The New Antisemite: February 2019

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

UK: Labour deputy flags tweets by party members accusing Jews of murdering kids

Lawmakers in Britain’s Labour opposition party have reportedly flagged social media posts from members accusing Jews of murdering children and questioning whether Jewish parliamentarians have “human blood.”

MP Tom Watson, the deputy chief of Labour, said he received 50 complaints of anti-Semitism last week from Labour colleagues, and called on leader Jeremy Corbyn to personally take them before the party’s top governing body.

According to a Sunday report in the Guardian, the complaints received by Watson included a number of anti-Semitic posts on Twitter by Labour members, such as one alleging “Jews murder people and children.”

“Wonder why Jewish people are hated wherever they’ve settled over last 2000 years. Their double dealing, back stabbing, cheating chilling coldness has always only one outcome. I wonder what the average period of time is before people fed up with the anti-social Jews kick em out,” read one of the tweets, according to the report.

Another tweet said Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was an “illegitimate Rothschild,” the Jewish banking family at the center of numerous anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, while another questioned whether Jewish officials in Labour have “human blood.”

“Their hearts and brains totally devoid of humanity,” the Twitter post reportedly said.

Poland: Antisemitic signs on buildings in Warsaw

Via CFCA:

At the beginning of the week, huge signs were hung on the walls of several residential buildings in Warsaw with the inscription “These buildings will soon be returned to the Jews to meet their demands.”

France: Rise in antisemitic attacks, Yellow Vests leader voices support for anti-Zionism

Via Jerusalem Post:

Only a few days after the Macron said he would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, also stating that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism, the country saw a rise in antisemitic incidents lately.

It seems that Macron's words created the opposite effect in France, and the Bureau for the War on Antisemitism called the rise in incidents as "frightening." Among other incidents, graffiti were found condemning Jews in various parts of the country.

(...)

A 17-year-old riding a bicycle in a suburb north of Paris, was attacked by three unknown assailants who called him "dirty Jew", broke his wrist and robbed his cell phone, all for wearing a kippah.

A 51-year-old woman was attacked near her home in Garez-les-Gons by two men with knives. The two called out to her, "Jewish whore, we'll burn all of you."

In another incident, people inscribed "dirty Jew" on the nameplate of a Jewish doctor on the facade of a dental clinic in Paris whereas they did not touch the label of his colleague a non-Jewish doctor.

There were also reports of Jews in the country receiving death threats by phone and mail, sometimes accompanied by swastikas.

Jerome Rodriguez, one of the prominent leaders of the yellow vests movement in France, who lost his eye from a rubber bullet fired by the police, told Maariv that his movement was not antisemitic. (...) According to Rodriguez, he did not take part in a demonstration against antisemitism because he was "busy visiting his movement's checkpoints in various parts of the country." However, he added that if he had time, he would prefer to participate in a demonstration organized by an anti-Zionist organization that supports boycotting Israel".

UK: Spate of antisemitic attacks in Stamford Hill probed by police

Via Jewish News:

There has been a spate of alleged antisemitic attacks in Stamford Hill in the past week, with reports of bricks thrown in the windows of Jewish homes and a family subjected to abuse on Shabbat.

The Met Police received reports a man was allegedly punched by one of four women who apprehended him and shouted antisemitic abuse at around 11.40am last Saturday.

According to the neighbourhood watch group Stamford Hill Shomrim, the man was leaving Shul with his family when he was allegedly punched and called a “germ on society”.

However, the Met Police said they closed the case after the victim failed to attend an appointment.

The victim, who did not wish to be named, told Jewish News: “My family witnessed it, and they are still in shock.

“My son woke up last night crying about it and was all traumatised.

“I was trying to calm him down as best as possible and trying my best to speak to him about it. It’s not an easy thing to explain.”

The father said he did not attend the meeting because of a lack of faith in the system. “The punishment is always minor when it comes to antisemitism,” he added.

On Wednesday, a man walked into a clothing shop in Clapton Common at around 1.30pm and shouted antisemitic abuse at a shop assistant.

The Met Police said the incident took place after the man asked whether the shop assistant wanted the windows cleaned and disputed the price they had agreed on.

Shomrim added the suspect had allegedly shouted: “Hitler should have called [ed. killed] all the Jews”.

France declares anti-Zionism a form of antisemitism in crackdown on racism against Jewish people

Via Independent:

Emmanuel Macron has declared anti-Zionism a form of antisemitism as he ramps up France’s crackdown on racism against Jewish people.

Speaking at the 34th annual dinner of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, Mr Macron said a surge in antisemitic attacks in his country had not been seen since World War Two.

He promised a new law to tackle hate speech on the internet and said France would adopt the definition of antisemitism set by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

The IHRA definition does not use the phrase "anti-Zionism" but does say denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination "e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour," is antisemitic.

(...)

Mr Macron's words were well received from the World Jewish Congress which said: "This is just the beginning of a long road ahead. Adopting this definition of anti-Semitism must be followed by concrete steps to encode into law and ensure that this is enforced."

The IHRA definition is not legally binding but does serve as an international guideline.

Germany and Britain adopted the definition in texts in 2016, though the European Union adopted a softer tone, calling the IHRA definition a "guidance tool" amid concern from some member states that it could make criticism of Israeli policy, particularly with regards to Palestinians, difficult.

Germany: foundation under fire for awarding prize to antisemitic BDS group

Via Jerusalem Post:

The Central Council of Jews in Germany and American Jewish organizations blasted the Roland Röhl Foundation for its decision to award in March a peace prize to a BDS group which is widely considered to be antisemitic.

(...)

The group is called Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East and is an energetic supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that targets the Jewish state.

The nearly 100,000 member Central Council of Jews in Germany classified Jewish Voice as an “antisemitic association,” according to a German DPA wire service report.

Dr. Josef Schuster, the president of the council, wrote a letter last week the city of Göttingen’s Mayor Rolf-Georg Köhler urging him to take a stand against the antisemitism prevalent in the group.

“The association is an active supporter of events of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel,” wrote Schuster, adding “I certainly do not have to explain which historical precursors have had boycotts against Jewish institutions or Jews in Germany, and what associations are created with such actions.”

Schuster was referring to Hitler movement to boycott Jewish businesses – a nascent phase in the Holocaust. Köhler, who is a member of the foundation’s board, announced on Wednesday that the city will not participate in the award ceremony this year, according to a report in the daily paper Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten by the journalists Thoralf Cleven and Ansgar Nehls.

In response to Schuster’s criticism, the mayor called for the slated March 9 event to be suspended until the antisemitic allegation could be clarified.

UK: Students at Oxford call for provision that would prohibit kosher meat

Via Jerusalem Post:

A student association at Oxford University passed a non-binding motion to effectively ban all kosher meat.

The Junior Common Room, a student government association at Oxford’s Somerville College, called on the college to only serve meat that has been stunned before being killed, according to the BBC. That requirement would exclude kosher meat, which cannot be stunned before slaughter.

A spokesman for the college said the college is looking into the request, but will also be expanding its kosher and halal meat offerings.

Bulgaria: 2,000 torch-wielding nationalists march through Sofia to honor pro-Nazi general

Via Times of Israel:

Thousands of far-right activists held a torch-lit march through Bulgarian capital Sofia Saturday to honor a World War II general known for his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi activities.

The annual Lukov March, staged by the far-right Bulgarian National Union, attracted some 2,000 dark-clad supporters who walked through downtown Sofia holding torches and Bulgarian flags and chanting nationalist slogans. A number of far-right activists from other countries also took part in the march.

It came despite strong condemnation by human rights groups, political parties and foreign embassies. The city mayor had banned the rally but organizers won a court order overturning the ban.

France: TV cuts Facebook live feed from Jewish cemetery after anti-Semitic abuse

Via euronews:

A French TV channel said on Wednesday it had been forced to cut short a live Facebook broadcast from a desecrated Jewish cemetery in eastern France because of an onslaught of anti-Semitic commentary.

Separately, two swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were found painted in red on a monument at a different cemetery near Lyon.

(...)

France 3 television said it went live from the first cemetery in the village of Quatzenheim on Tuesday as President Emmanuel Macron was visiting to pay his respects after more than 90 graves were vandalised with swastikas and anti-Semitic abuse.

But as it broadcast footage online to its more than 1.3 million Facebook followers, the feed was inundated with anti-Semitic commentary and abuse.

"We are talking about explicit death threats, comments that were openly anti-Semitic and racist, including "Heil Hitler", "dirty Jew" or "dirty Jews", comments that were addressed at Emmanuel Macron and representatives of the Jewish community," the channel said in a statement explaining its decision.

"Within minutes, the number of vile and illegal comments had gone well beyond our capacity to moderate them," it explained, adding that it would have taken 10 or 20 staff to handle the onslaught. "We refuse to traffic in hatred."

Ukraine: Anti-Semitic images painted on memorial to desecrated Jewish cemetery

Via JTA:

Unidentified individuals painted anti-Semitic cartoons on a memorial wall in Ukraine that was made of ancient Jewish headstones destroyed by Soviet authorities.

The graffiti found this week in the western city of Kolomyya show a man tossing a Star of David in the trash. The memorial wall commemorates one of three Jewish cemeteries that existed there before they were razed and plundered.

Eduard Dolinsky, the director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, on Tuesday wrote on Facebook that the act was typical of a recent spate of anti-Semitic vandalism in Ukraine.

Poland: Amid tensions over the Holocaust, Jewish cemeteries vandalized

Via JTA

Two Jewish cemeteries have been vandalized in Poland amid a fresh diplomatic crisis between that country and Israel over complicity in the Holocaust.

In the city of Świdnica, a suburb of Wroclaw in southwestern Poland, at least 15 headstones were smashed last week at the local Jewish cemetery. Other headstones were painted with black graffiti, including one of a pentagram – a symbol associated with Satanism.

Local police are investigating possible anti-Semitic motives, the website Wmeritum reported.

The cemetery had seen previous incidents, Monika Krawczyk, chairwoman-elect of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“The evil comes back,” she added.

Separately, in Wroclaw the words “Jesus is King” were written on the fence of another Jewish cemetery on Feb. 13. Several locals showed up earlier this week to paint over the slogan, Gazeta Wroclawska reported Sunday.

Bulgaria: Synagogue in Sofia vandalized by stone-throwing incident

From Jerusalem Post:

The Great Prayer Hall of the Central Synagogue in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, was subjected to an attack in which stones were thrown through the temple windows by "unidentified assailants" on Saturday witnesses said, according to The Algemeiner.

Bulgaria and the its capital are no strangers to antisemitism and have even been subjected to other attacks over recent weeks, including graffiti depicting swastikas and an antisemitic slogan covering a monument meant to memorialize those who fell victim to the ruling Communist regime in Bulgaria during World War II.

France: Teens fire air rifle at synagogue in Paris on Friday, injuring one

Via Jerusalem Post:

Two teenagers fired shots from an air rifle at a synagogue in Paris on Friday night, lightly injuring a Jewish man in the leg, French media reported on Tuesday.

According to the Le Parisien newspaper, the attack was staged against a synagogue in the Sarcelles suburb of Paris from an apartment facing the building.
Police searched the apartment and confiscated a 4.5mm calibre rifle, while the teenagers themselves were arrested on Saturday. The state prosecutor believes that the attack was carried out for antisemitic motives.

The president of the Jewish community of Sarcelles was quoted as saying, however, that he believed the attack was not antisemitic, adding that it was carried out due to “stupidity” and that the teenagers would have shot anyone. But he said he was still concerned about antisemitism in the suburb.

Ukraine: Mall displays Nazi swastika on staircase

Via Jerusalem Post:

A shopping mall in Ukraine that is located on a street named for a collaborator with the Nazis decorated a staircase with a large swastika.

Images and footage from inside the Horodok shopping mall on Kiev’s Bandera Avenue surfaced Monday on Facebook.

They show shoppers climbing up and down the staircase, whose middle-section stairs feature a large swastika locked in a white rhombus encircled by red, similar to Nazi Germany’s flag. The street where the shopping mall is located is named for Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist who briefly collaborated with Nazi Germany in its fight against Russia.

His troops are believed to have killed thousands of Jews.

The street used to be Called Moscow Avenue. It was named for Bandera in 2016 despite protests by some Jewish community leaders and Ukrainian Poles, whose community also suffered war crimes by Bandera’s troops.

France: 80 graves vandalised at Jewish cemetery in eastern France

Via Local:

Swastikas and anti-Semitic tags were found daubed over 80 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France on Tuesday on the day of nationwide marches against a rise in anti-Semitic attacks.

The damage was discovered on Tuesday morning at a cemetery in the village of Quatzenheim, close to the border with Germany in the Alsace region, a statement from the regional security office said.

UK: Seven Labour MPs resign citing ‘institutional’, ‘sickening’ antisemitism

Via Jewish Chronicle:

Seven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party citing institutional antisemitism as among the main reasons for their departure.

At a press conference in London, Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger said she was "embarrassed and ashamed" to be a member of the Labour Party which she said was "institutionally antisemitic" and had "a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation". Ms Berger has long been a target for antisemitic Labour activists who have plied her with abuse and death threats.

The other MPs to speak cited antisemitism as their reason for leaving but added several other reasons, primary among which was Labour’s direction over Brexit.

The second MP to speak, Chris Leslie, who represents Nottingham East, said: "It has not been an easy decision for any of us" adding that the party had been "hijacked by the machine politics of the extreme left".

Ilford South MP Mike Gapes said: "I am sickened that Labour is now a racist, antisemitic party" and "furious that the Labour leadership is complicit in this".

Norway: Newspaper apologizes for using phrase ‘Jewish question’

Via Jerusalem Post:

Editor in chief said the print headline was an editing error and the words "should never have been used"

Norway's largest print newspaper apologized this week for running an article about Israel and antisemitism that used the phrase "the Jewish question" in the headline.

That phrase has a long history of being used to demean, dehumanize and stigmatize Jewish people, both before and during the Holocaust.

Espen Egil Hansen, the editor in chief of Aftenposten, issued a lengthy apology for the original article - which ran in the newspaper last week. In a full page commentary in Monday's newspaper, Hansen apologized for the original article, which was headlined in print: "The Jewish question splits the left on both sides of the Atlantic." The article examined accusations of antisemitism against figures including US Rep. Ilhan Omar and UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Hansen took full responsibility for the unfortunate wording.

Germany: Anti-Semitic acts reach 10-year peak, police data shows

Via EuroNews:

Anti-Semitic offences rose by almost 10% in Germany last year, according to preliminary data released by police on Wednesday.

Some 1,646 anti-Semitic acts were reported in 2018, according to police, marking their highest level in the past decade. Sixty-two of these acts were violent, wounding 43 people.

The preliminary figures were released at the request of Die Linke left-wing party, and the final study will be published in May.

(...)

In Germany, one of the reasons behind the current jump of antisemitic acts is the rising popularity of the far-right AFD party, said Carsten Nickel, Managing Director of the think tank Teneo.

Since the 2015 migration crisis, Germany has seen a resurgence of far-right sentiment tainted with antisemitism which was impossible just 10 year ago due to German history, Carsten told Euronews.

The far-right's political strategy has been to blame migrants, which come predominantly from Muslim countries, for the resurgence of anti-Jewish hatred in Germany. "Muslim immigration might be part of the story, but I don't think that's the only story," Carsten said.

UK: Bringing up antisemitism ‘is upsetting Labour staff’

Via Times:

Labour’s general secretary has warned MPs that public criticism of the way antisemitism allegations have been handled is “distressing” for party staff.

Jennie Formby, a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said that the party had received nearly 700 complaints linked to antisemitic abuse by party members since April last year and had expelled 12 people.

Dame Margaret Hodge, the MP for Barking, disputed this, saying that she alone had made complaints about 200 members. Ms Formby said this was not correct, claiming that Dame Margaret’s complaints related to 111 individuals, 20 of whom were Labour members.

UK: Survey of left-wing Twitter accounts shows nearly a fifth promote or engage in antisemitism

Via Jewish Chronicle:

A survey of thousands of left-wing social media accounts by Hope Not Hate found that nearly a fifth promote or engage in antisemitism.

The anti-fascist group’s “State of Hate 2019” report into racism — to be published on Monday — analysed 27,000 Twitter profiles that follow a selection of UK-based left-wing accounts which “regularly spread antisemitic ideas”.

Of the 27,000 accounts, the charity found up to 5,000 of them — just under 19 per cent — have expressed antisemitic ideas twice or more on social media.

Some of the accounts posted over 100 tweets that could be clearly identified as antisemitic, featuring tropes such as Jewish control of the media or banking system.

Hope Not Hate described the results as “worrying” and said urgent action needed to be taken against social media accounts disseminating antisemitic ideas.

France: Jewish Philosopher Alain Finkielkraut Attacked by Yellow Vest Protesters in Paris

Via Haaretz:

French Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut was the target of an anti-Semitic attack Saturday night, French media outlets reported.

The philosopher, whose writing focuses on the ideas of tradition and identitary violence (including Jewish identity and anti-Semitism), was assaulted by Yellow Vest protesters who have taken to France's streets in recent months to demonstrate the country's rising fuel prices.

In videos that documented the incident, protesters can be heard yelling: "Dirty Jew" and "you're a hater, you're going to die, you're going to hell," while others called on the thinker to "go home" and "return to Tel Aviv."

In a different clip demonstrators can be heard screaming anti-Semitic profanities such as "dirty Zionist shit."

read more

Other insults hurled at Finkielkraut:
"Palestine!"
"France is ours!"
"Dirty race!"
"The people will punish you!"

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Netherlands: Textbook omits Jewish connection to Jerusalem

Via Times of Israel:

A Dutch publisher that previously created school textbooks accusing Israelis of ethnic cleansing has released a new volume omitting Jerusalem’s significance to Jews.

The omission occurred in a textbook about social issues titled “Plein M” by Nordhoff Publishers for preparatory middle-level applied education level schools, including public schools. It states Jerusalem is holy to Muslims and Christians, but does not mention its holiness to Jews.

It also states that Jews and Christians were “mostly treated well” by Arabs throughout history. It does not mention capital taxes and many pogroms perpetrated against Jews in Arab countries before and during the flight of at least 800,000 Jews from those countries in the 20th century. Today, there are fewer than 7,000 Jews living in Arab countries.

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Likoed Nederland, a pro-Israel group, called the book a form of “historical falsification” in a statement Sunday, adding it “reads like Palestinian propaganda.”

France: Outrage as swastikas, 'Jews' scrawled on Jewish symbols

Via France24:

A tree planted in a Paris suburb in memory of a young Jewish man who was tortured to death in 2006 has been chopped down, authorities said Monday, confirming the latest in a series of anti-Semitic acts in France.

Ilan Halimi was kidnapped by a gang that demanded huge sums of money from his family, believing them to be rich because he was Jewish.

After being tortured for three weeks, the 23-year-old cellphone salesman was found dumped next to a railway in the southern suburb of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. He died while being brought to hospital.

On Monday, municipal workers sent to prepare a memorial site for a annual remembrance ceremony this week discovered that a tree planted in his honour had been chopped down and a second one partly sawn through, local officials told AFP.

The police are investigating the incident, which the French government's special representative on racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination, Frederic Potier, described as "ignominious".

It is the latest in a series of anti-Semitic acts and attacks that have raised fears of a new wave of anti-Jewish violence in a country that is home to Europe's biggest Jewish population.

In two separate incidents in the past two days, swastikas were drawn on Paris postboxes containing portraits of late Holocaust survivor Simone Veil and the word Juden (German for Jews) was sprayed on the window of a bagel bakery in the capital.

UK: London’s Jewish Housing Association Defeats Discrimination Challenge

Via Hamodia:

A ruling issued by the Divisional Court of the High Court of Justice in London, made public on Tuesday, has upheld the right of an Orthodox Jewish Housing Association to allocate housing exclusively to Jewish families.

Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA) was founded to serve the U.K.’s Orthodox Jewish community and builds, part-owns and manages properties in London, Salford and Canvey Island.

The claimants against AIHA, who are not Jewish, had wanted to be allocated a home in AIHA’s new Aviv development in Stamford Hill, but were not given the chance to bid. The claim against Hackney London Borough Council and AIHA, challenged AIHA’s policy of allocating its social housing properties on the basis that they precluded any persons who are not members of the Orthodox Jewish community from becoming tenants. The claimants applied for a Judicial Review of the case.

Following a detailed investigation of the social housing market, and the specific characteristics of Hackney’s Orthodox Jewish Community, including anti-Semitism and religious needs, the Divisional Court ruled that AIHA’s policy was lawful and found against the application for Judicial Review, concluding that AIHA served a specific need and tried to do so with access to only 1 percent of Hackney’s social housing stock

In what is potentially a landmark ruling, the court recognized that Orthodox Jewish community members’ way of life requires them to live close by each other as a community – to the extent that many prefer to live in unsuitable properties rather than to move away from their community.

It also sadly acknowledged widespread and increasing overt anti-Semitism in society and prejudice, including in the private rental sector, specifically against Orthodox Jews, due to their higher visibility as Jewish.

Germany: Frankfurt city hall poster campaign calls for solidarity with Jewish community

Via Jerusalem Post:

Posters issued by the municipal authority of Frankfurt bearing words of support for the city’s Jewish community have been plastered across the metropolis this week in an act of solidarity with Frankfurt’s Jews.

The posters, titled “Together in Frankfurt” and bearing an image of a man wearing a kippah with a design of the Frankfurt skyline on it, were hung as an initiative to highlight the contribution of Jews to the city and as a statement against antisemitism, which recent studies have found is still prevalent in Europe.

“Jewish life is an ancient tradition in Frankfurt and is an inseparable part of the city’s identity,” reads the text of the poster, and goes on to describe the contribution of the Jewish community to the city’s culture and status as a financial center.

Noting the “wounds” caused by “the Holocaust and the terrible era of the Nazis,” the municipality said that “Today we are able to be happy that Jewish life has returned and has an established and important status in our city.”

The poster asserts that “Antisemitism is not only a problem for Jewish society, it is a problem for all of society and therefore the obligation is on our shoulders, every day, to strengthen cooperation and to stand strong and determined against any phenomenon or sign of antisemitic discrimination and racism.”

UK: Antisemitic incidents at record high for third year in a row

Via Guardian:

Jewish community leaders and politicians have condemned a third successive year with a record number of antisemitic incidents.

Last year, 1,652 incidents, a 16% increase on 2017, were logged by the Community Security Trust, which has monitored antisemitism for 35 years and provides security to the UK Jewish community.

The CST said the spread of incidents throughout the year, with more than 100 a month, indicated a general atmosphere of intolerance and prejudice. However, there were also spikes related to events in Gaza and the argument over antisemitism in the Labour party.

The biggest number of incidents were in April and May (151 and 182 respectively), when scores of Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured in protests at the border fence between Gaza and Israel. May was the highest monthly total recorded since August 2014, when there was a major conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

In total, there were 173 incidents recorded that explicitly showed anti-Israel motivation alongside antisemitism, the CST said.

It also recorded 148 incidents over the year that were explicitly related to arguments over alleged antisemitism in Labour, with 49 in August when there was significant media and political attention on the issue.

Denmark: Copenhagen mayor awards BDS activists for their courage

Via Mondoweiss:

The award was presented to BDS activists Ronnie Barkan, Majed Abusalama and Stavit Sinai (known as “Humboldt 3”) by Copenhagen’s Mayor for Technical and Environmental Affairs, Ninna Hedeager Olsen, at a ceremony in Copenhagen’s City Hall Thursday. It stated that

Mr. Barkan and his colleagues have worked tirelessly to reveal the Apartheid-like nature of the Israeli regime and its systematic violation of international law. By doing so, the Copenhagen Courageous laureates have sown the seeds for a peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians based on truth and justice.

(Full statement here).

Germany: Passerby severely injured trying to stop assault on Jewish man

Via Times of Israel:

A man who tried to prevent a suspected anti-Semitic assault at a German train station was severely beaten by the alleged culprit.

The incident unfolded on Jan. 23 at the train station of Langen, a southern suburb of Frankfurt. An inebriated 27-year-old German citizen of Cameroonian descent accosted verbally and then shoved to the ground a much older man who was dressed like an Orthodox Jew, the Hessenschau newspaper reported Tuesday.

The older man got up and boarded a train unscathed, but a passerby who intervened ended up being injured much more seriously by the alleged aggressor, the paper reported. The 48-year-old victim was pummeled repeatedly and severely injured on his face and hands, the report said.

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.

Finland: Soldiers Participated in Mass Murders of Jews During World War II, Report Finds

Via Haaretz:

A report released Friday by the National Archives of Finland found that Finnish soldiers participated in mass murders of Jews, foreign civilians, and Russian prisoners of war during World War II.

The report concluded that 1,408 Finns volunteered in the Nazis’ Fifth SS Panzer Division (Wiking), and participated in massacres in Ukraine and the Caucasus between 1941 and 1943.

It’s hard to determine how many Jews and other people were murdered with the participation of Finnish soldiers, the report said, but the figure probably totals around 10,000 people. The massacres took place in dozens of cities, including Hrymailiv, Ozerna, Skalat, Tarnopol, Zboriv, Zolochiv, and Krivichi, mostly in the summer of 1941.

The study was initiated following a request by Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who has exposed hundreds of war criminals over the years. A year ago, Zuroff wrote to Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and asked that Finland carry out in-depth research on the subject in light of new findings about the involvement of Finnish soldiers in the murder of Ukrainian Jews.

Zuroff acknowledged that this would be a painful step for Finland, but argued that it is "the only way to courageously face the mistakes of the past and to prevent such crimes in the future."

France: Paris bagel shop window vandalized by Yellow Vest protesters

Via Kann News:

A Jewish bagel shop's window was vandalized by Yellow Vest protesters. The word "Juden" was graffitied on the Bagelstein shop window

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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