Flemish leader sparks row over Belgium's Nazi past

"It is better to shed light on a society's past without hiding reality," De Wever wrote in a column in De Standaard daily entitled "Flemish Nazis." He accused Walloons of "judging by virtue of a moral superiority that is out of place and based on collective ignorance."

BRUSSELS (AFP)---The leader of the Flemish nationalist party opened a wartime wound in an already divided Belgium on Wednesday, accusing French-speaking Belgians of historical amnesia over collaboration with Nazis.

Smack in the middle of tense coalition talks with French-speaking parties, Bart De Wever sparked a row by charging in a Flemish newspaper column that research on francophone collaboration during World War II was "particularly brief."

Contrary to French-speaking Wallonia, he wrote, Flanders had owned up to its collaborationist past, making it impossible for the Flemish region to "sweep under the rug the 'New Order' temptation as if it had just been a fling."

The head of the N-VA party even used one of Belgium's cultural legacies, comic books, to drive home his point by drawing a parallel between the wartime activities of two iconic artists, one francophone, the other Flemish. Little attention has been paid to the fascist leanings of "Tintin" creator Hergé, he argued, while the family of Flemish comic book writer Willy Vandersteen admitted last week that he made anti-Semitic drawings in 1942.

"It is better to shed light on a society's past without hiding reality," De Wever wrote in a column in De Standaard daily entitled "Flemish Nazis." He accused Walloons of "judging by virtue of a moral superiority that is out of place and based on collective ignorance." [...]

Casa Sefarad-Israel on anti-Semitism in Spain

Source: Spain, Israel and the Jews blog

The Pew Research Center published a report about anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Spain, Poland, Russia, Germany, France, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The report dates from 2008 and showed that 46% of the Spaniards had unfavourable views towards the Jews.  Worried about the results of the report, the Spanish Government made the Casa Sefarad-Israel (an institution centred on the study of Jews and dedicated to foment Spanish-Israeli relations) to take on the issue. Finally, a new report was published, which found the following results:

1) 58.4% of the Spaniards think that the "Jews have much power because they control the economy and the media". Among university students this attitude encompasses the 62.2%, and among people "interested in politics" this attitude encompasses the 70.5%. All of this means that anti-Semitism in Spain is highly worrying and intolerable, due to its level and to the fact that it's higher among educated and informed people.

2) 34.6% of the Spaniards have unfavourable or totally unfavourable opinions about the Jews. This attitude encompasses 34% of the far-rightists (who rate the Jews with 4.9 points in a scale from 1 to 10) and 37.7% of centre-left-wingers (who rate the Jews with 4.6 points in a scale from 1 to 10). This case is unique in Europe because far-rightists show less unpleasantness towards the Jews than centre-left-wingers.

3) Among those who admit to be "unpleasant towards the Jews", 17% of them attribute this attitude to the "Middle East conflict"; 29.6% of them attribute this attitude to "their religion", "their customs", " the way they are", etc.; others among them attribute this attitude to "general unpleasantness", "the power" and "the money"; 17% of them attribute this attitude to reasons they don't know. This means that only a small percentage of the Spaniards show unpleasantness towards the Jews due to "the State of Israel and its policies".

- European Parliament: Spanish representative derides US "Jewish lobby"
- 'The Spanish are not anti-Semitic', they don't know the facts ...
- 46 per cent of Spanish have a negative/very negative view of Jews

22nd century - a Europe without Jews ?

In 2080 there will only be 600,000 Jews left in Europe.

Is is estimated that at present there are just over one million Jews in Europe. Every year a significant number of them leave Europe to settle in Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia. (Take the steady flow of departures from France to Israel in 2005: 2,951, 2006: 2,801, 2007: 2,715, 2008: 1;867, 2009: 1,909).  It is anticipated that by 2080 only 600,000 Jews will be living in Europe. It seems that the world will see a 22nd century Europe without Jews.

André Kaspi, a French historian teaching the history of North America at the Sorbonne, writes in his book about American Jews ("Les Juifs américains"):

"After the Holocaust, there were 11 million Jews in the entire planet. Sixty years later, the total rose to 13 million, or 0.20% of world population. In 2080, it is forecast that there will be 15.5 million Jews in the world, assuming an average fertility rate. In addition to the 4 or 5 million that it is assumed will be living in the United States; 10.5 million in Israel, i.e. 67.8%; and 600,000 in Europe. "

Given this demographic trend, a number of controversies which agitate so many Europeans and European Jews - a slowly vanishing population - seem irrelevant.

Ethics: Norway divests from Israel, invests in North Korea

Norway has for "ethical" reasons divested from Israel and denied Israeli companies the right to participate in bids. Aftenposten (16/09) reports that Norway now is investing – albeit indirectly – in North Korea. An official states that this is ethically unproblematic.

Source: Norway, Israel and the Jews
Aftenposten reports that Norway has invested NOK 60 million in the Egyptian telecoms company Orascom, which is the sole concessioneer of 3G mobile networks in North Korea. The company’s venture in North Korea is named Koryolink, and will pay North Korea NOK 2,5 billion over the next three years.

This is yet another case of double standards – one for Israel and one for all other countries. There are two reasons Norway can indulge in this kind of politics: 1) Nobody much cares what Norway does or does not do. Most people are unable to place Norway on the map. 2) Israel has a lot of enemies and they are very much in favor of imposing double standards upon her.

Here is the reason for why Norway will be unable to keep this up indefinately: 1) A lot of people realize that it is counter-productive to base politics on the lobbying efforts of special interest groups. 2) This site, and others as well, are amassing evidence against the government, clearly pointing out how its policies versus Israel is morally flawed as well as undemocratic – it lacks support in the electorate. Sooner or later the balloon will pop, and Humpty Dumpty will fall of the wall.

Chomsky ventures into the quagmire of Holocaust deniers - again

Source: Rue 98 (Chomsky se risque encore dans le bourbier des négationnistes by Pascal Riché)

A petition to free Vincent Reynouard, a French negationist,  who is serving a prison sentence and to abrogate the Gayssot Act was initiated by two foremost "experts" on the famous Jewish/Zionist Lobby: Paul-Eric Blanrue and Jean Bricmont (Jean Bricmont is Belgian, he is a professor at the Catholic University of Louvain).  The petition has so far been signed by 1,000 people - not a great success.  The initiators are proud that it has Noam Chomsky's backing.  This is the letter he wrote :

"I understand that Vincent Reynouard has been condemned and jailed under the Gayssot law, and that a petition is being circulated in protest against these actions. I know nothing about Mr. Reynouard, but regard the Gayssot law as entirely illegitimate, inconsistent with the basic principles of a free society as these have been understood since the Enlightenment.

The law in effect grants the state the right to determine historical truth and to punish departure from its edicts, a principle reminiscent of the dark days of Stalinism and Nazism. If the justification of the Gayssot law is to ban "horrendous views", or to protect the right to "live free from fear of an atmosphere" of prejudice and racism, then it should be obvious that, if such laws were applied impartially, they would criminalize a vast range of public discourse, which, however despicable one may find it, should certainly be permitted in a free society, and indeed is, with no question being raised.

Accordingly, I would like to register my support for the petition protesting the application of this law in this (or any) case.
September, 5th 2010."

Pascal Riché notes: "This time Noam Chomsky is much more prudent than in his defense of Robert Faurisson in 1980. When the professor of literature at the University of Lyon was prosecuted for denying the existence of gas chambers, Chomsky signed a petition defending the right of expression of the French academic, author of "historical research thorough an independent investigation into the issue of the Holocaust"."

Read the whole piece in French HERE.

Belgian NGO incites children to shoot at Israeli soldiers at the Ghent Fair

At the famous and very popular Ghent Festivities, which took place in July, a Flemish NGO had an anti-Israel stand where the big attraction was aimed at children. Young children were invited to shoot at figurines representing Israeli soldiers placed on boats floating in a small aquarium. The weapon for shooting/killing Israelis was a coin and the money thus raised will serve to fund a new hate flotilla. This incitement campaign aimed at children in view of tens of thousands of people didn't seem to meet with the disapproval of the fair organisers, the city authorities, the police or the public.  One can imagine what would have happened if kids had been asked to aim at Muslim soldiers ! We understand that the same NGOs is now looking for a larger fish tank to be exhibited at a fair to be held shortly at another Flemish city ... It has became a tradition to demonize Israel at  Ghent festivals.

Unsurprisingly, no NGO was there to draw attention to the plight of the Roma in Europe ...  In July the great and the good were not yet interested in their fate.

Norwegian politician backs vicious anti-Israel art (Cliff Hotel - an Odyssey)

Kjetil Finne's comment is interesting: "When the entire Western world believes it is uncomplicated to use the mullah-cartoons, surely I must be able to use the star of David".  What motivates and enrages him and many others in Europe is the spurious belief that the one billion plus Muslims are powerless and being threatened by Israel, the Jews and the West ...

Source: Norway, Israel and the Jews

A Norwegian politician is helping Norwegian artist Kjetil Finne display his art at the offices of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Finne’s art is based on the Cliff Hotel, which is claimed by a Norwegian woman employed at the Representative Office of Norway to the Palestinian Authority.

It’s not one piece either, but an entire collection. NRK reports:

"The exhibition “Cliff Hotel – An Odyssey” is a strong attack on the Israeli occupation and confiscation of Palestinian property. It sets out from Cliff Hotel, which in its time was an assembly point for foreign intellectuals, authors, artists and journalists. Israel used the socalled absentee law against the owners of the hotel and his Norwegian wife. […]

The exhibition “Cliff Hotel – An Odyssey” contains photographs from the occupied West bank, manipulated with Jewish symbols and political quotes.