France: Jewish kids attacked by gang next to Jewish school

Twenty men attacked and sprayed pepper gas on two Jewish teenagers on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. The attack took place next to the Ozar Hatorah school in Sarcelles (Paris) .

More: Anach infos

Israel: "I drink the blood of Jews"

An Israeli-Arab posted the following status on his Facebook: Insha'Allah [God willing] I will blow myself up in Azrieli [Tel-Aviv skyscraper] so as many Jews as possible die. I drink the blood of Jews. I'm Dracula."

More: Kikar Hashabat

Greece: "Let's not forget all the faggots and the Jews ... who came in and fucked Greece"

It has been a bad week for democracy in Athens. All around this great Greek city, the politics of hate now lurk. On Friday I got a taste of it in the tiny Italian-style cafe I frequent off Syntagma Square.

It arrived in the form of two middle-aged men, both supporters of the neo-fascist Golden Dawn – and, by their own account, the holders of university degrees, well-travelled and well-informed. Over espressos, they began to engage in an animated discussion about all that is wrong with Greece. 

(...) 

Dismissing charges that Golden Dawn is a criminal gang masquerading as a political group, the second – a self-described government employee – said the far right was the best response yet to the great Jewish conspiracy of an interconnected banking system that has come with globalisation. "Let's not forget all the faggots and the Jews, the wankers who control the banks, the foreigners who are behind them, who came in and fucked Greece," he insisted. "The criminals who have governed us, who have robbed us of our future, of our dreams, need a big thwack." 

(...) 

"Who cares if six million Jews were exterminated?" asked the businessman back at the cafe, in a shocking endorsement of that reality. "I don't care if they were turned into soap. What I care about is the salary I have lost, the never-ending taxes I am forced to pay, the criminals who rule this country, the anger I carry inside."

More: The Guardian

France: Two Jewish kids attacked by hatchet wielding man on their way to synagogue

Two Jewish kids (14 and 15 years old) were attacked on their way to the synagogue on the holiday of Shavuot. The two were with their grandfather when they were accosted by a man with a hatchet.  The kids, who wore a kippah and were visibly Jewish, say their attacker was a North-African of about 25 years old. The man attacked them, but they managed to escape.

More: BNVCA

Germany: Jewish cemetery vandalized

The Jewish cemetery in Wittenberg (northern Germany) was vandalized. Two graves were damaged.

More: JFDA

Belgium: "Martyrdom can be found not only in Syria but also in Belgium"

Azeddine Kbir Bounekoub, a Belgian Jihadist, wrote as follows on his Facebook: May Allah cause more youth to follow the example of those who committed the attack in the Jewish Museum.  Martyrdom can be found not only in Syria but also in Belgium. Be a thorn in in the side of the enemies of Islam."

Bounekoub, a member of Sharia4Belgium, is currently fighting in Syria.

More: Telegraaf

Sweden: Neo-Nazi party to teach in schools

In a letter to Swedish Minister for Education and Deputy Prime Minister, here Jan Björkland (pictured), the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed shock that “the Party of the Swedes (Svenskarnas Parti) is to exploit a law permitting party access to schools as part of a civic education curriculum which, ironically, was established to produce a new generation predicated upon tolerance and human rights.” 

Samuels noted, “The Party of the Swedes is, reportedly, a cover for the former National Socialist Party of Sweden and continues to maintain a racist platform and discourse.” 

The letter advised the Minister that, “apparently, this party is to begin its school campaign in Malmö – a city under a Wiesenthal Centre travel advisory due to the inflammatory rhetoric of its former Mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, that provoked anti-Semitic violence against the Jewish community.” 

“Adding neo-Nazi invective to this toxic brew will now endanger immigrant, Muslim, Roma, homosexual and Jewish students,” argued Samuels.

More: Simon Wiesenthal Centre

Netherlands: Fine for shouting "All Jews to the gas"

A 22-year old from Vollenhove (eastern Netherlands) was given a 350 euro fine for shouting "All Jews to the gas" and "Sieg Heil" in public while doing the Nazi salute.

The Nazi salute in itself is not a punishable offense in the Netherlands.

More: De Stentor

Chag Shavuot Sameach!

I wish a Happy Shavuot to all my readers!

In this clip, the children of Tel Aviv recreate the bringing of the First Fruits, part of the Shavuot festival, in 1932:

 

Italy: Right-wing extemist on TV claims air of "secret services, lobbies and international interests" around Brussels attack

Italy’s Jewish community is taking legal action against a television talk show for running an interview this week with a right-wing extremist who extolled fascism.

Renzo Gattegna, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, or UCEI, said in a statement that the group had lodged a formal legal complaint against the talk show, Le Iene, and also against Roberto Jonghi Lavarini of the far-right National Project movement.

Le Iene ran the interview with Lavarini late Wednesday night, calling him a “European Fascist.” Among other things, Lavarini praised the regime of Italy’s World War II fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as “a splendid era” during which, “aside from some healthy beatings with a truncheon and a few little drinks of castor oil, nothing ever happened.”

In his view, he said, Mussolini’s “only mistake was to be too good to his political opponents.” The six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, he said, died because the Nazis were “precise” and “well organized.” 

In addition, he said there was an air of “secret services, lobbies and international interests” around last week’s attack in Brussels on the Jewish Museum of Belgium, which left four dead.

More: Times of Israel

Switzerland: Tariq Ramadan suggests Brussels attack was Mossad related

On May 27th, before Muslim terrorist Mehdi Nemmouche was arrested for the Brussels attack, Swiss Tariq Ramadan wrote on his Facebook as follows:

"The two tourists targeted in Brussels worked for the Israeli Secret Service according to Le Soir and other sources ....  The government is not commenting. By chance. Is it anti-Semitism or a red herring to hide the true motives and attackers?  I condemn the killing of innocents and all forms of racism without exception, but they must also stop taking us for fools."

It is true that the French media (as well as anti-Semitic sites) played around with the possibility that the two Israeli tourists were targeted for a 'good' reason.  It was a targeted killing, not a run-of-the-mill terrorist attack against Jews.

The man who says he "condemns the killing of innocents and all forms of racism" bothered to strongly imply that this this attack did not kill innocents and had nothing to do with racism.

Since then, Ramadan has nothing further to say on the topic.  It's easy to tell your followers an antisemitic attack might be a Mossad-related killing.  More than 10,000 people 'liked' his conspiracy theory.  It's harder to face the fact that a Muslim was responsible.  For Ramadan, it's too hard.

Hungary: "Go to Israel. This is not your home."

This article appeared in Portuguese on the Público news-site, but the embedded video is in English and well worth watching.

Rabbi Tami Vero of Buda describes how he can't go with a kippah in the street without somebody saying something. "There's a Jew. Go to Israel. This is not your home."  Every Friday night skinheads show up at the synagogue to curse and shout.

Rabbi Robert Frolich, rabbi of the Great Synagogue in Budapest, says that "dirty Jew" has become a common curse in Hungary.

Zsuzsa Fritz, director of the Balint Jewish Community Center, says that Hungarian antisemitism is political ,and Rabbi Frolich adds that Prime Minister Orban is not antisemitic, but he's a politician.  He wants to appeal to the voters.

France: Jewish man beaten up, called 'dirty Jew'

A Jewish man was attacked by three men in Creteil, next to Paris, on May 30.  The attackers accused their victim of calling the police on them the previous night.  They also hurled antisemitic slurs at him, including  “you Jews are all the same” and “dirty Jew.” They also told him that they knew where he and his wife and children lived.

The victim broke his elbow and injured his nose.  Two men were later arrested by the police.

More: JTA

France: Neighbors of terrorist greet media with shouts of "dirty Jews"

VRT News Clip

Via Philosémitisme Blog:

Mehdi Nemmouche, the French Muslim terrorist who killed three Jews in Brussels and left a fourth critically injured, grew up in Tourcoing (northern France).

When a Belgian TV crew showed up in town, they were met with shouts of "dirty Jews" and "Go f**k your mother".

One neighbor explained: "Every day we see Israelis, Belgians, French, Europeans who kill Palestinians under the Israeli flag. Why don't you talk about that?"

It's really hard to understand how a kid from such a neighborhood grew up to hate Jews.  He must have been radicalized in Syria.

What's the point of this blog?

Ever since I started this blog, I've been wondering if it was serving its purpose.  It sounds simple: spotlight antisemitism in Europe.  But in practice I feel that every day I miss the point.

Antisemitism in Europe is not graffiti on a wall.  Nobody really cares if a bored 12 year old (or a 22 year old) writes "Jews out" or breaks a few gravestones. Nobody's happy about it, but it doesn't affect day-to-day Jewish life.  We all know that most people and most governments oppose such things.  If they catch the perpetrator, he'll be punished.

But let's take a look at the stories from the past couple of weeks:

In Belgium, a Muslim entered a Jewish Museum and shot to death four people.  Various European leaders denounced this heinous crime.

Meanwhile, the Pope visited Israel and did everything he could to stick it to the Jews. In Norway, a test administered by the Education Ministry accused Israel of ethnic cleansing the Palestinians for no good reason.

In both cases, the only people who took this badly were the Jews.  Nobody else bothered denouncing it, because nobody else thinks it's bad.

The European Left and Right talk about their love for the Jews, and how they want to prevent another Holocaust.  But then they turn around and pass laws denying Jews the right to live a Jewish life in  Europe.  Top people in government tell the Jews that if you want to live in Europe you've got to drop all those barbaric rituals such as circumcision and kosher slaughter.  You don't really need to wear a kippah or cover your hair.  That's passe.

It's not antisemitism, it's concern for human rights and animal rights.

A journalist can write an article denying Jews the right to their own homeland, accusing them of ethnically cleaning Palestinians, and it will be published in top newspapers around the Western world.

An academic can boycott his Israeli colleagues, just because they're Israeli.

It's not antisemitism, it's anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel.

Anti-racism activists take over Holocaust memorials to accuse Israel of committing a new Holocaust, this time time against the Palestinians.

It's not antisemitism, it's human rights.

A man like Dieudonné can become a top comedian in France with a show which accuses the Jews of committing genocide and of crying 'Holocaust' whenever somebody criticizes them for it.

It's not antisemitism, it's comedy and it's anti-system.

But the problem is that all those "it's not antisemitisms" are exactly what leads Jews today to fear for their future in  Europe.  It's not a Muslim who gets hold of a gun, it's the Europeans who then pretend it's not a real problem, but an 'incident'.

According to the recent ADL poll, the United Kingdom is one of the least antisemitic countries in Europe.  And yet when I speak to British Jews, they do not feel safe.  They are afraid of the day when they'll have to run.

Are the statistics contradicting reality? No.

The amount of British people who hold 'traditional' antisemitic views is really small.  But British Jews are picking up on a different type of antisemitism.  One that is not measured by the amount of vandalism on walls or how many people believe Jews control the world.

It's not the antisemitism that will bring about the next Holocaust, but it's the antisemitism that will wipe out Jewish life in  Europe.  It's that antisemitism that I want to highlight, but it is very difficult.  It's not an incident here or there.  It's a hostile atmosphere, a fear of expressing yourself as a Jew.

Like Maureen Lipman said about the The Oldie magazine, it's a "drip-drip of antisemitic, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel material".

I do not know how to solve this problem, but it is constantly on my mind.