The New Antisemite

Friday, June 17, 2016

UK: Of 924 antisemitic incidents 85 targeted schoolchildren or teachers (2015)

According to Schools Week, Britain’s “Jewish schools have received almost seven times the amount of government funding for security this year compared with two years ago.” Here’s the need in quantifiable terms:

However, figures released earlier this year by the CST show that while there were 924 antisemitic incidents in 2015, a 22 per cent fall from 2014, 85 targeted schoolchildren or teachers – 19 more than the previous year.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Poland: Reclaiming the word 'Jew'

Via JTA:

Anti-Semitic graffiti is so common in Poland that it hardly makes the news, except maybe when it’s on Holocaust sites or Jewish cemeteries.

But huge philo-Semitic slogans painted in the national colors and confessing a sense of loss over the destruction of Polish Jewry in the Holocaust are somewhat more remarkable. Which is why Polish media is abuzz this week with reports about a graffito reading “I miss you, Jew” that an artist painted on a main street in Lodz.

(...)

In April, in the Warsaw neighborhood of Powiśle, unidentified parties blacked out the word “Jew” in Betlejewski’s graffiti, prompting him to call on fans to “counter hatred” by continuing to write the word on the wall every time it gets blacked out. Though he had permission from the owners of that wall, he has in the past had legal problems over his “I miss you, Jew” inscriptions, which municipalities saw as vandalism.

“I want to reclaim the word ‘Jew,’ snatch it from anti-Semites, who are in this country are the only ones using it freely,” the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper quoted Betlejewski as saying in 2010 about his campaign and the Jedwabne action especially. “I aim to build a platform used to express positive emotions towards the people known as the Jews.”

Germany: 11% think Jews have too much influence in society

Via Daily Mail:

One in every ten Germans wants their country to be led by a 'Führer' applying 'a firm hand for the common good.'

And 71 years after Nazism was vanquished and the horror of the death camps revealed to a stunned world, 11 per cent of people questioned by the university researchers said Jews have too much influence in society.

Overall 12 per cent think Germans are by nature 'superior' to other people - a central plank of the ideology of Adolf Hitler and the original Nazis.

The newest European media blood-libel against Jews: Israel cut off water to fasting Palestinians

European media are at it again.

The Palestinians claim that Israel is evil and cut off water in the heat of summer and Ramadan to thousands of helpless Palestinians, and the European media reports the claims verbatim, even though they're quite aware that antisemitic conspiracy theories are very common among Palestinians, and even though they're aware that Israel denies these claims outright.

Make no mistake: this is antisemitic incitement.

In the UK, The Independent reported this new antisemitic conspiracy story.

Of course, there's a little note at the bottom that gives the Israeli explanation: it's a burst water pipe. If you manage to read all the way to the bottom. The media cover their antisemitism by putting the headline in quotes.

The Independent is not claiming that Israel cut off water to the Palestinians. It's claiming that Israel 'cuts off water supply to West Bank' during Muslim holy month.

See the difference?

In Belgium, De Morgen reported that "Israel left tens of thousands of Palestinians without water during Ramadan". Notice the quotes on this headline.

The article appears under the rubric "Remembering Palestine".

Austira: Antisemitic graffiti by Rapid Wien fans

Via Forum gegen Antisemitismus:

Supporters of the Rapid Wien football club sprayed antisemitic graffiti aimed at their enemies - Austria Wien.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

UK: Ken Livingstone denies he's an antisemite, condemns antisemitism

Livingstone thinks the Holocaust is horrible, and that therefore he can't be an antisemite.

He doesn't think saying "Hitler was a Zionist" is problematic, and it doesn't matter how many Jews think differently. Because he doesn't think he's an antisemite.

I think that about sums up the problem of the antisemitic left today.

Via Evening Standard:

Ken Livingstone today condemned anti-Semitism in the wake of a row sparked by his claim Hitler supported Zionism.

The former London mayor’s comments in April led to party colleague John Mann MP labelling him a "Nazi apologist" amid widespread criticism.

He defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism over the remarks - in which he said Hitler supported the creation of a Jewish state before he "went mad and ended up killing six million Jews" - but was suspended for "bringing the Labour Party into disrepute".

In a written statement to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee ahead of his appearance later today, Mr Livingstone said: "I detest racism and condemn anti-Semitism. Indeed my political career has totally opposed any such views concerning any religious or ethnic group."

Mr Livingstone voiced concern over what he said was "a rise of physical and verbal attacks in London motivated by racism and faith hate" over recent years, including an "utterly deplorable" doubling in recorded anti-Semitic hate crime between 2010 and 2015.

(...)

Defending himself against suggestions of anti-Semitism, Mr Livingstone cited his record as mayor of promoting events to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, hosting an Anne Frank exhibition at City Hall, organising a Jewish festival in Trafalgar Square and staging menorah lighting ceremonies to mark Hanukkah.

He quoted the finding of a High Court judge in a 2006 case, that it "could not sensibly be suggested" that Mr Livingstone was anti-Semitic and adding that his disapproval of some actions of the state of Israel "has nothing to do with anti-Semitism".

"Racism is a uniquely reactionary ideology, used to justify the greatest crimes in history - including the slave trade, the extermination of all original inhabitants of the Caribbean and apartheid," said Mr Livingstone.

The Holocaust was the ultimate, "industrialised" expression of racist barbarity, he added.

"Racism serves as the cutting edge of the most reactionary movements. An ideology that starts by declaring one human being inferior to another is the slope whose end is at Auschwitz. I totally reject such a view of Jews, black people or any other group."

Ukraine: People ask for Jewish prayer because Jews are unencumbered by 'Christian morals'

Via Times of Israel:

The motivation for turning to the rabbi for prayer rather than to their own Christian priests is not exactly flattering.

In Chernivtsi, people repeat the same rumor: That the Jews allegedly don’t care what they pray for — as long as they are paid.

“They also pray for bad things, like to curse someone,” said Victor Melnik, the owner of a downtown shoe repair shop.

This idea comes from the interpretation of the phrase “a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye” in the Old Testament of the Bible, said Moishe Krais, a Jewish businessman and a former member of the Chernivtsi City Council, who often gets approached by high-ranking officials who want to be introduced to the rabbi.

That phrase is understood by some to mean that the Jewish religion sanctions revenge — unlike the Christian faith that teaches that if you get hit on one cheek, you have to turn the other, he said.

“People are sure that the Jewish God allows the punishment of evildoers. It’s for that reason they go to the rabbi — to do something bad to their neighbor,” Krais said. “In their understanding, the rabbi is connected with black magic and voodoo.”

The problem is that if the rabbi curses someone and something bad does happen, then people’s anger “will turn against all the Jewish people — against me and my children,” he said — not just against the rabbi.

“If one man does something bad, then he is a bad man, but if a Jew does something bad, then all Jews are evil,” Krais said.

Via CFCA:

Arkhangelsk - Vandals tried to set fire the under construction synagogue building in the city of Arkhangelsk, by throwing a Molotov cocktail at the building. The synagogue didn’t catch fire. Police are investigating.

Via Against Antisemitism:

Supporters of PAOK F.C. have sprayed onto a wall in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, antisemitic graffiti calling the supporters of Aris F.C., also based in Thessaloniki, “Sons of a bitch” and “Jews” (in Greek: Εβραίοι).

Hungary: One-third of population shares the most widespread anti-Semitic beliefs to some degree

Via EJP:

Approximately one-third of the Hungarian population shares the most widespread anti-Semitic beliefs to some degree, a study on the prevalence of anti-Semitic prejudice in Hungarian society shows.

The survey by Median Opinion and Market Research Institute was commissioned by Action and Protection Foundation (TEV). It shows that the level of anti-Semitism has grown somewhat over the last year and that prejudices against Jews are closely related to xenophobia in general.

French judges to rule if Arafat was poisoned (yet again)

Background On 25 September 2015, the BBC (and other news outlets) reported that the Arafat poisoning inquiry dropped by French prosecutors.

Readers could be forgiven for thinking that the case was shut... Not so, the exciting saga continues. RTL reported yesterday that French judges will rule on Friday whether Arafat was poisoned.

Was Yassir Arafat poisoned? French give its ruling on Friday @RemiSULMONT #RTLMatin

France: Synagogue, Rabbi's house, vandalized with White Power graffiti

Le Point

Via Artuz 7:

A synagogue in the town of Verdun near France’s eastern border was vandalized over the weekend, the European Jewish Press reports.

Worshippers discovered swastikas and white supremacist slogans scrawled on the house of prayer, including the phrase “white power”. Similar graffiti was also found on the house of a local rabbi.

This is the second such incident in as many months.

Germany: Mosque hosts hate preacher who called for death to all Jews

Via Jerusalem Post:

Israel’s deputy chief envoy to Germany condemned on Monday the appearance of a Pakistani religious leader who has called for the elimination of all Jews.

The Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper published an article Monday about Muhammad Raza Saqib Mustafai’s European tour.

On Friday, the Islamic hate preacher addressed some 300 men and teenage boys Friday at Al-Madina mosque in Bad Cannstatt, a historic district in Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg.

Mustafai has said in a video posted on YouTube: “When the Jews are annihilated, the world will be cleansed.”

Mustafai has previously said: “When the Jews are wiped out… the sun of peace [will] begin to rise on the entire world.”

Irish FM: BDS is a 'legitimate political viewpoint'

Racism can also be protected under free speech, but that does not make it a "legitimate viewpoint".

Via Jerusalem Post (h/t Irishchutzpah):

In advance of his June visit to Israel, Irish Foreign Minister Charles Flanagan has confirmed the legitimacy of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

“While the [Irish] government does not itself support such a policy, it is a legitimate political viewpoint, albeit one regarded in Israel as deeply hostile,” he told the Irish parliament last Thursday during a question and answer session.

“I do not agree with attempts to demonize those who advocate this policy, or to equate them with violent terrorists,” he said.

“I am deeply concerned about wider attempts to pressure NGOs and human rights defenders through legislation and other means to hinder their important work. We have raised this both at the EU level and directly with the Israeli authorities,” he said.

Holland and Sweden have similarly confirmed that the BDS movement, which seeks to push Israel to withdraw to the pre-1967 lines and allow refugees to return, is protected under the laws of free speech.

France: Anti-racism activist praises Tel Aviv murderers

Via Watch: Antisemitism in Europe:

While ‪Israel‬ mourns the 4 innocents murdered in Tel Aviv, Aya Ramadan, member of the Parti des Indigènes de la République, praised yesterday on Twitter the murdering terrorists calling their act a “resistance operation”. Meanwhile, her message has been deleted. The Parti des Indigènes de la République opposes “race-mixing” and attacks the “philo-Semitism” of the French State. Its spokesperson, Houria Bouteldja has posed for a photo with the slogan, “Zionists to the Gulag”.

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