By Elizabeth Kendal
This post updates the earlier post:
Anti-Semitism rises as Neo-Nazis hijack 'Euromaidan'
By Elizabeth Kendal for Religious Liberty Monitoring, 6 Feb 2014
Neo-Nazis get senior posts in new government
Svoboda -- formerly known as the Social National Party of Ukraine (the symbol of which was the neo-Nazi wolfsangel) -- is an anti-Russian, anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi party. In the 2012 elections, Svoboda gained ten percent of the vote and secured 37 parliamentary seats. It also rose to play a prominent, leading role in the Euromaidan protests in Kiev. The Svoboda flag uses the colours of the Ukrainian flag: blue with a yellow three-finger salute.
Established in 2013, the Right Sector is an umbrella organisation bringing together a number of ultra-nationalist paramilitary groups, including the Patriots of Ukraine, Trizub, SNA, UNA-UNSO and White Hammer. Many of these hardline nationalist street fighters have been training for armed revolution in Ukraine for years.
The paramilitary known as Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self Defense (UNA-UNSO) dress in uniforms modelled on Hitler's Waffen SS and have been fighting Russia for years, including in Chechnya.
Appointments
Oleksandr Sych: appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Sych is a member of Svoboda Party.
Andriy Parubiy: appointed Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council. Parubiy founded the Social National Party of Ukraine which went on to become Svoboda. Parubiy will oversee national security.
Dmytro Yarosh: appointed Deputy Secretary of National Security. Yarosh leads the Right Sector and served as "security commandant" during the Euromaidan protests.
Dmytro Bulatov: appointed Minster for Youth and Sports. Bulatov is reportedly connected to UNA-UNSO.
Tetyana Chernovol: appointed chair of the government's anti-corruption committee. An activist journalist, Chernovol is reportedly connected to UNA-UNSO.
Andriy Mokhnyk: appointed Minister for Ecology. Mokhnyk is the deputy head of Svoboda.
Ihor Shvaika: appointed Minister for Agriculture. Shvaika is a member of Svoboda.
Oleh Makhnitsky: appointed acting prosecutor general. Makhnitsky is a member of Svoboda.
First post-revolution legislative action
The new parliament's first post-revolution legislative action was to repeal the law "On State Language Policy" -- a law passed in 2012 that allowed the use of "regional languages" -- including Russian, Hungarian, Romanian and Tatar -- in courts and certain government functions in areas of the country where such speakers constituted at least 10 percent of the population. Thirteen out of Ukraine's 27 regions, primarily in Eastern Ukraine, subsequently adopted Russian as a second official language, while two western regions introduced Romanian and Hungarian as official languages. The annulment, which left Ukrainian as the only official language of Ukraine, was a direct attack on the cultural and linguistic rights of the Russian-speaking minority. After the European Parliament protested, demanding the new Ukrainian regime respect the rights of minorities, Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov (a Baptist) vetoed the repeal. The episode sent alarm bells ringing through the ethnic minorities.
Further to this, moves are afoot to overturn a law that forbids "denying or excusing the crimes of fascism".
As noted in the earlier post, some 1.7 million Jews were shot in Ukraine during WWII under supervision of the Nazis. In 2010, Ukraine's then US-backed President Viktor Yushchenko pronounced World War II-era nationalist leader Stepan Bandera a national hero. (Bandera was an ally of Nazi Germany whose followers participated in massacres of Ukrainian Jews.)
On 1 Jan 2014, some 1500 Euromaidan protesters marched in a Svoboda-run torchlight procession in honour of Bandera.
What makes this Reuters photograph so profoundly disturbing is the fact that the Bandera-honouring, Svoboda flag-bearing marchers are not scary skinheads; they are families and priests. [NB:The red and black flag represents an ultra-nationalist paramilitary. ]
Here is another disturbing photograph from the blog: Revolution A Euromaidan protest with Svoboda flags everywhere and anti-Semitism on open display.
Meanwhile, as if totally blind and brain dead, Western media just brushes this off as scaremongering and propaganda. Some media has even reported that there is no evidence of anti-Semitism rising in Kiev.
"It doesn't help Ukraine to be selective and ignore this problem."
Pers Anders Rudling, extremism expert
Below I have listed some alternative analysis to help counter the Russophobic scaremongering and propaganda being peddled by the EU-US-influenced mainstream media.
In closing -- some food for thought.
Peter Lee writes: "It seems America needs monsters to fight, and if they don't exist, we invent them." (Asia Times online, 4 March)
But, considering that America and Europe do have monsters to fight -- why are they so keen to create a new and different one? Are they looking for a diversion?
Islamic terrorism has multiplied massively since 9/11 (2001). Terror training bases have proliferated -- in Pakistan, Bosnia, Somalia, the Margreb, northern Iraq, eastern Syria just to name a few. Amongst those being trained for jihad and terror are youths with European and American passports. Meanwhile, Europeans are staring down the barrel of Islamisation and intifada. So why are Europe and America so keen to make Russia the enemy?
Russia is not the enemy!
This is all a distraction, a pointless, dangerous distraction.
ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS
Ukraine's Mess: Made in the EU
by Peter Martino, 3 March 2014
Gatestone Institute
Ukraine Transition Government: Neo-Nazis in Control of Armed Forces, National Security, Economy, Justice and Education
By Greg Rose, Global Research, 2 March 2014
How the far-right took top posts in Ukraine's power vacuum
In the new Ukrainian government politicians linked to the far-right have taken posts from deputy prime minister to head of defence.
5 March 2014, Channel 4
Why is the Mainstream Media Ignoring the Rabid Anti-Semitism of the New Ukraine Government?
By Michael Snyder, Global Research, 5 March 2014
Putin's army salutes a Nulandized Kiev
By Peter Lee, Asia Times online, 4 March 2014
Reading Putin's mind over Crimea
By Mikhail A Molchanov, Speaking Freely, Asia Times online, 6 march 2014
$1 Million From Interfaith Group To Aid Ukraine Jews Amid Turmoil
Community on edge as parliament installs interim leader.
By Talia Lavin and Cnaan Liphshiz, 25 Feb 2014
-------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Understanding Religious Liberty
Most Westerners simply don't appreciate the degree to which their freedoms are intrinsically linked to Judeo-Christian culture. Nor do they appreciate the degree to which that culture is dependent upon a Biblical foundation. Consider this as an illustration: Judeo-Christian culture is a tree that grows out of Biblical soil and religious freedom is a fruit of that tree.
Throughout history, whenever a Judeo-Christian community has stopped attending to its Biblical foundation, the culture has declined and its fruits have failed. The only way to restore the fruits is to revive the culture. And the only way to revive the culture is to attend to the foundations.
Religious freedom was integral to the Protestant Reformation (1517). The Reformation not only advanced Biblical truth but the right of individuals to read it in their own language (championed in London by John Wycliffe as early as 1377) and exercise it without persecution. Britain and America's historic human rights advocacy and missionary endeavours have been the fruits of a dynamic post-Reformation Protestant culture that promoted and drew on the Bible.
Rip the foundations away, however, and the tree and its fruit go with it. Even if the foundations are slowly and subversively eroded, the tree eventually withers and dies as its roots cannot provide sustenance or stability. And everyone knows that a transplanted tree will not successfully take root, grow and fruit unless the soil is good in the first place. Furthermore, the post-Reformation Protestant culture of Christian liberty is so dynamic that unless that soil is right and good it will not be able to sustain or support it. Even when the soil is right and good, if the roots are withered through neglect and drought, renewal of the plant through the restoration of its root system will only be possible through considerable struggle and long-term diligent care.
This is the situation facing the UK, northern Europe, and to a lesser extent the USA. Foundations long neglected are being both subversively eroded and openly demolished, for Western political elites determined some time ago (undemocratically) that evolution mandates a transition to a 'post-Christian' culture. Therefore renovations are in order.
However, it is coming as a shock to many to learn that 'fruits' long taken for granted -- such as religious liberty, benevolence, restraint and 'manners' -- are withering and disappearing before their very eyes. It is also coming as a shock to many in the demolition crew that they do not have control of the situation. For before they even get a chance to build their utopia, other builders with stakes in the game are moving in as soon as a space opens up. And these new builders (some very dangerous) are winning hearts and minds amongst Europe's identity-challenged youth.
'Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die.' (Revelation 3:2a ESV)
Only through the LORD can the Church have the strength to "turn back the battle at the gate" (Isaiah 28:6b) .
----------------
This article is an edited excerpt from the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 051 entitled UK: UNDERSTANDING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (14 April 2010)
Throughout history, whenever a Judeo-Christian community has stopped attending to its Biblical foundation, the culture has declined and its fruits have failed. The only way to restore the fruits is to revive the culture. And the only way to revive the culture is to attend to the foundations.
Religious freedom was integral to the Protestant Reformation (1517). The Reformation not only advanced Biblical truth but the right of individuals to read it in their own language (championed in London by John Wycliffe as early as 1377) and exercise it without persecution. Britain and America's historic human rights advocacy and missionary endeavours have been the fruits of a dynamic post-Reformation Protestant culture that promoted and drew on the Bible.
Rip the foundations away, however, and the tree and its fruit go with it. Even if the foundations are slowly and subversively eroded, the tree eventually withers and dies as its roots cannot provide sustenance or stability. And everyone knows that a transplanted tree will not successfully take root, grow and fruit unless the soil is good in the first place. Furthermore, the post-Reformation Protestant culture of Christian liberty is so dynamic that unless that soil is right and good it will not be able to sustain or support it. Even when the soil is right and good, if the roots are withered through neglect and drought, renewal of the plant through the restoration of its root system will only be possible through considerable struggle and long-term diligent care.
This is the situation facing the UK, northern Europe, and to a lesser extent the USA. Foundations long neglected are being both subversively eroded and openly demolished, for Western political elites determined some time ago (undemocratically) that evolution mandates a transition to a 'post-Christian' culture. Therefore renovations are in order.
However, it is coming as a shock to many to learn that 'fruits' long taken for granted -- such as religious liberty, benevolence, restraint and 'manners' -- are withering and disappearing before their very eyes. It is also coming as a shock to many in the demolition crew that they do not have control of the situation. For before they even get a chance to build their utopia, other builders with stakes in the game are moving in as soon as a space opens up. And these new builders (some very dangerous) are winning hearts and minds amongst Europe's identity-challenged youth.
'Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die.' (Revelation 3:2a ESV)
Only through the LORD can the Church have the strength to "turn back the battle at the gate" (Isaiah 28:6b) .
----------------
This article is an edited excerpt from the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 051 entitled UK: UNDERSTANDING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (14 April 2010)
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Anti-Semitism in the EU, and the EU response to it.
Date: Wednesday 14 April 2004
Subj: Anti-Semitism in the EU, and the EU response to it.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
------------------------------------
ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE EU
- and the EU response to it.
------------------------------------
The European Union (EU) still appears unwilling to acknowledge the findings of its own reports. Last year the EU-sponsored report into anti-Semitism in the EU was shelved, citing data collection irregularities, after it reported that the majority of anti-Semitic attacks were being perpetrated by Muslim youths. A new report was commissioned. However this produced the same conclusion that Muslim youths are increasingly responsible for anti-Semitic violence in the EU.
This year the language was softened and the issue of the identity of the perpetrators was either avoided or smoothly glossed over. The report states, "It is not any more the extreme right that is mainly responsible for hostility towards Jewish individuals and property. Varying proportions of victims of hostility classified perpetrators to be 'young Muslims', 'people of North African origin', and 'immigrants'". Yet this finding is written-off with a reminder that this is merely the victims' "perception" and cannot be verified, certainly not on official records. (Executive Summary, page 25; Conclusions, page 319.)
The EU Monitoring Centre for Xenophobia and Racism (EUMC) released to the media a 22-page summary that actually presented a contradictory finding. Hence media across the world have reported that the perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts in the EU are primarily "young, disaffected white Europeans" - the opposite of the actual finding of the report. This false reporting is deeply troubling.
Anti-Semitic attitudes and attacks are escalating at an alarming rate, while those who disseminate anti-Semitism and fuel or perpetrate anti-Semitic acts are being protected with a cloak of invisibility. This must end, because impunity equals permission, and if anti-Semitic attacks are permitted to escalate at this rate then the future looks truly horrifying - like something we vowed we would never let happen again.
----------------------------------
BLATANT FALSE REPORTING
The EU-commissioned report entitled "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002-2003", by the EU Monitoring Centre for Xenophobia and Racism (EUMC) was released in late March 2004. (Link 1)
The 22-page summary released to the media states, ". there has been an increase in antisemitic incidents in five EU countries, (Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK). These incidents ranged from hate mail to arson. In some other countries there has been little evidence of increase in antisemitism. Although it is not easy to generalise, the largest group of the perpetrators of antisemitic activities appears to be young, disaffected white Europeans. A further source of antisemitism in some countries was young Muslims of North African or Asian extraction. Traditionally antisemitic groups on the extreme right played a part in stirring opinion."
Generally speaking, the world's media took this and ran with it, seemingly ignorant of the fact that it contradicted both reality and the EUMC report itself.
The BBC reported (Wednesday 31 March 2004) "Attacks against Jews in Europe have sharply increased, says a report by a European anti-racism watchdog. The study singles out Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain, where it says the rise in anti-Semitism has been of particular concern. Other countries, including Ireland and Portugal, showed little sign of any rise in attacks, the report says.
"It identifies 'young, disaffected white Europeans' as the key culprits followed by North African or Asian Muslims."
On 1 April, The Hindu published an article entitled, "White males blamed for attacks on EU Jews." It stated: "Brussels, April 1. (GUARDIAN NEWS SERVICE): Attacks on Jews have increased in five EU countries in the last two years with white males rather than Muslims being blamed for many of them, according to a report published yesterday.
"The study by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) contrasted with the controversial findings of research carried out in Berlin last year, which said young Arabs and Muslims were mainly responsible for rising anti-semitism."
JEWISH GROUPS OUTRAGED
Jonathan Fisk commented on 1 April, "A long-awaited report on European anti-Semitism confirms that it is a growing problem across the continent - but dances around the politically sensitive question of who is responsible. The 344-page report by the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia, or EUMC, details a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and England. Physical assaults are absent or rare in Greece, Austria, Italy and Spain, the report found, but anti-Semitic discourse is virulent there as well.
"Those findings are unlikely to surprise observers who have watched a rash of anti-Semitic outbursts spread across Europe since the Palestinian intifada began in September 2000.
"More surprising was the almost passing reference made to the perpetrators. Newer actors such as immigrant Muslim youth are mentioned in the report, but an EUMC press release accompanying the report sought to highlight the role of more traditional sources of anti-Semitism, such as far-right groups and skinheads." (Link 2)
Regarding the contradictory statements made in the media summary, Jonathan Fisk quotes Elan Steinberg, executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress as protesting, "After the scandal of the previous report, the EUMC has compiled an impressive quantitative analysis that shows an unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism in Europe. But they studiously avoid going into the causes of the anti-Semitism; you're almost left with the impression that it occurred from outer space. It's an intellectual whitewash and an instance of moral cowardice."
Fisk also quotes Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary general of the European Jewish Congress, "It's contradictory that the EUMC puts an emphasis on 'white, right-wing perpetrators,' whereas the report reveals that the majority of attacks in most countries are committed by young Muslims of North African origin. How can we effectively fight anti-Semitism when we refuse to identify the true perpetrators?"
ARAB ANTI-SEMITISM
A brilliant Special Report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) entitled "What is Arab Antisemitism?" draws this conclusion: "Arab antisemitism must be closely monitored and its many manifestations translated and exposed, in the hope that exposure will lead to international protests and diplomatic pressure on the states guilty of propagating it."
This MEMRI report is highly recommended for anyone wanting to understand contemporary Arab anti-Semitism.
MEMRI "What Is Arab Antisemitism?"
By Menahem Milson, 27 February 2004
Another excellent summary and analysis is by the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity (ISIC - an arm of the Barnabas Fund). ISIC Briefing 12 November 2003
"Mahathir Mohamad and Muslim Antisemitism."
-------------------------------------------
After all the Country Reports, Part 2 of the EUMC "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002-2003" report focuses on "Evaluation of National EUMC-RAXEN Data on Antisemitism". The Conclusions are detailed from pages 318-326.
THE EUMC RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS AND ISSUES
On page 319 we read, "There is evidence to support the view that there is a link between the number of reported antisemitic incidents and the political situation in the Middle East." This is of course a simple observation.
On page 323 however, we read, "Another topical issue with regard to contemporary antisemitism is the influence of the crisis in the Middle East on both attitudes towards Jews and hostile acts directed against Jews."
This statement comes without qualification or explanation and is therefore contemptible. Such an unqualified statement subtly implies, or yields to the propaganda, that "the crisis in the Middle East" is responsible for anti-Semitic attitudes and hostility and may even therefore ultimately justify them.
It is well known that the situation in the Middle East is regularly used as an excuse for anti-Semitic attitudes and actions. However it should be noted that we are not seeing evidence that Palestinian and Arab Islamist terrorism against Israeli civilians in the Middle East is producing hateful, aggressive, violent and destructive Jews in the EU (and we don't expect to). So to blame "the crisis in the Middle East" is quite unfair and misdirected. As far as the Middle East goes, it is anti-Semitism that is an obstacle to peace, not the other way around.
Likewise, we read in the Executive Summary, "What should not be considered as antisemitic and therefore does not have to be monitored under the heading 'antisemitism' is hostility towards Israel as 'Israel' i.e. as a country that is criticised for its concrete policies."
This is a very delicate area. It is often said that Jews worldwide are hostages to Israeli policies (which are by implication bad). I fear however that the real situation is that Israel is hostage to pervasive and widespread anti-Semitism.
It is this anti-Semitism that denies Israel the right to exist and defend herself. It is this anti-Semitism that will, without making any demands on any Arab leaders, make Israel the Middle East's, and even the world's scapegoat. Through this anti-Semitism Israel is demonised and contempt for her is then used to justify the expression of anti-Semitic attitudes and acts.
Some criticisms of Israeli government policies (standing out as they do against a background of silence regarding Arab policies) are rational and reasonable - most however, are not. They are pure anti-Semitism dressed up in political garb.
------------------------
Serious questions were raised on page 323 under the main heading,
"Proposals for Data Collection and Research".
The report states that there are two separate manifestations of anti-Semitism:
1) "ideological and symbolic antisemitism as represented in political and media discourses, literature and public attitudes towards Jews";
2) "concrete incidents directed against individual Jews or Jewish organisations".
The reports then questions whether these two manifestations are connected or related. The report states that the issue needing to be addressed is "how far these two strands are dependant or independent from each other".
The report then acknowledges that the EUMC report has not examined "the motivations of the perpetrators and the relationship between their acts and antisemitic attitudes and ideology".
The EUMC should certainly be encouraged to examine the ideology and motivations of the perpetrators. They should do this through independent research and analysis, not by seeking statements from Islamic and Arab propagandists. This may however result in another report that will be shelved for its lack of political correctness.
The EUMC might like to start by examining the educational materials used in Islamic schools in the EU, especially Saudi-funded schools, and Saudi-produced and disseminated Islamic educational materials.
The EUMC might also like to examine the virulent anti-Semitism being disseminated through Arab broadcasting and Arab Internet sites (for example, Link 3) including those of Arab Embassies (most of which have links to the Saudi government's Islamic Affairs Department).
Examination should be made of the rabid anti-Semitism preached from many mosques, especially Saudi-funded, Saudi-established mosques through out the EU.
If the EUMC does conduct such research, they might find that a poisonous anti-Semitism is infesting Europe's airwaves, Muslim communities, Islamic schools and media, creating and feeding antisemitic hate and directly and indirectly provoking antisemitic acts.
Antisemitism is a serious issue that requires a serious response. All must have equality before the law.
---------------------
Finally, here is an interesting article on immigration, demographics, the radicalisation of Europe's Muslims and the short-sighted attempts by European leaders to appease them. These things do help explain the rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic acts in the EU, especially in states with higher levels of Arab Muslim immigration.
--------------------
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002-2003"
by the EU Monitoring Centre (EUMC) for Xenophobia and Racism.
http://eumc.eu.int/eumc/index.php
2) Report notes rise in anti-Semitism, but blurs question of
responsibility
by Jonathan Fisk, JTA, 12 April 2004
http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/news/lateststories/?disp_feature=5P8lNz.var
3) Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
"Former Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee Head Sets Out the Jews' 20 Bad
Traits As Described in the Qur'an" - for an on-line chat room on 22
March 2004.
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD69104
Subj: Anti-Semitism in the EU, and the EU response to it.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
------------------------------------
ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE EU
- and the EU response to it.
------------------------------------
The European Union (EU) still appears unwilling to acknowledge the findings of its own reports. Last year the EU-sponsored report into anti-Semitism in the EU was shelved, citing data collection irregularities, after it reported that the majority of anti-Semitic attacks were being perpetrated by Muslim youths. A new report was commissioned. However this produced the same conclusion that Muslim youths are increasingly responsible for anti-Semitic violence in the EU.
This year the language was softened and the issue of the identity of the perpetrators was either avoided or smoothly glossed over. The report states, "It is not any more the extreme right that is mainly responsible for hostility towards Jewish individuals and property. Varying proportions of victims of hostility classified perpetrators to be 'young Muslims', 'people of North African origin', and 'immigrants'". Yet this finding is written-off with a reminder that this is merely the victims' "perception" and cannot be verified, certainly not on official records. (Executive Summary, page 25; Conclusions, page 319.)
The EU Monitoring Centre for Xenophobia and Racism (EUMC) released to the media a 22-page summary that actually presented a contradictory finding. Hence media across the world have reported that the perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts in the EU are primarily "young, disaffected white Europeans" - the opposite of the actual finding of the report. This false reporting is deeply troubling.
Anti-Semitic attitudes and attacks are escalating at an alarming rate, while those who disseminate anti-Semitism and fuel or perpetrate anti-Semitic acts are being protected with a cloak of invisibility. This must end, because impunity equals permission, and if anti-Semitic attacks are permitted to escalate at this rate then the future looks truly horrifying - like something we vowed we would never let happen again.
----------------------------------
BLATANT FALSE REPORTING
The EU-commissioned report entitled "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002-2003", by the EU Monitoring Centre for Xenophobia and Racism (EUMC) was released in late March 2004. (Link 1)
The 22-page summary released to the media states, ". there has been an increase in antisemitic incidents in five EU countries, (Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK). These incidents ranged from hate mail to arson. In some other countries there has been little evidence of increase in antisemitism. Although it is not easy to generalise, the largest group of the perpetrators of antisemitic activities appears to be young, disaffected white Europeans. A further source of antisemitism in some countries was young Muslims of North African or Asian extraction. Traditionally antisemitic groups on the extreme right played a part in stirring opinion."
Generally speaking, the world's media took this and ran with it, seemingly ignorant of the fact that it contradicted both reality and the EUMC report itself.
The BBC reported (Wednesday 31 March 2004) "Attacks against Jews in Europe have sharply increased, says a report by a European anti-racism watchdog. The study singles out Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain, where it says the rise in anti-Semitism has been of particular concern. Other countries, including Ireland and Portugal, showed little sign of any rise in attacks, the report says.
"It identifies 'young, disaffected white Europeans' as the key culprits followed by North African or Asian Muslims."
On 1 April, The Hindu published an article entitled, "White males blamed for attacks on EU Jews." It stated: "Brussels, April 1. (GUARDIAN NEWS SERVICE): Attacks on Jews have increased in five EU countries in the last two years with white males rather than Muslims being blamed for many of them, according to a report published yesterday.
"The study by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) contrasted with the controversial findings of research carried out in Berlin last year, which said young Arabs and Muslims were mainly responsible for rising anti-semitism."
JEWISH GROUPS OUTRAGED
Jonathan Fisk commented on 1 April, "A long-awaited report on European anti-Semitism confirms that it is a growing problem across the continent - but dances around the politically sensitive question of who is responsible. The 344-page report by the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia, or EUMC, details a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and England. Physical assaults are absent or rare in Greece, Austria, Italy and Spain, the report found, but anti-Semitic discourse is virulent there as well.
"Those findings are unlikely to surprise observers who have watched a rash of anti-Semitic outbursts spread across Europe since the Palestinian intifada began in September 2000.
"More surprising was the almost passing reference made to the perpetrators. Newer actors such as immigrant Muslim youth are mentioned in the report, but an EUMC press release accompanying the report sought to highlight the role of more traditional sources of anti-Semitism, such as far-right groups and skinheads." (Link 2)
Regarding the contradictory statements made in the media summary, Jonathan Fisk quotes Elan Steinberg, executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress as protesting, "After the scandal of the previous report, the EUMC has compiled an impressive quantitative analysis that shows an unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism in Europe. But they studiously avoid going into the causes of the anti-Semitism; you're almost left with the impression that it occurred from outer space. It's an intellectual whitewash and an instance of moral cowardice."
Fisk also quotes Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary general of the European Jewish Congress, "It's contradictory that the EUMC puts an emphasis on 'white, right-wing perpetrators,' whereas the report reveals that the majority of attacks in most countries are committed by young Muslims of North African origin. How can we effectively fight anti-Semitism when we refuse to identify the true perpetrators?"
ARAB ANTI-SEMITISM
A brilliant Special Report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) entitled "What is Arab Antisemitism?" draws this conclusion: "Arab antisemitism must be closely monitored and its many manifestations translated and exposed, in the hope that exposure will lead to international protests and diplomatic pressure on the states guilty of propagating it."
This MEMRI report is highly recommended for anyone wanting to understand contemporary Arab anti-Semitism.
MEMRI "What Is Arab Antisemitism?"
By Menahem Milson, 27 February 2004
Another excellent summary and analysis is by the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity (ISIC - an arm of the Barnabas Fund). ISIC Briefing 12 November 2003
"Mahathir Mohamad and Muslim Antisemitism."
-------------------------------------------
After all the Country Reports, Part 2 of the EUMC "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002-2003" report focuses on "Evaluation of National EUMC-RAXEN Data on Antisemitism". The Conclusions are detailed from pages 318-326.
THE EUMC RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS AND ISSUES
On page 319 we read, "There is evidence to support the view that there is a link between the number of reported antisemitic incidents and the political situation in the Middle East." This is of course a simple observation.
On page 323 however, we read, "Another topical issue with regard to contemporary antisemitism is the influence of the crisis in the Middle East on both attitudes towards Jews and hostile acts directed against Jews."
This statement comes without qualification or explanation and is therefore contemptible. Such an unqualified statement subtly implies, or yields to the propaganda, that "the crisis in the Middle East" is responsible for anti-Semitic attitudes and hostility and may even therefore ultimately justify them.
It is well known that the situation in the Middle East is regularly used as an excuse for anti-Semitic attitudes and actions. However it should be noted that we are not seeing evidence that Palestinian and Arab Islamist terrorism against Israeli civilians in the Middle East is producing hateful, aggressive, violent and destructive Jews in the EU (and we don't expect to). So to blame "the crisis in the Middle East" is quite unfair and misdirected. As far as the Middle East goes, it is anti-Semitism that is an obstacle to peace, not the other way around.
Likewise, we read in the Executive Summary, "What should not be considered as antisemitic and therefore does not have to be monitored under the heading 'antisemitism' is hostility towards Israel as 'Israel' i.e. as a country that is criticised for its concrete policies."
This is a very delicate area. It is often said that Jews worldwide are hostages to Israeli policies (which are by implication bad). I fear however that the real situation is that Israel is hostage to pervasive and widespread anti-Semitism.
It is this anti-Semitism that denies Israel the right to exist and defend herself. It is this anti-Semitism that will, without making any demands on any Arab leaders, make Israel the Middle East's, and even the world's scapegoat. Through this anti-Semitism Israel is demonised and contempt for her is then used to justify the expression of anti-Semitic attitudes and acts.
Some criticisms of Israeli government policies (standing out as they do against a background of silence regarding Arab policies) are rational and reasonable - most however, are not. They are pure anti-Semitism dressed up in political garb.
------------------------
Serious questions were raised on page 323 under the main heading,
"Proposals for Data Collection and Research".
The report states that there are two separate manifestations of anti-Semitism:
1) "ideological and symbolic antisemitism as represented in political and media discourses, literature and public attitudes towards Jews";
2) "concrete incidents directed against individual Jews or Jewish organisations".
The reports then questions whether these two manifestations are connected or related. The report states that the issue needing to be addressed is "how far these two strands are dependant or independent from each other".
The report then acknowledges that the EUMC report has not examined "the motivations of the perpetrators and the relationship between their acts and antisemitic attitudes and ideology".
The EUMC should certainly be encouraged to examine the ideology and motivations of the perpetrators. They should do this through independent research and analysis, not by seeking statements from Islamic and Arab propagandists. This may however result in another report that will be shelved for its lack of political correctness.
The EUMC might like to start by examining the educational materials used in Islamic schools in the EU, especially Saudi-funded schools, and Saudi-produced and disseminated Islamic educational materials.
The EUMC might also like to examine the virulent anti-Semitism being disseminated through Arab broadcasting and Arab Internet sites (for example, Link 3) including those of Arab Embassies (most of which have links to the Saudi government's Islamic Affairs Department).
Examination should be made of the rabid anti-Semitism preached from many mosques, especially Saudi-funded, Saudi-established mosques through out the EU.
If the EUMC does conduct such research, they might find that a poisonous anti-Semitism is infesting Europe's airwaves, Muslim communities, Islamic schools and media, creating and feeding antisemitic hate and directly and indirectly provoking antisemitic acts.
Antisemitism is a serious issue that requires a serious response. All must have equality before the law.
---------------------
Finally, here is an interesting article on immigration, demographics, the radicalisation of Europe's Muslims and the short-sighted attempts by European leaders to appease them. These things do help explain the rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic acts in the EU, especially in states with higher levels of Arab Muslim immigration.
--------------------
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002-2003"
by the EU Monitoring Centre (EUMC) for Xenophobia and Racism.
http://eumc.eu.int/eumc/index.php
2) Report notes rise in anti-Semitism, but blurs question of
responsibility
by Jonathan Fisk, JTA, 12 April 2004
http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/news/lateststories/?disp_feature=5P8lNz.var
3) Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
"Former Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee Head Sets Out the Jews' 20 Bad
Traits As Described in the Qur'an" - for an on-line chat room on 22
March 2004.
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD69104
Thursday, April 1, 2004
Anti-Semitism escalating in Canada
Date: Thursday 1 April 2004
Subj: Anti-Semitism escalating in Canada.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
While this report on anti-Semitism is centred around incidents in and material out of Canada, it really pertains to global anti-Semitism which has, in the words of a recent Canadian report, "taken root across the globe".
---------------------------------------------------------
ANTI-SEMITISM ESCALATING IN CANADA
---------------------------------------------------------
Every year since 1982, the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada has published the "Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents" which is "a summary and analysis of reported incidents of antisemitic vandalism and harassment." (Link 1)
The Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 Introduction states:
The principal causes for concern are four-fold.
* First, it appears that ingrained prejudices based on traditional antisemitic stereotypes are re-surfacing.
* Second, antisemitic messaging is being imported into Canada from abroad, sometimes in the guise of anti-Israel propaganda, but more often in less subtle ways over the Internet or through foreign language ethnic publications.
* Third, there are indications of a cross-pollination between fringe elements in the far Right and in the far Left, which borrow freely from each other's imagery and rhetoric, as well as from the motifs of the rejectionist front of the Arab world.
* Finally, the greatest threat to the security of Jewish community institutions is no longer from the neo-Nazi groups as in the past, but rather from elements linked to international terrorist groups.
---------------------
The Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 was released in mid March 2004, just as a rash of anti-Semitic attacks left Canadians soul-searching. In a 23 March editorial comment in the Globe and Mail entitled "Anti-Semitism's stain" it was reported, "Two weekends in a row of anti-Jewish vandalism in the Toronto area have suddenly brought an age-old hatred into stomach-churning display. The vandalism has confronted the city with the problem of how to deal with a hatred that will not die.
"Vandalism falls short of physical violence, but there is a palpable threat in the sort of sinister graffiti, replete with swastikas, that were spray-painted onto the front doors or cars of 13 Jewish-owned homes, recognizable by the mezuzah, or sacred scroll, affixed to the house. This past weekend, 22 Jewish graves were desecrated, as were a synagogue, a Jewish school and even a clothing-donation box. One Jewish group says the scope of the vandalism suggests a planned campaign."
Also on 23 March, Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com) Faith and Ethics reporter Leslie Scrivener quoted Mark Webber, co-director of the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at York University, as saying that he believes the threshold of what is acceptable in conversation about Jews and Israel has been lowered. "It's more okay to be anti-Semitic - things that were perhaps thought 10 to 15 years ago are now said and done."
Lowering the bar on what is deemed unacceptable is not only immoral, it is exceedingly dangerous as the Globe and Mail editorial pointed out, "From 'polite' anti-Semitism to the ruder kind is no great distance."
The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 reported the same trend. Not only has the incidence of anti-Semitic attacks doubled in the period between 2001-2003 (and this is estimated to represent around 10% of all cases as most go unreported), but increasingly, anti-Semitism is being tolerated.
Rochelle Wilner, National President of B'nai Brith Canada told Talon News, "[Over] the past few years, the bar has been raised on what victims themselves, as well as society in general, are prepared to tolerate. A process of desensitization, both within and outside the Jewish community, has meant that what was once seen as offensive and unacceptable is now being viewed as less serious and even routine. Visibly orthodox Jews in particular have come to view such harassment as inevitable." (Link 2)
On 23 March the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada released a statement condemning anti-Semitic attacks, and affirming "the dignity of all persons", "the biblical principles to love our neighbour and to affirm justice for all people" and the Biblical calling for Christians to be peacemakers.
--------------------------------
The Audit classifies anti-Semitic acts into three main categories - harassment (anti-Jewish propaganda, abuse and threats of violence), vandalism, and violence.
Violent attacks include that of "a visibly orthodox man who was viciously attacked with a hammer on the way home from synagogue" in Toronto in February 2003. He was not robbed, but he was left with brain injuries. Also in Toronto, in November 2003, "a series of anti-Semitic bullying episodes at a local public school targeting a Jewish student culminated in a physical assault against the victim." In Montreal "a visibly orthodox Jewish woman, returning from
synagogue, was beaten up by four men" in May 2003. Also in Montreal, "an elderly Jewish woman was beaten up in a park by two female teenagers of apparent Arab origin".
In the chapter entitled "The Context", the 2003 Audit details how anti-Semitism is occurring in several contexts, including "Right wing anti-Semitism", "Anti-Semitism of the Left", and "Global
Anti-Semitism", as well as in the media, on campuses, and in academia in general.
RIGHT-WING ANTI-SEMITISM
Canadian right-wing groups are rallying around the Holocaust denier Ernst Zundal, who was deported from USA to Canada in February 2003 and is presently battling with the courts in his efforts to achieve refugee status. The 2003 Audit reports, "Nazi symbolism was the predominant motif of the reported incidents of vandalism/graffiti in 2003." Hate propaganda messages such as "We the Aryan nations. Help rid Canada of the evil influence of the Jews", is disseminated through graffiti, literature and anonymous e-mail.
The Audit also reports that in 2003, there were four reports of "music hatefests" in Canada. "The Toronto Hate Crime Police Unit reports that 'organized hate groups maintained a presence throughout the year with at least three hate rock concerts and other activities.' In the same report, the Toronto police force also notes that 'web-based hate is very popular'.
"The US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai Brith has reported that antisemitic and racist rock music is a major recruiting tool and source of funding for hate groups. It is estimated that extremist companies sell millions of dollars of hate rock CD's over the Internet. Canadians can easily purchase these CD's in the same way. Many hate group members have been drawn to White Supremacist ideologies by listening to hate rock on the Internet, on CD's and at concerts featuring groups such as Angry Aryans, Blue Eyed Devils and H8Machine, as well as the Canadian group Numbskulls.
"Web message boards run by neo-Nazi or White Supremacist groups, such as stormfront.org and its Canadian link, appear to be widely used, providing a key source of communication and recruitment."
The report concludes, "It is clear that extreme right wing groups are becoming more devious in their efforts to recruit widely and infiltrate popular culture. They take advantage of Canada's democratic traditions of free speech and expression, at the same time as they attempt to find new ways of skirting the law."
LEFT-WING ANTI-SEMITISM
The Audit reports that "anti-Jewish rhetoric [is] increasingly emanating from the far left. This trend points to a progressively radicalized anti-globalist movement joining forces with Marxist, anti-American, and anarchist elements to vilify the Jews as the root of all the world's problems.
"Evidence of this new breed of antisemitism is reflected in the findings, discussed earlier, of the European Union-commissioned report "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU" (link 3), which blamed the upsurge in anti-Jewish acts on European Muslims and the European far left. So disturbing were the EU's findings that its Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia allegedly shelved the report when it found that Muslims and pro-Palestinian groups were implicated in many of the incidents.
"It should also be noted that the EU report documented high occurrences of extreme left-wing elements employing media and antisemitic stereotyping in their criticism of Israel to get their
antisemitic message across."
THE LEFT-RIGHT ALLIANCE
The 2003 Audit examines "the convergence between historically left wing and right wing opponents", made possible by their common hatred of Jews. This is illustrated with several examples. One trend noted is for anti-globalisation rallies to have "Palestinian flags flown alongside Marxist flags, as well as Israeli flags superimposed with swastikas. At these same rallies protesters carried coffins, which displayed photographs of U.S. President George W. Bush, and/or Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and/or that of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. . Thus, seemingly disparate agendas fused into one seamless anti-Israel and anti-Jewish message."
Jim Hauser, reported on the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 for Talon News. His article, entitled "Anti-Semitism on Rise in Canada" provides an excellent overview and analysis. (Link 2)
Hauser reports that the annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents "indicates several disturbing trends including an increase in the number of 'hate rock concerts' featuring musicians espousing Nazi principles, an increase in incidents perpetrated by Canadians of Mid-East decent against Jewish citizens, and the apparent alliance between Nazi and Mid-Eastern groups in instigating orchestrated actions against Jews."
The EU report, "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU", also noted this contemporary Nazi-Arab alliance, commenting, "Since the end of the 1990s there has been a dramatic increase in the number of homepages present on the web from far-right groups and parties, which quite often also have ties to radical Islamic fundamentalists." (p 9)
The EU report also notes "Holocaust denial" thought, that plays a central role in European right-wing extremism and propaganda, becomes employable ideologically for radical Islamist groups in their struggle against Israel. "Here a learning process has taken place in which 'revisionist' thought has been adopted by some people in the Arab world." (p10)
Of course there is nothing new about the concept of a Nazi-Arab alliance. Nothing unites xenophobic white supremacists and Arab Islamists like their shared rabid hated of Jews. This of course was most eloquently depicted by the co-operative relationship between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al-Husseini (who was on the Nazi pay-role) and Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust.
GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM
Concerning Global Anti-Semitism the Audit comments, "The increasing instances of antisemitism worldwide do not occur in a vacuum, and are part and parcel of the prevailing global atmosphere that allows for such poisoned sentiment to take root.
"Today's antisemitism, characterized by its global resurgence, has spilled over into the social, political and cultural arenas of the world's nations. No longer merely a European phenomenon, antisemitism has, sadly, taken root across the globe."
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada
http://www.bnaibrith.ca/league/league.htm
2) Anti-Semitism on Rise in Canada
By Jim Hauser, Talon News, 17 March 2004
http://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/march/0317_canada_antisemitism.shtml
3) Manifestations of anti-Semitism in the European Union
First Semester 2002
Synthesis Report
Draft 20 February 2003
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D281103/eu_anti_semitism_report.rtf
Subj: Anti-Semitism escalating in Canada.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
While this report on anti-Semitism is centred around incidents in and material out of Canada, it really pertains to global anti-Semitism which has, in the words of a recent Canadian report, "taken root across the globe".
---------------------------------------------------------
ANTI-SEMITISM ESCALATING IN CANADA
---------------------------------------------------------
Every year since 1982, the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada has published the "Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents" which is "a summary and analysis of reported incidents of antisemitic vandalism and harassment." (Link 1)
The Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 Introduction states:
The principal causes for concern are four-fold.
* First, it appears that ingrained prejudices based on traditional antisemitic stereotypes are re-surfacing.
* Second, antisemitic messaging is being imported into Canada from abroad, sometimes in the guise of anti-Israel propaganda, but more often in less subtle ways over the Internet or through foreign language ethnic publications.
* Third, there are indications of a cross-pollination between fringe elements in the far Right and in the far Left, which borrow freely from each other's imagery and rhetoric, as well as from the motifs of the rejectionist front of the Arab world.
* Finally, the greatest threat to the security of Jewish community institutions is no longer from the neo-Nazi groups as in the past, but rather from elements linked to international terrorist groups.
---------------------
The Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 was released in mid March 2004, just as a rash of anti-Semitic attacks left Canadians soul-searching. In a 23 March editorial comment in the Globe and Mail entitled "Anti-Semitism's stain" it was reported, "Two weekends in a row of anti-Jewish vandalism in the Toronto area have suddenly brought an age-old hatred into stomach-churning display. The vandalism has confronted the city with the problem of how to deal with a hatred that will not die.
"Vandalism falls short of physical violence, but there is a palpable threat in the sort of sinister graffiti, replete with swastikas, that were spray-painted onto the front doors or cars of 13 Jewish-owned homes, recognizable by the mezuzah, or sacred scroll, affixed to the house. This past weekend, 22 Jewish graves were desecrated, as were a synagogue, a Jewish school and even a clothing-donation box. One Jewish group says the scope of the vandalism suggests a planned campaign."
Also on 23 March, Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com) Faith and Ethics reporter Leslie Scrivener quoted Mark Webber, co-director of the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at York University, as saying that he believes the threshold of what is acceptable in conversation about Jews and Israel has been lowered. "It's more okay to be anti-Semitic - things that were perhaps thought 10 to 15 years ago are now said and done."
Lowering the bar on what is deemed unacceptable is not only immoral, it is exceedingly dangerous as the Globe and Mail editorial pointed out, "From 'polite' anti-Semitism to the ruder kind is no great distance."
The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 reported the same trend. Not only has the incidence of anti-Semitic attacks doubled in the period between 2001-2003 (and this is estimated to represent around 10% of all cases as most go unreported), but increasingly, anti-Semitism is being tolerated.
Rochelle Wilner, National President of B'nai Brith Canada told Talon News, "[Over] the past few years, the bar has been raised on what victims themselves, as well as society in general, are prepared to tolerate. A process of desensitization, both within and outside the Jewish community, has meant that what was once seen as offensive and unacceptable is now being viewed as less serious and even routine. Visibly orthodox Jews in particular have come to view such harassment as inevitable." (Link 2)
On 23 March the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada released a statement condemning anti-Semitic attacks, and affirming "the dignity of all persons", "the biblical principles to love our neighbour and to affirm justice for all people" and the Biblical calling for Christians to be peacemakers.
--------------------------------
The Audit classifies anti-Semitic acts into three main categories - harassment (anti-Jewish propaganda, abuse and threats of violence), vandalism, and violence.
Violent attacks include that of "a visibly orthodox man who was viciously attacked with a hammer on the way home from synagogue" in Toronto in February 2003. He was not robbed, but he was left with brain injuries. Also in Toronto, in November 2003, "a series of anti-Semitic bullying episodes at a local public school targeting a Jewish student culminated in a physical assault against the victim." In Montreal "a visibly orthodox Jewish woman, returning from
synagogue, was beaten up by four men" in May 2003. Also in Montreal, "an elderly Jewish woman was beaten up in a park by two female teenagers of apparent Arab origin".
In the chapter entitled "The Context", the 2003 Audit details how anti-Semitism is occurring in several contexts, including "Right wing anti-Semitism", "Anti-Semitism of the Left", and "Global
Anti-Semitism", as well as in the media, on campuses, and in academia in general.
RIGHT-WING ANTI-SEMITISM
Canadian right-wing groups are rallying around the Holocaust denier Ernst Zundal, who was deported from USA to Canada in February 2003 and is presently battling with the courts in his efforts to achieve refugee status. The 2003 Audit reports, "Nazi symbolism was the predominant motif of the reported incidents of vandalism/graffiti in 2003." Hate propaganda messages such as "We the Aryan nations. Help rid Canada of the evil influence of the Jews", is disseminated through graffiti, literature and anonymous e-mail.
The Audit also reports that in 2003, there were four reports of "music hatefests" in Canada. "The Toronto Hate Crime Police Unit reports that 'organized hate groups maintained a presence throughout the year with at least three hate rock concerts and other activities.' In the same report, the Toronto police force also notes that 'web-based hate is very popular'.
"The US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai Brith has reported that antisemitic and racist rock music is a major recruiting tool and source of funding for hate groups. It is estimated that extremist companies sell millions of dollars of hate rock CD's over the Internet. Canadians can easily purchase these CD's in the same way. Many hate group members have been drawn to White Supremacist ideologies by listening to hate rock on the Internet, on CD's and at concerts featuring groups such as Angry Aryans, Blue Eyed Devils and H8Machine, as well as the Canadian group Numbskulls.
"Web message boards run by neo-Nazi or White Supremacist groups, such as stormfront.org and its Canadian link, appear to be widely used, providing a key source of communication and recruitment."
The report concludes, "It is clear that extreme right wing groups are becoming more devious in their efforts to recruit widely and infiltrate popular culture. They take advantage of Canada's democratic traditions of free speech and expression, at the same time as they attempt to find new ways of skirting the law."
LEFT-WING ANTI-SEMITISM
The Audit reports that "anti-Jewish rhetoric [is] increasingly emanating from the far left. This trend points to a progressively radicalized anti-globalist movement joining forces with Marxist, anti-American, and anarchist elements to vilify the Jews as the root of all the world's problems.
"Evidence of this new breed of antisemitism is reflected in the findings, discussed earlier, of the European Union-commissioned report "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU" (link 3), which blamed the upsurge in anti-Jewish acts on European Muslims and the European far left. So disturbing were the EU's findings that its Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia allegedly shelved the report when it found that Muslims and pro-Palestinian groups were implicated in many of the incidents.
"It should also be noted that the EU report documented high occurrences of extreme left-wing elements employing media and antisemitic stereotyping in their criticism of Israel to get their
antisemitic message across."
THE LEFT-RIGHT ALLIANCE
The 2003 Audit examines "the convergence between historically left wing and right wing opponents", made possible by their common hatred of Jews. This is illustrated with several examples. One trend noted is for anti-globalisation rallies to have "Palestinian flags flown alongside Marxist flags, as well as Israeli flags superimposed with swastikas. At these same rallies protesters carried coffins, which displayed photographs of U.S. President George W. Bush, and/or Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and/or that of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. . Thus, seemingly disparate agendas fused into one seamless anti-Israel and anti-Jewish message."
Jim Hauser, reported on the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2003 for Talon News. His article, entitled "Anti-Semitism on Rise in Canada" provides an excellent overview and analysis. (Link 2)
Hauser reports that the annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents "indicates several disturbing trends including an increase in the number of 'hate rock concerts' featuring musicians espousing Nazi principles, an increase in incidents perpetrated by Canadians of Mid-East decent against Jewish citizens, and the apparent alliance between Nazi and Mid-Eastern groups in instigating orchestrated actions against Jews."
The EU report, "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU", also noted this contemporary Nazi-Arab alliance, commenting, "Since the end of the 1990s there has been a dramatic increase in the number of homepages present on the web from far-right groups and parties, which quite often also have ties to radical Islamic fundamentalists." (p 9)
The EU report also notes "Holocaust denial" thought, that plays a central role in European right-wing extremism and propaganda, becomes employable ideologically for radical Islamist groups in their struggle against Israel. "Here a learning process has taken place in which 'revisionist' thought has been adopted by some people in the Arab world." (p10)
Of course there is nothing new about the concept of a Nazi-Arab alliance. Nothing unites xenophobic white supremacists and Arab Islamists like their shared rabid hated of Jews. This of course was most eloquently depicted by the co-operative relationship between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al-Husseini (who was on the Nazi pay-role) and Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust.
GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM
Concerning Global Anti-Semitism the Audit comments, "The increasing instances of antisemitism worldwide do not occur in a vacuum, and are part and parcel of the prevailing global atmosphere that allows for such poisoned sentiment to take root.
"Today's antisemitism, characterized by its global resurgence, has spilled over into the social, political and cultural arenas of the world's nations. No longer merely a European phenomenon, antisemitism has, sadly, taken root across the globe."
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada
http://www.bnaibrith.ca/league/league.htm
2) Anti-Semitism on Rise in Canada
By Jim Hauser, Talon News, 17 March 2004
http://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/march/0317_canada_antisemitism.shtml
3) Manifestations of anti-Semitism in the European Union
First Semester 2002
Synthesis Report
Draft 20 February 2003
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D281103/eu_anti_semitism_report.rtf
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Europe: Escalating Anti-Semitism
Date: Tuesday 23 July 2002
Subj: Europe: Escalating Anti-Semitism
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty E-mail Conference
From: Elizabeth Kendal, Conference Moderator
There has been a shocking surge of anti-Semitic attacks across Europe since the Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000. Anti-Semitic violence escalated further in early April 2002, corresponding with the Israeli offensive in the West Bank.
Although violence against Jews has been reported from the Ukraine to the UK, France has been the most severely hit, with some 360 anti-Semitic attacks in the first few weeks of April 2002 alone (BBC - see link below) - everything from graffiti and abuse to the firebombing of synagogues. Recent events in the UK and Italy show that the disease is continuing to spread and will not be extinguished without a decisive strategy.
-------------------------------
On 19 July, the New York Times (NYT) reported the desecration of the Jewish section of the historic Verano cemetery in Italy. In all, thirty-four graves were desecrated and one coffin was partly ripped open. According to Frank Bruni's article entitled, "Nearly 40 Jewish Graves Are Desecrated in a Rome Cemetery", it was " a chilling scene that marked the arrival in Italy of a wave of anti-Semitic attacks across Europe."
Tullia Zevi, the former president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, is quoted in the NYT article as saying, "I think it's a very complex phenomenon. Is it the old anti-Semitism which has been nurtured for centuries and reached its tragic climax in the concentration camps, or is it something that has a kind of link with the Middle East situation? Whatever the case, our civilization is somehow unable to prevent or counteract this violence." Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lamented, "Italy has a deep-rooted tradition of civility, but not even Rome is immune from the barbarity of anti-Semitism."
An Associated Press article entitled "Culprits Desecrate Jewish Tombstones", AP 18 July 2002, quoted Italian Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini as saying that the desecration "unfortunately shows that our society isn't immune from the risk of new and odious forms of anti-Semitism.'" The new anti-Semitism, he said, is "often masked by a violent criminalisation of Israel." A spokesman for Milan's Jewish community, Yasha Reibman, was also quoted as saying, "in Italy and in Europe, a new, political anti-Semitism is growing, which uses as an alibi all that's happening in Israel."
On Thursday night 11 July, vandals broke into a synagogue in Swansea, South-western Britain. Mike Whine of the Community Security Trust, which oversees security in Jewish communities, told the Associated Press, "There was a big sign saying 'T4,' which we believe is a reference to the Nazi euthanasia program in the concentration camps. Excrement was left, and there was a failed attempt to set fire to the place." According to the Associated Press report, a swastika was daubed in green paint on the rabbi's lectern, an ancient scroll was destroyed and the prayer shawls had been hurled to the floor.
The European governments have been quick to denounce anti-Semitism. On Sunday 21 July, France's Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, pledged to catch and punish anyone found complicit it anti-Semitic attacks, saying an attack on France's Jewish community is an attack on France.
Not since the end of World War II has Europe seen such aggressive anti-Semitism. The situation is complicated, with the perpetrators coming from various reaches of society - from the political far-right neo-Nazis / anti-immigrant skinheads, and from Muslim immigrants, mostly Arabs from North Africa.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC http://www.wjc.org.il ) charge that while the majority of violent anti-Semitic attacks in Europe have been perpetrated by Muslims, it is Europe's social and intellectual elites that have made Jews and the Jewish state the targets of an intense campaign of public vilification and demonising. The WJC insist that these elites have helped create the present climate where anti-Semitism (cloaked of course behind a self-righteous indignation over Israeli policy) is somehow acceptable and even justifiable. (WJC: see link below)
But surely violence and vilification against Jews is not justifiable on the grounds of Israeli aggression in the West Bank, just as violence against Arab Muslim immigrants could not be justified on the grounds of Palestinian Muslim aggression in Israel.
Once again Europe is facing a moral testing and the way this issue of rising anti-Semitism is handled will certainly direct the future of the continent that some 50 years ago said, "Never again!"
- Elizabeth Kendal
BBC: "Jews warn of rising anti-Semitism" - 23 April 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1946851.stm
The Word Jewish Congress, Policy Dispatches, number 77 - April 2002
"The 'New Antisemitism': A haunting reawakening of anti-Jewish
violence stirs memories of the Holocaust".
http://www.wjc.org.il/publications/policy_dispatches/pub_dis77.html
Subj: Europe: Escalating Anti-Semitism
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty E-mail Conference
From: Elizabeth Kendal, Conference Moderator
There has been a shocking surge of anti-Semitic attacks across Europe since the Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000. Anti-Semitic violence escalated further in early April 2002, corresponding with the Israeli offensive in the West Bank.
Although violence against Jews has been reported from the Ukraine to the UK, France has been the most severely hit, with some 360 anti-Semitic attacks in the first few weeks of April 2002 alone (BBC - see link below) - everything from graffiti and abuse to the firebombing of synagogues. Recent events in the UK and Italy show that the disease is continuing to spread and will not be extinguished without a decisive strategy.
-------------------------------
On 19 July, the New York Times (NYT) reported the desecration of the Jewish section of the historic Verano cemetery in Italy. In all, thirty-four graves were desecrated and one coffin was partly ripped open. According to Frank Bruni's article entitled, "Nearly 40 Jewish Graves Are Desecrated in a Rome Cemetery", it was " a chilling scene that marked the arrival in Italy of a wave of anti-Semitic attacks across Europe."
Tullia Zevi, the former president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, is quoted in the NYT article as saying, "I think it's a very complex phenomenon. Is it the old anti-Semitism which has been nurtured for centuries and reached its tragic climax in the concentration camps, or is it something that has a kind of link with the Middle East situation? Whatever the case, our civilization is somehow unable to prevent or counteract this violence." Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lamented, "Italy has a deep-rooted tradition of civility, but not even Rome is immune from the barbarity of anti-Semitism."
An Associated Press article entitled "Culprits Desecrate Jewish Tombstones", AP 18 July 2002, quoted Italian Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini as saying that the desecration "unfortunately shows that our society isn't immune from the risk of new and odious forms of anti-Semitism.'" The new anti-Semitism, he said, is "often masked by a violent criminalisation of Israel." A spokesman for Milan's Jewish community, Yasha Reibman, was also quoted as saying, "in Italy and in Europe, a new, political anti-Semitism is growing, which uses as an alibi all that's happening in Israel."
On Thursday night 11 July, vandals broke into a synagogue in Swansea, South-western Britain. Mike Whine of the Community Security Trust, which oversees security in Jewish communities, told the Associated Press, "There was a big sign saying 'T4,' which we believe is a reference to the Nazi euthanasia program in the concentration camps. Excrement was left, and there was a failed attempt to set fire to the place." According to the Associated Press report, a swastika was daubed in green paint on the rabbi's lectern, an ancient scroll was destroyed and the prayer shawls had been hurled to the floor.
The European governments have been quick to denounce anti-Semitism. On Sunday 21 July, France's Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, pledged to catch and punish anyone found complicit it anti-Semitic attacks, saying an attack on France's Jewish community is an attack on France.
Not since the end of World War II has Europe seen such aggressive anti-Semitism. The situation is complicated, with the perpetrators coming from various reaches of society - from the political far-right neo-Nazis / anti-immigrant skinheads, and from Muslim immigrants, mostly Arabs from North Africa.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC http://www.wjc.org.il ) charge that while the majority of violent anti-Semitic attacks in Europe have been perpetrated by Muslims, it is Europe's social and intellectual elites that have made Jews and the Jewish state the targets of an intense campaign of public vilification and demonising. The WJC insist that these elites have helped create the present climate where anti-Semitism (cloaked of course behind a self-righteous indignation over Israeli policy) is somehow acceptable and even justifiable. (WJC: see link below)
But surely violence and vilification against Jews is not justifiable on the grounds of Israeli aggression in the West Bank, just as violence against Arab Muslim immigrants could not be justified on the grounds of Palestinian Muslim aggression in Israel.
Once again Europe is facing a moral testing and the way this issue of rising anti-Semitism is handled will certainly direct the future of the continent that some 50 years ago said, "Never again!"
- Elizabeth Kendal
BBC: "Jews warn of rising anti-Semitism" - 23 April 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1946851.stm
The Word Jewish Congress, Policy Dispatches, number 77 - April 2002
"The 'New Antisemitism': A haunting reawakening of anti-Jewish
violence stirs memories of the Holocaust".
http://www.wjc.org.il/publications/policy_dispatches/pub_dis77.html