Tuesday 29 January 2013

Aide to Egyptian President Calls Holocaust a Myth Created by the U.S.

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

 A key figure in Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's government called the Holocaust a hoax cooked up by US intelligence operatives and claimed the 6 million Jews who were killed by Nazis simply moved to the US, FoxNews reported Tuesday.

“The myth of the Holocaust is an industry that America invented,” Fathi Shihab-Eddim, a senior figure close   to President Morsi was quoted as saying. 

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Swiss President Criticized for Downplaying Country's Failings During the Holocaust

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Swiss Jewish groups are faulting the country's president for failing to address the neutral country's failings during World War II in a statement marking the annual Holocaust remembrance day.

In a statement Sunday, President Ueli Maurer said Switzerland remained "a country of freedom and law" during the war and became a safe haven for many persecuted people.

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Monday 28 January 2013

Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch Apologizes for Netanyahu Cartoon

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Media baron Rupert Murdoch has apologized for a Sunday Times cartoon depicting Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall using blood-red mortar, an image Jewish leaders said was reminiscent of anti-Semitic propaganda.

The political cartoon, which was published on Holocaust Memorial Day, shows Netanyahu wielding a long, sharp trowel and depicts agonized Palestinians bricked into the wall's structure. It was meant as a comment on recent elections in which Netanyahu's ticket narrowly won the most seats in the Israeli parliament.

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Saturday 26 January 2013

French Court Orders Twitter to Help Identify Authors of Antisemitic Tweets

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

A French court on Thursday ordered Twitter Inc to help identify the authors of anti-Semitic posts or face fines of 1,000 euros ($1,300) per day, as the social network firm comes under renewed pressure to combat racist and extremist messages.

The order, requested by a Jewish student union and rights groups, concerned anti-Semitic material but could open the floodgates to legal pursuit of Twitter users who post a wide range of messages deemed illegal or offensive.
 
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Friday 25 January 2013

Antisemitic Twitter Hashtag in Mexico Outrages Local Jewish Community

FSWC Reports:

From ABC Univision:

In Mexico a Twitter 'trending topic' has caused an uproar in the local Jewish community for its anti-Semitic content. On January 18 #EsdeJudios, which translates to 'it's Jewish to', was second among trending topics in Mexico. In related tweets people talked about soap, ashes and gas in a mocking reference to what the jewish community had to endure during the Holocaust. 

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Thursday 24 January 2013

Israel Introduces Holocaust Studies to Asia and Oceania

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Israel brings the story of the Holocaust to Asia and Oceania: The Jewish state has decided to expose educators from different countries to Holocaust studies for the very first time.

A group of 20 principals and teachers from India, Australia and Singapore have already arrived in Israel and are specializing at Yad Vashem's International School for Holocaust Studies. Groups of educators from New Zealand and Korea are expected to arrive later on. 
 
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New Spirit of Hope Video Just Released!

Watch Stephen Harper, Bill Clinton, Elie Wiesel & More Stand for Israel & Democracy in new FSWC 'Best Of' Spirit of Hope' Video!


    CLICK HERE to view!http://t.co/YGp9kmNE

Tuesday 22 January 2013

Israel's Chief Rabbis Urge European Union to Fight Antisemitism

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Israel's chief rabbis, Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar, are demanding that the European Union intervene in the "growing wave of anti-Semitism," which they say is sweeping the continent's countries. 

In a letter sent to European Council President Herman van Rompuy, the rabbis call for the appointment of a committee to look into the scope of the phenomenon and submit practical suggestions for its eradication. 

READ MORE...
  

Sunday 20 January 2013

Rare Holocaust Diary Presented to Israeli President Peres

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

"At night, we will be led to Treblinka. It's the last time I see the blue sky." A copy of a rare diary from the Holocaust was presented on Thursday to President Shimon Peres at the Ghetto Fighters' House Museum.  

The document was published in honor of the 70th anniversary of the "January uprising," which took place at the Warsaw Ghetto and served as the first significant act of resistance against the Nazis. 

READ MORE...  

Saturday 19 January 2013

German Court Fines Bishop Who Denies The Holocaust

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

A German court has fined an ultraconservative British bishop €1,800 ($2,400) for denying the Holocaust in a television interview.

German news agency DPA reported that an administrative court in Regensburg convicted Richard Williamson of incitement and levied the fine on Wednesday. 

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Thursday 17 January 2013

Canada Commemorates Raoul Wallenberg

In honour of Raoul Wallenberg Day, the Hon. Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism issued the following statement:

“Each year on this day, Canadians pay tribute to one of the greatest heroes in history. At great personal risk, and with remarkable ingenuity and courage, Raoul Wallenberg helped rescue over 100,000 Hungarian Jews from certain death at the hands of the Nazis and their allies. During the Holocaust, Raoul Wallenberg saved more Jews than any other single organization or government.
“Raoul Wallenberg was a prominent non-Jewish Swedish businessman who was posted as a diplomat to Budapest, Hungary, during the Second World War. On January 17, 1945, Soviet forces captured Raoul Wallenberg as the Red Army marched through Hungary. To this day, his fate remains unknown.
“In recognition of his heroic achievements, Raoul Wallenberg became Canada’s first honorary citizen in 1985. In 2001, Parliament declared January 17 Raoul Wallenberg Day.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

U.S. Condemns Antisemitic Comments of Egyptian President

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:


The Obama administration on Tuesday gave a blistering review of remarks that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi made almost three years ago about Jews and called for him to repudiate what it called unacceptable rhetoric.

In blunt comments, the White House and State Department said Morsi's statements were "deeply offensive" and ran counter to the goal of peace in the region. The State Department, noting that a senior congressional delegation is now visiting Egypt, said the remarks complicated efforts to provide economic and military aid to Egypt.

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Monday 14 January 2013

French Jewish Leader Warns Antisemitism Threatens the Future of Jews in France

FSWC Reports:

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

(JTA) -- Anti-Semitism could destroy the history of French Jewry, the leader of France's Jewish communities said.

“Not long ago, the notion that resurgent anti-Semitism could endanger the presence of Jews in France would have been considered absurd,” Dr. Richard Prasquier, president of the Jewish CRIF umbrella group, said Sunday in Paris at the organization's annual national conference.

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Sunday 13 January 2013

Online Hate Plagues Argentina's Jewish Community

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

More than 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) separate Buenos Aires from Jerusalem. Yet wars and crisis in the Middle East have an impact on anti-Semitism in Argentina.

For the past 12 years, Jewish umbrella organization DAIA has been counting and analyzing anti-Semitic incidents in Argentina. The last report, issued in December, shows a small rise in numbers, but a significant change in methods of aggression. Three out of every 10 occurrences happen on the Internet.

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Wednesday 9 January 2013

Vatican Denounces Anti-Jewish Remarks Made By Rebel Bishop

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

The Vatican on Monday dismissed anti-Semitic comments by the head of a rebel Catholic traditionalist group, saying the Roman church did not see Jews as enemies.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the rebel Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), said last month that Jews were among those "who over centuries have been enemies of the Church".

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Tuesday 8 January 2013

Italian Soccer Club, Lazio, Charged Over Racist Behaviour By Fans

FSWC Reports: 

From ynetnews.com:

UEFA charged Lazio on Monday with "alleged racist behavior" by its fans, who are accused of chanting anti-Semitic abuse at Tottenham during a Europa League match.

The Rome club was also fined by the Italian league on Monday for a separate incident involving racist abuse. 

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Monday 7 January 2013

Vienna's Jewish Museum May Hold Art and Books Stolen by Nazis

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Vienna's Jewish Museum holds hundreds of books and works of art that may have been stolen by Nazis, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

A screening program that started in 2007, years after other Austrian museums began combing their collections for works taken from their rightful owners, has determined that about 500 works of art and 900 books are of dubious origin, Der Standard said. 

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Sunday 6 January 2013

Auschwitz Has Record Number of Visitors in 2012

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site in southern Poland registered 1.43 million visitors last year, a record number in its 65-year history as a place of Holocaust remembrance, officials said Friday.

For several years now, the grounds of the former Nazi death camp have registered record numbers of visitors. In 2011, there were 1.4 million visitors from across the world, triple the number of a decade before. 

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Friday 4 January 2013

Belgian Museum Commemorates Jewish Deportation

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Ten years ago, the sons and grandsons of Jews deported from Liege to the camps in northern France decided to commemorate those tragic events.

They set up a not-profit organization to collect documentary evidence, and this recently opened exhibition in Liege is the result of their labor.

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Thursday 3 January 2013

Bulgaria Identifies Person Suspected of Involvement in Summer Terrorist Attack on Israeli Tourists

FSWC Reports:

From The National Post:

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian authorities said Thursday they have identified one of three suspected terrorists involved in a bomb attack that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver last July.

The head of the investigation team told the 24 Chasa daily that the identified suspect was an accomplice of the one blown up in the attack at the airport of the Black Sea city of Burgas. Stanelia Karadzhova did not reveal his name or nationality, but added that all suspects were foreign nationals and there were no known local accomplices.

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Wednesday 2 January 2013

Austrian Lawmaker Accuses Vienna Philharmonic of Whitewashing Its Nazi Past

FSWC Reports:

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

(JTA) -- An Austrian lawmaker accused the Vienna Philharmonic of attempting to conceal the institution's sympathy for the country’s Nazi leadership during World War II.

Harald Walser, a historian and Parliament member for the Austrian Greens, made the accusations in a recent interview for the ORF national public service broadcaster.

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Dutch Government Agency Rebukes Security Firm for Rejecting Employment Application of Sabbath-Observing Jew

FSWC Reports:

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
 
THE HAGUE (JTA) -- A Dutch governmental agency advised a security firm to hire a Sabbath-observing intern after ruling that employers may not reject Jewish candidates on the basis of their refusal to work on the Jewish day of rest.

The ruling came at the end of a hearing by the Board for the Protection of Human Rights, an advisory agency tasked with preventing discrimination, concerning the case of an intern that was rejected for a job because he would not work on the Sabbath.

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Tuesday 1 January 2013

Hungary to Increase Pensions of Holocaust Survivors

FSWC Reports:

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

(JTA) -- Hungary reportedly intends to raise pensions to Holocaust survivors by 50 percent in 2013, the 70th anniversary of the extermination of Hungarian Jewry.

The increase in pensions will affect about 8,000 Holocaust survivors, who can expect to see more money as early as Jan. 1, according to the news site Hungary Around the Clock. Another 50 percent increase above the payments distributed in 2012 is planned for Jan. 1, 2014.

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