Friday 30 May 2014

Town in Guatemala Expelling Jews

FSWC Reports:

From Shalom Life via ynetnews.com:

The mayor of a Guatemalan town has made a "Jew registry," and ordered two Jewish families to leave. "Their customs aren't like ours," he insists.

The incident occurs on the heels of an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) poll revealing that anti-Semitism is a worldwide phenomenon.
 

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Tuesday 27 May 2014

Belgian News Outlet Reports Suspect in Jewish Museum Attack Arrested

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Belgian news network VTM NEWS reported Tuesday night that local authorities arrested a suspect in connection to the Jewish Museum shooting in Brussels that claimed four lives. 

The allegations against the suspect have not been confirmed, and it is unclear whether the suspect is the man seen in the CCTV footage walking into the Museum and shooting the victims in cold blood.

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Spanish Town Known as "Kill Jews Fort" Votes to Change Its Name

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

The tiny Spanish village of Castrillo Matajudios, or "Kill Jews Fort" in English, on Sunday voted in favor of changing its name, Spanish media reported, as it cast off a vestige of Roman Catholic religious persecution from over 400 years ago.

The campaign to rebaptize the village, led by mayor Lorenzo Rodriguez, had thrust its 56 mostly elderly inhabitants into the media spotlight in recent weeks, as its controversial name sparked headlines worldwide.
 
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Monday 26 May 2014

Jews Divided Over Success of Far-Right Parties in EU Parliamentary Elections

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com with contribution from AFP:

Preliminary results of European parliamentary elections, whose final tallies were announced Monday night, showed significant growth for far-right political parties in countries like France, Britain, Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Greece, inspiring out-spoken concern among Jewish communities world-wide.

Dieter Graumann, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said the extremist parties performed "shockingly well", as feared, in Sunday's European parliamentary vote. 

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Pope Visits Israeli Holocaust Memorial

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com with contributions from Reuters and the Associated Press:

After laying a wreath at the tomb of the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, and visiting Israel's Memorial to Terror Victims on Monday, Pope Francis honored the memories of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust at the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem.

Accompanied by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres, Francis prayed before a crypt with ashes of victims and laid a wreath of yellow and white flowers in the "Hall of Remembrance." 

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Belgian Officials Believe Attack on Jewish Museum Was Likely an Act of Terrorism, But Experts Disagree on Whether the Gunman Was a Hitman or a "Lone Wolf"

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

The shooting of three people at Brussels' Jewish Museum was probably a "terrorist attack", Belgian officials said on Monday, though some security experts suggested it may have been the work of a hitman rather than an anti-Semitic 'lone wolf'.

An Israeli couple and a French woman were killed in the shooting on Saturday. A Belgian man remains in critical condition in hospital. The gunman is on the run.
 
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Sunday 25 May 2014

Hungary Experiences Revival of Antisemitic Attitudes

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

Budapest's Jewish community is vibrant, visible and patriotic; and yet seven decades after the Holocaust, the taboo about expressing anti-Semitic views is breaking down among many fellow Hungarians.

Some Jews and academics blame this on the far-right Jobbik party, which has come from nowhere to become the second most popular party as one recession after another has held Hungarians' living standards far below the European average. 

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Holocaust Survivors Return to Romanian Town to Mark 70 Years Since the City's Jewish Community Was Deported to Auschwitz

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Holocaust survivors from the town of Sighet-Maramures in Romania arrived with their descendants last week to the Sephardic Synagogue in Sighet to mark 70th anniversary to the deportation of the city's Jewish community to Auschwitz.

It has been 70 years since the last time hundreds of Jews read from the Torah at the Sephardic synagogue in Sighet, and the day after that reading seven decades ago, the first train to Auschwitz left with 3,000 Jews on it. Within seven days four more such trains left the town, and the entire Jewish community had vanished. Today, one can count on a single hand the number of Jews left in Sighet. 

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Two Jewish Men Attacked While Leaving Synagogue Outside Paris

FSWC Reports:

From AFP, the Associated Press and Reuters via ynetnews.com:

Two Jewish men were attacked Saturday as they left a synagogue in Creteil, southeast of Paris, leading France to tighten security around synagogues and Jewish cultural centers on Sunday.

French Interior Minister Bernard Caseneuve ordered police around France to increase security at Jewish houses of worship and other Jewish establishments. 

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Belgian Police Release Video of Shooter in Jewish Museum Attack

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com with contribution from the Associated Press:

The Belgian police published photos Sunday of the shooter who entered the Brussels' Jewish Museum with a rifle and opened fire, as a fourth person died after succumbing to wounds suffered in the attack in Brussels.

The police are still conducting a man hunt for what they believe to be a lone shooter in an attack many in Israel and Belgium have already declared an anti-Semitic attack. 

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Three People Dead, One Seriously Hurt in Shooting Attack on Jewish Museum in Brussels, Belgium

FSWC Reports:

From BBC News:

A gunman has shot dead two men and a woman at the Jewish Museum in the Belgian capital Brussels.

A fourth person was seriously wounded, emergency services said.

The attacker arrived by car, got out, fired on people at the museum entrance, and returned to the vehicle which then sped away, Belgian media report.

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Thursday 22 May 2014

German Court Rules Country Has Legal Right to Prosecute Former Nazi SS Commander Based in U.S.

FSWC Reports:

From the Associated Press via ynetnews.com:

Germany's highest criminal court has ruled that the country has jurisdiction over the case of a retired Minnesota carpenter that an Associated Press investigation exposed as a former commander in a Nazi SS-led unit.

The Federal Court of Justice said in its ruling published Thursday that 95-year-old Michael Karkoc's service as a commander in the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion made him the "holder of a German office." This gives Germany the legal right to prosecute him even though he is not German, his alleged crimes were against non-Germans and they were not committed on German soil.

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Wednesday 21 May 2014

Spanish Jews Ask for Investigation Into Alleged Antisemitic Messages on Twitter Related to Euroleague Championship Win by Israeli Basketball Team

FSWC Reports:

From the Associated Press and ynetnews.com:

Jewish organizations in Spain have asked prosecutors to investigate some 18,000 allegedly anti-Semitic insults sent via Twitter following a weekend European basketball game. 

The complaints refer to tweets sent after Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Spain's Real Madrid. 

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Tuesday 20 May 2014

U.S. Director Accused of Antisemitic Character Portrayal in Film Inspired by Sex Scandal

FSWC Reports:

From AFP via ynetnews.com:

US film director Abel Ferrara, whose film inspired by the sordid sex scandal that brought down IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn premiered in Cannes, has refuted allegations of anti-Semitism. 

The movie stars Gerard Depardieu as a man called Georges Devereaux with striking similarities to "DSK" – whose alleged 2011 sexual assault on a New York hotel maid shook the world – and Jacqueline Bisset as his wife.

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Bus Ads in Washington D.C. link Muslim Antisemitism to Hitler

FSWC Reports:

From AFP via ynetnews.com:

Bus ads linking "Islamic Jew-hatred" with Adolf Hitler are out on the streets of Washington, and the US capital's transit authority says it is legally powerless to ban them. 

The elongated broadsides on 20 Metro buses feature a photo of the Nazi German dictator in conversation with "his staunch ally" Haj Amin al-Husseini, grand mufti of Jerusalem during World War II.

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Czech Republic to Give Its Top Honour to "English Schindler" Who Saved 650 Jews From the Nazis

FSWC Reports:

From AFP via ynetnews.com:

Englishman Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of Jewish children in Prague from the Nazis before World War II, will receive the Czech Republic's top honour, its president said on Monday.

"Your life, Sir Nicholas, is extraordinary for many reasons," President Milos Zeman said in a birthday message to the Briton of German-Jewish origin, who turned 105 on Monday.

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Rapper Apologizes for Costume Deemed by Some to be Antisemitic

FSWC Reports:

From the Associated Press via ynetnews.com:

Rapper Macklemore posted an apology on his website late Monday, saying he didn't mean to mock Jewish people by wearing a costume that some say was anti-Semitic during a performance in Seattle last week.

Macklemore wrote that he randomly chose the pieces of the costume he wore at Friday's performance so that he could disguise himself and move freely around during the secret show. He said it wasn't meant to be a caricature of a Jewish man. 

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German Investigation Uncovers 20 Former Guards of Nazi Death Camps

FSWC Reports:

From the Associated Press:

Around 20 former guards at the death camp Majdanek could face charges in Germany, following a widespread probe of the Nazi SS men and women who served there during World War II, war crimes investigators said Tuesday.

Federal prosecutor Kurt Schrimm, who heads Germany's special Nazi war crimes office, said he expects to turn the cases over to state investigators within two weeks for them to pursue accessory to murder charges. Schrimm's office has no power to file charges itself.

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Sunday 18 May 2014

New York City Taxi Driver Suspended for Wearing Nazi Armband

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

A New York City cab driver, who was suspended for wearing a Nazi armband while driving his taxi, insisted on Friday that he has a right to display his National Socialist beliefs.

During an interview with CBS New York, the 26-year-old Gabriel Diaz proudly admitted being a “National Socialist – what you guys call a Nazi.” 

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Friday 16 May 2014

Court in Argentina Strikes Down Deal With Iran on 1994 Bombing of Jewish Community Centre

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

An Argentine Federal court on Thursday struck down an agreement between the South American country and Iran to jointly investigate the deadly 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that local courts blamed on Tehran.

Alberto Nisman, a prosecutor who oversaw an investigation of the AMIA center explosion that killed 85 people, had argued in his appeal to the court that in negotiating the 2013 deal with Iran, the executive branch had overstepped into areas reserved for the judiciary.

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Thursday 15 May 2014

Romania's First Public Holocaust Education Centre Set to Open

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

A series of memorial ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the deportation of the last Jews of northern Transylvania to the Auschwitz death camp will begin Friday in Romania, including a special event marking the opening of the country's first public Holocaust education center in the town of Sighet. 

The "Holocaust Cellar" will become a new feature of the Holocaust museum in the pre-war home of Nobel Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel, in the courtyard of the old Jewish Ghetto of Sighet in Maramures County. The cellar will serve as a learning center dedicated to the 13,000 local Holocaust victims. 

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Grandson of Former Nazi Leader Fights Europe's Far-Right

FSWC Reports:

From AFP via ynetnews.com:

Rainer Hess didn't learn about the extent of his grandfather's involvement in the Holocaust until the age of 12, when one of his teachers told him the grim truth. Rudolf Hess had been the commander of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, responsible for the deaths of more than one million men, women and children.

"I knew nothing of Auschwitz, I knew nothing of my family, I only knew that my grandfather had participated in the war like thousands of others," Hess told the AFP during a recent trip to Stockholm, the Swedish capital. 

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Tuesday 13 May 2014

Survey Gathers Data on Antisemitic Attitudes Worldwide

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

More than one in four adults are "deeply infected with anti-Semitic attitudes" according to the results of a global survey released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League – a figure which represents an estimated 1 billion adults worldwide. 

“For the first time we have a real sense of how pervasive and persistent anti-Semitism is today around the world,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. 

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Swastikas Drawn on Conservative Synagogue in Israel

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Unknown vandals defaced a sign at the Masorti Movement's Moreshet Yisrael Synagogue in central Jerusalem on Monday morning, painting swastikas inside Stars of David on it. 

This is the second vandalism incident at the site in recent days.

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Sunday 11 May 2014

Rabbi Persuaded Palestinian President to Denounce the Holocaust

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

Rabbi Marc Schneier, who has been rated as one of the 50 most influential American rabbis by Newsweek magazine and is nicknamed "the celebrities' rabbi," has made it his life's mission to bring Muslims and Jews closer together. 

Along with Imam Shamsi Ali, he has established the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) to promote interfaith understanding between "Abraham's sons" around the world.  

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Antisemitic Sign Displayed at Latvian Pre-School

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

A sign hangs in the heart of Riga, capital of the eastern European country of Latvia, that labels a pre-school as "Judenfrei" (free of Jews), a saying often used by the Nazis to describe an area that had been cleared of Jews.

Local media sources recently uncovered that the preschool is owned by the family of Imants Parādnieks, a member of Latvian Parliament representing the National Unity Party that's been accused for anti-Semitic sentiments and identifies with the country's historical period under the control of the Nazis. 

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Wednesday 7 May 2014

Hoarder of Nazi-Looted Art Named Swiss Museum as Heir to His Collection

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

A Swiss art gallery discovered on Wednesday that it had been named as the sole heir of Cornelius Gurlitt, the reclusive German owner of a hoard of masterpieces discovered accidentally in a tax probe, who died this week aged 81.

The Bern Art Museum said the news "came like a bolt from the blue" as it had no connection with Gurlitt. The collection - put together by his father Hildebrand, a dealer in so-called "degenerate" art for Adolf Hitler - is worth an estimated 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion).
 
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California School District Condemned Over "Holocaust Debate" Assignment

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

A California school district drew condemnation from Jewish rights groups over a writing assignment asking eighth graders to argue whether the Holocaust happened.

Students in the Rialto Unified School District near Los Angeles were asked to write an essay on whether the Holocaust was "merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain," the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, said on Monday.
 
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Tuesday 6 May 2014

Iranian Parliament Votes Not to Censor Country's Foreign Minister for Saying the Holocaust was a "Horrifying Tragedy"

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif survived a censure vote in parliament on Tuesday for his refusal to deny the Holocaust, in the latest battle with hardliners trying to undermine President Hassan Rouhani's overtures to the West. 

Zarif, who is Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, caused uproar among hardline conservatives in Iran when he called the Holocaust a "horrifying tragedy" in an interview with a German television station earlier this year.
 
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Auschwitz Hit by Thefts and Vandalism

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

The Auschwitz museum has been hit recently with a wave of theft and vandalism, with visitors scratching messages on the walls and taking "souvenirs" from the most notorious Nazi extermination camp, the British Telegraph reported on Monday.

Visitors have scratched messages onto bed bunks used by the camp's prisoners, including etching their names with the tag "was here" onto walls and furniture, according to the Telegraph. One visitor even noted "I had a smoke here." 

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Ukrainian Jews Immigrating to Israel to Escape Conflict

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com:

As tensions between Kiev and Moscow continue rising in eastern Ukraine, about 20 olim from Ukraine arrived at Ben Gurion Airport earlier this week.

Dozens of others are expected to arrive in the next two months as part of an operation organized by the Jewish Agency and the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ). 

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Nazi-looted Art Hoarder Dies

FSWC Reports:

From The Globe and Mail:

Cornelius Gurlitt, a reclusive German collector whose long-secret hoard of well over 1,000 artworks triggered an international uproar over the fate of art looted by the Nazis, died Tuesday. He was 81.

Gurlitt’s spokesman, Stephan Holzinger, said that the collector died at his apartment in Munich, where he had asked to return after being hospitalized for major heart surgery. He was “in nursing care and taken care of in recent weeks around the clock,” Holzinger said.

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Monday 5 May 2014

Report: Internet Attacks Against Czech Jews on the Rise

FSWC Reports:

From the Associated Press:

A new study by Prague's Jewish community released on Monday registered a significant increase of attacks against Jews on the Internet for the second straight year.

The annual report on anti-Semitism said the number of Internet attacks, including texts, photos and videos, jumped to 156 in 2013 from 82 in 2012.

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Russian Report Accuses "Neo-Nazis" of Human Rights Violations, Including Attacks on Jews

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

The Russian government published an 80-page report on Monday detailing "widespread and gross human rights violations" in Ukraine over the past six months for which it blamed the new government and its Western allies.

With Kiev and the West accusing Moscow of sowing unrest in order to extend control of its ex-Soviet neighbor after the annexation of Crimea, the report, published online in English, was the latest salvo in an information war in which Russia says its adversaries are Ukrainian fascists who took power in a coup against the Kremlin-backed elected president, Viktor Yanukovich.
 
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Russia's Putin Outlaws Denial of Nazi Crimes During WWII.

FSWC Reports:

From Reuters:

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday making the denial of Nazi crimes and distortion of the Soviet Union's role in the World War Two a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in jail.

The law, described by critics as an attempt to curb freedom of expression to appease conservative Russians, the ex-KGB spy's main support base, also criminalizes the public desecration of war memorials.
 
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Antisemitic Graffiti Sprayed on Cars and Buildings in Mostly Jewish New York City Neighbourhood

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com and the Associated Press:

A former New York City police officer was arrested Sunday for spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti on cars and buildings in a mostly Jewish Brooklyn neighborhood.

Michael Setiawan was picked up after police received a call on Saturday evening about the swastikas and other anti-Semitic vandalism in Borough Park. 

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Sunday 4 May 2014

Belgium "Hatefest" Dispersed by Police

FSWC Reports:

From ynetnews.com with contributions from AFP and Reuters:

Police used water cannon on Sunday to disperse a crowd after authorities banned a rally in Brussels that a French comedian accused of anti-Semitism was due to address.

Eric Tomas, mayor of the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht, told Reuters he had issued an order prohibiting the "First European Dissidents' Congress" scheduled to be held in the area on Sunday because there was a clear risk of a disturbance to public order.

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Thursday 1 May 2014

Israel Protests Article Written by Former Jordanian Foreign Minister Quoting Hitler's "Mein Kampf"

FSWC Reports:

From AFP via ynetnews.com:

Israel summoned Jordan's ambassador Thursday to protest an "anti-Israeli" article by a former Jordanian foreign minister, in which he based his argument on a Hitler quote, the foreign ministry said.

Spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel's embassy in Amman also sent the Foreign Ministry there an official protest over an article published on Monday by Kamel Abu Jaber in The Jordan Times.

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