Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Golnaz Esfandiari reports on controversies currently roiling Tehran over the belief in supernatural beings, genies (jinn or djinn), among the country’s ruling ayatollahs. Esfandiari writes, that Iran’s clerical Leader recently said, “There are enemies from among both genies and human beings, and they help one another. The security services of […]
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Antisemitism
Auschwitz 75 years on: preserving survivors’ voices and listening to those of their children
By Sara Jones | – In December 2019, four people were shot dead at a kosher market in New Jersey, a horrific knife attack was perpetrated at a rabbi’s home in a New York suburb, and antisemitic graffiti was daubed on a synagogue and several shops in north London. Despite what many might think, antisemitism […]
How American anti-Semitism reflects the centuries-long struggle over the meaning of religious liberty
By Tisa Wenger | – Americans recently observed the first anniversary of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, in which 11 were killed and six wounded. A year earlier, white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted the slogan, “Jews shall not replace us.” Synagogues around the country have also been defaced […]
On Anniversary of Tree of Life Synagogue Massacre: US Jews a Face Trump-Fuelled Far Right and a Fringe Left
(Informed Comment) – October 27 marks the one-year anniversary of the Tree of Life Congregation massacre in Pittsburgh. This was a result of President Donald Trump giving aid and comfort to sinister right-wing forces, which had been buried under rocks of Western Civilization until he gave the all-clear signal. Since then, violent acts of anti-Semitism […]
A Special Postcard: Speaking out against Concentration Camps, by a Survivor
By Anne-Ruth Wertheim A special postcard Note 1) Translation in English: Penny Sandford & Wiesje Wijngaarden On 18 December 1944 my mother, my sister, my little brother and I were deported to a Japanese internment camp for Jews. By sending him a postcard my mother wanted to notify my father, who had been interned in […]
In US History, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have Gone together as Hate Speech
By Peter Gottschalk | – Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted recently that “Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are two sides of the same bigoted coin.” Her comments came in response to media reports that the suspect behind the shooting at a San Diego synagogue was also under investigation for burning a mosque. Hate crimes associated with both Islamophobia […]
The Alarming Rise of Anti-Semitism in Europe
By Eva Cossé, Researcher, Western Europe | – (Human Rights Watch) – European Governments and Public Should Stand Up Against Hate On May 24, a Jewish cemetery was vandalized in the city of Bordeaux, France. On May 26, Germany’s government anti-Semitism Commissioner warned Jewish men against wearing the kippah in public following a spike in […]
French Neo-Nazis Desecrate Jewish Cemetery with Swastikas in Alsace
Strasbourg (AFP) – Around 80 graves have been daubed with swastikas at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France, local officials said, hours ahead of nationwide marches on Tuesday against a rise in anti-Semitic attacks. The damage was discovered on Tuesday morning at a cemetery in the village of Quatzenheim, close to the border with Germany […]
Right’s ban on phrase “Polish Death Camps” Backfires on Warsaw
Sławomir Sierakowski | (Project Syndicate) | – – A new Polish law criminalizes blaming Poles for any wrongdoing against other nations. But the move only serves to highlight the fact that some Poles were complicit in crimes against Jews, while jeopardizing the country’s relationship with its three most important allies: the US, Germany, and Ukraine. […]