Belgium: Following Brussels attacks, anti-racism activist compares Israel to Islamic State

Dyab Abou Jahjah is an 'opinion maker'.  He fights for the rights of Muslim immigrants in Belgium.  He's a coveted speaker for events organized by Amnesty International and the Belgian Human Rights League. 

He's also an antisemite, but why should that bother anybody?  He only incites to kill Jews.

His most recent sentiments following the terror attack in Brussels:

Just in case you are wondering, I do not attend a solidarity meeting or gathering where the "Israeli" flag is hanging. That flag represents the same kind of evil that Daesh represents.

About Jahjah a decade ago, when he joined Hezbollah to kill Jews:

Belgian Jews cancel Purim

Via Honest Reporting:

Belgium’s Jewish community cancelled Purim festivities “at the request of the police due to the police’s fear of additional terrorists in the area,” YNet reports. Smaller, low-key gatherings will be held instead.

“The police said that they are unable to protect the event while the city is in a state of war,” he said.

Belgian security forces are still searching for suspects. The casualty count now stands at 31 dead and 270 injured. See today’s Daily Telegraph and CNN liveblogging.

Meanwhile tweet of the day goes Israeli journalist Amichai Stein.

Belgium: Brussels attacks won't translate into more support for Israel

Herb Keinon writes @ Jerusalem Post:

[...] The tension between those who see Israel as a partner and those who see it as a problem is a common theme that has run through every US presidential administration since Harry Truman’s, Ross said. But if those who ascribe to the Israel-as-partner school of thought often get the upper hand in the US, in Europe many of the governments are in the grips of those feel that Israel is a problem.

For this reason, it is unrealistic to expect that Tuesday’s terrorist atrocities in Belgium will in any significant way alter how either Belgium or the European Union view Israel.

Anytime there is a major terrorist attack in a western country, there are those in Israel who think it will give the stricken country a different perception of what Israel faces, of its security concerns, and perhaps lead them to judge Israel more kindly or even alter negative policies toward the country.  But it never really happens.

Madrid was hit by a major terrorist attack in 2004, London in 2005 and Paris twice in 2014.  But none of those countries, nor the EU, changed their overall diplomatic stance toward Israel after those attacks.

France, for example, is now pushing forward a diplomatic initiative to restart the Israeli- Palestinian peace process – to which Israel is adamantly opposed – despite the attacks in Paris that some in Israel thought would cause the French to rethink their Mideast policies.

Experience has shown that after major terrorist attacks abroad, those who believe that the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is the source of much of the frustration, anger and despair fueling terrorism, believe it even more strongly.

While opinions of Israel may not be changing, major terrorist attacks do have a tendency to adjust the stricken country’s focus toward enhancing local security, and this has led some countries to closer security cooperation with Jerusalem.  After the November attack in Paris, the French special police unit carried out a raid and killed two terrorists in a suburb of the French capital. The commander of the unit said it “learned from the experiences of our friends as far as techniques used in places like Israel.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his address Tuesday to the AIPAC conference in Washington, said that high-level delegations from around the world fly into Ben-Gurion Airport each day to tap into Israel’s security expertise in fighting terrorism.

“As many of them confront the rise of militant Islam and its accompanying terrorism, they come to Israel to strengthen their security,” he said. “They wish to learn from Israel’s proven security and intelligence capabilities how to better protect their own people.”

And while the number of those delegations may increase because of Tuesday’s attacks, don’t expect this to lead to a dramatic shift in voting patterns on matters relating to Israel at the UN. It never has in the past.

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Belgium: Woman with hijab at Brussels memorial site rips apart, hides Israeli flag

A proud Belgian woman...

Belgium: Antisemitic graffiti on school wall near Brussels

CCOJB posted two pictures of an antisemitc graffiti scrawled over a school wall at Braine-le-Comte (near Brussels).  It is thought that the wall was vandalised on Friday night.

UK: Corbyn acusses Jewish Labour Peer of lying about Labour antisemitism

A Jewish Labour Peer demanded Corbyn make it clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated int the Labour Party. 

Corbyn's response?  "The idea that somehow or other there's a tolerance of any form of racism is wholly and totally fallacious."

What Corbyn is doing here is what Jeremy Newmark, Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, calls "antisemitism denial".   Corbyn does not tolerate antisemitism.  He just think that the guy who called a man who spread blood-libels against Jews a 'voice that must be heard'. 

Via Engage Online:

Jeremy Corbyn was interviewed on Sky News today. In response to the challenge from Lord Levy to ‘deliver a specific and categoric condemnation of antisemitism’, Corbyn proceeded to deliver a general and partial condemnation.  Labour is against antisemitism he repeated, again and again.  But he did not address the problem, as described clearly by all those who have thought seriously about it.  He refused.  He did the opposite.  He denounced antisemitism in the most general terms possible, as he denounces Islamophobia and all other racisms too.

He shows he does not understand the point by promising to stand by Jews if they are attacked on the street.  But within the Labour Party? He has nothing to say.

And then he accuses Lord Levy of bad faith.  He repeats the phrase Lord Levy ‘knows full well…’ three times .. (1) that I oppose antisemitism, (2) that the Labour Party opposes antisemitism and (3) that we all oppose antisemitism.  If he knows ‘full well’, then why is Lord Levy making all this trouble?  Jews must be up to something.  Corbyn is accusing Levy of mobilizing a bad-faith allegation in order to damage the Labour Party.

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Latvia: Jewish cemetery vandalized by drunk youth

Via CFCA:

Three teenagers were arrested for vandalizing the Jewish cemetery in Valdemārpils.  They say tehy were drunk and did not realize the severity of their actions.

UK: "I hear my fair share of jaw-dropping comments about ‘my kind’"

Emma Barnett @ The Telegraph:

Like Orwell, I can only provide personal examples as there still hasn’t been any decent research done into this area (something he was calling for in 1945). But as a blonde snub-nosed Jew, I hear my fair share of jaw-dropping comments about ‘my kind’ because I enjoy the benefits of being incognito – aka bearing no resemblance to Goebbels’ cartoons. From those educated well-spoken types who confidently assert that Jews “think differently” to the ones who believe we “run America”, dinner party anti-Semitism is alive and well.

And then there was the time my good friend, who knows my faith, cracked ‘a joke’ about Jews being tight with money. This is the same pal I lent cash to when he was between pay cheques. Amazingly he failed to make the ironic connection before I gently spelt it out.

It’s true the latest fashionable form of anti-Semitism is to hold Jews collectively responsible for the actions of Israel and then compare those acts to the Holocaust. And it’s true this particular strain has been nurtured in certain Labour circles.

However, anti-Semitism is not a virus limited to the Left. The Justice Secretary Michael Gove addressed this very point in Berlin this week when he said: "Modern anti-Semitism finds a home in far too many hearts.”

Quite.

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Germany: Bucket of feces placed on wall of Jewish cemetery

Via CFCA:

Köthen - Vandals had placed a bucket of feces on the wall of the Jewish cemetery in Köthen (Anhalt-Bitterfeld district). Spokesman for East Sachsen-Anhalt Police said on Wednesday that the United Jewish Communities notified on the event on Tuesday. At the moment, police checks which offence had been committed.

A picture of the bucket shows that a picture of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel was pasted on the bucket.

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Hungary: Menorah stolen from Holocaust memorial

Via Times of Israel:

On Sunday, an unrelated incident was discovered in Hungary, in the city of Zalaegerszeg, 135 miles west of Budapest. Unidentified vandals stole materials from a monument that was unveiled in 2005, consisting of a marble column fitted with a copper menorah.

Pictures via Szombat

before

after
 

UK: Jewish man forced to move carriages after anti-Semitic abuse from Chelsea fans on train

Via Evening Standard:

An Orthodox Jewish rail passenger was abused by a group of Chelsea fans after he was subjected to anti-Semitic chants following an FA Cup clash.

British Transport Police said the man was forced to move carriages after he was singled out by football supporters on a train from Milton Keynes to Euston on Sunday, January 31.

Detectives today released an image of a man they believe may have knowledge of the incident as part of a wider appeal for information.

(...)
“The carriage was crowded and they began using foul language. One of them singled out an Orthodox Jewish man and all of the men began chanting anti-Semitic abuse at him.”

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Belgium: 1979 - Terrorist attack at Brussels Airport against El Al

Today Islamic horror struck in Brussels.  At least 34 killed as terror attacks rock Brussels airport, metro.

On April 16, 1979, Jews had been the target of Palestinian terrorists at the Brussels airport.  JTA reported:

EI AI flight 334 is due to land at Ben Gurion Airport at midnight with passengers from Brussels who narrowly escaped a terrorist attack at Zavantem International Airport this afternoon. EI AI security guards helped foil the assault in a shoot-out in which two of the terrorists, identified as Arabs, were captured, and one of them wounded. No EI AI passengers or personnel were hurt. There was no immediate identification of the terrorists as being members of the Palestine Liberation Organization. (Belgian Red Crass officials said two people were hospitalized and 10 others treated on the spot for slight injuries.)

EI AI managing director Mordechai Hod said tonight that the terrorists threw two hand grenades in the duty-free shop area of the Belgian air terminal just after the EI AI flight from Tel Aviv had landed. EI AI security guards rushed to the scene of the explosions and joined Belgian gendarmerie who were battling the attackers. The latter tried to hide but quickly surrendered.

According to an Israel Radio report from Brussels, the terrorists had opened fire on passengers waiting to board the EI AI flight and others nearby. Hod indicated, however, that the scene of the attack was some distance from the EI AI embarkation and disembarkation gates. This raised questions as to whether EI AI passengers were the target. But an official at the Pan American Airways gate said there was no doubt that the attack was aimed at EI AI. He said the terrorists simply made a mistake. They were handed over to Belgian authorities.  [...]

(In New York, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations denounced the attack as “a savage and obscene act” that “confirms once again that Yasir Arafat and his band of murderers must be quarantined by civilized society. Those who find ‘moderation’ in the PLO deceive themselves and imperil the safety of innocent people everywhere.”

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France: AFP claims Iran, Morocco, Tunisia have 'significant' Jewish communities

This is AFP's headline for a story about Israel rescuing Jews from Yemen:

Israel 'rescues' 19 Jews from war-torn Yemen in covert operation

Note the scare quotes on the word 'rescue'.  Doe they have a problem saying simply that Israel rescues Jews?

The first sentence of the article does its best to put as much distance between Israel and the simple fact that it rescued Jews.

Israel has spirited 19 Jews out of war-torn Yemen in a "covert operation" to rescue some of the last remnants of one of the world's most ancient Jewish communities, officials said Monday.

But what I found most interesting in this article is the little tidbit at the end.  Because AFP could not write anything good about Israel without 'balancing' it with some made up claims about how well Jews are doing in some Muslim countries.

Elsewhere in the Muslim world, Iran, Morocco and Tunisia still boast significant Jewish communities.

What are 'significant' Jewish communities, you might ask?

Iran boasts less than 9,000 Jews (0.01% of the total population)
Morocco boasts less than 2,500 Jews (0.007% of the total population)
Tunisia boasts 1,700 Jews (0.015% of the total population)

These communities are just a small percentage of the communities that existed in these countries before they were expelled from their homes.

Iran boasts 6-9% of its former Jewish population.
Morocco boasts less than 1% of its former Jewish population
Tunisia boasts less than 2% of its former Jewish population

Watch: Does the Labour Party have an antisemitism problem?

Via Campaign Against Antisemitism:

UK: Labour peer threatens to quit over anti-Semitism

Via Politics Home:

A senior Labour peer has threatened to quit the party unless Jeremy Corbyn makes “absolutely clear” that anti-Semitism will not be tolerated.

Lord Levy called on Mr Corbyn to issue an “categoric and specific” condemnation throughout the party.

(...)

Lord Levy, who was formerly Tony Blair’s chief fundraiser, told Sky News yesterday: “Anti-Semitism in any political party cannot be tolerated. And it is for the [Labour] leadership to make that absolutely clear. If they don’t make that clear, then I will start to question myself and actually question my being a Labour peer and a proud member of the Labour party.

“Let us not narrow this down to a political party. Let us talk about anti-Semitism in the wider sense and [say] that there must be zero tolerance. Any form of anti-Semitism, no matter where it rears its ugly head, must be stopped.”

Lord Levy added: “Any person who joins the Labour party, or who is a member of the Labour party, who comes up with such vile comments as have been made by these two people who have now been expelled, and the problems there have been in Oxford, [should be] dealt with with immediacy.”

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