Racial Reconciliation - Anti-Semitism
- Feb 6, 2006 - comment
Anti-Semitism is a growing problem worldwide, much of it fueled by growing Muslim populations. The continued conflict in the Middle East is spilling over into other countries where people who are upset with Israel vent their anger toward local Jews. A recent study conducted by the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia says that France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain are only a few of the hot spots for anti-Semitism. Paul Spiegel, chairman of the German Jewish Committee, says, “Assaults [on Jews] happen so often that they are often not reported in the newspapers anymore.” In southern France, vandals carved swastikas on tombstones in a Jewish cemetery. In Germany, a member of parliament who was later expelled from his party for his remarks, described Jews as a “race of perpetrators.” Another German politician is reported to have used anti-Semitism to gain support for his party.
“Mideast Conflict Fueling European Anti-Semitism,” http://www.washingtontimes.com , December 8, 2003 [Access fee required]
[Note: information on anti-Semitism in other countries can be found http://www.state.gov (the U.S. State Department website). Type the word “anti-Semitism” in the search block and follow the links.]
“Anti-Semitic incidents declined slightly in New York in 2004, but the state continues to rank first nationwide for such occurrences, according to a report released last week by the Anti-Defamation League.
“The state had 350 incidents last year, down from 364. Most of the incidents — 227 — were in New York City. Upstate had 30 — up from 26 in 2003. The rest were in Long Island and Westchester . . . Here’s a sampling of anti-Semitic incidents across New York last year:
- In Brooklyn, feces were smeared on the entrance of a Jewish Day School.
- In Staten Island, men burned a 20-foot swastika into a street.
- In Brooklyn and Queens, a woman scrawled swastikas on 20 different sites, including synagogues, Jewish schools, Jewish community centers and police cars.
- In Manhattan, a 100-square-foot swastika was painted on the front of Upper West Side Temple Shaare Zedek.
- In Westchester, ‘Heil Hitler’ was inscribed in tables in Scarsdale High School’s cafeteria.
- In Livingston County, swastikas were painted throughout State University College at Geneseo, with one stamped into the snow.”
Adapted from “Rabbi Jezer on Anti-Semitism; CNY Prejudice Against Jews ‘Below the Surface,’ He Says,” The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), April 10, 2005
“‘Shocked’ is how Aisha Sherazi, principal of the Abraar Islamic school in Ottawa, described the reaction of the school’s administration and board on learning that two of its teachers had incited hatred of Jews.
“And ‘shocked’ was how Mumtaz Akhtar, president of the Muslim-Community Council of Ottawa-Gatineau, described his own reaction to the front-page news about the Abraar school.
“But they may have been the only two persons on the planet to be ‘shocked’ to learn that teachers at an Islamic school are promoting anti-Semitism or other aspects of the Islamist agenda. The fact is, inquiries into Islamic schools repeatedly uncover just such a radical Islamic outlook. Some examples:
“—New York City: An investigation by the New York Daily News in 2003 found that books used in the city’s Muslim schools ‘are rife with inaccuracies, sweeping condemnations of Jews and Christians, and triumphalist declarations of Islam’s supremacy.’
“—Los Angeles: The Omar Ibn Khattab Foundation donated 300 Korans (titled ‘The Meaning of the Holy Quran’) to the city school district in 2001 that within months had to be pulled from school libraries because of their anti-Semitic commentaries. One footnote reads: ‘The Jews in their arrogance claimed that all wisdom and all knowledge of Allah was enclosed in their hearts . . . Their claim was not only arrogance but blasphemy.’
“—Ajax, Ontario, 50 kilometers east of Toronto: The Institute of Islamic Learning is a Canadian emulation of the extremist Islamic schools of Pakistan. It focuses exclusively on religious topics, has students memorize the Koran, demands total segregation from the Canadian milieu and requires complete gender separation. Former students complained about the school’s cult-like devotion to its head, Abdul Majid Khan, and complained that it is a ‘twisted religion’ . . . Nor are schools the exception among Islamic institutions in North America. A recent study by Freedom House found a parallel problem of venomous anti-Jewish and anti-Christian materials in U.S. mosques. The most prominent American Muslim organizations, especially the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spew anti-Semitism and hosted a neo-Nazi. The same applies in Canada, where the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Mohamed Elmasry, publicly endorsed the murder of all Israelis over the age of 18.”
Excerpted from Daniel Pipes, FIRST PERSON: What Are Islamic Schools Teaching? (Baptist Press), April 12, 2005
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