German antisemitism Czar comments about public kippah wearing are a “surrender to hate” say EU Jewish Heads

May 27, 2019

“Is this the solution? Will the next advice be for me to cut off my beard? Or change my name?” asks Chief Rabbi Jacobs.
EU Jewish Association (EJA) Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin and Head of Governmental relations for the Rabbinical Centre of Europe Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs (Netherlands) today expressed their disappointment and alarm at comments made by Germany’s respected antisemitism co-ordinatior, Dr Felix Klein, where he said that he wouldn’t advise Jews to wear Kippot (skullcaps) in some parts of the country.

The heads, representing hundreds of communities across Europe, said the comments, however well-intended towards the safety of Jews in Germany amounted to a policy of a surrender towards hate.
In a statement EJA head Rabbi Margolin said,
“It is with disappointment and alarm that I read the comments of Dr. Felix Klein. It is clear that through his work he has put the safety and welfare of the Jewish Community in Germany first, but his latest comments are a surrender to hate.
Jews cannot surrender to those who despise us. We do not alter who we are to placate the basest instincts of humanity. Dr Klein’s solution appears to be hide everything that is Jewish and then there is no antisemitism. This is a dangerous position to adopt and the EJA repudiates it in the strongest possible terms.”
Chief Rabbi Jacobs added:
“Dr Klein rightly points out the problem of antisemitism in Germany, but his well meant advice is not, to my humble opinion, the solution at all. What is next? Should I shave off my beard? Change my name? This is the road where his comments lead to. My own parents had to hide during the Nazi period. I simply refuse to hide today, nor should anyone, least of all the man tasked with fighting antisemitism in Germany, be asking us to do just that.”
Read more in dutch HERE

Additional Articles

#DefineItToFightIT

Facebook should have a clear policy to fight antisemitism!
We at EJA are calling Facebook to adopt the IHRA definition for antisemitism!
Define it to fight it!!!
join us and many other organizations around the world in our call for Facebook- lets make a change.

EJP

En vacances en Croatie, des écoliers juifs français découvrent une croix gammée géante à l’extérieur de leur hôtel.

Le président de l’Association juive européenne, le rabbin Menachem Margolin, a déclaré : “Ce seront des vacances et une expérience inoubliables pour ces enfants, pour toutes les mauvaises raisons… un rappel que nous ne pouvons jamais devenir complaisants ou baisser notre garde quand il s’agit d’antisémitisme”.

Un groupe d’écoliers juifs français en vacances dans un hôtel de la ville de Trilj, près de Split, en Croatie, s’est réveillé lundi en découvrant une croix gammée géante barbouillée sur le trottoir en face de leur hôtel.

L’Association juive européenne (EJA), basée à Bruxelles, a été informée de cet acte clairement antisémite par son représentant en Croatie, Romano Bolkovic, qui a contacté les bureaux du Premier ministre, du Président et des ministres des Affaires étrangères et de l’Intérieur croates, et a informé l’ambassadeur d’Israël.

La police mène actuellement une enquête sur cet incident.

“C’est une honte absolue. Si je suis certain que les opinions de l’individu et du groupe responsables de la peinture d’une croix gammée géante ne sont pas représentatives de la grande majorité des Croates, l’acte et la nature de cette attaque – car c’est bien de cela qu’il s’agit – restent une profonde entaille pour les Juifs du monde entier”, a commenté le président de l’EJA, le rabbin Menachem Margolin.

“En tant qu’adultes, nous sommes tristement habitués à la haine, et pourtant nous continuons à faire tout ce que nous pouvons pour en protéger nos enfants. Qu’un groupe d’enfants juifs français en vacances en Croatie ait eu une introduction aussi vicieuse et visible à cette haine est tragique.”’

”Les vacances de ces enfants seront désormais inoubliables, pour toutes les mauvaises raisons”, a-t-il ajouté.

Le Rabbin Margolin a conclu, ”Bien que je sois confiant que la police fera toute la lumière sur cet incident, et bien que les mots forts de condamnation venant des plus hautes fonctions en Croatie soient un réconfort, nous avons encore beaucoup de travail à faire contre l’antisémitisme. Cette attaque nous rappelle que nous ne pouvons jamais nous permettre d’être complaisants et de baisser la garde”.

EJP

Budapest un modello di tolleranza? Ai tempi dell’invasione russa tutto è possibile

Budapest un modello di tolleranza? Ai tempi dell’invasione russa tutto è possibile (Di martedì 21 giugno 2022) Zsolt Semjén, vicepremier ungherese, ne è sicuro. Il suo è uno dei Paesi più tolleranti dell’Unione Europea. Un apparente paradosso per una «democrazia illiberale», come lo stesso premier ungherese Viktor Orban ha definito il suo progetto politico e come viene ormai additata la «sua» Ungheria. E tuttavia quest’affermazione si spiega con alcune considerazioni. «Nel mio partito ci concentriamo con una piattaforma sulla protezione dei valori biblici, e delle civiltà cristiana ed ebraica» spiega il braccio destro del leader ai microfoni di Panorama. «Gli ebrei sono da noi supportati tanto quanto i cattolici, non c’è nessun doppio stantard. Non ci piace come fanno altri Paesi europei, che lodano Israele e poi finanziano le ong anti-israeliane. L’Ungheria ha tolleranza zero vero l’antisemitismo. Semmai è l’Islam politico ad alimentare tensioni, ma nel nostro Paese …

https://www.zazoom.it/2022-06-21/budapest-un-modello-di-tolleranza-ai-tempi-dellinvasione-russa-tutto-e-possibile/11109350/

jpost

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola receives King David Award

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Monday was awarded the King David Award by the European Jewish Association for “her support to the Jewish community in Europe,” the multinational body announced.

Metsola received the award after she visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to commemorate victims of the Holocaust.

During the visit, Metsola laid a wreath at the Death Wall and attended a memorial ceremony, the European Parliament said.

“I struggled to comprehend how a quiet part of the world, surrounded by beautiful Birch trees, provided the setting for the worst crimes man has ever seen,” Metsola said, adding that the entire world must know the “horror that stems from indifference.”

Metsola added that the King David Award “will serve to me as a continuous reminder of those heinous crimes committed against humanity in the past and to recall the importance of speaking up in defense of our common values today.”

jpost
Additional Communities
United Kingdom
Ukraine
Turkey
Schweiz
Switzerland
Sweden
Spain
Slovenia
Slovakia
Serbia
Russia