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World Briefs

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By JTA News Service

Various World news briefs from out 11/24/06 issue.

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U.K. Reform leader slams Jerusalem gay march


The rabbinical head of Britain’s Reform movement criticized the handling of last week’s gay pride event in Jerusalem and the inclusion of Avigdor Lieberman in Israel’s coalition. The Jewish Chronicle reported that in a letter to the Israeli Ambassador to the U.K., Zvi Heifetz, Rabbi Tony Bayfield cited violent protests by the fervently Orthodox against the march and Lieberman’s views on Arabs, which include separating Israel’s Arab and Jewish populations. Bayfield told the Chronicle: "I think there is a feeling within the Reform movement - and I feel it personally - of shock and incomprehension that Lieberman can be invited to join the government." Heifetz replied that the Israeli government had "demonstrated clearly its commitment to protecting democracy" by enabling the gay pride event to go ahead. As for Lieberman, the ambassador said, "he has joined the government and has accepted its principles. Mr. Lieberman is entitled to express his views, as is any citizen and indeed politician, in every normal Western democracy."


EC won’t back academic boycotts


The European Commission said it does not back boycotts of Israeli academic institutions. The International Campaign for Academic Freedom and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, two groups campaigning against such boycotts, solicited the E.C.’s position after 61 Irish academics wrote to the Irish Times in September, calling for a moratorium on E.U. support of Israeli academic institutions until Israel ends its occupation of areas claimed by Palestinians. In a letter last week, the E.C.’s External Relations Directorate-General said such boycotts "are contrary to the principles of academic freedom and its objective of encouraging scientific cooperation." The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union.


Barenboim: Recognize Palestinian suffering


Conductor Daniel Barenboim urged Israel to recognize "the suffering of the Palestinian people." Barenboim, music director of the Berlin State Opera and an outspoken critic of Israeli policy, made the statement Sunday as he received the Prize of Understanding and Tolerance from the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Barenboim shared the honor with BMW manager Helmut Panke. Former German President Richard von Weizsacker praised Barenboim for using music to build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians. Chancellor Angela Merkel called for "zero tolerance of intolerance," a reference to recent neo-Nazi crimes and statistics showing a rise in right-wing extremist sympathies among the German population. Barenboim addressed himself to Israel. "We must not forget the values that were respected throughout the history of Jewry, that is, dignity, generosity and intelligence. We must recognize the suffering of the Palestinian people. It does not make us weaker to do so," he said.


Germany urges transparency on looted art


Germany’s culture minister and museums called for greater transparency and more provenance research for the restitution of Nazi-looted art. The statement came after Bernd Neumann met Monday in Berlin with museum heads. The meeting followed a contested restitution of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s 1913 "Berlin Street Scene." Berlin’s Bruecke Museum passed the painting to the heir of the Hess family, which had been persecuted by the Nazis. The heir auctioned the work for $38 million on Nov. 8. The museum’s patrons association argued that the Bruecke had given up the work of art too easily, and questioned whether the original owner, Tekla Hess, had really sold under duress or received less than it was worth. Germany signed an agreement in 1998 to identify and return works of art illegally taken during the Nazis’ reign. "Restitution must become more transparent, better coordinated and more irreproachable," The Associated Press quoted Neumann as saying. The minister is to meet with the Claims Conference later this year to discuss the issue.


French PM: Anti-Semitism down


Anti-Semitic attacks in France have dropped drastically because of a number of government initiatives, France’s prime minister claimed. ``We have obtained real results" since launching a crackdown in 2002, Dominique de Villepin said in remarks delivered to a World Jewish Congress gathering Nov. 12 and released Monday by the French Foreign Ministry. ``In 2005, anti-Semitic acts fell by 47 percent compared with the previous year. The figures available today for 2006 confirm this downward trend.’‘ Among other measures, de Villepin said 1,200 police officers are exclusively assigned to protecting the Jewish community.


Briton held in swastika graffiti


British police held a man suspected of defacing a war memorial. The 21-year-old was arrested Sunday. The memorial in West Sussex, England, was defaced with an SS symbol and swastika and a nearby house was spray-painted with anti-Semitic graffiti just before Remembrance Sunday, when the British mark the end of World War I.


London mayor: Muslims demonized like Jews


The mayor of London said Muslims are demonized like Jews were in the past. "Over recent weeks we have seen a demonization of Muslims only comparable to the demonization of Jews from the end of the 19th century," Ken Livingstone said Monday. He referred to recent comments from British Home Secretary Jack Straw questioning whether it’s appropriate for Muslim women to wear full veils in public. Livingstone’s comments were made in connection with today’s launch of a coalition comprised of legislators, unions, campaign groups and Muslim groups to confront Islamophobia in Britain.


U.K. Muslim leader aided Holocaust denier


A British Muslim leader admitted helping fund Holocaust denier David Irving. Asghar Bukhari, a founding member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, was revealed by a British newspaper on Sunday to have pledged money to Irving’s legal fund in 2000. He also said in a letter at the time that he would encourage Islamic groups to support Irving and his efforts to "expose certain falsehoods perpetrated by the Jews." Bukhari confirmed the expose run by The Observer, but said he was motivated by anti-Israel sentiments rather than anti-Semitism. He also said he opposed Holocaust denial, though he thought it was wrong of an Austrian court to jail Irving earlier this year for his assertions that the scale and planning of the Nazi genocide has been exaggerated.


German politician lauds Hitler


A member of a German state Parliament invoked Adolf Hitler to insult a left-wing politician. Klaus-Jrgen Menzel, recently thrown out of the extremist National Democratic Party of Germany, said that the politics of Left Party member Peter Porsch, who comes from Austria, makes Menzel think "even more positively" about the "other Austrian," namely Hitler. The Left Party has called for a special meeting of the board of the Saxony Parliament. Recently, Menzel said in front of television cameras that he continues to stand by the "Fuehrer," meaning Hitler. He was thrown out of his party for financial irregularities but retains his parliamentary post. The NPD has not reacted to his statements, according to the Netzeitung news agency.



Posted by JTA News Service on 11/22 at 04:46 PM • Hits: 505



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