Rabbis call on Maryland Auction House to cancel sale of Nazi memorabilia

Thank you to the European Parliament Working Group on Antisemitism for their open letter regarding the upcoming annualCarnival in Aalst, Belgium.
 

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, the institution that officially represents Spanish Jews, elected David Obadía as its new president for the next four years, replacing Isaac Benzaquén.
Obadía’s first declarations after being elected focused on pointing out that the axes of his work will be “dialogue, coexistence, diversity and multiculturalism”.

The new president of the Jewish community in Spain is Spanish, son and grandson of Spaniards, and was born in Beer Sheva, Israel, in 1961. During his childhood and adolescence he lived in Melilla and, currently, in Torremolinos, where he has developed his life as a businessman in the real estate sector and also his political career.

In 2015 he entered politics through José Ortiz, former mayor of Torremolinos, who appointed him as his personal advisor. With the Ciudadanos party he held the positions in the Torremolinos Town Hall of Deputy Mayor, Councillor for Development, Urban Planning, Infrastructure, Commercial Activities, Public Roads and Heritage, and served as spokesman for his political group. However, in 2023 Ciudadanos nominated him as candidate for mayor of Torremolinos but he decided to retire from politics.

According to the FCJE, Obadía has extensive community experience that began in 1980 as a collaborator in the Yosef Obadía synagogue in Melilla, founded by his great-grandfather of the same name.

To date he has held various posts, including that of president of the Jewish community of Torremolinos for 8 years, of which he is currently honorary president; vice-president of the FCJE; head of the Spanish Jewish Youth; and current president of the Jewish community of Malaga and of the Association of Jewish communities of Andalusia. He has also received numerous awards for his extensive career in the service of Spanish Jewish life over the last 40 years.

An anti-Zionist group in the Netherlands is using a freedom of information request pressure Dutch universities into revealing whether any of their staff members have ties to Israel.
The freedom of information request was filed by “The Rights Forum” group, and also seeks to identify what ties and staff relations exist with Jewish communities and organizations such as the Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
The Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands, Binyomin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi (NL), who also heads up the European Jewish Association’s Committee for Combatting Antisemitism, condemned the The Rights Forum, saying the information request “reeks of antisemitism”.
“The Rights Forum is well known to me. Let us be clear, they want to know any Israeli, any Israeli link and any Jewish people in universities in Holland. The clear inference is that some shadowy Zionist or Jewish cabal is operating in the Dutch university system. This reeks of antisemitism, but it comes as no surprise to me given this group’s reputation.”
“No. What really concerns me is the number of universities that were so compliant with such a transparently antisemitic request. It reminds us that most mayors cooperated during the occupation to pass on the names of their Jewish citizens to the Germans.”
“The difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism is now wafer thin. In all my many years in Holland I can seldom remember such a toxic environment for Jews. This is an appalling submission to the base instincts of an openly hostile group towards Israel, the world’s only Jewish State.”

“This is not about Palestine and Israel, this is not about politics, these are attacks against Jews everywhere in Europe” states Rabbi Menachem Margolin.

(Brussels 19 October 2023) Synagogues attacked in Spain, Germany, incitement all over Europe, reported antisemitism rises over 1200%. The European Jewish Association, one of Europe’s largest Jewish associations representing hundreds of communities across the continent, delivered a stark assessment this morning: Attacks against Europe’s Jews has started

EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin sounded the alarm and demanded that European governments wake up and protect all Jewish Communities across Europe. Never again (the phrase used on international holocaust memorial day) is now, he emphasised.

In a statement today, the EJA Chairman said,

“Our communities and synagogues like Melilla in Spain, and in Germany are being attacked, antisemitism hate has multiplied over 1000% times from already alarming levels, we are being insulted, assaulted verbally and in many cases physically in the street.

“I am of course writing to governments in Spain and in Germany. But Jews shouldn’t have to ask for help! My message to European governments is stark: WAKE UP!!! Never again is now!!

“Anybody who thinks this is about Israel and Palestine, or politics is living under a stone. This is merely a pretext for starting attacks on every Jew in Europe.”

“Governments across Europe mut immediately step up, protect JewIsh communities across the continent now. Right now.”