The Czech Interior Ministry has cancelled a storage space rental contract with the Naše vojsko publishing house
Prague, May 26 (CTK) – The Czech Interior Ministry has abrogated its storage space rent contract with the Naše vojsko publishing house that issued a calendar with portraits of the Third Reich protagonists, Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček told CTK after meeting Israeli ambassador Daniel Meron today.
Such items have no place in Czech shops, he said.
The publisher faces a criminal complaint by Michal Klima, the head of the Holocaust Victims Foundation, and another one is being prepared by the Czech Jewish Communities’ Federation (FZO).
FZO chairman Petr Papoušek said the FZO considers not only the calendar’s appearance but also its graphic design a step promoting Nazism and adoring its leaders who were Nazi war criminals.
Petříček (Social Democrats, CSSD) said that Meron showed interest in the case at their talks today.
“I told him that a criminal complaint has already been filed and that the Interior Ministry has terminated its contract for renting storage premises to the publisher. Such items have nothing to do among the Czech shops’ offer. They downplay the horrors of the Nazi regime and especially for Israel it must be sad to see them,” Petříček wrote to CTK.
Apart from Meron, the calendar was previously also criticized by the German ambassador to the Czech Republic.
The Denik N daily recently found out that the Interior Ministry has rented storage premises to the publisher via its subordinate organisation. It has abrogated the contract as of June 30, Denik N wrote this morning, citing Interior Minister Jan Hamáček (CSSD).
A contract with Naše vojsko has also been terminated by the Prague City Hall, which rented shopping space to it.
The city abrogated the contract by end-April, and the publisher has six months to leave the premises.
“We do not want our premises to host entrepreneurs whose business is definitely beyond the limit in terms of ethic,” Prague Councillor Jan Chabr (TOP 09) wrote to CTK.
Naše vojsko director Emerich Drtina said at the time that as a publisher he does not offer the items for sale with the aim of propaganda but in order to make profit.
The article was posted on the expatsCZ
Every Day during the Corona crisis our Advisory Board Member Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs (NL) writes a diary, on request of the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam, which is published on the website of the NIW, the only Jewish Dutch Magazine. Rabbi Jacobs is the head of Inter Governmental Relationships at the Rabbinical Centre of Europe. We will be regularly publishing a selection of his informative, sometimes light hearted, but always wise pieces.
For our Dutch readers you can follow the diary every day at NIW home page: https://niw.nl
Diary March 18
Concerns about politics.
One of the prominent figures of the Jewish Netherlands, who is apparently occasionally tormented by the disease called jealousy, approached me with the comment that he had heard that I will be speaking next Sunday for the NIK on Zoom because of Pesach and expressed the hope that I would not speak about anti-Semitism again and would not have my message / lecture included with those Christians
Of course I don’t have to justify myself and I can do whatever I want, but it bothered me anyway. Because with “those Christians” professional recording equipment was available and “those Christians” were willing to make a good recording completely free of charge, I had made my NIK Hanukkah presentation with and by “those Christians”. Some years ago I had received a similar comment, from that same person, about “those Christians” I needed to have less contact with them. I understand that setup. What I did not fully understand, however, was that the same critic then went to “those Christians” to ask for financial support for his, otherwise fine, projects.
Nothing new under the sun. I remember speaking to an eminent physician some time ago. This ‘eminence’, he told me personally, was not so much down to his expertise in his field, but as a much about his political qualities. No, he was not in politics, he was referring to politics at the top of his university hospital. When I heard a little bit of that politics I immediately thought of the rabbinic world! (Just kidding, because rabbis don’t do politics!)
Because there is politics everywhere. Especially in the real and necessary democratic politics: The elections!
I haven’t been able to sleep all night. When I looked at the new composition of the House of Representatives, I was overcome with concern. I hope and pray that I misjudge it completely, but I fear it. Of course, there can be criticism of Israeli Politics, that does not have to be a sign of anti-Semitism.
But if there is only talk about Israel and not a word is mentioned about the feudal dictatorships of the countries around Israel, then I do not understand. I understand and accept that one of our prominent mayors in a speech at #MayorsAgainstAntisemtism claims that criticism of Netanyahu is allowed, as well as criticism of Rutte. But that’s not the problem. Criticism of Netanyahu is allowed, 50% of Israel criticizes him and that does not degrade them to anti-Semites. The problem is that there is almost exclusively criticism of Israel. That Israel is by far at the top of the list for UN Resolutions. The role of a mayor should be in trying to connect his townspeople, and that does not happen by importing sensitive foreign conflicts. Do I think this mayor is anti-Semitic? Absolutely not! Do I think this mayor should be allowed to criticize Netanyahu? Sure! But what I regret is that criticism of Israel unfortunately and often unintentionally leads to anti-Semitism.
How often am I not allowed to explain that I speak Dutch, although I am a Jew but not born in Israel. The superficial one-sidedness in the experience, however nuanced a mayor may present it, causes anti-Semitism here in our country. And so: if the mayor believes we should keep the Middle East problem out of the city, then criticize Israel, Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, North Korea, China, on… and on…. But even better: let the mayor try to bind the various population groups within the city limits and call them to develop activities that unite together. And then, if connections and friendships have arisen, then, despite the diversity, the friendship itself can look at bottlenecks and differences of opinion that seemed unmentionable. Do you think that can succeed? Often not, but sometimes it does.
And sometimes I cherish that, because I have sometimes been able to experience this often!
And to the prominent Jewish Dutchman I would like to say: next week it is Pesach and Jews all over the world read the Hagadah, which describes the Exodus from Egypt at that time.And what do we read there about the present and now? “Because in every generation we are rebelled against us to destroy us” literally. And then the text continues and says that G-d will save us in the end. The Jewish people live and survive, but all kinds of things happen along the way. We must know, prevent and combat that, but not deny it! I hope that the new House of Representatives will want to fight that battle with us and will want to exercise vigilance.
“They are tracking flights from Israel and knocking on doors to identify Jewish homes”, “I must wear a bullet proof vest to take my children to school”, “Jew hate that I haven’t witnessed since the Holocaust”, just some of the comments relayed to Commission Vice-President Schinas and the EU Co-ordinator for combatting for antisemitism Katharina Von Schnurbein today.
(Brussels, 8 November) A delegation of Senior Jewish Leaders affiliated to the European Jewish Association (EJA) that represents hundreds of Jewish Communities across the continent held an emergency meeting with the European Commission Vice-President responsible for the portfolio of Combatting antisemitism, Mr Margaritis Schinas in his offices in Brussels today along with the EU’s Co-ordinator for Combatting antisemitism and fostering Jewish life Katharina Von Schnurbein.
At the meeting with Vice-President Schinas and Co-ordinator Von Schnurbein, Mr Schinas gave a commitment to expedite the process of providing emergency security to Jewish Communities left reeling by an unprecedented surge in antisemitism across the continent.
Ms Ellen Van Praagh, Vice-Chaiir of the EJA and Chair of Holland’s interprovincial Rabbinate (IPOR) told the Commission Vice-President,
“We are facing an unbelievable tide of hatred and there is genuine fear for our lives. We have in Holland a situation where some Palestinian supporters are actively tracking flights coming into Schiphol to identify Jews, we have the same people knocking on doors of houses to identify Jewish Households. Our buildings are being vandalised and defaced. This is pure intimidation, and we fear the worst is coming.”
Baroness Regina Suchowolski-Sluszny, Vice-Chair of the EJA and Chair of Forum of Jewish organisations of Antwerp (FJO), who survived the Holocaust as a ‘hidden child’, said
“Vice-President, the levels on antisemitism, in the media, on social media and in the public domain are levels I haven’t seen since I was a child. We are in a very dangerous place right now, and it feels like a tipping point. Jews are once again in the crosshairs of those who hate us, and this time they think they can get away with it using the conflict as cover.”
Mr Gabriel Senderowicz, Member of the Jewish Leader’s board of the EJA, and President of the Jewish Community of Porto gave his personal assessment,
“I am here today only because I received permission from the security services to travel. I have been warned that my life is in danger, and today, in the Europe of the 21st Century, I must wear a bullet proof vest to take my child to school and go about my daily life. My crime? I’m a Jew.”
The delegation was led by Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the chairman of the European Jewish Association who said in a statement after the meeting,
“In the meeting I made it clear to the Vice-President that communities did not have the luxury of time for form-filing and EU bureaucracy to better secure themselves when their very lives are under threat.
“Our communities need support, they need security, and they need it yesterday. We welcome the commitment given by Vice-President Schinas to expedite the process of emergency provisions to secure Jewish communities across the continent.”
EJA Managing Director Georgios Papadakis added,
“We understand that the European Commission must help provide urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza, but surely it is incumbent upon them to provide protection and security for their own citizens who are facing a veritable tidal wave of the oldest hatred – that of antisemitism.” Ends
It’s a challenging time for Jewish communities in Europe. Anti-Semitism is on the rise as populism and the politics of the lowest common denominator are gaining traction. Our communities often need round the clock protection and our practices and customs such as keeping Kosher are under pressure from increasing political interference.
