was organized by the 3rd District of Prague.

The Jewish character was named Rozenkrants. “I will get this money from you one way or another,” the actor said, before another actor dressed as a police officer escorted him away. Hundreds of onlookers laughed.

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France: Court sentences 'ignorant' anti-Semitic attackers

Via DW:

The sentencing in France of three men for an anti-Semitic rape-robbery in Paris in 2014 has revived concerns within the Jewish community. The men's defense lawyer claimed they were not anti-Semitic but ignorant.

The court gave the three men sentences of eight, 13 and 16 years for the crime they carried out in the Creteil suburb of Paris in 2014.

A 22-year-old who made comments including "for my brothers in Palestine," and suggesting they should "gas" their victims during the attack, before destroying all the Jewish images in the apartment, is still on the run. He was sentenced in absentia.

The 26-year-old and 23-year-old co-accused were in court for the sentencing. They have already been detained for four years.

Defense lawyer Marie Dose told the court in Val-de-Marne, southeast of the French capital on Friday: "They are not anti-Semitic, they are ignorant. They are swimming in gross stupidity."

Prosecutors said there was no doubt the victims had been chosen because the attackers believed them to be Jewish.

...

Prosecuting counsel commented during the hearing: "To say that 'Jews have money' is a prejudice, but it is not criminal. You have to fight it by going to schools. But racial prejudice, this human imbecility, becomes a prejudiced act when it is used to target its victims."

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Germany: Cartoon showing Israeli PM as puppet master in classical antisemitic theme

Via Watch Antisemitism in Europe:

The local newspaper Thüringische Landeszeitung - TLZ published a cartoon showing the Israeli prime minister as the "string master" behind the anticipated termination of the Nuclear deal with Iran by Donald Trump. Benjamin Netanjahu is seen saying "The president decides" while reaching a sign from the back of Trump's  head through his open mouth saying "Iran is lying!". For those new to the topic of antisemitism: the image of Jews as puppet masters is an classical antisemitic theme. See for yourself:

read more in German @ Sergey Lagodinsky

France: Anti-semitic placard at anti-Macron protest

Thousands of people demonstrated in central Paris on Saturday amid a heavy police presence to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's sweeping reforms, a year after he came to office. (The Local)

An old man was seen carrying a placard with the inscription "Mac Aaron, Zionist, Crook".

Photos via Laurent Bouvet

And this too.  Look at the nose, the ears, the money, the crown, the gallows.

UK: Prospective Labour councillor bows out of local elections over anti-Semitic tweet

Via Sun:  

A PROSPECTIVE Labour councillor who caused outrage with an anti-Semitic tweet has resigned from the party days before local elections.

Claire Udy has apologised for the 2013 post: “Got a barely used travel system for baby that’s worth over £500 for £100 today also. Not even a Jew. Amazing.”

She cited lack of support from her local party as her reason for leaving.

Ms Udy will now stand as an independent in Portsmouth, Hants.    

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Belgium: Professor claims Jews were main slave-traders in early Middle Ages

Via Joods Actueel:

The Ghent University has been running a training course for about ten years, mainly intended for alumni and the elderly. This year, the programme featured lectures by Professor em. John Everaert on the theme of "Human trafficking: Europe and the thread of shame". The first lecture titled "Medieval Europe reorients its slave trade" was held on November 7. Dr. Rudi Roth was dismayed when he read in the first slide of the presentation: "slave traders / slave-brokers: rather Jews (polyglot)" and by Prof Everaert's oral assertion that the trade was conducted "mostly by Jews".

Which sources? When asked about the sources he drew on to make his claim, Professor Everaert referred to the work of his predecessor, Professor Charles Verlinden (1907-1996), a Belgian historian and professor at Ghent University. In 1935, Verlinden developped this hypothesis in a first publication that has been passed on uncritically ever since. Belgian historian Henri Pirenne also underlined the important role played by Jews in trade and in the slave trade during the early Middle-Ages (7th to 11th century). So did the acclaimed French historian, Maurice Lombard.

Dr. Roth examined their works and compared them with newer academic publications. They invalidate the theory of Verlinden because it is not based on hard facts but on erroneous assumptions. Historians such as Verlinden were not rigorous when dealing with sources and mixed information from various sources. Very simply put, saying that "Jews had slaves" and that "Jews were merchants" became "Jews were slave traders". Historical truth was distorted, and historians such as Pirenne and others, adopted this view.

Everaert misses the point The proof that Everaert's explanation is not based on facts is apparent from research by the Austian-Israeli historian Eliyahu Ashtor, but especially from the articles by Professor Michaël Toch of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the leading authority in the field of the Middle-Ages and Judaism in Europe. We asked for his opinion on the expressions "rather Jews" and "mostly by Jews" used by Everaert. Professor Toch responded there is no doubt that both are wrong: "This is as wrong as it can be, and that is not an exaggeration because it is simple: these allegations are wrong for a lot of reasons The sources and arguments against this thesis are clearly explained in my book (1), but also in other studies, for example in Atti della XXXI Settimana di Studi(2).

The specific and erroneous argument, that the slave trade was carried out "mostly by Jews" can be primarily be explained by underlying and passive antisemitic prejudices. The fact that the slave trade was mainly a non-Jewish practice was deliberately brushed aside or even concealed. This anti-Jewish claim was later adopted by a number of historians.

Professor Jean-Pierre Devroey (ULB) also rejects Charles Verlinden's approach for similar reasons. Professor Everaert was contacted by J.A. and maintained obstinately that his theory is right even though it is not based on facts and disputed by other historians.

1. The Economic History of European Jews. Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, 2013, pp. 178-190.
2. Michael Toch, Jews and Commerce: Modern Fancies and Medieval Realities, in: S. Cavaciocchi (ed.), Il ruolo economico delle minoranze in Europe. Secc. XIII-XVIII, Attidella XXXI Settimana di Studi, Istituto Francesco Datini, Prato, Firenze 2000, 43-58.

Poland: Christmas play at Polish consulate in Ukraine included anti-Semitic message

Via JTA:

A Christmas play presented at the Polish consulate in Lviv, Ukraine included an anti-Semitic message.

Oleg Vyshniakov, honorary consul of Israel in Ukraine, criticized the Christmas show presented last week at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland by students of the Polish school in Lviv. During the show, the students presented a nativity scene featuring unusual characters in which one of the children was wearing a black hat with side curls and had a sign stuck to his back reading “Jew for president.”

Other characters included in the scene were King Herod, the Grim Reaper and the Devil.

“It crosses all lines of common sense when in an official state institution people promote anti-Semitism, and children take part in this terrible event,” Vyshniakov wrote in a post on Facebook which included a photo of the scene.

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UK: BBC star apologises for comment about "fat Jewish" music managers from north London

Via The Telegraph:

BBC star has apologised for saying how it is “great” that music artists are no longer managed by “some random fat Jewish guy from north west London” following accusations of anti-Semitism. 

Reggie Yates, a radio show host and presenter for the corporation, made the comments on a podcast earlier this month. 

Speaking about current music artists and how they differ from their predecessors, Yates comments: “The thing that makes it great about this new generation of artists is that they ain’t signing to majors. 

“They’re independent, they’re not managed by some random fat Jewish guy from north west London, they’re managed by their brethren.” 

Yates then mentions the popular grime stars Wretch, Stormzy, Skepta as examples of people who “we’ve all known, that we’ve all come up with”. 

“So it’s amazing to see now the example isn’t get hot and then give all of your publishing to these idiots. Or go and give all of your rights to these dickheads over here," he adds. 

“It’s now get hot, bring the family in, keep the family close, and win with your people. That’s the example now in music.” 

Gideon Falter, chairman of Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said that Yates’ comments “evoke the ugly stereotype of Jews as untrustworthy and money-grabbing”.

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Germany: University removes pig-eared Einstein picture

Via The Jerusalem Post (Benjamin Weinthal):

The picture shows Albert Einstein with pig’s ears, an antisemitic theme that was first depicted in 13th-century Germany.

Protests from a local Jewish community and a student group at the University of Göttingen prompted an art exhibit in the cafeteria to be dismantled on Friday because of allegations of antisemitism and sexism.

The Göttingen Jewish community, in a letter to the university, criticized the exhibit’s main picture, German media reported on Wednesday. The picture shows Albert Einstein with pig’s ears, an antisemitic theme that was first depicted in 13th-century Germany.

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Germany: Anti-Semitism continues to hurt German pocketbooks

Via Journalist's Resource:

A new paper looks at lingering resentments in Germany and finds that families living in counties with a history of anti-Semitism today are less likely to invest in the stock market. That is costly because, as other research has shown, holding stocks is associated with growing wealth in the long run. “Hatred against Jews in the past reduces not only the long-term wealth of the persecuted, but of the persecutors as well,” the authors write.

An academic study worth reading: “Historical Antisemitism, Ethnic Specialization, and Financial Development,” a working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, 2017.

Drawing on a diverse assortment of data measured across hundreds of years in Germany, such as access to banking services and local anti-Semitism, a team led by Francesco D’Acunto of the University of Maryland measures “present day regional differences in financial development.”

To isolate anti-Semitism by county, the authors establish a number of proxies: They look for the presence of a Jewish community before the year 1300 (92 percent of counties) and for confirmed pogroms associated with the Black Death (54 percent of counties), a plague that spread across Europe around 1349 and for which Jews were widely blamed. During the years leading up to the Holocaust of World War II, they look for vandalized synagogues, votes for anti-Semitic parties and anti-Jewish pogroms. They also use surveys from 1996 and 2006 that assessed German attitudes toward statements like: “Jewish people living in Germany should have the same rights as Germans in every respect.”

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France: Jewish family beaten, robbed in ‘anti-Semitic’ home invasion near Paris

Some people think that saying "Jews are rich" is a compliment, and cannot possibly cause any harm. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Jews are attacked because of this stereotype.

Via Times of Israel:

Assailants said to tell victims, 'You are Jewish, you have money,' before brutally attacking them, threatening to kill them 

Three members of a prominent French Jewish family were kidnapped, tied up, brutally beaten and robbed on Thursday night in their home in the suburb of Livry-Gargan northeast of Paris, French authorities said Sunday. 

According to the National Bureau for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA), three individuals broke into the house Roger Pinto, the president of the Siona group representing Sephardic Jews, by cutting through the home’s window bars. They then cut off the electricity in the house, tied up Pinto’s son, and held and beat his wife. It was only on Friday morning, several hours later, that Pinto managed to discretely contact police, causing the intruders to flee.

According to the BNVCA report, the unidentified attackers told their victims, “You are Jewish, you have money.” 

The assailants, black men in their 20s or 30s, according to the victims’ description, took jewelry, cash and credit cards. 

The Pintos were taken to hospital for treatment. They suffered some minor injuries but were deeply traumatized, the report said. 

The BNVCA called the attack “manifestly anti-Semitic” and “premeditated,” and said the family was “threatened with death” and “violently beaten.”

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