Finland: supermarket chain investigated for vicious anti-Semitism

Tundra Tabloids:  The free paper issued to over 360 000 homes by the J. Kärkkäinen supermarket chain, Magneetti Media, has been consistently publishing conspiracy stories for some time now, many of them anti-Semitic. There’s no question about it, J. Kärkkäinen has a "Jew problem" as the following picture from their most recent publication that includes the entire reading of the fraudulent Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, shows. Continue reading.  (The Protocols article is taken from the viciously antisemitic blog Radio Islam run by Ahmed Rami, a Moroccan-Swedish writer and Holocaust-denier.)

They have also lifted from Radio Islam this article about Henry Ford's The International Jew:

There are also links to:

1. When Jews Rule The World
2. David Duke: Juutalainen Ylivalta
3. Kuka omistaa median 2012
4. Kannanotto Israel-vastaiseen kirjoitukseen lehdessä 42/2012

This is also found on Magneetti: What Christians Don’t Know About Israel, by Grace Halsell @ Washington Report, which claims to be telling the truth (you know about what) for 30 years.

And more of the same:

'Ottawa Protocol' draws the line on anti-Semitism, by Norma Greenaway

Most (all ?) European media completely ignored the conference. No wonder, Europeans, while acknowledging that anti-Semitism is a problem in Europe, they never identify any anti-Semites.  In other words, in Europe there is anti-Semitism without anti-Semites.  Quite an achievement. (Drawing: "Happy Hanukka" by Belgian cartoonist Ben Heine)

Full text of the Ottawa Protocol HERE

Source: National Post

Stepped-up efforts within Canada and around the world are needed to combat rising anti-Semitism, says an international declaration designed to stamp out the "most enduring of all hatreds."


The declaration, known as the Ottawa Protocol, was released yesterday after a two-day meeting of parliamentarians and experts from about four dozen countries in Ottawa.

"We are alarmed by the explosion of anti-Semitism and hate on the Internet, a medium crucial for the promotion and protection of freedom of expression, freedom of information and the participation of a civil society," the declaration says.

Irwin Cotler, chairman of the international coalition and a noted human rights activist, told a news conference the protocol breaks new ground. For the first time, it provides detailed definitions of what constitutes anti-Semitism and puts in writing what the group sees as the distinction between anti-Semitism and legitimate criticism of the state of Israel, the Liberal MP said.

"Let it be clear: Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is wrong," the protocol says. "But singling Israel out for selective condemnation and opprobrium -- let alone denying its right to exist or seeking is destruction -- is discriminatory and hateful, and not saying so is dishonest."

Ilan Halimi murder - Leniency For Barbarians

The retrial of 14 members of the Gang of Barbarians started on 25 October 2010.

Below an article by Véronique Chemla, published on FrontPage Magazine (July 17, 2009)

On July 13, 2009, French Minister of Justice Michèle Alliot-Marie asked the Parquet (a panel of magistrates under her authority, authorized to request penal sanctions in defence of the general welfare) to appeal 14 of the 25 sentences pronounced on July 10 against members of the Gang of Barbarian on trial for the anti-Semitic murder of Ilan Halimi. Those 14 sentences are lighter than the sanctions recommended by the Avocat general [roughly equivalent to the state’s attorney or public prosecutor].
On July 17, the Parquet announced it had appealed sentences for four more Gang members. Maître Francois-Pascal Gery, counsel for Gang ringleader Youssouf Fofana, the convicted killer of Ilan Halimi, said that his client was appealing his life sentence.

Last week, fearing light sentences, several French Jewish organisations called for a gathering before the Justice Ministry. After the verdict was announced, they asked the Minister to appeal. According to the French legal system, only the Parquet and the defendants can appeal penal sanctions. Plaintiffs are only allowed to appeal for civil damages.

On July 13, at 7 pm, several hundred people, most of them Jewish, gathered peacefully on a side street leading to Place Vendôme, where they were kept at a distance from the Ministry. They thanked the Minister for her decision and called for “Justice for Ilan.” Then a delegation composed of Jewish community leaders and Patrick Lozès President of CRAN (umbrella group of Black organizations) met with one advisor of the Minister of Justice. They emphasized the importance of holding the appeals trial in open court, with access to the media and the public, so that it would serve its pedagogical purpose.

The trial held this spring covered several attempted kidnappings in addition to Ilan Halimi’s murder. They all had the same modus operandi.

In December 2005, Gang of Barbarians chief Youssouf Fofana asked Alexandra S. to lure Michael Douieb, a Jewish music producer. On January 5, 2006 she met Mr Douieb and asked him to drive her “home” to a building in the Parisian banlieue of Arcueil, where Jean-Christophe S and Youssouf Fofana were waiting for him. They beat Douieb with iron bars while Youssouf Fofana shouted:

‘Dirty Jew, croak, you filthy kike! Neighbours, who heard Douieb shouting, reacted and his assailants fled.

Ilan Halimi rests in peace in Israel.

Albert Camus on antisemitism

Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Albert Camus. He understood what anti-Semitism and the denial of anti-Semitism (in the meantime packaged as anti-Zionism) are :

"In your every day life, you can be sure you will invariably come across a Frenchman who, incidentally, is likely to be intelligent and who will tell you that Jews exaggerate. Naturally, he has a Jewish friend, who at least … He does not, in the least, approve of the torture and burning of millions of Jews. Nevertheless, he thinks that Jews exaggerate and that they are wrong to stick together, even though their solidarity is the result of their concentration camp experience."

A. Camus (1913-1960), French writer and philosopher
"La Contagion", Combat, 10.5.1947. Quoted in La France et les Juifs : De 1789 à nos jours, by Michel Winock, Seuil, 2004

Translated by P.

The Islamisation of Anti-Semitism

"In the 1930s [...] a growing convergence of German and Arab enmities allowed Nazi-style anti-Semitism to penetrate the Arab world. [...] Although early in the Third Reich, a Jewish homeland in Palestine was, in fact, thought of as a convenient dumping ground for Europe's Jews, soon, a covenant between anti-Zionist Arab leaders and the Nazis began to emerge. Leaders on both sides chose to finesse or ignore the implications of the kind of anti-Semitism featured in "Mein Kampf". An article in the Nazi Party newspaper, published in 1937, explained that Arabs had been at least partly "Aryanized" through mixing with Armenians and Circassians."

Source: article by Micha Odenheimer in Ynet News

"[...] One important lesson of the past year is that Israel should have taken the Palestinian incitement to hatred seriously, and America should have paid more attention to bin Laden's declaration of war against the West. Words count. Portraying Jews as a demonic people aimed at destroying Islam and enslaving mankind may be a warning that the deployment of weapons of mass destruction against Israel is not an unimaginable next step.

For hundreds of years, the virulent form of anti-Semitism that is now endemic in the Islamic world has been the heritage of the Christian West. In Christianity, the Jews had a starring role: they were the killers of Christ, and some Christians believed that they reenacted this ultimate evil by drinking Christian blood every Passover. In Islam, the Jews were more like shlemeils than God-slayers: the Jewish tribes in Arabia opposed Muhammad, but he easily defeated them. Although the Koran contains numerous harsh statements about Jews, the bottom line in Islam was that Jews were protected under Islamic law as long as they accepted Islamic political authority and the social and political limitations this imposed. Prejudice against Jews existed, and at periods of turmoil this prejudice sometimes turned violent, but eras of cooperation and relative peace were also often characteristic of Jewish life under Islam.

Anti-Semitic ideas infiltrated into the Arab world, according to Bernard Lewis, one of the greatest living scholars of Islamic history, as Islam expanded into the West. Christian converts to Islam and Greek Orthodox Christians who found themselves living under Islamic rule introduced anti-Semitism, including the notion of the blood libel, into the Middle East. In the first half of the 19th century, Christian Arabs, who were in continuous contact with Western Christians, brought numerous blood libel charges against Jews living in the Ottoman Empire. Often, money was at the root of this evil. In many cases, the Jews were the Christians' business competitors. Attempts to inflame Arab passions against the Jewish minority "were actively encouraged by Western emissaries of various kinds, consular, commercial, priests and missionaries," writes Lewis, in his book "Semites and anti-Semites", and blood libels were often accompanied by calls for commercial boycotts. In the 1840 Damascus blood libel, the most famous of such cases in the Arab world, it was Capuchin monks who made the false accusation, backed energetically and vociferously by the French consul. Interestingly, Islamic political authorities often attempted to quell the blood libel accusations, and Islamic intellectuals attacked Christian prejudice on the pages of newspapers and journals.

The translation of European anti-Semitic tracts into Arabic began in the second half of the 19th century. Most of the tracts were written in French; all were translated and published by members of the Christian Arab community. [...]

In the 1930s, nearly two decades after the Balfour declaration aroused further Arab suspicions and hostilities, a growing convergence of German and Arab enmities allowed Nazi-style anti-Semitism to penetrate the Arab world. Although technically the Arabs were also "Semites" disdained by the Nazis, both the Germans and Arabs had hatred of the British and the French in common. To the top of this list was added the Jews. Although early in the Third Reich, a Jewish homeland in Palestine was, in fact, thought of as a convenient dumping ground for Europe's Jews, soon, a covenant between anti-Zionist Arab leaders and the Nazis began to emerge. Leaders on both sides chose to finesse or ignore the implications of the kind of anti-Semitism featured in "Mein Kampf". An article in the Nazi Party newspaper, published in 1937, explained that Arabs had been at least partly "Aryanized" through mixing with Armenians and Circassians. While some Nazis even argued that "Mein Kampf" should be emended to make clear that only Jews and not Arabs were meant as objects of Hitler's rage and disdain, the sacred text did not bear emendation.

The Nazis used radio broadcasts to propagandize in the Arab world. Attacks on their common enemy, the Jews, were a major feature of these broadcasts. At the same time, Hajj Amin al Husayni, the mufti of Jerusalem and leader of the Palestine Arab Higher Committee, obsessively pursued links with fascist Italy and Nazi Germany and lived out the war years in the Axis countries. Amin's long term goal, he said, after preventing Jewish settlement of Palestine, was to lead, in alliance with Germany, a Holy War of Islam against world Jewry that would result in the final solution to the Jewish problem.

Murderous anti-Jewish riots in Iraq in 1941, in Egypt, Syria and Libya in 1945, and massacres in Aleppo and Aden in 1947 demonstrated how the anti-Semitic propaganda of the Nazis, the activism of the Mufti, and increasing tension over the emergence of a Jewish state in Palestine combined to completely erase the distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. New forms of Arab nationalism also left less room for the tolerance of minority groups than had existed in the Ottoman Empire. In addition, the odd relationship that had developed between the Nazis and some Arab countries continued after the war. Egypt, for one, became a magnet for ex-Nazis. Nazi war criminal Johannes von-Lirs, an expert in anti-Semitic literature, was one of a number of Nazis welcomed warmly by Egypt for their "expertise in Jewish affairs". Von-Lirs was greeted by none other than Mufti Hajj Amin al Husayni. In his speech welcoming Von-Lirs, Husayni remarked: "We thank you for venturing to take up the battle with the powers of darkness that have become incarnate in world Jewry." [...]

Read the whole article HERE

Trial of Ilan Halimi’s barbarian murderers opens in Paris

"At his mother's demand, Ilan Halimi was reburied at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem in February 2007. "You will never be able to hurt him any more," she wrote in her book, addressing the killers. "I took him away from here because one day you will be free and you would have been able to come and spit on his tomb.""

.

Ilan Halimi, R.I.P. (11 October 1982-13 February 2006)
.

Source: article by Joseph Byron at EJP

.

"PARIS (EJP)---28 members of the "gang of Barbarians", a suburban dangerous group, go on trial in Paris on Wednesday for brutally murdering Ilan Halimi, a Jewish Parisian young man in 2006.

The killing of 23-year-old Halimi, who was held to ransom for three weeks in a Parisian suburb, traumatized France, a country haunted by a history of anti-semitism and wartime collaboration with the Nazis.

Relatives of the victim last week expressed indignation at the defence’s attempts to cast doubt on claims that the 29-year-old Youssouf Fofana, leader of the gang, had chosen to kidnap Halimi in 2006 because he was Jewish. "We’re shocked that there is even any debate about it," said Anne-Laure, one of Halimi’s sisters.

She noted that Fofana, who insisted on gang members calling him "Osama", had often insulted Jews and sung verses from the Koran in between ransom demands over the telephone.

He allegedly told his accomplices that he wanted to kidnap a Jew because the Jewish community was rich, would stick together and would pay a big ransom.

"My son died because of that prejudice, just like millions of Jews before him," said Ilan's mother Ruth Halimi, in a recent published book about her son’s ordeal in which she compared the kidnapping with that of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist beheaded by Muslim extremists in 2002 in Pakistan.

Ruth Halimi has called for a public trial so that her son's death "will not have been in vain". But the trial of Fofana, a 29-year-old Frenchman of Ivorian origin, is scheduled to be held behind closed doors at a juvenile court, because two of the gang members were minors at the time of the murder. French law allows for a public trial to be held in certain cases where juveniles are involved. "A public trial would have helped better understand the criminal machine, to make parents and teenagers reflect. It’s the law of silence that killed her son, it would be unbearable for the trial to remain silent," Francis Szpyner, lawyer of Ruth Halimi, has said.

.

Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old mobile phone salesman, went missing in Paris in January 2006. After being lured by a young woman from the shop where he worked on Boulevard Voltaire, he was held captive for more than three weeks in a Paris suburb.
.

Authorities found him naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks from cigarettes near railroad tracks south of Paris on February 13, 2006. He died on the way to the hospital, having bled to death from stab wounds to his neck. Halimi’s abductors had tortured him while demanding a 450,000 euros ransom from his family and the Jewish community.
.
The family was advised by police to ask for a face-to-face meeting before paying any money, but negotiations kept foundering.

Just as shocking as the brutality of the murder was the fact that so many people knew about it and failed to tell the police. The girl who had been used to attract Ilan told several friends about the kidnapping, but none came forward. One of the gang members who did not want Halimi to be killed told his father what was happening. He advised the boy to keep quiet.

The grisly anti-Semitic crime shocked France and its 600,000-strong Jewish community. After two years of investigation, the magistrate came to te conclusion that Fofana ordered a young pretty woman to target Halimi because he was Jewish and because they presumed Jews were wealthy.

Fofana was arrested in March 2006 in the Ivory Coast, whre he had fled, and extradited to France.

At his mother's demand, Ilan Halimi was reburied at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem in February 2007. "You will never be able to hurt him any more," she wrote in her book, addressing the killers. "I took him away from here because one day you will be free and you would have been able to come and spit on his tomb."

.

The trial will focus attention on rising anti-Semitic attacks over the past few years, in France where the desecration of Jewish graveyards has become a common crime in France."

- The murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris three years ago

- The murder of Ilan Halimi: Why anti-semitism is a problem, by Jeff Weintraub

- The Murder of Ilan Halimi: A Jewish man is kidnapped in Paris, tortured for 24 days and then dies

Only Non-Antisemites, Yves Pallade

"Well, during my time at the American Jewish Committee I was taught one important thing, namely that while there is antisemitism without Jews, there can be no antisemitism without antisemites."

Source: Joods Actueel

"In most discussions about antisemitism what is usually meant is conventional right-wing extremist hatred of Jews. Yet, inspired by the will to combat all manifestations of antisemitism, the OSCE has identified also other forms of Jew-hatred and respective groups of hate mongers.

As Professor Weisskirchen has rightly pointed out in an article a little while ago, "[w]e already have the tools in order to [implement the measures set out in the 2004 Berlin Declaration]. It is therefore time to make use of them more effectively."1 One such tool is the Working Definition of Antisemitism, which has been endorsed both by the EUMC, ODIHR and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman in Office on Combating Antisemitism. Since best practices are about sharing experience in using the existing tools, I would like hereinafter to introduce to you four individuals with strong connections to the academic field, whom one could use to exemplify the use of this Working Definition.

Since I am well-aware that the so-called "accusation of antisemitism" (Antisemitismusvorwurf) constitutes probably one of the most severe verdicts that one can pass on a human being, in particular on a German one – Eckart Jesse of the Hannah Arendt Institute in Dresden in his defence of Jürgen Möllemann at the time called it a "killer-argument" – and that it could moreover lead to unpleasant legal disputes of the kind that some of us in this room had to endure, I will refrain from presenting any antisemites to you today. Instead I will content myself with naming only non-antisemites, though academic ones to be sure.

Example no. 1: Ludwig Watzal
He works for the Federal Agency for Civic Education and also has a lectureship at the University of Bonn. What positions does he represent? In a piece on an Israeli media entrepreneur, entitled "Haim Saban, the media and Israel" that was broadcast by DeutschlandRadio Berlin2, Watzal sounded the following:

"The escapades of the so-called Holocaust industry are at any rate rather bizarre and an insult to the victims of National Socialist extermination policy. The actions of Saban have, however, nothing to do with conspiracy thinking, but they are evidence of how symbiotic the relationship between power and money is. Saban’s political desire is to obtain as much control as possible over the media. Peter Chernin, the president and head of the News Corporation, has made it clear that the Hollywood mogul has not become involved in Germany for purely financial considerations, but that he regards the country as the basis for something bigger."3

According to our colleague Juliane Wetzel from the Center for the Study of Antisemitism at the Technical University Berlin, who commented on this radio piece at the time, "he [Watzal] activates the typical clichés of Jewish capital and Jewish power". This perplexes me indeed: Wouldn’t it be presumptuous to qualify Watzal’s position as an antisemitic one, for he is after all an employee of Germany’s most important state institution for democratic education and moreover serves as one of the co-editors of Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, the academic supplement to the Bundestag’s own newspaper Das Parlament?

Example no 2: Norman Paech
He was formerly professor for Public Law at the University for Science and Politics in Hamburg. Let’s listen to what he has to say.

In an open letter to the German-Jewish professor Micha Brumlik in the context of a public debate on a book by the Canadian philosopher Ted Honderich, whom Brumlik had criticized for legitimising terrorism4, Paech writes: "Has it occurred to you that such an executivistic censure of thought could give a fresh boost to antisemitism, which, after all, clearly exists in our society?"5

Moreover, in an interview with the daily Die Tageszeitung6 on the occasion of the war in Lebanon last year Paech stated that Israel was waging "an illegal war of extermination against the militia and the population in Lebanon".7

I am trying hard to be convinced: Norman Paech could certainly not be antisemitic, for is he not currently Foreign Policy Spokesman of the parliamentary party of Die Linke in the Bundestag and moreover a member of the German delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly?

Example No. 3: Klaus Holz
He is a professor of sociology and head of the Lutheran Foundation for Advanced Studies in Villigst.

Together with two colleagues he wrote a lengthy piece for the weekly Jungle World in which he claimed that Israel’s then Prime Minister Sharon was aiming at the "destruction of Palestinian civil society"8 and that Palestinian terrorism was exclusively an act of desperation and a result to Israeli "state terrorism"9. Holz and his co-authors stop short of drawing a direct analogy between Israel and Nazi Germany, instead comparing Israel’s policies to those of South Africa under the apartheid regime, while leaving it to others to infuse the "nazification" topos with a degree of legitimacy: The Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan is adduced, who had "declared that the comparison between Sharon and the Nazis was customary among Israeli pacifists…".10 The authors go on to argue that looked at through the "Auschwitz screen"11 that is distorting the perception of contemporary left-wing defenders of Israel, "Jews are only a metonymical figure, in which the murdered of yesterday are superimposed on the oppressors of today"12 and that "the banalisation of the events in the occupied territories in the name of the remembrance of Auschwitz deserves our outrage".13 They claim that the continuation of the occupation over decades could also "threaten the existence of the Palestinian population".14 Moreover, Holz and his co-authors do not see a historical nexus between Nazi Germany and current Palestinian antisemitism – which they refer to as "anti-Zionism".15

In his book "Die Gegenwart des Antisemitismus"16 Holz argues that "antisemitism among Muslim migrant groups" manifests itself "often only on the basis of their experience in the country of immigration. Its preconditions comprise their social, racist and religiously justified exclusion".17

To me it appears yet again presumptuous to even think of the possibility that Klaus Holz could harbour some antisemitic notions or that he could even downplay contemporary antisemitism or possibly associate it with Jewish or non-Jewish behaviour, for he has meanwhile become one of the most noted German academic experts on antisemitism and was not so long ago asked to address an academic symposium on antisemitism that had been organized by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz).18

Example No. 4: Alfred Grosser
He is a sociologist and political scientist, who taught at Science Po in Paris and was Research and Studies Director at the French National Foundation of Political Science. So what does he say?

In a 10-page article in the February 2007 issue of Germany’s most renowned foreign policy journal Internationale Politik19 Grosser expressed his non-understanding "that Jews nowadays despise others and claim the right to mercilessly pursue policies in the name of self-defence. Understanding for the suffering of others – does this basic value of Europe not hold all the more for Israel?"20

At a hearing on antisemitism here in the German Bundestag in 2004, similar to the one today, Grosser remarked the following:21

"It’s all about understanding the suffering of others. This understanding generally does not exist on the part of Jews."22

And in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung23 he said:

"Criticism of Israel and antisemtism have nothing to do with each other. It is rather Israel’s policies that promote antisemitism globally."24

Grosser – an antisemite? Isn’t this virtually inconceivable for he is not only a noted world-class academic and laureate of the Peace Price of German Book Trade but most importantly also a Jew or at least of Jewish descent – as he never gets tired to point out. Not to forget that he was invited as a guest expert to address a hearing at the Bundestag on no other issue than –antisemitism.

I would like to return to the Working Definition where I read about the following contemporary examples of antisemitism:

I quote from the definition:
"Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective – such as, especially but not exclusively the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions." Now I am fully confused, for doesn’t Ludwig Watzal’s portrayal of Haim Saban or Alfred Grosser’s characterization of Jews in general fall into this category?

I quote from the Definition:
"Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews" and "Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel." Maybe I am missing the point here, but is this not exactly what Alfred Grosser and Norman Paech are doing when blaming Israel, Jewish groups, individual Jews or even non-Jews for rising antisemitism? And isn’t Klaus Holz rationalising anti-Jewish hatred among Arab-Muslim immigrants when saying that it is a result of the discrimination suffered by them?

I quote again from the Definition:
"Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis." Is it my personal misperception that the term "war of extermination" that is used by Norman Paech to refer to Israeli demeanour is clearly linked to the kind of war conducted by the Nazis? Is it only my distorted impression that Klaus Holz – while not daring to draw a direct analogy between Israel und Nazi Germany – cites specifically an Israeli voice to provide such comparisons with discursive legitimacy?

I quote once more from the Definition:
"Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms … or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters during World War II …" Isn’t this actually what Klaus Holz does when he downplays the collaboration of the Arab national movement with Nazi Germany?

Now my question to you: Given that the aforementioned gentlemen cannot be antisemites due to their academic credentials, to their profession and to the particular group they belong to, what application can the current Working Definition still have? Is it really the case that the 56 participating states of the OSCE – after so many years of intensive discussion with the aim to clearly identify and to combat antisemitism – are so far off the track?

Well, during my time at the American Jewish Committee I was taught one important thing, namely that while there is antisemitism without Jews, there can be no antisemitism without antisemites."

1 Gert Weisskirchen: Combating Antisemitism ‘Best practices’ already exist – it is time to make use of them. In: Equal Voices, Issue 17, 2006
2 Deutschland Radio Berlin, 16 September 2004, Ludwig Watzal: Haim Saban, die Medien und Israel
3 "Die Eskapaden der so genannten Holocaust-Industrie sind jedenfalls ziemlich bizarr und eine Beleidigung für die Opfer der nationalsozialistischen Vernichtungspolitik. Die Aktionen Sabans haben aber nichts mit Verschwörungsdenken zu tun, sondern sie sind ein Beleg dafür, wie symbiotisch das Verhältnis von Macht und Geld ist. Sabans politisches Anliegen ist, eine möglichst große Kontrolle über die Medien zu erlangen. Dass sich der Hollywood-Mogul nicht nur aus finanziellen Erwägungen in Deutschland engagiert hat, sondern das Land als Basis für etwas größeres ansieht, hat Peter Chernin, Präsident und Leiter der News Corporation, deutlich gemacht."
4 Brief von Norman Paech an Micha Brumlik vom 29. Oktober 2003, zitiert nach http://www.steinbergrecherche.com/frpaech.htm#Doppelmoral
5 "Ist Ihnen einmal der Gedanke gekommen, dass eine derart exekutivische Gedankenzensur dem Antisemitismus, der in unserer Gesellschaft ja unleugbar besteht, neuen Auftrieb geben könnte?"
6 taz, 26.07.2006, "Deutsche Soldaten in Israel nicht denkbar". Der Völkerrechtler Norman Paech, für die Linkspartei im Bundestag: Vorgehen Israels im Libanon unverhältnismäßig, Interview mit Norman Paech
7 "Außerdem geht Israel derzeit mit einem unzulässigen Vernichtungskrieg gegen Milizen und Bevölkerung im Libanon vor."
8 "Die Militarisierung der israelischen Gesellschaft und die Zerschlagung der palästinensischen Zivilgesellschaft sind langfristige Ziele des Premierministers Ariel Sharon ..."
9 "Die israelische Besatzung ist der Ausdruck eines Staatsterrorismus, die palästinensische Gewalt ist eine Reaktion darauf."
10 "Der israelische Regisseur Eyal Sivan, der als Zeuge der Verteidigung während des Prozesses gegen Jolivet aufgerufen war, erklärte, dass der Vergleich Sharons mit den Nazis bei israelischen PazifistInnen gebräuchlich sei."
11 "Sichtblende Auschwitz"
12 "In diesem verworrenen Rollenspiel sind die Juden nur noch eine metonymische Figur, in der die Ermordeten von gestern die Unterdrücker von heute überlagern."
13 "Wenn Saramagos Worte Kritik verdienen, so verdient die Banalisierung der Geschehnisse in den besetzten Gebieten im Namen der Erinnerung an Auschwitz unsere Entrüstung."
14 "Wenn die Besatzungspolitik des Westjordanlandes und des Gazastreifens sich über Jahrzehnte fortsetzt, wäre nicht nur die Existenz der palästinensischen Bevölkerung bedroht, sondern auch die Demokratie in Israel und die internationale Akzeptanz des Staates."
15 "Der Antizionismus in der arabischen Welt und der vieler PalästinenserInnen wird mit dem traditionellen Antisemitismus der westlichen Welt, der die Shoah hervorbrachte, in eins gesetzt."
16 Klaus Holz: "Die Gegenwart des Antisemitismus. Islamistische, demokratische und antizionistische Judenfeindschaft. (Hamburger Edition, 2005, Hamburg) , S. 9
17 "Vielmehr manifestiert sich der Antisemitismus in Einwanderergruppen häufig erst aufgrund ihrer Erfahrungen im Einwandererland. Zu den Voraussetzungen gehört ihre soziale, rassistisch und religiös begründete Ausgrenzung."
18 Vgl. Klaus Holz: Neuer Antisemitismus? – Wandel und Kontinuität der Judenfeindschaft. In: Bundesministerium des Innern: Neuer Antisemitismus? Judenfeindschaft im politischen Extremismus und im öffentlichen Diskurs. Publikation der Vorträge des Symposiums des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz am 5. Dezember 2005, http://www.verfassungsschutz.de/download/SHOW/symp_2005.pdf
19 Alfred Grosser: Warum ich Israel kritisiere. In: Internationale Politik, February 2007
20 "Ich verstehe nicht, dass Juden heute andere verachten und sich das Rechtnehmen, im Namen der Selbstverteidgung unbarmherzig Politik zu betreiben. Verständnis für die Leiden der anderen – gilt dieser Grundwert Europas nicht erst recht für Israel?"
21 Protokoll. Öffentliches Expertengespräch zur Umsetzung der Abschlusserklärung der Berliner Antisemitismuskonferenz vom April 2004, 22. November 2004, Deutscher Bundestag
22 "Wie ich schon einmal in der Dresdner Frauenkirche sagen durfte, es geht darum, das Leiden anderer zu verstehen. Dieses Verstehen ist auf jüdischer Seite im Allgemeinen nicht vorhanden." 23 Berliner Zeitung, 15 August 2006, "Israel Politik fördert den Antisemitismus". Der Publizist Alfred Grosser plädiert für eine Strategie der Versöhnung gegenüber den Arabern
24 "Kritik an Israel und Antisemitismus haben nichts miteinander zu tun. Es ist vielmehr Israels Politik, die den Antisemitismus in der Welt fördert."

Norway: Anti-Semite son of a preacher man

"Regular visitors to this site will remember how Muhammed Ali Chisti was one of the speakers at the House of Litterature on March 22nd, and that his topic of choice was "Why I hate Jews" (Rabid anti-semite fights uphill battle?).

On April 4th Abid Q. Raja from Venstre (Left, a liberal conservative party) and event manager at the debate on March 22nd, elaborated upon his controversial decision of letting Ali Chisti speak in an op-ed to Aftenposten.

"Yes, it was right to let Mohammed Ali Chishti speak at the dialogue meeting on March 22nd, and to let him shout out his anti-Semitic rhetoric. Not only had I read the speach beforehand, I had also prepared the Jewish congregation about its contents. And it was I who asked Chisti to speak of how he and the others shouted "death to the Jews" in the demonstrations. In this I see nothing worthy of criticism, to the contrary, I took the bull by the horns. Not to discuss this is to turn ones back upon a dawning problem."

Read the whole piece here

Source: Norway, Israel and the Jews blog

Holland, Australia boycott 'Durban II'

"Australia has decided not to participate in the Durban Review Conference. The 2001 Declaration singled out Israel and the Middle East. Australia expressed strong concerns about this at the time. Regrettably, we cannot be confident that the Review Conference will not again be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views." (Stephen Smith, Australian Foreign Minister)

"(...) The US, Italy, Canada and Israel will also boycott the meeting, to protest language in the final document that they say could single out Israel for criticism and restrict free speech. (...)

Hours after the US said it would boycott the UN conference over objectionable language in the meeting's final document that could single out Israel for criticism, Australia and Holland followed suit on Sunday morning, saying they were concerned the conference would be derailed by some countries to issues other than human rights.

"Australia has decided not to participate in the Durban Review Conference," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement. "The 2001 Declaration singled out Israel and the Middle East. Australia expressed strong concerns about this at the time."

"Regrettably, we cannot be confident that the Review Conference will not again be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views," he continued.

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen later issued a statement saying his country was boycotting the conference because some nations were using it as a platform to attack the West. Verhagen said these countries were planning to use the summit to put religion above human rights and rein in freedom of speech. He called the proposed closing declaration "unacceptable."

On Saturday night, the State Department said that the Obama administration would "with regret" boycott the conference. It followed weeks of furious internal debate and fierce lobbying by Israel and Jewish groups against US participation.

A final draft of the statements, released late Friday, made changes to sections that had referred to a "hierarchy" among forms of racism, but left intact sections that the US had said would cause it to boycott the meetings.

The conference's planning has been dominated by efforts by Arab nations to prioritize concerns about Islamophobia and "anti-Arabism" - widely interpreted as a thinly veiled code for the treatment of Palestinians.

Some revisions - including the removal of specific critical references to Israel and problematic passages about the defamation of religion - were negotiated, for which State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the administration was "deeply grateful."

But he said the text retains troubling elements that suggest support for restrictions on free speech and an affirmation of the "findings" of the first World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001 that the US cannot endorse. (...)

Israel, Canada and Italy had already said they would not attend the conference under any circumstances because of the tenor of the debate surrounding the planning, and due to the politicized nature of the event itself.

"The text is not the only or even the main thing to consider," Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, said Saturday. "The general mood is a very negative one and everybody is ignoring the main question, which is, 'Does this do good or bad to the fight against racism?'"

Leshno-Yaar said the conference would be "only about politics," adding that there would be "nothing about the fight against racism."

American officials had already said in February that they would not accept a final document that reaffirmed the text endorsed during the first World Conference Against Racism in 2001. The US and Israel walked out of that conference over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism to racism.

The US had joined Israel in objecting to any further such references, as well as to language declaring that "incitement to racial discrimination" is illegal, something US officials fear would limit free speech.

The changes released on Friday retained language reaffirming the program of action adopted at the original conference.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) welcomed the Obama Administration's decision to boycott the meeting.

"President Obama's decision not to send US representation to the event is the right thing to do and underscores America's unstinting commitment to combating intolerance and racism in all its forms and in all settings," AIPAC said in a statement. (...)"

Source: article by Allison Hoffman and Hilary Leila Krieger in TJP

European Parliament conference vows to fight anti-Semitism

"Some EU parliamentarians hide behind 'Muslim pressure' instead of working toward eradicating anti-Semitism." (Paulo Casaca, Portuguese MEP, European Socialists Party)

"The mother of Ilan Halimi*, a 23-year-old French Jew murdered in a brutal attack in 2006, told a conference on anti-Semitism held at the European Parliament on Monday about the importance of fighting anti-Semitism so that her son would not become a "detail of history."

Speaking in the same chamber in which the far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen said that the Third Reich's gas chambers were "a detail of history," Ruth Halimi gave an emotional account on how her son was tortured for three weeks and then killed by a gang of Muslim immigrants in a Parisian suburb in February 2006.

Halimi's poignant words were heard by members of the Parliament, diplomats, religious and communal leaders from around the continent taking part in the one-day conference organized by the European Jewish Congress, under the patronage of the Czech presidency of the European Union and Hans-Gert Pottering, president of the European Parliament.

Titled "Building Together the Future of Europe: The fight against anti-Semitism, defending European values and coexistence," the conference aimed to look at how to face the challenges posed by anti-Semitism and intolerance, and promote coexistence.

The conference called on the European Parliament to take immediate steps to combat racism and the current rise in anti-Semitism across Europe in the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead.
Opening the conference, Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said Europe faced three dangers - the current economic crisis; Iran's nuclear ambitions and sponsorship of international terrorism; and the "crisis of tolerance."

"As usual, history teaches us that it does not teach anything. Europe again does not see that everything starts with Jews," he said. Kantor said that in France, Germany and Britain in January 2009 there were more anti-Semitic incidents than in all of 2008. "Europe did not demonstrate any significant reaction to this," he said.

"Today anti-Semitism has been amplified through the recent war in Gaza, through the economic and financial crisis and through societies and governments that are in search of a perfect scapegoat.

"This phenomenon is not only affecting Jews. In fact, economic and financial crisis is dangerous because it seeks out several scapegoats, creating xenophobia and racism on a larger scale, targeting and attacking minorities and foreigners.

"That is why we are here today; to create awareness of and to confront anti-Semitism in all its forms: traditional, modern, structural and contextual," Kantor said.

Jacques Barrot, vice president of the European Commission, said anti-Semitism remained a curse. "We have to mobilize in order to state our principles loud and clear. It is true that the economic crisis might make the problem more acute," he said. In reference to the UN conference on racism to be held in Switzerland, known as Durban II, Barrot said: "The EU should closely monitor the events at Durban and react immediately if there is any diversion from the agreed upon line."

He continued: "If necessary we will call on the EU member states to withdraw from the conference if we see violations of core European values in Geneva."

"We strongly insist and recommend to all the European countries to consider Durban II as a challenge to the coexistence in Europe," Kantor said.

Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos, head of the Research and Data Collection at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, showed how anti-Semitic incidents in Europe were on the rise. He warned also said there was serious under-reporting in official data collection systems of most member states, based on police records, and showed there were flaws in the reporting of anti-Semitism in Europe. "Not all anti-Semitic incidents are categorized as such and not all anti-Semitic incidents are reported by victims," he said.

Mike Whine, director of international affairs at Britain's Community Security Trust, said reliable statistics were very rare and that countries lacked the capacity to record anti-Semitism at scientific levels. He said he thought anti-Semitic incidents were rising and remained at a high level.

Several MEPs spoke of the need to combat anti-Semitism working with the European Parliament.

Silvana Koch-Mehrin, a German MEP, said anti-Semitism was still very much alive, using anti-Zionism themes to transport ideas. "Denial of Israel's right to exist has become fashionable - this is modern anti-Semitism. This is why it would be more important that the European Parliament in its statement becomes very clear about anti-Semitism," Koch-Mehrin said.

"Some EU parliamentarians hide behind 'Muslim pressure' instead of working toward eradicating anti-Semitism," said Paulo Casaca, a Portuguese MEP from the Party of European Socialists.

Other parliamentarians said that failure to recognize the right of Israel to defend itself was indicative of anti-Semitism, as this was a basic right of every nation.

Jan Marinus Wiersma, a Dutch MEP and vice president of the Party of European Socialists group, condemned the decision to allow Le Pen to address the Parliament.

Representatives of Jewish communities across Europe presented reports about the situation in their countries.

Rony Smolar, president of the Finnish Jewish community and representative of Scandinavian countries, said that things have got worse since the 2006 Lebanon war, which he said brought left-wingers and neo-Nazis together, and that there had been a sharp rise in anti-Semitism, simultaneous with Holocaust denial and the accusation that Jews dominated global finance.

The director-general of the the French Jewish community's security services, said that in 2008 there had been 474 acts of anti-Semitic incidents, and a call for violence against the "Zionists" of France, which he said was new language. He said there has been a rise in France of support for "armed resistance," with Hizbullah flags on display everywhere.

The conference also heard from leaders of other faiths and communities who described what needed to be done to combat intolerance, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Mohammed Sifaoui, a French/Algerian journalist who claimed that he managed to infiltrate al-Qaida, said extremism was a real threat today in Europe. "We democrats need to take ownership of these issues. If we were to safeguard something, we need to fight for our existence, against the evils of hatred," he said.

Closing the conference, Kantor vowed to continue the fight against anti-Semitism. "Human diversity is our treasure and should not be a source of conflict," he declared."

Article by Jonny Paul, Jerusalem Post correspondent , TJP

* The murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris three years ago

- Moshe Kantor to meet EU parliament head to press for strong resolution against anti-Semitism - European Jewish Congress calls upon European leaders for real action against anti-Semitism
- Mahmoud Abbas tells European Parliament not to work with Israel
- European Coalition for Israel warns against surge of anti-Semitism in Europe
- European Parliament: one rule for Egypt and Morocco another for Israel
- Ahmadinejad's delegation visits European Parliament
- European Parliament to host controversial anti-Israeli conference

Norway: Muhammed Ali Chisti explains why he hates Jews

"It is a fact that during the attacks on the Twin Towers [World Trade Center] 1600 Jews were absent from work. OK, OK, what’s even more suspicious, is how unusually many Jews there were present in Mumbai on the day that Pakistani terrorists struck. How come?" (Muhammed Ali Chisti)

Source: Rabid anti-semite fights uphill battle?, Norway, Israel and the Jews blog

"On March 22nd the House of Literature in Oslo arranged a dialogue meeting about hatred, inviting among others spokesmen from the Jewish, Muslim and gay communities. One of the speakers was Muhammed Ali Chisti, whose speech was titled "Why I hate Jews". Here are some titbits from his speech:

"…I hate Jews, and how they operate and I will furthermore elaborate on why I hold such beliefs… It is raised beyond doubt that Jews are in a minority in the world. A very small minority, yet it cannot be disguised that they are among the most powerful. It is NOT wrong to be powerful, but to abuse ones power, to use illegal means, to use unnecessary military power against civilians, and to behave in a arrogant and barbaric manner is in violation of international law and the human rights. It is a fact that during the attacks on the Twin Towers [World Trade Center] 1600 Jews were absent from work. OK, OK, what’s even more suspicious, is how unusually many Jews there were present in Mumbai on the day that Pakistani terrorists struck. How come?"

Chisti failed to establish a successful rapport with the audience, which on several occasions interrupted him with loud and heartfelt expressions of disgust. After Chisti’s speech a young Jewish boy stood up and stated that it was bad enough that the synagogue, Jewish retirement home and Jewish kindergarten are under such threats that they are continually policed, and that Chisti’s statements scared him. Both the Norwegian crown prince - Håkon Magnus, and the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs - Jonas Gahr Støre, stated that Chisti’s statements were both saddening and loathsome.

Only days later, Chisti countered his critics with a letter to Aftenposten, a large Norwegian daily, stating:

"What I said weren’t my personal beliefs, there were more than 200 people who were shouting the same during the demonstrations. Isn’t it better that I stand up and speak for them rather then that they turn to violence ? Why aren’t they allowed to speak out in the newspapers ? After all we live in a liberal society, where the freedom of expression is highly valued. It is not correct to claim that everyone booed me. On the balconies there was a lot of support for me. Unfortunately this has not been reflected in the newspapers. I cried after it was all over. Why ? Who defended my right to express myself?"

It is unknown whether Chisti has any supporters, and how many there might be of them. He is right about the claims that there were more than one person who was chanting "Death to Jews" during the riots in Olso between the 8th and 10th of January this year. His claim about "support on the balconies" during the debate in the House of Litterature has yet to be confirmed. As a spokesman for unrestrained anti-semitism Chisti appears to stand alone. But the fact that the Jewish synagogue has been attacked and is under continuous police guard is beyond doubt.

Another speaker at the hatred-debate at the House of Literature was British Ed Husein, who has written the book "The Islamist". Husein began his speech by criticizing the fact that the extremist islamist Chisti had been given the opportunity to speak at all. VG, the largest Norwegian daily, commented upon the event at the House of Literature under the heading: "Jew-criticism must be permitted". The public opinion is divided: should extremists be allowed to speak or not?

Below you find a film clip of the sort which Chisti would find inspiring. Ibrahim Mudayris speaks on the official tv-station of the Palestinian Authority on September 10th, 2004. Please bear in mind that Norway supports the PA and thus indirectly finances PA television. The Palestinian Media Watch has confronted Norway with this fact, but our foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre has not taken the message to heart."

VIDEO

- Norwegian media ridicules and misquotes Israeli editor
- Norwegian painter Håkon Gullvåg lauded by PM for vilifying Israel
- Anti-Semitism in Norway: the accusation that never was ?
- God’s chosen people…
- Norway NGO funding: boycotts and apartheid rhetoric instead of peace and coexistence
- Norway's pro-Israel opposition leader under 24-hour guard
- Norwegian envoy equates Israel with Nazis
- For Norwegian F.M. Europe much too lenient with Israel
- Norway Funding PA Hate Media
- Norway says it has severed Hamas ties
- Jostein Gaarder - a better friend to the Jewish people than Israel
- Jew-hatred in contemporary Norwegian caricatures
- The Norwegian Organization With Israel for Peace

Greek Holocaust denier acquitted by Athens Appeals court

"In 1945 the White Race suffered the greatest catastrophe in its history. Hitlerian Germany's epic struggle for dominance by Aryans ended without a victory." " (Kostas Plevris)
----------------------------------
"... the Appeals court prosecutor characterized Plevris’s defamatory book - which denies the Holocaust, calls the Jews "sub-human" and threatens them with the "re-opening of the crematoria in Auschwitz" - a "scientific work"."

"ATHENS (EJP): The Greek Jewish community said Friday it was "shocked" after neo-Nazi militant Kostas Plevris, who wrote a book denying the Holocaust and containing offensive references to Jews, was acquitted by an Appeals court in Athens.

Plevris was found not guilty of "incitement to racial hatred and violence against the Jews" by the 5-member court.

In a reaction, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) expressed its "disappointment and amazement at the decision of the Athens court.

"This decision saddens and causes concern among citizens of a modern democratic society as a self-confessed advocate of Nazism and racism remains unpunished though he not only distorts proven historical evidence, but even worse, uses his pen to incite hatred and provoke discrimination and violence against citizens of Greece and Europe," the Central Board said.

"The Greek Jewry believes that the fundamental constitutional right of freedom of speech has nothing to do with the direct threats, insults and incitement to racial hatred and violence against the Jews that Plevris includes in his book" titled "Jews-The whole truth".

Plevris had been convicted in first instance in December 2007 and condemned to 14 months of imprisonment on probation for three years for "racial insult", "incitement to hatred and racial violence" on the basis of the 1979 anti-racist law.

At the time, the Jewish community saw the trial as a key test of the Greek authorities’ determination to deal with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in a country where anti-Semitic literature such as the infamous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is on sale in bookshops. The charges against Plevris were also brought by the Helsinki Monitor and the "Anti-Nazi Initiative" organization, two human right Greek NGO’s.

He immediately appealed the sentence.

According to Moses Constantinis, the Appeals court prosecutor characterized Plevris’s defamatory book - which denies the Holocaust, calls the Jews "sub-human" and threatens them with the "re-opening of the crematoria in Auschwitz" - a "scientific work".

To express the resentment of the Greek Jews, the Jewish umbrella body has decided not to be represented at the European symposium "Building together the Future of Europe" which will be held next Monday in Brussels, "given that theoretical analysis and statements made by Greek MEPs on the denunciation and condemnation of anti-Semitism are meaningless".

Around 6,000 Jews live in Greece."
----------------------------------------------------------


From The Jews - The Whole Truth :

Adolf Hitler: The tragic leader of the German Third Reich is certainly the most impressive leadership figure of the modern age… Human history will blame Adolf Hitler for the following: 1. He could have rid Europe of the Jews, but did not; 2. He did not use the special chemical weapons, which only Germany possessed, to gain a victory... Because of the defeat of Germany then, the White Race and Europe are at risk now… The day will come when Europeans will either dominate or be destroyed. Either way they will acknowledge that Hitler was right... (p. 881)
----------------------------------------------------------
Heinrich Himmler: Chief in Command of the SS… facts and arguments verify the high moral standing of the Man who, despite the fact that in one day he could have issued the order for all Jews to be put to death, chose to expel them from Europe so as to rid the continent of the White Race of the non-European Semites.... The SS, in particular the combatant SS (Waffen SS,) were the knights in armor of the modern age, indomitable fighting men from every country in Europe, who sacrificed their lives for the ideal of a New Order for civilized peoples. Unfortunately for the human race, they were defeated… They were all fine examples of faith, discipline and fighting skill, serving the ideals of National Socialism. Their bearing reflected the greatness of their character so only the very best of the Aryan Race were included in the ranks of the SS…. (p. 869)
----------------------------------------------------------
Joseph Goebbels: One of the brightest minds of the century. A philosopher and fighter with a deep understanding of mass psychology, on every battlefield he vanquished Jewish Bolshevism and headed his country's all out war. (p. 885)Hitler was blamed for something that did not actually take place. Later the history of humanity will blame him for not ridding Europe of the Jews, though he could have … My dear Jews, I do not ask you to suffer all the things that your holy books tell you that we should suffer from you… You are criminals because that is what your religion has taught you to be. You are murderers because crime is instilled in you from an early age. Therefore we others have the right to deal with you. And that is what we will do. (p. 852)
----------------------------------------------------------
ZYKLON B, so extensively publicized as the gas used to put Jews to death in the special gas chambers (which have not been found) was merely a poisonous gas used to fumigate the concentration camps … everything else [said about it] is fiction produced for the purposes of propaganda. (p. 1008)
----------------------------------------------------------
The SS divisions fought with unparalleled heroism. (p. 853)
----------------------------------------------------------
In 1945 the White Race suffered the greatest catastrophe in its history. Hitlerian Germany's epic struggle for dominance by Aryans ended without a victory. (p. 869)

- Kostas Plevris - Greek Neo-Nazi Author Convicted
- K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite"
- Kostas Plevris: Hitler could have rid Europe of the Jews but did not
- Anti-semitism in Greece: Final conviction of "Eleftheros Cosmos"

Sweden: when incitement against Jews is allowed

"That is, in spite of the calls for "killing the Jews", these statements are not a crime in the legal sense in Sweden, because of the current conflict in the Middle East, according to the Chancellor of Justice. The logical conclusion is clear. If one mentions Palestine in hate speeches and calls for mass murder against Jews, one risks nothing in Sweden."

Posted in April 2006 in Islam in Europe

"The following are parts of an opinion article written by four Swedish Jews about a recent decision by the Swedish government not to investigate Muslim incitement against Jews in Sweden.

"Discussions about the limits of freedom of expression are running high right now, not least because of the Muhammed cartoons in Danish Jyllandsposten. The EU Council states in a controversial message on the 27th February, that it acknowledges and regrets that these cartoons were considered offensive and distressing by Muslims across the world and that a spirit of respect for religious and other beliefs should prevail.

It is a crime in Sweden to express derogatory statements about ethnic, racial, national, religious and sexual minorities or to incite hatred and violence against them. Simultaneously the limits of what one can express in Sweden against Jews are being expanded gradually. All Jewish institutions in Sweden are being continuously guarded because of threats directed to Jewish individuals as well as to Jewish institutions, and the Jewish communities spend 25% of their budget on security.

The hate website Radio Islam continues to spew forth its coarse Anti-Semitism, spread lists of Jews (real or imagined) and conspiracy theories on its site without the security police or the prosecuting authorities doing anything about it. When the radical right-wing party the Sweden Democrats on the other hand, had one of the Muhammed cartoons on its web-site, it was closed down after a quick and direct intervention by an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the beginning of this year, the Chancellor of Justice, Goran Lambertz, discontinued his preliminary investigation against the great mosque in Stockholm. Cassette tapes had been sold in the bookshop of the mosque with a violently Anti-Semitic contents. After a couple of broadcasts on the 26 and 27th November last year, the Stockholm mosque was reported to the police.

In his decision to discontinue the preliminary investigation Lambertz wrote that "the lecture at hand contains statements that are strongly degrading to Jews, among other things, they are throughout called brothers of apes and pigs". Furthermore a curse is expressed over the Jews and "Jihad is called for, to kill the Jews, whereby suicide bombers - celebrated as martyrs - are the most effective weapon". The Chancellor raises the question whether the statements “should be judged differently, and be considered allowed, because they are used by one side in a continuing profound conflict, where battle cries and invectives are part of everyday occurrences in the rhetoric that surround the conflict". Lambertz thought that the "recently mentioned statements in spite of their contents are not to be considered "incitement against an ethnic group according to Swedish law". His conclusions were that the preliminary investigation should be discontinued because this case of incitement against Jews could be said to originate from the Middle East conflict. That is, in spite of the calls for "killing the Jews", these statements are not a crime in the legal sense in Sweden, because of the current conflict in the Middle East, according to the Chancellor of Justice. The logical conclusion is clear. If one mentions Palestine in hate speeches and calls for mass murder against Jews, one risks nothing in Sweden".

One could say that the "battle cries and invectives" that are "everyday occurences" in the Middle East happen to come only from one side against the other. I have yet to see the Jewish rhetoric calling to wipe out all Muslims or Arabs from the Middle East.

However, I also find the general conclusion interesting. What Lambertz is saying is that since Muslims call to kill Jews in the Middle East, it is fine for them to do it in Sweden as well. I wonder what would happen if Jews in Sweden would call for a holy war against Muslims (as part of the Middle East conflict, of course). Would that be allowed? How about other things that Muslims do in the Middle East and that happen to be against Swedish law ?"

Related:
The radical reinterpretation of incitement against Jews by the Chancellor of Justice in Sweden

Anti-Semitism in Norway: the accusation that never was ?

"... then what do we have? An Israeli writing a book about anti-semitism in Norway, being quoted for saying something he never said."

However twisted and biaised, at least there is a debate ...

Source: And so the plot thickens… in the "Norway, Israel and the Jews" blog

"On March 1st Manfred Gerstenfeld was quoted in 20 Norwegian newspapers for saying that "Norway is the most anti-semitic country in Europe" and "Norwegians are barbaric and uncivilized". Naturally, the Norwegian people reacted with disgust. Did this affect the perceptions of Gerstenfeld’s book "Behind the humanitarian mask"? My guess is that it did.

What Norwegian will be interested in a book about anti-semitism in Norway, edited by an Israeli who insults the entire Norwegian people by calling them "barbaric and uncivilized"?

It now appears that Gerstenfeld never said any such thing. Ilya Meyer, Swedish citizen and former member of Shalom Akshav (Peace Now), claims to have mentioned the comment to Gerstenfeld while interviewing him. Ilya Meyer quotes Gerstenfeld as saying:

"I obviously only take responsibility for what I say in English and not for what is attributed to me in the Norwegian text of the interviewer. I guess he said it in Norwegian because he didn’t have a direct quote from me in the interview which is much longer than the few English sentences he puts in.

What we discussed was the level of the public discourse in Norway which is undoubtedly low as it expressed itself in almost the entire discussion on my book. We also discussed the issue of the secularization of Norway which brings back pagan elements, but I would never make a general and racist statement that all Norwegians are barbarians and unintelligent."

Now if Ilya Meyer is correct, and Ilya Meyer does appear to be a truthful source (check his blog), then what do we have? An Israeli writing a book about anti-semitism in Norway, being quoted for saying something he never said."

Related:
God’s chosen people…

Antwerp: Muslim attacks Jews

Source: Islam in Europe

According to the Belga news agency, the man spoke a foreign language, but it's unclear which. According to one victim he spoke Arabic, but others think it was Polish (HLN, NL). Given the description below, it looks like a Muslim religiously motivated attack.

A press release from the Forum of Jewish Organizations, the Flemish Jewish umbrella organization :

"This evening there were three separate attacks, suspected to have been committed by the same culprit.

In the area of the Somersstraat between 8pm and 8:30pm, a man of Arabic origin attacked three religious Jews without provocation. The man, ~1.70m high, attacked his victims with a steel bar while shouting "Allah Akbar" ('Allah is Great') and "Yahud, Yahud" ('Jew, Jew').

One of the victims suffered multiple fractures to his hand and was taken for treatment to St. Vincentius hospital.

The last victim, while defending himself, took hold of the steel bar, which caused the culprit to flee.

The police was informed and a report was drawn up. They're taking these incidents very seriously.

The attorney-general was informed and asked for the pictures from the security cameras in the neighborhood were these incidents occurred.

It is not the first time that attacks were committed by Muslims against orthodox Jews in this neighborhood.""

Source: FORUM der Joodse Organisaties (Dutch)

See also:

- Antwerp: Immigrant politicians condemn anti-Jewish attacks

- Antwerp: Jews and Muslims call for tolerance

- Antwerp: Arab riots, Jewish neighborhood sealed

Antisemitism: silence is not an option (ICCA)

"The Resurgent Threat: We are witnessing today an escalating, sophisticated, virulent and global antisemitism. This has necessitated the establishment of an international coalition to confront and combat this oldest and most enduring of hatreds. Silence is not an option. The time has come not only to sound the alarm - but to act. For as history has taught us only too well: while it may begin with Jews, it does not end with Jews. Antisemitism is the canary in the mineshaft of evil and threatens all of society." (Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA))

Cartoons by Ben Heine

The following is the declaration of the London Conference on Antisemitism, which took place on 16-17 February.

Declaration on Combating Antisemitism
Lancaster House, 17 February 2009
.
Preamble
We, Representatives of our respective Parliaments from across the world, convening in London for the founding Conference and Summit of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, draw the democratic world’s attention to the resurgence of antisemitism as a potent force in politics, international affairs and society.
.
We note the dramatic increase in recorded antisemitic hate crimes and attacks targeting Jewish persons and property, and Jewish religious, educational and communal institutions.
.
We are alarmed at the resurrection of the old language of prejudice and its modern manifestations – in rhetoric and political action - against Jews, Jewish belief and practice and the State of Israel.
.
We are alarmed by Government-backed antisemitism in general, and state-backed genocidal antisemitism, in particular.
.
We, as Parliamentarians, affirm our commitment to a comprehensive programme of action to meet this challenge.

We call upon national governments, parliaments, international institutions, political and civic leaders, NGOs, and civil society to affirm democratic and human values, build societies based on respect and citizenship and combat any manifestations of antisemitism and discrimination.

We today in London resolve that;

Challenging Antisemitism
1. Parliamentarians shall expose, challenge, and isolate political actors who engage in hate against Jews and target the State of Israel as a Jewish collectivity;

2. Parliamentarians should speak out against antisemitism and discrimination directed against any minority, and guard against equivocation, hesitation and justification in the face of expressions of hatred;

3. Governments must challenge any foreign leader, politician or public figure who denies, denigrates or trivialises the Holocaust and must encourage civil society to be vigilant to this phenomenon and to openly condemn it;

4. Parliamentarians should campaign for their Government to uphold international commitments on combating antisemitism - including the OSCE Berlin Declaration and its eight main principles;

5. The UN should reaffirm its call for every member state to commit itself to the principles laid out in the Holocaust Remembrance initiative including specific and targeted policies to eradicate Holocaust denial and trivialisation;

6. Governments and the UN should resolve that never again will the institutions of the international community and the dialogue of nation states be abused to try to establish any legitimacy for antisemitism, including the singling out of Israel for discriminatory treatment in the international arena, and we will never witness – or be party to - another gathering like Durban in 2001;

7. The OSCE should encourage its member states to fulfil their commitments under the 2004 Berlin Declaration and to fully utilise programmes to combat antisemitism including the Law Enforcement programme LEOP;

8. The European Union, inter-state institutions and multilateral fora and religious communities must make a concerted effort to combat antisemitism and lead their member states to adopt proven and best practice methods of countering antisemitism;

9. Leaders of all religious faiths should be called upon to use all the means possible to combat antisemitism and all types of discriminatory hostilities among believers and society at large;

10. The EU Council of Ministers should convene a session on combating antisemitism relying on the outcomes of the London Conference on Combating Antisemitism and using the London Declaration as a basis.

Prohibitions
11. Governments should take appropriate and necessary action to prevent the broadcast of explicitly antisemitic programmes on satellite television channels, and to apply pressure on the host broadcast nation to take action to prevent the transmission of explicitly antisemitic programmes;

12. Governments should fully reaffirm and actively uphold the Genocide Convention, recognising that where there is incitement to genocide signatories automatically have an obligation to act. This may include sanctions against countries involved in or threatening to commit genocide or referral of the matter to the UN Security Council or initiate an interstate complaint at the International Court of Justice;

13. Parliamentarians should legislate effective Hate Crime legislation recognising "hate aggravated crimes" and, where consistent with local legal standards, "incitement to hatred" offences and empower law enforcement agencies to convict;

14. Governments that are signatories to the Hate Speech Protocol of the Council of Europe 'Convention on Cybercrime' (and the 'Additional Protocol to the Convention on cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems') should enact domestic enabling legislation;

Identifying the threat
15. Parliamentarians should return to their legislature, Parliament or Assembly and establish inquiry scrutiny panels that are tasked with determining the existing nature and state of antisemitism in their countries and developing recommendations for government and civil society action;

16. Parliamentarians should engage with their governments in order to measure the effectiveness of existing policies and mechanisms in place and to recommend proven and best practice methods of countering antisemitism;

17. Governments should ensure they have publicly accessible incident reporting systems, and that statistics collected on antisemitism should be the subject of regular review and action by government and state prosecutors and that an adequate legislative framework is in place to tackle hate crime.

18. Governments must expand the use of the EUMC 'working definition' of antisemitism to inform policy of national and international organisations and as a basis for training material for use by Criminal Justice Agencies;

19. Police services should record allegations of hate crimes and incidents - including antisemitism - as routine part of reporting crimes;

20. The OSCE should work with member states to seek consistent data collection systems for antisemitism and hate crime.

Education, awareness and training
21. Governments should train Police, prosecutors and judges comprehensively. The training is essential if perpetrators of antisemitic hate crime are to be successfully apprehended, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced. The OSCE’s Law enforcement Programme LEOP is a model initiative consisting of an international cadre of expert police officers training police in several countries;

22. Governments should develop teaching materials on the subjects of the Holocaust, racism, antisemitism and discrimination which are incorporated into the national school curriculum. All teaching materials ought to be based on values of comprehensiveness, inclusiveness, acceptance and respect and should be designed to assist students to recognise and counterantisemitism and all forms of hate speech;

23. The OSCE should encourage their member states to fulfill their commitments under the 2004 Berlin Declaration and to fully utilise programmes to combat antisemitism including the Law Enforcement programme LEOP;

24. Governments should include a comprehensive training programme across the Criminal Justice System using programmes such as the LEOP programme;

25. Education Authorities should ensure that freedom of speech is upheld within the law and to protect students and staff from illegal antisemitic discourse and a hostile environment in whatever form it takes including calls for boycotts;

Community Support
26. The Criminal Justice System should publicly notify local communities when antisemitic hate crimes are prosecuted by the courts to build community confidence in reporting and pursuing convictions through the Criminal Justice system;

27. Parliamentarians should engage with civil society institutions and leading NGOs to create partnerships that bring about change locally, domestically and globally, and support efforts that encourage Holocaust education, inter-religious dialogue and cultural exchange;
Media and the Internet

28. Governments should acknowledge the challenge and opportunity of the growing new forms of communication;

29. Media Regulatory Bodies should utilise the EUMC 'Working Definition of antisemitism' to inform media standards;

30. Governments should take appropriate and necessary action to prevent the broadcast of antisemitic programmes on satellite television channels, and to apply pressure on the host broadcast nation to take action to prevent the transmission of antisemitic programmes;

31. The OSCE should seek ways to coordinate the response of member states to combat the use of the internet to promote incitement to hatred;

32. Law enforcement authorities should use domestic "hate crime", "incitement to hatred and other legislation as well as other means to mitigate and, where permissible, to prosecute "Hate on the Internet" where racist and antisemitic content is hosted, published and written;

33. An international task force of Internet specialists comprised of parliamentarians and experts should be established to create common metrics to measure antisemitism and other manifestations of hate online and to develop policy recommendations and practical instruments for Governments and international frameworks to tackle these problems.

Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism
34. Participants will endeavour to maintain contact with fellow delegates through working group framework; communicating successes or requesting further support where required;

35. Delegates should reconvene for the next ICCA Conference in Canada in 2010, become an active member of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition and promote and prioritise the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism.

"We hoped that the embers of anti-Semitism were long since dead and cold", Mark Malloch-Brown