Greece: Jews celebrate outlawing of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party

 
Via Jewish News:

Greek Jews celebrated a court decision to outlaw the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, calling it a “landmark” ruling that protects democracy.

The ruling on Wednesday by the Athens Court of Appeals convicted seven of the party’s former lawmakers, including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, of leading a criminal organisation, a felony that carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years, the Associated Press reported. The remaining 51 defendants were convicted of belonging to a criminal enterprise.

The court decision caps a trial that began in 2015 with prosecutors arguing that Golden Dawn leaders were criminally responsible for the fatal stabbing of rap singer Pavlos Fyssas by a party supporter. Other cases supporting the prosecution  were assaults on immigrants and left-wing activists.

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Leaders of Golden Dawn, which uses a Swastika-themed symbol, have a history of Holocaust denial and incitement against Jews.

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Germany: Jewish student attacked with shovel in Hamburg

Via BBC:

A Jewish student has been badly injured in an attack by a man wielding a shovel as he entered a synagogue in the northern city of Hamburg.

The 26-year-old sustained severe head injuries and was taken to hospital, according to local media.

The suspected attacker was arrested and police confirmed they were investigating the case as attempted murder with anti-Semitic intent.

Last month Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of rising anti-Semitism.

The incident took place almost one year after a gunman attacked a synagogue in the city of Halle during Yom Kippur, killing two.

The victim of Sunday's attack was entering the synagogue when he was repeatedly hit on the head by the attacker.

The suspect, 29, was dressed in military clothes and had a hand-drawn swastika in his pocket, police said.

Police said the suspect was in a confused state when he was detained, reportedly by officers guarding the synagogue.

"The current assessment of the situation suggests this is an anti-Semitic motivated attack," a statement from police and prosecutors said. 

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Belgium: Antwerp Jews to lose army protection under new government’s plan

 

Via JTA:

Antwerp’s Jewish community will lose its military protection under a plan by Belgium’s new government to eliminate the presence of soldiers in urban centers.

Approximately 18,000 Jews live in the city in close proximity. Several troops protect its Jewish quarter.

A clause in the government’s plan, which was announced in the coalition agreement signed earlier this week, speaks of a “gradual withdrawal” of the military from urban centers.

“This plan is causing real alarm in the rank-and-file of the Jewish community of Antwerp,” Hans Knoop, a spokesman for the Forum of Jewish Organizations of the Flemish Region of Belgium, or FJO, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview about the plan. “Neither the actual threat nor the government’s own assessment of it have diminished.”

Thousands of troops were deployed in Belgian cities in 2015 following deadly jihadist terrorist attacks in Paris at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and at a kosher supermarket. Most have been reassigned.

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