New "Anti-Semites" Week of Oct. 11 - Oct. 17 2007

WHO: The European media
WHY: "Aided by a pre-existing anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism, European media have been willing to demonize the United States and Israel while remaining largely silent on the merger of their continent with the Islamic world."
FOR THE RECORD: "Right at the top of the list four countries share first place - Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands. These northern European states scrupulously respect press freedom in their own countries but also speak up for it elsewhere, for example recently in Eritrea and Zimbabwe. The highest-scoring country outside Europe is Canada, which comes fifth. ... The 15 member-countries of the European Union (EU) all score well except for Italy (40th), where news diversity is under serious threat. Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is turning up the pressure on the state-owned television stations, has named his henchmen to help run them and continues to combine his job as head of government with being boss of a privately-owned media group." Reporters Without Borders, "Reporters Without Borders publishes the first worldwide press freedom index," Reporters Without Borders Website, October 2002
SOURCE: 'Fjordman', "Conservative Bloggers Fight for Free Speech," Global Politician, 17 October 2007

WHO: League of Polish Families, polish right-wing political party
WHY: "The 30-second television spot by the League of Polish Families mixes images of Polish troops in Iraq and violence in the Middle East with pictures of President Lech Kaczynski wearing a skull cap on a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. 'This is an attempt to attract people with anti-Semitic views,' said Piotr Kadlcik, the leader of the Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, which released a statement condemning the advert."
FOR THE RECORD: "Roman Giertych, leader of the League of Polish Families, defended the tv spot, saying it was not anti-Semitic while insisting there is a connection between the war in Iraq and Israel. 'One can be against the war in Iraq without being an anti-Semite,' Giertych said. 'This ad shows the cooperation between Poland and the U.S., and Poland and Israel — we have a right to criticize it,' he said. 'The war in Iraq threatens our country, and this is why the Polish troops should be pulled out from Iraq as soon as possible.'" EJP, "Election campaign tv spot by extreme-right party anti-Semitic?," European Jewish Press, 16 October 2007
SOURCE: Reuters, "Polish Jews condemn election ads as anti-Semitic," Reuters, 17 October 2007

WHO: David Himmelberger and his Himmelberger Gallery in San Francisco
WHY: Because the Gallery "has decided to cancel plans to publish an art catalogue of one of its represented artists, noted author Alan Kaufman, who is under contract to the gallery. The decision is due to use of the word Zionism in the catalogue’s title ‘Visionary Expressionism:
A Zionist Art.' ... 'And how this same Zionism, distorted and vilified by one of the most sordid disinformation campaigns in history, became the bete noire of the present day, a refugee of a word, a pariah of an idea, is one of the most sordid instances in the long, cruel campaign to marginalize and, ultimately, to destroy the Jewish People. Let us, then, be perfectly frank about one thing. To vilify, marginalize, suppress or outlaw Zionism politically, socially or culturally, for any reason whatever, is to wish no less then murderous extinction upon every Jewish man, woman and child in the world today.'"
FOR THE RECORD: "Kaufman had solicited brief essays from friends such as David Twersky, a contributing editor for The New York Sun and senior adviser to the American Jewish Congress’s executive director; David Rosenberg, co-author of 'The Book of J' and author of 'Abraham: The First Historical Biography,' and Israeli author Etgar Keret. Kaufman, author of the memoir 'Jew Boy' and the novel 'Matches,' also penned an essay for the catalog. 'His reaction to that was immediate and profound. He pointed to the title of the catalog and said, ‘There’s no way I’ll do that, never,’' Kaufman said. He claimed that Himmelberger told him such a presentation was antithetical to the aims of the gallery, which include fostering international understanding by rejecting nationalism." Josh Richman, "Bay Area Artists Fight Over Framing of Mideast Conflict," The Forward, 17 October 2007 Also, from source cited below: "Himmelberger said that such a presentation was antithetical to the aims of the gallery, which promotes “international understanding” and forswears all forms of nationalism and religion."
SOURCE: 'chutzpaleh' "San Francisco Art Gallery Censors Writing and Art Work as Too Zionist," Oy Bay! 17 October 2007

WHO: Yeted Ne'eman, the flagship journal of Degel HaTorah, the "Lithuanian wing" of the Ashkenazi Haredim and the Israeli "United Torah Judaism" political party.
WHY: "The cartoon showed a man dressed in shorts and sandals wearing a skullcap and trimmed black beard, representing a Shas follower, in cahoots with a secular person representing Kadima. Wearing a big grin, the two were dumping a rock labeled "2008 cuts" on the head of a Haredi man. The symbols appear obvious, lacking sophistication, and according to Shas, loaded with anti-Semitism and racism of the sort Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox feel about Sephardi Haredim."
FOR THE RECORD: "'I don't see why a cartoon is necessary when the real picture is much worse,' said MK Yakov Litzman, chairman of UTJ. 'I am surprised to hear that they are leaving the religious lobby. I expected them to leave the government,' quipped MK Moshe Gafni, another member of UTJ. Litzman acknowledged that there is bickering every year over the budget, but he charged Shas with 'disgracing us.' 'The budget for yeshivas was NIS 82.5 million last year and all of a sudden it is NIS 4 million,' he said. 'Do you have any other explanation for this except humiliation for the Haredim? Shas does not have so many yeshivas ... and in any case they will take care of themselves [from inside the government].'"
SOURCE: Yair Ettinger, "Cartoon spat prompts Shas to quit Knesset religious lobby," Ha'aretz, 16 October 2007

WHO: Scottish Socialist Party (SSP)
WHY: "Kelvin branch of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) has submitted a motion to the 2007 SSP conference calling on the party to support the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and its campaign for a boycott of Israel."
FOR THE RECORD: "The Stirling University Students Association (SUSA) senate have voted overwhelmingly to boycott Israeli goods, in protest at that country’s on-going occupation of Palestine and persecution of Palestinians. As a result of the decision - reached by a 35-1 majority, with only one abstention - a referendum of students is to be held in November, asking if they wish to support a motion to ‘ Oppose Anti-Semitism and Oppose the Occupation’. ... The boycott, disinvestment and sanctions policy is supported by most of the Israel peace movement, a majority of the population of Palestine and has already won support in universities in England Wales and Scotland through it being an official policy of the main university and college lecturers union (AUT). The policy is increasingly being recognised as the most effective and peaceful way of making the Israel government realise that their actions, including ignoring UN resolutions on borders, the construction of the internationally condemned apartheid wall, and the blatant disregard for Palestinians’ human rights, are not acceptable. ... The Scottish Socialist Party agreed at its conference to reconfirm its support for the boycott of Israel. The motion which was passed includes a call for the party to campaign on the issue in all areas, including through the students’ movement." Iain Campbell, "Stirling students’ association vote to boycott Israeli goods," Scottish Socialist Voice, Issue 284, 26 October 2006
SOURCE: Stan Crooke, "The 'Zionophobes' that pushed even the SWP to resign in protest," Worker's Liberty, 14 October 2007

WHO: Officials and residents of Newton Highlands, Massachusetts opposed to the building of a building a 12,000-square-foot synagogue in a residential neighborhood.
WHY: "Relations between the religious group and the city grew tense, with Beth Menachem members suggesting that officials who opposed its interests were anti-Semitic. The fighting roiled the community of Newton, where an estimated one-third of residents are Jewish."
FOR THE RECORD: "Neighbors say the site's lack of parking at its headquarters in a home at 229 Dedham St. has created dangerous traffic congestion at Dedham's intersection with Rachel Road. It is near Countryside Elementary, the city's largest primary school. 'The current level of risk to pedestrians and drivers at this intersection is at the tipping point. Further stress with a huge structure and overflowing parking needs posed danger that is unacceptable,' wrote a group of 10 neighboring homeowners in an Aug. 7 letter to the board. Neighbors Ellen and Charles Lipson echoed the sentiments with an Aug. 9 letter of their own, asking aldermen to delay the project until a solution to the "current and future traffic nightmare" could be found. ... The implication of anti-Semitism was one that Lipof, who is Jewish and the son of Rabbi Emily Lipof of Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, said he found deeply offensive. 'It never has been about religion," Rick Lipof said last week. 'It's about a use of land that is inappropriate for a residential neighborhood.'"
SOURCE: Erica Noonan, "Jewish center wins OK from city," The Boston Globe, 14 October 2007

WHO: Ron Olive, retired foreign counterintelligence agent and author of “Capturing Jonathan Pollard”
WHY: For Capturing Israeli spy against the United States Jonathan Pollard: "Olive is credited with having deciphered much of Pollard’s espionage activity, and then coaxing the confession which led to his arrest in 1985. ... Israeli leaders and several American Jewish groups have continually excoriated the U.S. government for its delivery of the life sentence for Pollard, whose employer, the Israeli government was – after all – a U.S. political ally. Calls persist for Pollard’s release from prison, and criticism – even accusations of anti-Semitism have trickled down to Olive’s own role in the saga."
FOR THE RECORD: "Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst working at the U.S. Naval Investigative Service’s Anti-Terrorist Alert Center, had stolen what was, by all accounts, a prodigious amount of highly sensitive national security information. Olive says his book is the story of how our national security system, 'totally broke down ... and about the devastation he (Pollard) caused.' ... 'He gave a foreign government our capabilities – that’s like giving the keys to the kingdom to a foreign government,' he says. 'It costs billions and billions and billions of dollars to rebuild a system once it’s been stolen.'"
SOURCE: Nancy Pasternack, "The true story behind Jonathan Pollard," Appeal-Democrat, 12 October 2007