Belgium: Soccer star unapologetic for chanting he’d ‘rather die than be a Jew’

 
Via Times of Israel:

A professional soccer player from Belgium who sang with fans that he’d “rather die than be a Jew” has defended his actions, which are now the subject of a disciplinary review.

Noa Lang wrote an unapologetic message on Instagram on Saturday following the discovery of a video showing the 21-year-old Holland native chanting about Jews following a match in which his club, Brugge, defeated the Anderlecht team of Brussels.

The reference to Jews, according to Belgian sports papers, was about supporters and players of Anderlecht, whom rival teams refer to as “Jews.” The same phenomenon exists for Amsterdam’s Ajax team, the Tottenham Hotspur club of London, and Bayern, Munich’s soccer club.

Ignoring calls to apologize, Lang wrote that he didn’t mean to offend but would not like to further discuss the subject.

“My dad’s Surinamese and my mother’s Dutch. I know all about racism and bias,” he said. “I chanted enthusiastically with supporters I met for the first time after winning. As a former Ajax fan I know very well the soccer world’s nicknames. I did not mean to offend anyone. I’m done with the subject and won’t be revisiting it.”

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Germany: Man attacked in Munich because he was mistaken for a Jew

 Via Bild:

Last Saturday night, a (non-Jewish) man was sitting outside a restaurant with a friend, when a passer-by punched him to the floor and shouted "Jew-pig, you dirty hipster!" while grappling with him.  The attacker, who was with a friend, then ran away.

Both men were arrested.  They had previously sat in the same restaurant, getting drunk, and were finally thrown out.  The attacker is a German-Mexican national.

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UK: Belfast synagogue threatened to be picketed if the Jewish community did not condemn Israel

 
Via Belfast Telegraph:

In a separate incident, the synagogue in north Belfast was threatened to be picketed if the Jewish community did not condemn Israel for recent air strikes in Gaza.

The threat disrupted the Shavuot service, a Jewish holiday. The service managed to go ahead with 10 congregants — the minimum number of people required for Jewish communal worship.

More congregants were expected to attend but had been discouraged by the threat, which was received via a phone call.

The PSNI are “monitoring the situation” and are “treating this as a hate incident at this stage”.

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Netherlands: Holocaust monument in Cuijk defaced with white paint and the text ‘free Palestine’

Via Netherlands News Live (translated from NOS):

The Jewish monument in Cuijk is covered with white paint and the text ‘free Palestine’. It is unclear who is behind the action. The police say they are looking for witnesses.

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UK: Norwich synagogue defaced with slurs, "Free Palestine", swastika

via Arieh Kovler:

  The synagogue in Norwich, England this morning. Police are appealing for witnesses

 

Germany: Lebanese-born man arrested for planned attack on Bremen synagogue

 Via Jerusalem Post:

German police in the northern city of Bremen arrested a 42-year-old man on Wednesday for a planned attack on a synagogue in the city’s Schwachhausen district. This man was also born in Lebanon.

"An individual intended to attack the synagogue in Bremen," states an exclusive report by the German magazine Der Spiegel.

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Germany: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators shout “fuck the Jews” (“scheiss Juden”) in front of a Synagogue

 

In Gelsenkirchen, Germany, demonstrators shouted: “fuck the Jews” (“scheiss Juden”) in front of a Synagogue. https://t.co/CWw3zMzoJ4

— EUJS - European Union of Jewish Students (@EUJS) May 19, 2021

Netherlands: Pro-Palestinian protersters shout threats against Jews, "Khaybar, Khaybar o Jews, the army of Muhammad is coming"

 

Duizenden op de been op de #Dam voor de demo voor de #Palestijnen Eerst een grote bijeenkomst op de Dam gevolgd door een optocht door het centrum. #FreePalestine #PalestineUnderAttack #PalestineProtest #palestinemarch pic.twitter.com/PrMUEFV2Rt

— Robby Hiel (@PersburoUNN) May 16, 2021

UK: Two arrested over antisemitic assault which hospitalised young Essex Rabbi outside synagogue on Sunday

Via Campaign Against Antisemitism:

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of religiously-aggravated assault over an antisemitic attack which hospitalised Rabbi Rafi Goodwin on Sunday.

Leeds-born father of two Rabbi Goodwin, who is in his thirties, was brutally beaten with a blunt object, sustaining head injuries, according to the police.

The United Synagogue, the umbrella body to which Chigwell and Hainault Synagogue belongs, said that Rabbi Goodwin sustained injuries necessitating a stay in hospital so that he could be treated and assessed for concussion. A police statement issued soon after the incident added that he was treated for cuts to his head and eye.

Essex Police said: “It is believed that two teenagers stepped out in front of the victim’s vehicle whilst he was driving, they shouted at him and spoke in a derogatory way about his religion before going on to damage his car. When he got out of his car to confront them, he was attacked with an unknown object causing him to require hospital treatment. During the attack the victim’s phone was also stolen.” Chief Superintendent Stuart Hooper added: “At this time we do not believe this incident is related to events taking place overseas or incidents which have taken place elsewhere in the country.”

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Austria: Someone shouted at Jewish students, “you can shove your Holocaust up your ass.” Everyone clapped.

Yesterday Jewish students organized a demonstration against antisemitism in Vienna. (Mostly) Islamist and Turkish nationalist youth tried to interrupt it multiple times.

Someone shouted “you can shove your Holocaust up your ass.” Everyone clapped. pic.twitter.com/xe12iHoKux

— Bini Guttmann 🟣 (@Bini_Guttmann) May 16, 2021

Belgium: Pro-Palestinian protesters in Brussels call "Khaybar, Khaybar o Jews, the army of Muhammad is coming"

 

Des cris de haine meurtrière contre mon pays et mon peuple dans les rues de Bruxelles. Et tout ça au nom de la “ liberté d’expression “.... @IsraelinBelgium pic.twitter.com/Ha3z7cWu7L

— Emmanuel Nahshon (@EmmanuelNahshon) May 15, 2021

UK: Mezuzahs ‘removed, destroyed and trodden on’ in antisemitic spree

Via Jewish News:

Two Jewish families were left “petrified” after one had their mezuzah ripped from their doorframe, while another discovered their parchment had been “maliciously” removed, scrunched up and trodden into the ground.

Police are treating the incidents, which occurred at neighbouring properties in Borehamwood during daylight hours on Monday, as a racially motivated crime.

Speaking to Jewish News, Martine Stone, 55, described how she has been “feeling physically sick” since discovering her mezuzah had been destroyed.

She said: “At about 5pm yesterday, I picked up a package from Amazon and then saw something on the ground. I realised it was my mezuzah, lying on the floor broken. The top had been opened and the parchment had been taken out, scrunched up and then trodden into the mud.

“It had been deliberately sabotaged. That’s what really upset me, the maliciousness of the act.

“We are the only two Jewish families in this section of our road, which is a beautiful, multicultural neighbourhood. I got such a shock.

“We’ve had that mezuzah for years. My son is now 18 and we’ve had it all his life, so it’s very special to us.

“I can’t get that image out of my head of seeing it scrunched up and trodden into the ground. In all my life I’ve never seen anything like this.”

The mother-of-one, who is studying for a PhD, added: “It’s had a terrible effect. My son and I couldn’t sleep last night and I’ve been throwing up. I think I went into shock.”

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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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