Fashion: John Galliano arrested for alleged anti-semitic remarks and assault

Source: Vogue (Galliano Arrested?)

British fashion desigver John Galliano has been arrested for an alleged assault, reports on international news agency ATP, via the BBC, suggest this morning.

The Christian Dior creative director was reportedly apprehended in Paris for assault as well as alleged anti-Semitic remarks.

AFP: Le couturier John Galliano interpellé à Paris pour insultes antisémites
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Young Socialists poster show Sarkozy as Hitler

This poster by the Movement of Young French socialists.  Young.  Parisian. Sophisticated.  Socialists. Comparing the President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy to Adolf Hitler.

Source: Le Figaro (Sarkozy caricaturé en Hitler : l’affiche du MJS qui scandalise.)

Italian novelist Umberto Eco opposes boycotts of Israel

Eco told reporters that unlike McEwan, he faced no pressure from colleagues to stay away from the Israeli book fair, and he does not support boycotts. "I consider it absolutely crazy" and "fundamentally racist to identify a scholar, a private citizen, with the politics of his government," Eco said.

Source: Forbes/AP

JERUSALEM -- Renowned Italian writer Umberto Eco said at an Israeli book fair Wednesday that boycotting scholars for their governments' policies is akin to racism.

It was his response to British writers who called on prominent British novelist Ian McEwan to reject an Israeli literary prize this week as a way of protesting Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

McEwan, who wrote the celebrated 2001 novel "Atonement," accepted the Jerusalem Prize at the book fair's opening ceremony earlier this week but peppered his acceptance speech with tough criticism of Israeli policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Eco told reporters that unlike McEwan, he faced no pressure from colleagues to stay away from the Israeli book fair, and he does not support boycotts.

"I consider it absolutely crazy" and "fundamentally racist to identify a scholar, a private citizen, with the politics of his government," Eco said.

Eco, 79, is the author of best-selling books including "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum." He is one of Italy's most widely read novelists.

Brussels: Guardian journalist attempted to arrest Avigdor Lieberman

This is how The Guardian writes about its own journalist. 

Israeli foreign minister accused of apartheid in attempted citizen's arrest
Avigdor Lieberman targeted in Brussels by journalist David Cronin, who previously tried to arrest Tony Blair for war crimes

An Irish journalist has attempted a citizen's arrest of the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, outside a meeting of the EU-Israel Association council in Brussels.

"Mr Lieberman, this is a citizen's arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid. Please accompany me to the nearest police station," David Cronin told the Israeli minister as he entered the press room of the European council.

Cronin, a freelance journalist who has written for the Economist, the Inter Press Service news agency and the Guardian's Comment is Free, was restrained by security guards and escorted from the building, shouting "Free Palestine".

It is not the first time Cronin, a member of the Brussels press corps since 1998, has attempted such a manoeuvre. Last March he placed his arm on Tony Blair and announced that the former prime minister was under citizen's arrest for his role in the invasion of Iraq.

On that occasion, his press pass was revoked but returned after a warning. The reporter was released without charge after the latest incident . However, Cronin reports that the head of security for the council has informed him that this time the pass will be permanently revoked.

"He told me: 'If you come into my house, you have to behave yourself.' It's a price I'm willing to pay though. Apartheid – the domination by one racial group over another – has been recognised as a crime by the UN since 1973. Israel is an apartheid state, both in the occupied territories and in Israel itself."

Cronin, the author of a new book on EU-Israel relations, returned last week from a tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories organised by the Jimmy Carter Centre and bookshops in Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Jerusalem.

Yoel Mester, a spokesman for the Israeli mission to the EU, said the ambassador will not be pressing for tighter security for future visits of Israeli dignitaries. "This was utterly uncivilised, in bad taste. But Israel, like the EU, is very supportive of free speech. It's just a shame that some people take advantage of that freedom sometimes."  He characterised the 39-year-old journalist as "obviously obsessed with Israel; judging by what he's written, a dedicated anti-Israel activist".

- Guardian journalist shouts anti-Israel slogans at Avigdor Lieberman press conference at EU

Guardian journalist shouts anti-Israel slogans at Avigdor Lieberman press conference at EU

BRUSSELS (EJP)---A Irish journalist shouted “Free Palestine” ,“Israel apartheid state” and “Apartheid is a crime” at the start of a press conference by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman with EU officials in Brussels on Tuesday.

Approaching the minister, he shouted: “Mister Lieberman this is a critizen’s arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid”.

The man, David Cronin, who writes for several newspapers including The Guardian, The Irish Times and European Voice, was immediately removed from the EU Council press room by security guards.

He reportedly provoked the same kind of incident at a press conference by EU Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair at the European Parliament last year.

“If he is a journalist accreditated to the EU, his press card will be confiscated,” one EU official told EJP.

In November, he published a book titled “Europe’s Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation.”

Lieberman attended in Brussels the 10th meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council, the body governing the relations between the two sides.

At the press conference were also Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, whose country currently chairs the EU, and Stefan Fulle, EU Commissioner responsible for Enlargment and Neighborhood Policy.

Spain, Jews and Israel: 25 years after formal relations, Daniel S. Mariaschin

"While many leaders may appreciate Jewish contributions to Spain, an understanding of the larger Middle East picture is less apparent. Given the choice, Spanish governments have too often chosen to view the Israel-Palestinian issue through a narrow lens, which more often than not does not appear to be objective. The continuing impression is that too often the relationship is with the Arab world to the exclusion of Israel."

(EJP) The history of the Jews and Spain was rocky for centuries, with Spain giving Jews a “choice” of expulsion, forced conversion or death in 1492. But a new chapter opened 25 years ago when Spain and Israel established diplomatic relations on January 17, 1986. It was the first time that Spain recognized the State of Israel, and it was a watershed moment for both nations.

What has happened since? The relationship between Spain and Israel, and Spain and Jews has hit a rocky, but hopefully not irreversible, patch.

In what could be a more than problematic development, Spain upgraded its diplomatic relationship with the Palestinian Authority this last fall, perhaps foreshadowing its recognition of a Palestinian state. That possibility, outside of bilateral negotiations, would undermine and jeopardize an already precarious peace process by removing Israel from the equation.

Another disturbing sign of trouble: the Pew Research Center’s 2008 Global Attitudes Project found 46 percent of Spanish residents held an unfavorable view of Jews. Just three years earlier, 21% held an unfavorable view of Jews in a similar survey. These shocking numbers propelled Spain to the top of the list of European nations with a poor view of Jews.

To be sure, this is a distressing development. But the poll cannot be used only to define the relationship between Spain and Jews and Spain and Israel.  These broadly held attitudes must also be viewed as a teachable moment.

2012 presidential race - anti-Semitism in France under the spotlight

There is nothing surprising in these latest "developments" in France.  Many Europeans believe that Jews are "immigrants" who on the whole have been successful.  Revealingly, Europeans forget that Jews have lived in Europe for many centuries.  But many Jews also agree and are proud to say that they are "well integrated"... thus accepting that Jews are not quite "native" to Europe.  That's the main difference between US and European Jews lies. French historian André Kaspi reckons that by 2080 there will be 600.000 Jews left in Europe.

Source: France 24 (Anti-Semitism in France under the spotlight, by James Creedon)

FRENCH PAPERS, Tues., 15/2/2011: An old French debate has reared its head: is there still a residue of anti-Semitism in France? Le Monde points out that the most popular Google searches for certain politicians like Dominique Strauss-Kahn and François Hollande is their name followed by the world “Jew”. What does this reveal about France’s subconscious?
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French right politicians savage IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Sarkozy's undeclared rival for 2012 presidential race

PARIS (AFP-EJP)--  French President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing allies have launched a full-frontal assault on his potential -- but undeclared -- rival in next year's presidential election, IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Strauss-Kahn's stint at the helm of the International Monetary Fund in Washington does not officially end until September 2012, several months after the scheduled date of France's vote. But the French political world is buzzing with speculation that the man popularly known here as DSK will bring a premature end to his tenure and throw his hat in the ring. And opinion polls suggested he would win the vote if he runs. [...]

In recent days, its leading lights have launched virulent attacks on Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist former Finance Minister whom, ironically, Sarkozy backed to become IMF chief.

They dismissed the silver-haired IMF boss as a rich "champagne socialist," a man who has been away too long to still be in touch with France, and a cosmopolitan type who is not "the image of... the France we love."

It was that last charge, by the leader of the UMP in parliament Christian Jacob, that most angered Strauss-Kahn's Socialist allies, who saw in it veiled anti-Semitism.

Socialist deputy Pierre Moscovici said it "resembles a little the rhetoric of the extreme-right between the two world wars" who used such terms to attack French Jewish Socialists. [...]