A member of the city council of an Italian town listed “antisemitic” as his religious views on Facebook, Italian media reported on Sunday.
Stefano Altinier, 35, was elected in the city council of Gorizia, North East of the Italian peninsula, in 2017. He belongs to the right-wing party League, whose leader Matteo Salvini recently triggered a political crisis, pulling the plug from League’s coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement.
According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Altinier deleted the entry on Friday after being alerted that someone had spotted his profile. However, screenshots of his Facebook page started to circulate online.
“The opposition is trying to discredit me in a boorish way. I have always thought that social media do not reflect reality. Some people claim to exercise a certain profession or to be married, and it happens not to be true. I have never been antisemitic, I have even attended a Hanukkah celebration once, and I’m fascinated by the history and tradition of this people,” Altinier said.
Altinier also claimed that he was “a teenager” when he compiled his Facebook profile identifying his religious views as antisemitic, “ten or fifteen years ago.”
“The word was meant as a joke,” he further said. “I apologize if I hurt someone’s sensitivity. Today there is no more trace of what I wrote.”
Additional Articles
GREECE: KOSHER SLAUGHTER “UNDER DIRECT ATTACK” AS GREEK SUPREME COURT RULES THAT SLAUGHTER WITHOUT STUNNING VIOLATES EU LAW
Jewish freedom of religion is under direct attack across Europe from the very institutions that have vowed to protect our communities, says European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin.
Move comes as consequence of European Court of Justice Ruling last December that member countries may ban the practice of ritual slaughter in order to promote animal welfare, without infringing the rights of religious groups.
The December ruling said that the EU’s animal slaughter regulation “does not preclude member states from imposing an obligation to stun animals prior to killing which also applies in the case of slaughter prescribed by religious rites”, but encouraged member states to find a balance. It is now clear that a number of member states are zealously applying the former whilst ignoring the latter,
In a statement this evening, the Chairman of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, which represents hundreds of communities across the continent, said:
“We warned in December about the downstream consequences that the European Court of Justice ruling carried with it, and now we see the outcome. Jewish Freedom of Religion is under direct attack. It started in Belgium, moved to Poland and Cyprus and now it is Greece’s turn.
“These direct attacks are coming from many of the same governments and institutions who have sworn to protect their Jewish Communities.
“What we are witnessing is rank hypocrisy. When it comes to antisemitism, governments and institutions rightly stand behind us. But when our faith and practice is assailed left and right by laws, they are nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be found.
“What use is it to protect Jews while legislating fundamental pillars of our religion out of existence?
We will urgently making representations to the highest levels of the Greek government to get direct answers to this simple but fundamental question: How can there be Jews in Europe if you keep bringing in laws against us? Ends
- October 27, 2021
European Commission head to light Chanukah candle on Rond-Point Schuman in Brussels’ EU quarter
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will celebrate Chanukah on Monday 19 December by lighting the flame on a large menorah in front of the European Commission’s headquarters in the Brussels EU quarter.
As part of the cultural agenda of Brussels, the city’s Mayor Philippe Close will light the second candle of Chanukah.
The event is seen as a strong sign for the European Jewish community in the wake of the EU’ clear commitment to ensuring a Jewish future and fostering Jewish life as laid out in the EU Commission’s new strategy for combatting resurgent antisemitism and fostering Jewish life in Europe.
European ambassadors and civil servants are expêcted to attend the event.
The lighting, which is organized in partnership with the European Jewish Association and the City of Brussels, will take place on Monday at 18:00 on Schuman Square and will be followed by a concert from the singer Haim Tzvi.
Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, is one of the most popular Jewish holidays worldwide. Candles are lit over 8 days to remember the miracle of one day’s worth of oil lasting eight following the reconsecration of the Temple in Jerusalem. Its message of hope, light and emancipation resonates are universal and timely. Celebrations worldwide are attended by heads of states who often light their own candles.
In addition to Monday’s lighting, Chanukah will also be celebrated the next day in the European Commission with the presence of the European Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, honoring Hias Europe, the world’s oldest refugee organisation, first established in the 1880s to help Russian Jews fleeing from pogroms resettle in the United States. Since then, HIAS Europe has had a strong presence throughout Europe, resettling hundreds of thousands of European Jews fleeing from violence and conflict. Today, HIAS Europe is a global humanitarian organization with thousands of employees in 22 countries dedicated to helping forcibly displaced persons, irrespective of their background. During more than a century of activity, HIAS Europe has helped more than 4.5 million people escape persecution worldwide »
EuroChanukah is organised every year by the European Jewish Community Centre (EJCC).
- December 22, 2022
Jewish communities under #COVID19
In these challenging times of #COVID19 , when we are all facing personal difficulties as well as community and global ones, the EJA is here to listen.
We have been receiving a lot of emails, messages and videos from Jewish communities all over Europe, sharing their concerns and challenges but also sending messages of hope and tips for coping.
If you feel like sharing your thoughts with us you are more than welcome to. you can send your videos to info@ejassociation.com or by whatsapp to 0032483362607
- May 11, 2020
The Hamas Massacre was the only topic on lips at the first major European Jewish Conference since the attacks.
The European Jewish Association, representing hundreds of Jewish communities across the continent invited Political figures and Jewish Leaders from Europe to Zagreb and the Jasenovac death camp in Croatia, against the backdrop of the Hamas Massacre in Israel, an act that has profoundly affected Jews across Europe. The Conference began with a minute silence for all those butchered by Hamas last weekend.
Gary Koren, Israel’s Ambassador Ambassador to Croatia in welcoming the Conference delegates from Portugal to Bulgaria, said:
“This conference in Zagreb is now needed more than ever. Hamas is ISIS, and this war started with the blessing of Iran. Israel has no choice but to win and obliterate Hamas. This is the darkest of times, and there is no way to describe the pain our nation is going through, but we will prevail like we always do.”
Croatia’s former President Kolinda Grabar–Kitarovic said that the attacks against Israel represent “an existential attack against the normalization of the Abraham Accords.
It will have tremendous geopolitical effects, and sadly, antisemitism will only spike.”
Deputy Remy Rebeyrotte, the Secretary of the National Assembly in France, responding to European Jewish Press reports that since the weekend there have been 50 reported acts of antisemitism in France, responded:
“There have been over 202 antisemitic attacks in France in the last couple of months.
The Ministry of Interior is stepping up security measures in synagogues and all Jewish Schools.We see yet again conspiracy theories running deeply rooted in antisemitism. This time from the far left saying Jews control the world, the banking industry, etc.
“I want today to express support of France for Israel. The children of Israel are our children. All parties are condemning except for the extreme left with Melenchon”
Dragan Primorac, president of the Croatian-Israel business club, stated, “Evil is the antithesis of honor. Croatia is staying shoulder to shoulder with Israel. Evil will not prevail.”
Head of Combatting Antisemitism at the World Zionist Organisation Raheli Baratz Rix, who partnered with the EJA for the Zagreb conference, in an address from Israel said:
“Israel is under attack. They killed in a massacre of young Jews because they were Jews. This barbaric act is only murderous racism, which has only one name antisemitism. You cannot stay silent again. We fight for humanity. Israel will stay strong and will win.
Natan Albahari, a Serbian Member of Parliament added,
“It pained me to see what happened at the music festival in Israel. It’s unimaginable. There is no justification for those crimes. I am only one MP, but will use every platform at my disposal to make sure that message is shared in Serbia.”
Konstantinos Karagounis, a Greek MP and Member of EJA’s Advisory Board was scathing in his criticism of the Hamas Massacre in Israel:
“All political parties of Greece stand firmly in solidarity with Israel. EU leaders must reassess their policy towards Hamas, Hezbollah, and towards all these terrorists. I think we are all under attack. Not just Israel. Failure to act will endorse such brutality.
Terrorist activities must face unwavering consequences.”
William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organisations, in an impassioned speech to delegates, said:
“We need to make the world aware of what happened. They want to do Israel Judenrein. The only answer is Unity. We are strong when we are one. The IDF will succeed. We will survive as a people. Israel is our lifeline.”
Adel Benita, a citizen of Modi’in, Israel, whose husband was stabbed to death 40 times in a previous terror attack, spoke to delegates from the podium and said:
“Terrorism doesn’t differentiate between race or nationality.
“What we saw this past Shabbat and holiday – forty babies butchered, young people shot at a festival – how can we understand? How can those families cope in response to their loved ones being butchered and raped?
“This could happen to you in Europe. Terrorists don’t differentiate between race, gender, and nationality.
“I’m begging you to open your eyes and to ensure your leaders fight against antisemitism so this doesn’t happen again.”
- October 13, 2023
