Report of Anti-Semitic Incidents - Aug-98

Report of Anti-Semitic Incidents - August, 1998

General

There were relatively few anti-Semitic incidents in August 1998. Those incidents reported from various places were local and not organized.

Incidents

Ukraine - The Great Synagogue in Kharkov was set on fire at night, with the result that no one was injured. The ark of the covenant was damaged but not the torah scrolls inside.

Britain - Stones were thrown at the Queen Park synagogue in Glasgow, Scotland. Two windows were smashed.

A rabbi was attacked in Glasgow, Scotland. He was struck in the face and thrown to the ground.

Worshippers were insulted by people in a passing car near the Essex synagogue.

Greece - A firecracker was thrown from a motorcycle driven past the synagogue in Saloniki. The firecracker hit a window screen and fell into the yard, smoking and making a loud noise.

Germany - A young rabbi in orthodox dress was attacked on one of the main streets in Berlin with abusive calls and spitting in his direction.

U.S. - Unidentified persons sprayed two synagogues in San Fernando Valley, a Los Angeles suburb, with paint 'Stop murdering the white race' and racist graffiti. Also added to the graffiti was the Internet site address for the National Alliance which is a group based in West Virginia advocating the supremacy of the white race. The group also distributed anti-Semitic pamphlets and flyers in a number of communities in the city. The flyers called for violent attacks against the producer Steven Spielberg.

Morocco - During the night between Friday, 21 August and 22 Saturday, August, 1998, the 'Otsar Hatorah' synagogue in Casablanca was broken into and desecrated. A number of items were stolen from the synagogue and some books were damaged. Religious articles, however, were not desecrated. The background to the incident is unknown.

Threats

India - Two threats of a bomb planted were received in two Jewish institutions in Bombay. One was received in the home of the 'ORT' director and the second in the JDC organization.

Italy - An anonymous phone call was received on the planting of a bomb in the Central Synagogue in Rome. The place was searched but nothing was found.

Anti-Semitic and Racist Propaganda

Britain - An anti-Semitic letter was received in the editorial offices of the Jewish Chronicle newspaper. The letter contained newspaper clippings of anti-Semitic comments.

Austria - An anti-Semitic letter was received at a Jewish old people's home in Vienna. The letter was addressed to the Jewish community and contained warnings, rebukes and newspaper clippings in which Jews were accused of controlling the American media, economy and politics.

U.S. - Swastikas and abusive slogans were drawn on three houses in a town in Mercer Country, New Jersey.

U.S./Hamas - Sheikh Wugdi Ghuniem, a Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood activist, conducted a lecture and fundraising tour in the U.S. under the auspices of local Muslim radicals, including the Islamic Association of Palestine. The sheikh appeared, among other places, at a seminar this Muslim organization conducted at the local Brooklyn College University. He delivered a strongly anti-Semitic speech containing such extreme expressions such as 'Jews are the descendants of monkeys ... idol worshippers ... murderers of the prophets of Islam ...' and called on those present to contribute (funds) to the 'Jihad fighters'. Pro-Hamas material was distributed to the participants during his speech. An Egyptian religious cleric taught those present a blatantly anti-Semitic song during the event.

Thailand - The 'Thai Rath' daily published an article this month attributing to the Jews control of economic/political power foci throughout the world, since the Jews are the tools through which the U.S. controls the world.

Israel/Europe - A group of Israelis who went on an organized tour of Europe returned after an unpleasant experience. They claimed the tour became a nightmare because of an anti-Semitic driver. The driver shouted at the passengers, threatened and cursed. He said he hated Jews and that 'it was a shame that Hitler hadn't finished you off'.

Struggle Against Anti-Semitism and Racism

Bulgaria - During the funeral of Todor Zhivkov, the communist leader of Bulgaria, one of the speakers, Rumen Vodenicharov, delivered a speech containing racist and anti-Semitic statements. He said 'Aren't there any more talented Bulgarians to run the affairs of state, that we have left all our property in the hands of the gypsies and Jews?' These statements were denounced by the entire political spectrum, including the socialist party, the current President and government, and Zhivkov's granddaughter who quickly sent a written message to the media condeming these statements. Articles appeared in the press strongly denouncing the statements and the speaker was called the 'Bulgarian Zhirinovskiy'. President Stoyanov called the statements 'outright Fascism'.

Germany - On 2 August, 1998, German authorities arrested three young men suspected of desecrating a memorial for Holocaust survivors at the Buchenwald concentration camp on 28 July, 1998. The three suspects belong to a youth group connected with radical organizations from Weimar (a city previously in East Germany). Two of the youths were accused in the past of assault and causing property damage.

Argentina - An Argentinean bus driver who was accused of refusing to transport a Jewish boy, apologized in public and denied that he was racist. The incident occurred when the boy tried to get on the bus at the station in the once Jewish Unsa neighbourhood. The driver refused to stop and the boy tried to get on at the nearby station but the driver said 'No Jew is going to get on my bus'. The driver struck the boy and knocked the skullcap off his head. The 'Unit for the Struggle Against Racism' in the Argentinean government negotiated to extract the apology.

Hungary - A member of the Hungarian Journalists' Association, Gabor Bencsik, resigned his job after a woman researcher in the second Hungarian television network exposed his involvement in the sale of Holocaust denial cassettes. The cassette presents Auschwitz as an fabricated site whose exhibits were taken out of context to ostensibly prove the existence of the Holocaust.

U.S. - Two people were arrested who had defaced gravestones and drawn anti-Semitic graffiti on signs and public places next to the Lake County cemetery in Chicago.

U.S./Lithuania - The federal court in Florida decided to revoke the U.S. citizenship of the Lithuanian Adolph Milinavicius. According to evidence, Milinavicius was a security police assistant in Vilna during World War II and took part in 'missions' against Jews who tried to escape the ghetto. The Attorney General's Office in Lithuania asked the Center for Genocide Research to examine his activity during World War II in order to put him on trial for his part in the murder of Jews. Milinavicius currently lives in Lithuania.

Croatia/Argentina - The Croatian Ministry of Justice confirmed that an extradition decree was signed by the President of Argentina for the war criminal Nadya Sakic. The decree mentioned Croatia as the preferred extradition destination which means that Sakic will not be extradited to Yugoslavia which also requested her extradition. Sakic is currently under house arrest in Argentina and is officially accused by the District Court in Zagreb of war crimes against citizens. Most of the crimes were committed in the Stara-Gradiska camp which is not far from the Jasenovac death camp.

Miscellaneous

Germany - The federal authorities and the Berlin authorities decided to postpone the decision to set up a memorial to Holocaust victims in the center of Berlin. The dispute over the subject arose following the rise in power of the Radical Right and in anticipation of the elections in Germany in September. The decision to set up a memorial was reached by Chancellor Kohl and the decision to postpone the debate on the subject may result in the project's being cancelled in the end.

The Jewish organizations in Germany intend to file a show lawsuit for millions of dollars against more than ten very large German companies for their exploiting Jews in forced labour during World War II. Among the companies to be filed for show lawsuits are BMW, Volkswagen, AEG, Telefunken Messershmidt, Daimler and Krupp. These companies maintained in the past that the German government had compensated Holocaust survivors and the State of Israel in the Reparations Agreement signed in the early 'Fifties, and that there was no need or justification for further compensation. A further show lawsuit is also planned, this time against the government of Germany, for medical experiments conducted on Jews.

Poland - The dispute is raging in Poland over the crosses recently planted on the outskirts of the Auschwitz death camp. The Polish government expressed concern that the dispute is damaging its image throughout the world. At the beginning of the year the Catholic Church was to have removed a huge cross from the area of the camp that had been planted there after the Pope's visit. The cross was not removed. On the contrary, this month Catholic extremists planted some hundred additional crosses in the disputed area. According to the government, this was done without the knowledge of the Catholic Church. In late September the Bishops' Council published a dramatic announcement calling for the removal of the crosses from the disputed area next to the Auschwitz camp, except for the large cross which is also called the Pope's Cross. The bishops claim that the act of planting the crosses does harm to the war victims and the status of the Catholic Church in Poland and is an act of provocation. The announcement also calls for continuing the dialogue and special ties between Christianity and Judaism.

Denmark - On 15 August, 1998 The Danish Neo-Nazis, members of the DNSB organization (the 'Danish National-Socialist Movement') conducted the annual march in memory of Rudolf Hess with the participation of Neo-Nazis from Germany, Sweden, Norway, England and the Netherlands. Some 130 persons participated in the march.

For the first time the Jewish community participated in an anti-Nazi demonstration which was organized by the 'Popular Movement Against Nazism'. Various left-wing organizations and the homosexual community took part in this demonstration. The Chief Rabbi of Denmark was the head speaker. A number of other anti-Nazi demonstrations were held throughout Denmark.