Germany to Step Up Efforts to Combat Anti-Semitism

Germany’s lower house of parliament on Thursday voted to step up efforts to combat anti-Semitism and called for the creation of a new government post to oversee the issue, backed by an independent panel of experts. The proposal was jointly introduced and backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the pro-business […]

Polish President Denounces Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia and Racism Following Far-Right March

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday there was no place in Poland for xenophobia, anti-Semitism and “sick nationalism”, denouncing hate speech at a nationalist march in Warsaw in comments later echoed by ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.   Jewish groups have called on the Polish authorities to condemn the message of banners with slogans […]

Philadelphia Jewish cemetery desecrated by vandals

About 100 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia have been knocked over, police said on Sunday, in the latest apparent vandalism incident at a Jewish burial ground in the United States. A Mount Carmel Cemetery visitor called police on Sunday morning to say the gravestones of three of his relatives had been toppled, police […]

Bucharest mayoral candidate outed as Holocaust denier

A mayoral candidate in the upcoming Bucharest election had denied Romania’s complicity in the Holocaust in a 1994 news article. Marian Munteanu now of the National Liberal Party (PNL), had founded the ultra-Christian and nationalist Movement for Romania (Mişcarea pentru România) in 1991. The accusations surfaced in their newspaper ‘Mişcarea’ in June 1994. The party foleded in 1996 as Munteanu pursued other interests. He denied that Romania had experienced an anti-Jewish Holocaust and the 400,000 deaths were no more than a ‘deeply flawed assessment’. Much of Romania’s Holocaust denial concerns the actions of Nazi collaborator General Ion Antonescu. His antisemitism is, however, without question. In a 1941 session of the Council of Ministers he said: “I give the mob complete license to massacre [the Jews]. I will withdraw to my fortress, and after the slaughter, I will restore order.” Antonescu ordered pogroms and the closure of all ‘Jewish communist cafes’. The repressive regime had proved one of Hitler’s most consistent allies during the Second World War. General Antonescu had met with Hitler in 1943 to reassure him of Romania’s unconditional support. Romania and other Axis allies were part of the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Odessa, a city [...]

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UN Secretary-General condemns rising anti-Muslim and anti-refugee bigotry

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the divisive myth-making of the far-right and the growing hostility towards Muslims,refugees, Jewish communities and other minorities. His remarks at a General Assembly meeting marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21. This growing hostility and violence is ‘manifested most directly in anti-refugee, anti-migrant and, in particular, anti-Muslim bigotry, attacks and violence’. As moderate parties harden their positions and far-right parties sow division. The Secretary-General’s grave tone bore the weight of Europe’s violent history. As the anti-refugee rhetoric mirrored ‘the darkest chapters of the last century’. Ban Ki-moon spoke a universal and pluralistic truth: that ‘an assault on one minority community is an attack on all’. And that requires us to speak out against antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and other forms of hate. This year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also focuses on the challenges and achievements of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action promised a robust response to racism. Ratified in 2001, the framework raised concerns about growing antisemitism and Islamophobia. Point 150 “Calls upon States, in opposing all forms of racism, to recognize the need to counter anti-Semitism, [...]

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Pope Francis to visit Auschwitz death camp in July

Pope Francis will visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in July, as part of World Youth Day. This trip coincides with his five day trip to Poland, arriving on July 27 and departing July 31. Pope John Paul II, himself Polish, became the first pope to visit the camp. Benedict XVI visited in 2006. The US Holocaust Museum estimates that the SS had murdered at least 960,000 of the 1.1m Jews deported to the camp. Of the 23,000 Romani, the Nazis murdered 21,000. Other victims included 15,000 Poles, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war. And 10-15,000 members of other nationalities perished (including Czechs, Yugoslavs, Germans, Austrians and French). On June 7, 1979, Pope John II made a five-hour visit to the camp. He prayed before a stone crucifix in memory of the Catholic priest Maksymilian Kolbe, prisoner number 16670, who the SS murdered in 1941. Kolbe volunteered to die, so Franciszek Gajowniczek, a father of five might live. Gajowniczek, the Polish army sargeant had been chosen to die in an Auschwitz dungeon called the “hunger bunker,” after a prisoner had escaped. Kolbe pleaded, ‘I want to take the place of this man. He has a wife and a family. I have no one. [...]

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Soldiers of Odin UK seek new recruits for its street patrols

A far-right chapter of the anti-Islam group Soldiers of Odin has called for volunteers to join its street patrols. The Facebook page Soldiers of Odin UK South Division wants to extend patrols this weekend. Cities earmarked for patrols include Bristol, Plymouth and South London. Online posts promote community and loyalty. The group denies holding racist

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Vandals daub swastikas and racist slogans on Jewish and Muslim graves in Austria

Vandals daubed swastikas and anti-migrant slogans on Muslim and Jewish graves over the weekend in western Austria. The perpetrators targeted the graves and building of a Jewish cemetery in the town of Hohenems, near the Swiss border. Police sources confirmed that swastikas appeared on its walls. Swastikas and racist graffiti also appeared at a Muslim cemetery in the nearby municipality of Altach. Police are linking this case to an earlier spate of vandalism against a refugee hostel and Jewish museum two weeks ago. Swastikas appeared on walls of the Jewish district, including the Jewish museum. The phrase “Stop the asylum flood” appeared on a refugee hostel. Hohenems mayor, Richard Amman, had recently received a letter from far-right extremists. He is also in a legal battle over the disputed mayoral elections with a candidate from the far-right Freedom Party (FPO). The FPO had claimed victory with 43.3 per cent; but a runoff secured Amman’s election with the smallest of margins. Back in Feburary, swastikas were daubed on the walls of a Vienna mosque,  as Austria prepared for its official Pegida-inspired march. Other recent incidents of Islamophobia and antisemitsm in Austria included an assault on two Jewish men, which included shouts of [...]

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Spectator is Simply Wrong on This. Anti-Muslim Hate (vs) Anti-Semitism is Not a Competition

Do media outlets and leftists care more about Islamophobia than antisemitism? Brendan O’Neill made the case in a recent Spectator column; yet the article is a rather lazy and divisive argument. There is a fundamental problem with O’Neill’s point that media outlets ignored the larger increase in antisemitic hate crime in London. He ignored the

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“Muhammad is a Pig,” Shout Hardline Jews at Arab Palestinians in Old City

The Haram Al-Sharif or the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome and the Rock mosque continue to be flashpoints as hard-line and increasingly extreme actions by some Jewish groups inflame tensions and passions in the Old City in Jerusalem. Today, it was reported that hard-line Jewish groups were involved in agitating the very fragile peace […]