Robert Fisk on the "sinister goings-on in Lebanon"

Blogger SnoopyTheGoon at Simply Jews points out that the "venerable master of bent mirrors", Robert Fisk, has not mentioned in his latest article on Lebanon the "I" country which for him is virtually the root cause of all evil. Could the "controversy" provoked by his conspirationist article on 9/11 explain Fisk's silence for now (Even I question the 'truth' about 9/11) ? "Fisk: it is all downhill from now on... It is with deep worry that I notice that in the latest article on sinister goings-on in Lebanon, this venerable master of bent mirrors forgot to mention a certain neighboring country. The name starting with I. I am worried about his mental state. Confused, too. Oops..."

Three European 2007 Nobel prize-winners also recipients of Israeli Wolf Prize

Three European 2007 Nobel prize-winners have also been awarded – and accepted, in other words did not boycott - the prestigious Israeli Wolf Prize. To date, a total of 241 scientists and artists from 21 countries have been awarded the Wolf Prize (created "to promote science for the benefit of mankind"). Laureates receive their awards from the President of the State of Israel at a ceremony at the Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem. Gerhard Ertl of Germany was awarded the Wolf Prize in chemistry (shared with Gabor A. Somorjai) in 1989 "for their outstanding contributions to the field of the surface science in general and for their elucidation of fundamental mechanisms of heterogeneous catalytic reactions at single crystal surface in particular." Albert Fert of France and Peter Grünberg of Germany share the Nobel Prize in physics, and were also jointly awarded the Wolf Prize in physics in 2006 "for their independent discovery of the giant magnetoresistance phenomenon (GMR), thereby launching a new field of research and applications known as spintronics, which utilizes the spin of the electron to store and transport information." The Wolf Prizes in physics and chemistry are often considered the most prestigious awards in those fields after the Nobel Prize. In medicine, the prize is probably the third most prestigious, after the Nobel Prize and the Lasker Award. In mathematics, for which there is no Nobel prize, the Wolf Prize is particularly prestigious, second to only the Fields medal.

Nazism: Saul Friedländer describes the ostracisation of Max Liebermann

“Max Liebermann, at eighty-six possibly the best-known German painter of the time, was too old to emigrate when Hitler came to power. Formerly president of the Prussian Academy of Arts, and in 1933 its honorary president, he held the highest German decoration, the Pour le Mérite. On May 7 Liebermann resigned from the academy. As the painter Oskar Kokoschka wrote from Paris in a published letter to the editor of the Frankfurter Zeitung, none of Liebermann’s colleagues deemed it necessary to express a word of recognition or sympathy. Isolated and ostracised, Liebermann died in 1935; only three “Aryan” artits attended his funeral. His widow survived him. When, in March 1943, the police arrived, with a stretcher, for the bedridden eighty-five-year-old woman to begin her depotation to the East, she committed suicide by swallowing an overdose of the barbiturate Veronal.”

In Nazi Germany & the Jews, the Years of Persecution 1933-39, by Saul Friedländer, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1997)

Self-portrait and portrait of his wife Martha Liebermann

Saul Friedländer, professor of history at the University of California, was awarded the Peace Prize at the annual Frankfurt Book Fair. The German Book Trade association said:
"Saul Friedländer gave a voice to the grievances and cries of those human beings who were turned to dust. He gave them memory and a name. The acknowledgment of human dignity forms the basis for peace among mankind, and Saul Friedlander returned to the murdered millions the dignity of which they had been robbed."
"Friedländer is one of the last historiographers to have witnessed and experienced the Holocaust — a genocide that was announced early on, planned openly and carried out with machinelike precision. Friedlander rejects the distanced approach often associated with the writing of history: He creates a space for incomprehensibility — the only possible reaction to such an unfathomable crime."

Papageienallee (1902)

K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite"

At long last, one anti-Semite was found in Europe and he is going to be taken to court ! Do you really need to declare "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite", deny the Holocaust, and ask that Europe be ridden of Jews to be considered an anti-Semite and taken to court ?

This posting in the ECJ speaks volumes:
"In a letter to Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, EJC President Moshe Kantor commended the Greek authorities for taking to court a notorious Greek author for his 400-page book entitled "The Jews - the Whole Truth."
The text of the lettter :
Dear Mr. Karamanlis,
On September 11th 2007, the anti-Semitic author K. Plevris will stand on trial in the Greek Court for his 1,400-page book entitled "The Jews - the Whole Truth". In his book Mr Plevris declares, "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite".
He openly calls the Holocaust into question while justifying Nazism, given that in his opinion, "ridding Europe of the Jews is necessary because Judaism poses a threat to the freedom of Nations" (page 432). To this he adds, "I constantly blame the German Nazis for not ridding our Europe of Jewish Zionism when it was in their power to do so," (page 1,221).
We must commend the law enforcement authorities in Greece, in particular the General Prosecutor, for having taken Mr. Plevris to court.
However, along with the Neo-Nazi rally, which was supposed to take place in Greece exactly two years ago, this has become a worrying chain of events in which anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head too many times in Greece during the last few years.
The Greek people and the Jewish people share the common honour of being the founders of European Civilization. Sixty years after the Holocaust, the resurgence of a threat to the Jewish people is also a threat to European culture as a whole.
We will be following this trial closely. We hope Greece will go along with other European states in the common struggle against racism and anti-Semitism."

Amos Oz's book on fanaticism added to Swedish school curriculum

Sweden is planning to distribute to students aged 17-18 Amos Oz’s book How to cure a fanatic to help them understand the complexities of the Israeli-Arab conflict other than through media reporting, usually heavily biased against Israel. The book will be included the school curriculum and the Government hopes that the initiative will be extended to other European Union member states. Y Net reports:

“The Swedish educational system has decided to distribute a book by Israeli author Amos Oz to 115,000 eleventh graders throughout the country. The purpose is to instil tolerance, to stamp out radicalism and to introduce Swedish youth to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a different angle.

The booklet, How to cure a fanatic (which was not published in Hebrew, but publicized within the framework of Oz's articles) was translated into Swedish by the Bonnier publishing house, the largest publisher in Scandinavia and the publisher of Amos Oz's books in Swedish.
…
The Swedish government has contacted the European Union and proposed distributing the booklet throughout EU member states as well.

Amos Oz told Yedioth Ahronoth on Tuesday evening that the project came as a surprise, "because no one discussed it with me in advance, I think it is important that young kids at high schools read about fanaticism. It will help them better understand our conflict."”

Amos Oz was awarded the 2007 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature.

Photo by Mariusz Kubik

First-ever desecration of Lisbon's Jewish cemetery

On 25 September, the small Jewish cemetery in Lisbon was vandalised by two neo-Nazi youths. 17 tombstones were desecrated and swastikas painted.

“This is an act inspired by a demon who lies in the heart of Europe”, said Father Peter Stilwell, who represented the Lisbon Patriarchate at the Taharat Kevurot ceremony held at the cemetery on 30 September.

One of the perpetrators had attacked an immigrant and kept images of black children marked “don’t feed the animals”.

Pope Benedict XVI criticises Iranian leader

Ruth Gledhill in the Times reports that Pope Benedict XVI pledged to help fight resurgent anti-semitism in Europe. The Pontiff also criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who questions the Holocaust and wants Israel wiped off the map:

“The Pope hit out at Iran as he pledged to help world Jewish leaders in their fight against anti-Semitism.

Pope Benedict XVI told leaders of the World Jewish Congress that Iran was “an issue of big concern” to him.

At a meeting at the Vatican, the Pope spoke of his concern about rising anti-Semitism and described how he wanted to use educational tools to counter the hatred of the Iranian leadership towards the Jewish people and Israel.

Maram Stern, secretary general of the World Jewish Congress, said after the audience: “We thanked the Holy Father for everything he did for the Jewish people, and more importantly what he will do.”

Speaking to journalists in Rome, he said the Pope had “recognised the question of Iran as an issue of big concern for him.”

Members of the congress discussed the critical problem of “resurgent anti-Semitism” in Europe. Britain itself has seen a marked rise in anti-Semitism, linked to increasing anti-Zionism and to events in the Middle East.

In a statement after the audience, the congress said members of the delegation “called on the Pontiff to take action against those in the Church who wanted to do damage to the close and positive relationship between Christians and Jews”."

This trend is also confirmed by Gérard Israël, who heads the Commission for Catholic-Jewish relations in France. In an interview, he stated: “I have no hesitation in saying that today the Catholic Church is Israel’s best friend, and almost an ally.”