Anti-Semitism across continents last year
In Argentina swastikas were etched on a Jewish community centre, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated while swastikas were painted on Rabbi’s homes, Synagogues and Israeli Cultural buildings. In Australia swastikas were painted on a Central Synagogue. Flyers were placed in mailboxes of Jewish neighbourhoods inviting people to join Squadron 88, a white supremacist group. In Antwerp, Belgium, a rabbi walking to Synagogue was stabbed in the throat and a Belgian doctor refused to treat a Jewish woman. In Brazil swastikas were painted on a Jewish cultural centre In Bulgaria ‘death to Jews’ and a swastika were painted on Sofia’s Synagogue. In Canada obscenities and swastikas were painted on bus shelters, playgrounds, schools and synagogues. In Holland a Holocaust monument was desecrated, an apartment displaying the Jewish flag was firebombed and the country's Chief Rabbi’s home was attacked. In Ireland Mexico, Morocco Russia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela and New Zealand Jewish communities are being targeted.
EU pledges better cooperation with Muslim countries in the fight against terror
‘The threat is not only the one we faced in Paris, but also spreading in many parts of the world, starting in Muslim countries. We need to share information more. We need to cooperate more. We are determined to do what is necessary to keep Europe safe from the terrorist threat,’ said British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Monday (January 19). He was among 28 EU foreign ministers attending a meeting in Brussels. There, delegates pledged to adopt better strategies at home and abroad in an effort to counter radicalised Muslims returning from Syria and Iraq. EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini called for better collaboration between EU member states, but also with Muslim countries. ‘We took a decision with the Foreign Affairs Council to coordinate in a much more active way than has been the case so far.’
EU pledges better cooperation with Muslim countries in the fight against terror
‘The threat is not only the one we faced in Paris, but also spreading in many parts of the world, starting in Muslim countries. We need to share information more. We need to cooperate more. We are determined to do what is necessary to keep Europe safe from the terrorist threat,’ said British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Monday (January 19). He was among 28 EU foreign ministers attending a meeting in Brussels. There, delegates pledged to adopt better strategies at home and abroad in an effort to counter radicalised Muslims returning from Syria and Iraq. EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini called for better collaboration between EU member states, but also with Muslim countries. ‘We took a decision with the Foreign Affairs Council to coordinate in a much more active way than has been the case so far.’
Anti-Semitism on the rise
Middle East expert Pinchas Inbari writes that he has met with several senior European officials who said they see the Israeli-Palestine issue as the most pressing matter for Europe. The logic goes like this: The problem upsets Muslims and Arabs and drives recruitment to Islamic State, which is a direct threat to Europe; so they intend to force Israel to submit to Palestinian demands, believing a Palestinian state would somehow solve the Islamic State problem. Hate crimes strike fear into Jewish communities. In just one week last year eight synagogues were attacked in France and Kosher businesses are regularly smashed and looted as crowds chant ‘Death to Jews’. In Germany recently molotov cocktails were lobbed into the Bergische synagogue and Imam Abu Bilal Ismail called on Allah to ‘destroy the Zionist Jews'. A Dutch' anti-Semitism watchdog had 70+ calls from alarmed Jewish citizens in just one week last year. Organisations recording anti-Semitic incidents say the trend is inexorable. See also:
