HISTORIAN: BRITAIN NOW EURO CENTER OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Historian: UK is now European center of anti-Semitism (JPost)
Britain has become the epicenter for anti-Semitic trends in Europe as traditional, age-old anti-Semitism in a country whose literature and cultural tradition were "drenched" in anti-Semitism has developed into a contemporary mix of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, an Israeli historian said Monday.

The problem of anti-Semitism in Britain is exacerbated by a growing and increasingly radical Muslim population, the weak approach taken by a timid British Jewish leadership, and the detachment of the British from their Christian roots, said Hebrew University historian Prof. Robert S. Wistrich in a lecture on British anti-Semitism at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

"Britain has become the center point for the meeting of anti-Semitic trends in Europe," Wistrich said.

In a wide-ranging two-hour address, the Cambridge University-educated historian, who has just completed a book on global anti-Semitism, traced the roots of British anti-Semitism to its history, culture and literature going back to medieval times.

"Anti-Semitism in Great Britain is at least a millennial phenomenon and has been around for 1000 years of recorded history," Wistrich said.

He noted that the expulsion of all Jews from Britain in 1290 by King Edward I following years of anti-Semitic violence was the first major expulsion of any Jewish community in Europe.

Jews were banned from Britain until 1656, when Oliver Cromwell, who had overthrown the monarchy, authorized their return....

In his address, Wistrich said that today's British media had taken an almost universally anti-Israel bias, especially but not exclusively on the BBC, with context removed from description of Israeli military actions, and Islamic jihadist activity such as suicide bombing never connected to ideology.

"Under no circumstance will a Palestinian act of terrorism be referred to as terrorist, They are militants similar to the floor-shop dispute in Liverpool whose workers have decided to go on strike," he said.

"Palestinian terrorism is portrayed as a minor pin-prick compared to 'massive' retaliation of this 'rogue' state [Israel]," he said.

"You cannot read a British newspaper without encountering a variant of the libel that Zionism is racism or Zionism is Nazism," he said, describing a culture of "barely disguised hatred" when the subject of Zionism of British Jewry or Anglo-Israel relations is broached, unless they are "the good anti-Zionists."

P.A. ANTI-SEMITES GET A FREE PASS FROM U.S. STATE DEPT.

PA Anti-Semites Get a Free Pass from the State Department - Rafael Medoff (National Review)
The State Department conspicuously omitted the Palestinian Authority from its March 13 report on anti-Semitism around the world.    The report did note that Hamas, which rules Gaza, treats the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion as fact, denies the Holocaust, and broadcasts hateful TV shows aimed at children.

But the PA under Mahmoud Abbas, which controls the West Bank, managed to escape blame for the anti-Semitism that it promotes with no less energy.   The American Jewish Committee released a study showing the PA's schoolbooks characterize Jews in "hateful" and "derogatory" language, cite the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a legitimate source of historical information, and omit any mention of the Holocaust.  The State Department report did mention that in the 1990s, Holocaust denial became commonplace in popular media in the PA - without any acknowledgment that most of the "popular media" is government-controlled.

THE OVERLAP OF ANTI-ZIONISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM

STATE DEPT: OVERLAP OF ANTI-ZIONISM & ANTI-SEMITISM (JPC)

Jews worldwide are facing a new form of anti-Semitism disguised by hatred toward Israel, in addition to more traditional forms of anti-Semitism, according to a new report issued, the AFP notes.

"This new anti-Semitism is common throughout the Middle East and in Muslim communities in Europe, but it is not confined to these populations," the US State Department said in a report for 2007.

Even before this report was issued, Kenneth Marcus wrote about the dangerous and growing overlap between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in the newest edition of inFOCUS Quarterly.

EGYPTIAN HATE SINGER TO RELEASE PRO-OBAMA SONG

Egyptian Hate Singer to Release Pro-Obama Song

(LGF)

Barack Obama has picked up another celebrity endorsement—Shaban AbdelRaheem, the Egyptian pop singer whose best-known hit song is titled, “I Hate Israel:” Anti-Israel egyptian singer makes Obama song.

EVEN IF OBAMA IS NOT AN ANTI-SEMITE, IT MUST GIVE YOU PAUSE THAT ANTI-SEMITES ARE DRAWN TO HIM.

SEE ALSO: If Obama Can't Influence his Pastor, How is He Going to Influence Ahmadinejad? (Political Mavens)

HAMAS' NEW SONG IN HEBREW ABOUT KILLING JEWS

Hamas new song in hebrew about killing jews (MySpaceTV)

"They just want to kill...

No matter who....

Next Year your home...

Total Jihad on Non-Muslims...

Let's start with the Jews...."

N.Y. D.A. SOURCE: HAT CRIME STATS SKEWED FOR MUSLIMS

NY D.A. Source: Crime stats skewed on behalf of Muslims (NE Intell. Net.)

* "Hate crimes" against Muslims skewed upward - many religiously motivated crimes against Jews go unrecorded.

* Cites pressure from Muslim advocacy groups

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director

25 March 2008: A source inside the Manhattan District Attorney’s office admitted to me during a telephone conversation yesterday that “hate crimes,” specifically those occurring against Jews, are frequently omitted from such classification. Meanwhile, acts that victimize Muslims, regardless of their motivation, are usually reported as "hate crimes." Consequently, crimes against Jews and other religions fail to garner the same media focus as crimes against Muslims and skew the figures used to track criminal motives. Although this is not a new phenomenon, it has recently been accentuated by the incident that took place on a New York subway last week.

OBAMA'S CHURCH PUBLISHED LETTER ALLEGING ISRAELI "ETHNIC BOMB"

Obama's Church Published Letter Alleging Israeli 'Ethnic Bomb'

(LGF)

Following the discovery of a Hamas manifesto published under Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “Pastor’s Notes,” Bob Owens has another example of a deranged anti-Israel article appearing in the bulletin of Barack Obama’s church, the Trinity United Church of Christ: Confederate Yankee: It Never Stops: Obama’s Church Published Letter Alleging Israeli ‘Ethnic Bomb.’

UC IRVINE CHANCELLOR REFUSES TO REFUTE CAMPUS ANTI-SEMITISM

Drake stays mum on UC Irvine anti-Semitism (JTA)
The University of California, Irvine's chancellor again refused to speak out against acts of anti-Semitism on his campus.

Michael Drake, confronted over his position at the opening plenary of Hillel’s summit Monday in Washington, issued a blanket condemnation of hate speech, including anti-Semitism, saying it had no place in society.

"It's deplorable. It's deplorable," Drake said. "And we reject it absolutely."

Drake declined to comment, however, when asked by JTA after the summit how he feels about some of the anti-Israel activity that has taken place at UC Irvine. He said the university wished to remain "content neutral."

UC Irvine students have charged that they have been physically and verbally harassed by Muslim students, and that speakers are routinely invited to campus who compare Israel to Nazi Germany.

Drake's participation in the summit generated vocal opposition from groups who say his refusal to condemn specific incidents of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity makes him unfit to speak at the event. Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life has rejected that position.

A representative of the Coalition of Jewish Concerns-Amcha interrupted the plenary following the opening remarks, seizing the microphone on the rostrum and accusing Hillel of adopting a "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. The representative, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, also distributed a letter criticizing Drake.

A letter last week sent to Hillel's president, Wayne Firestone, from 41 Jewish students condemned Drake's invitation. Firestone met with the students last Friday.

In a meeting with reporters following the plenary, Firestone reiterated Hillel's position on the Drake invitation and said he was "proud" the organization had given the chancellor a platform. Firestone said Drake's participation created a "public accounting" and was an opportunity to "build sensitivity" among university administrations to issues of Jewish concern.

FRENCH OFFICIAL FIRED FOR ANTI-ISRAEL DIATRIBE

French Official Sacked for Anti-Israeli Diatribe (AFP)
A French senior civil servant has been sacked for publishing a violent anti-Israeli diatribe on a web site. Bruno Guigue, deputy prefect of Saintes, wrote in an online column this month that Israel was "the only state where snipers shoot down little girls outside their school gates."  Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie dismissed the official after learning of the column.

AL QAEDA: KILL THE JEWS!

Al-Qaeda: "Hit Jews and Americans"  (Reuters)
Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Monday.  "O Muslims. Today is your day. Hit the interest of the Jews and the Americans and all those who participated in the aggression against Muslims," Zawahiri said. "Monitor the targets, collect the money, prepare the hardware, plan accurately and then attack....No one can say today that we should fight the Jews in Palestine only."

POPE'S GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER "INSULTING TO JEWS"

‘Insulting to Jews’: Leading German Rabbi Condemns Pope’s Good Friday Prayer (Der Speigel)
Around the world, millions of Catholics are celebrating Good Friday, when they commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But for many Jews, this year’s ceremonies leave a bitter aftertaste, due to a controversial new version of a prayer that many claim is anti-Semitic.

Last month, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had revised the so-called “Good Friday Prayer for the Jews” which forms part of the Tridentine Mass, often referred to as the Latin Mass. The new version, translated from the Latin, reads: “Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men.”

Several leading Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the International Jewish Committee on Inter-Religious Consultations, have strongly criticized the new wording of the prayer. However only the very small minority of Catholics who celebrate the Good Friday mass in Latin will actually hear the allegedly anti-Semitic version of the prayer.

The new wording is similar to the original version of the prayer, which read: “Let us pray also for the faithless Jews: that almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts; so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This original version was toned down at the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council which introduced many far-reaching reforms of the Catholic Church, including replacing the Tridentine Mass with vernacular liturgies. The Good Friday Prayer then became: “Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant.”

PALI POLL REVEALS DEEP PALI JEW HATRED

Hate That Dares Not Speak Its Name (INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY)
The Mideast: When a poll reveals all but a fraction of Palestinians support the murder of eight innocent Jewish seminarians, it shows a people wedded to evil. It's a short trip from this hate to the kind Hitler espoused.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a professional and independent polling agency that surveys Palestinians four times a year, has found that no less than 84% of 1,270 Palestinians questioned by the center in personal interviews said they supported the March 6 shooting inside Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav yeshiva.

The slaughter was carried out by East Jerusalem resident Alaa Abu Dheim, who was himself eventually killed during his attack. All but one of the eight he killed were teens, two of them only 15 years old. Another 11 were wounded.

Pollster Khalil Shikaki was understandably shocked at the results, which also found 75% support for scrapping Israeli-Palestinian talks and 64% support for the Hamas terrorist group's thousands of recent rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on Israeli towns.

Asked for their preferences for president of the Palestinian Authority, 47% chose Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas while 46% chose their current "moderate" president, Mahmoud Abbas.

But the chilling significance of the poll numbers goes beyond media commentaries about them reflecting "increased tensions." Imagine if more than 80% of some sector of the American public supported an Oklahoma City-like terrorist attack carried out on our soil. It would be viewed as a breakdown of civilization.

And consider the fact that such a large proportion of Palestinians approve of slaughtering of victims who not only were civilians and religious students, but minors. A true slaughtering of the innocents.

The message we get from this is very clear: The vast majority of Palestinians advocate such acts of terrorism against young innocents because the victims were Jews.

Their version of the Final Solution may not entail gas chambers and concentration camps, as Germany's National Socialists did in the last century. But it does apparently include murdering, at random, Jews because they are Jews. Not to say that there was not a clear political purpose behind the choice of target. The Mercaz Harav yeshiva is considered the flagship of the religious Zionist movement, the roots of which date back to a century and a half ago.

Religious Zionism holds that Jews have an inalienable and permanent right to the land of Israel because God bestowed the Holy Land upon the ancient Israelites. The resettling of Israel by Jews and the establishment of a Jewish homeland there, according to its rabbinical supporters, can hasten the coming of the messiah.

Founded in 1924, the yeshiva's alumni include leading Israeli armed forces officers and prominent rabbis. One of them, Rabbi David Stav, said the attack struck the heart of religious Zionism.

"The terrorist targeted a place that symbolizes love for the land of Israel, love for the people of Israel and love for the Torah," he told the Jerusalem Post.

"No Jewish soul can remain indifferent to the horrible thought that a despicable terrorist attacked a group of young men who were busy studying the holy Torah," added Stav, who has taken part in inter-religious activities with Muslim clerics. "Followers of Islam claim they respect the people of the book. But this horrific act proves the emptiness of their claims."

It's one thing for a tribe or nationality to oppose its neighbors, even by war. Arabs can fight the Israeli military, oppose its settlement policies, and even question the very existence of the state of Israel as artificial. But what we're seeing here sinks far beneath that.

What's at issue here is the difference between ordered liberty and barbarism, between humanity and savagery.

The Shikaki poll shows that nearly an entire people support the murder of innocent kids because they're religious Jews. The civilized nations once fought a world war to prevent the global dominance of that kind of hate.

5 MUSLIMS BEAT RABBI IN BROOKLYN

Five Muslims Beat Jewish Rabbi in Brooklyn (Debbie Schlussel)

Yesterday, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, four to five Muslims viciously attacked Rabbi Uria Ohana in Brooklyn, New York, while shouting, "Allahu Akbar."

Rabbi Ohana, assistant head rabbi of Chabad-Lubavitch of Massachusetts, was about to get on the F-Train at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street in Brooklyn.

The young Muslim assailants grabbed rabbi Ohana's yarmulke (skullcap), and when he went to them to get it back, they beat him and shouted, "Allahu Akbar." One of the Muslim attackers ran away into the street and was hit by a car (G-d works in mysterious ways). He was arrested by police. But three to four other Muslim assailants--whom you can bet will attack other Jews--escaped and are free.

TEENS FIRE BOMB RHODE ISLAND SYNAGOGUE

Vacant Providence temple firebombed (JTA)
A teenager was charged with throwing a Molotov cocktail outside a vacant synagogue in Providence, R.I.

The teen, with two alleged accomplices, placed the incendiary device in front of the long-vacant Temple Beth-El early Wednesday when the boys were spotted by police, the Providence Journal reported.

A patrolman extinguished the fire. The intended target apparently was a vacant lot across the street from the temple, the newspaper reported.

The incident does not appear to be related to Saturday's firebombing of the home of a Jewish Agency emissary in a nearby neighborhood, police told the Journal. That incident is still under city, state and federal investigation.

The teens, two aged 17 and one aged 15, are in custody in a juvenile facility until a hearing scheduled for Monday.

OBAMA'S PASTOR ON ISRAEL

UPDATED: Rev. Wright on Israel

(LGF)

Ace dug up another interesting video clip of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, making some (try not be shocked) anti-Israel remarks: Wright: ‘Israel’ a Dirty Word; Blacks Get all Quiet at the Mention of Israel.

UPDATE: Rev. Wright's 'War on Iraq IQ Test'

(LGF)

[A] link to yet another disturbing rant by Jeremiah Wright, this time in writing: The War on Iraq IQ Test.

After a series of viciously slanted pro-Saddam questions, the Reverend’s IQ test suddenly veers into Israel-hatred straight out of the Muammar Gaddafi playbook:

41. Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992? 
A: Over 65

42. Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990? 
A: 30+

43. Q: How much does the U.S. fund Israel a year? 
A:$5 billion

44. Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons? 
A: 8

45. Q: How many nuclear warheads has Iraq got? 
A: 0

46. Q: How many nuclear warheads has US got? 
A: over 10,000

47. Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons? 
A: the US

48. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have? 
A: Over 400

49. Q: Has Israel every allowed UN weapon inspections? 
A: No

50. Q: What percentage of the Palestinian territories are controlled by Israeli settlements? 
A: 42%

51. Q: Is Israel illegally occupying Palestinian land? 
A: Yes

And concluding with this:

52. Q: Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to global peace: Iraq or the U.S.? 
A: ????

MORE BBC ANTI-SEMITISM

"The Core Audience" (BackSpin)

There's a smarmy subtext to BBC producer Hilary Salmon's comments about an upcoming Passion show the Beeb is pesenting jointly with HBO. She told The Guardian:

[HBO is] more sensitive than we are to the Jewish angle. Many of its core audience are Jewish liberals who set the cultural agenda much more than here, so we had a Jewish consultant, as well as experts on the gospels. You had to be careful not to tie yourself in knots though.

Winston Pickett finds this astonishing:

[It] startles because of the ethnic-saturated stereotypes it contains, and because it presupposes a kind of wink-and-nod agreement by the readership of the publication in which it appears . . .

HOUSE OF JEWISH AGENCY ENVOY FIREBOMBED IN RHODE ISLAND

US: Molotov cocktail thrown into home of Jewish Agency envoy (YNet)
A Molotov cocktail was thrown Saturday into the home of a Jewish Agency envoy residing in Rhode Island in the north-eastern United States. The envoy, who was home at the time, was immediately evacuated to a nearby hotel following the incident.

The incident took place at 2 am (local US time) when a Molotov cocktail was throw through the living room window of the envoy’s apartment. He was in a different room at the time, and was therefore not injured. The Molotov cocktail set a nearby yard on fire, but firefighters dispatched to the scene easily extinguished the flames.

The FBI as well as local Rhode Island police personnel are investigating the incident. This is the first time that a Jewish Agency envoy is attacked in this fashion.

THE "NEW" ANTI-SEMITISM

U.S. Report: New Anti-Semitism Disguised by Hatred of Israel
Jews worldwide are facing a new form of anti-Semitism disguised by hatred toward Israel, in addition to more traditional forms of anti-Semitism, the U.S. State Department said Thursday in a new report documenting anti-Semitic acts worldwide. "Anti-Semitism couched as criticism of Zionism or Israel often escapes condemnation since it can be more subtle than traditional forms of anti-Semitism," the report said. Critics of Israel have a "responsibility to consider the effect their actions may have in prompting hatred of Jews," it said, adding that hostility toward Israel has at times manifested itself in violence toward Jews.

The report singled out a number of leaders, governments and state-sponsored institutions for fanning the flames of anti-Semitism, with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the top of the list. It also took to task the Syrian government, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as the government-backed Venezuelan, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian media. (AFP)

See also State Department Report on Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism (pdf) (State Department)

See also Online Anti-Semitism 2.0. "Social Anti-Semitism" on the "Social Web" - Andre Oboler (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

Around 2004, with the new "social web" came a new "social anti-Semitism."   This Anti-Semitism 2.0 is the use of online social networking and content collaboration to share demonization, conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial, and classical anti-Semitic motifs.   This phenomenon is spreading anti-Semitism and acceptability of anti-Semitism in new and increasingly effective ways.

SAUDI SCHOLAR THERE WAS NO HOLOCAUST ... KILL ALL THE JEWS!

Saudi Scholar Dr. Walid Al-Rashudi: 50-60 People Perished in Jewish Holocaust. The Killing of All the Jews Will Not Be Satisfactory Compensation for the "Real Holocaust" in Gaza (MEMRI)

Following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Dr. Walid Al-Rashudi, head of the Department of Islamic Studies at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on February 29, 2008.

Walid Al-Rashudi: One of the important things that we must tell people is that what is going on in Palestine today is a real holocaust. This is the real holocaust. A holocaust is not the burning of 50-60 Jews in Germany or Switzerland, but the Jews continue to call it the Holocaust. In case you don't know, let me tell you that more than 90% of the Muslims in the world do not know that the Jews receive reparations from Germany and Switzerland for the so-called Holocaust affair. We believe that there was indeed a holocaust, but how many died? 50-60 people? Afterwards, they used it to blackmail these two countries.
So what are we supposed to say in the face of the Gaza holocaust? What compensation will satisfy us? By Allah, we will not be satisfied even if all the Jews are killed.

JEWS FLEEING PARIS SUBURBS

Jews fleeing Paris suburbs
(JTA)
Still living under a sense of siege following the upturn in anti-Semitic attacks earlier this decade, French Jews are moving out of Paris' working-class suburbs and into more heavily Jewish areas where they feel safer. Full Story