Struggle against antisemitism
21-11-2008 / Germany
Germany - Germany bans Hezbollah television station Al-Manar
Germany's Interior Ministry has banned Hezbollah's television station on grounds that it violates the country's constitution, a spokesman said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Markus Beyer said Al-Manar television programming was forbidden under Article 9 of Germany's constitution, which says that organizations cannot operate with the purpose of violating "international...19-11-2008 / Israel
Israel - Israel to boycott 'Durban II' anti-racism conference
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni announced yesterday that Israel has made a final decision to boycott the United Nations "Durban II" conference on human rights this spring, fearing it would be used once again as a forum for anti-Israeli sentiment. Ironically, this year's conference is scheduled for Holocaust Memorial Day. The World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination,...17-11-2008 / Canada
Canada - Firebomber targeting Jewish sites sentenced to 4 years in prison
A Montreal man accused of firebombing a Jewish school was sentenced to four years in prison for what a judge described as a terrorist act.
Azim Ibragimov, 25, pleaded guilty earlier this year to firebombing the Skver-Toldos Orthodox Jewish Boys School in Outremont in 2006, and attempting to attack the Snowdon YM-YWHA the following year.
He also pleaded guilty to uttering...17-11-2008 / Poland
Poland - Poland awards dozens for saving Jews during WWII
President Kaczynski honors nearly 70 Poles with state medals in recognition of their selfless efforts to save Jewish lives during Holocaust.
Dozens of Poles were awarded medals for risking their lives during World War II to save Jews from the Holocaust.
President Lech Kaczynski awarded state medals, many posthumously, to around 70 people from across Poland. First lady Maria...
15-11-2008 / Croatia
Croatia - Fair pulls antisemitic U.S. book from event
An antisemitic book by U.S. automobile pioneer Henry Ford, reprinted by Iran, was withdrawn from an international book fair in the Croatian capital.
The book, "The International Jew", first printed in the 1920s, was withdrawn from the Iranian stand at the Zagreb Interliber fair after a protest by the Israeli embassy.
Source: www.canada.com13-11-2008 / Canada
Canada - Suspect in French synagogue bombing 1980 held in Canada
Hassan Diab, Man of Palestinian origin in his 50s arrested in Quebec for suspicion of planting bomb that killed three French people, Israeli woman outside Paris synagogue in 1980. Two French judges issued an international arrest warrant against Diab earlier this month. He is suspected of making and planting the bomb that killed three French people and an Israeli woman outside a...11-11-2008 / Belgium
Belgium - Belgian PM: "We must be awakeful for a new anti-Zionism that is a hidden antisemitism"
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said "we must be wakeful for a new antisemitism sometimes too easy trivilialized, and for a new anti-Zionism that is a hidden antisemitism that in reality has not accepted the existence of the state of Israel even 60 years after its foundation."
Speaking at a dinner organized in Brussels by the European Jewish Congress (EJC) to commemorate the...11-11-2008 /
Europe- New effort launched to fight antisemitism
Every few months in Austria, vandals topple tombstones in a Jewish cemetery and spray swastikas on the headstones.
But it's not just happening here, officials warned, as Europe's top human rights body joined forces with a global Holocaust education task force to fight what they denounced as a "scourge of antisemitism" across the Continent.
"Antisemitism is still not an issue...09-11-2008 / Vatican
The Vatican - Benedict XVI remembers Kristallnacht
Benedict XVI joined Jews around the world in remembering the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass."
After reciting the Angelus together with the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope lamented the Nazi program that killed or arrested thousands of Jews and destroyed synagogues during the nights of Nov. 9-10, 1938.
After reciting the...08-11-2008 / Germany
Germany - Merkel urges fight against antisemitism on Kristallnacht eve
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Saturday, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of major anti-Jewish riots, on her compatriots to "fight with determination" against racism and antisemitism.
On the night of November 9, 1938, during what became known as Kristallancht (the night of glass), Nazi-inspired mobs destroyed some 200 synagogues, smashed countless windows and wrecked...08-11-2008 / Britain
Britain - Every school to get Holocaust specialist under anti-racism initiative
Every secondary school is to get a Holocaust specialist to ensure that the subject is taught comprehensively and sensitively. One teacher from every school will be offered a place on a Holocaust education training course to combat racism and intolerance. One in ten of those who take the course will also be able to take a master’s degree module in Holocaust education, as...07-11-2008 / Italy
Italy - The Speaker of the Senate links antisemitism and anti-zionism
The Speaker of the Senate, Renato Schifani, has claimed that "there are still too many ambiguous voices being heard, among intellectuals and in the media, over the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel". Mr. Schifani grabbed the opportunity to renew support for Israel at the inauguration of a photographic exhibition named 'Israel - 60 Years' held at the Senate Library in...05-11-2008 / Germany
Germany - Two arrested for attacking Rabbi in Berlin
Berlin police have arrested two teenagers in connection with an attack on a van carrying a Rabbi and several students. The suspects, 16- and 18-year-old males, confessed to the crime, according to news reports. Both come from families that immigrated to Germany, and at least one has roots in Lebanon. Source: www.jta.org...04-11-2008 / Germany
Germany - German parliament vows to fight antisemitism
Germany's parliament pledged to fight antisemitism and to encourage the revival of Jewish life in a resolution Tuesday ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Nazis' so-called Kristallnacht pogrom.
The lower house renewed its commitment to "counter with determination every form of anti-Jewish hatred and antisemitism." It said that "strong and varied" Jewish life enriches Germany and...03-11-2008 / United States
USA - Soldier discharged in beating of Jewish trainee
The Army says it has kicked out a soldier accused of beating a Jewish trainee at Fort Benning in Georgia.
A Fort Benning spokesman said the soldier received an administrative discharge in the beating of Pvt. Michael Handman. The spokesman declined to release the discharged soldier's name.
Handman was assaulted in September days after he complained of religious harassment...30-10-2008 / United States
USA - Parkway pledges to teach tolerance
The Parkway School Board heard from dozens of parents supportive of district officials Wednesday night at its first meeting after several sixth-graders targeted Jewish students last week.
"We are not perfect," board President Dee Mogerman told more than 100 parents at Parkway Central Middle School. "We will learn from this episode, and we will move forward together, and we will...29-10-2008 / Germany
Germany - Berlin exhibition honors Germans who helped Jews
The first exhibition commemorating Germany's "silent heroes" who helped Jews escape Nazi persecution during the Holocaust opened in Berlin.
The exhibition consists of photographs, letters and other documents from some of the 20,000 non-Jews in Germany who risked their lives giving Jews food, shelter or a place to work in the period from 1938 to 1945.
"There are many memorial...
24-10-2008 / Norway
Norway - Norway denies Irving a platform
A wave of protest has resulted in an invitation to the convicted Holocaust denier David Irving to a literary festival to take place in Lillehammer next May being withdrawn.
Irving, who was jailed in Austria and banned from entering several countries because of his claims that the gas chambers in Auschwitz were fake, was to be the inaugural speaker at the 2009 festival, the theme of...19-10-2008 / Canada
Canada - Egyptian-born writer supports Israel
Nonie Darwish has come a long way from the values that surrounded her during her childhood in Egypt.
In an interview with The Canadian Jewish News, she expanded on her presentation, discussing the personal turmoil she experienced as a young girl when her father was killed. In the early 1950s, her father, Lt.-Col. Mustafa Hafaz, was stationed in Gaza, where he led the Egyptian...15-10-2008 / Italy
Italy - National team coach in anti-racism film
Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcelo Lippi has agreed to take part in an anti-racism and anti-fascism film aimed at schoolchildren.
Moni Ovadia, a Jewish Italy-based actor and theatre director, asked Lippi to speak about the Holocaust during the film, and revealed that the coach had been eager to participate.
"It will be a strong message and Lippi is a star not...
