Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1993
‘Antisemitism Is Alive And Thriving’
from The Jerusalem Post
Antisemitism is the common currency of politics in many east European countries, and is still thriving worldwide, according to a report released [recently].
The London-based Institute of Jewish Affairs issued its first Antisemitism World Report last year. It assessed 1991 as the year in which antisemitism reached a post-World War II peak.
The new 200-page document covers the situation in 60 countries and regions during 1992. It concludes that little has changed since 1991, and in at least nine countries antisemitism has worsened markedly.
The report … says: “Conditions conducive to the growth and spread of racism, xenophobia and antisemitism were more in evidence in 1992 than in 1991. And Europe remained the principal arena for manifestations of these phenomena.”
One worrying trend the report highlights is what it calls “the Islamicization of antisemitism” in the Arab and Moslem world.
The authors are particularly worried by the deteriorating situation in Egypt, the only Arab country at formal peace with Israel. There is “disturbing evidence that antisemitism is becoming increasingly a grassroots phenomenon in that country,” the report says. Egypt is also cited among several countries practicing “antisemitism without Jews.” Even pro-Western Arab Gulf states in no direct conflict with Israel are “significant sources of antisemitic material.”
“The presence of the Jewish state will continue to be seen as an insult both to Arab nationalism and to Islam—an insult which must be explained,” concludes the Arab section of the report.
In general, the report concludes that “the potential for increased expressions of antisemitism remains high in a worsening racist and xenophobic climate.”
Imam: ‘Free Jerusalem’
from The Jerusalem Post
Akrameh Sabri, senior imam of Al-Aksa Mosque, last week called for the “liberation of Jerusalem,” attacking Mayor Teddy Kolleck and “Israelis on both the right and left, who claim the city is united. This is an Islamic city. We have our past here, our civilization is in this city, which must be freed from occupation,” he told a crowd.
Ignorance of the Holocaust
from The Jerusalem Report
Prior to the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, a poll was conducted by the American Jewish Committee. It reveals that more than half the high school students in the U.S. don’t know what the term “Holocaust” refers to. More than a third of American adults couldn’t define the term either.
Scholars: Olim faring better than believed
from The Jewish Exponent
A number of Israeli academics and economists are reporting that the mass absorption of immigrants, especially those from the former Soviet Union had been more successful than it sometimes appears.
The scholars released their findings at a recent symposium on whether the immigrants have been an asset or a liability.
Russia May Ban Missionaries
from the South Jersey Courier-Post
Russian lawmakers voted [recently] to ban foreign missionaries from proselytizing on Russian soil, a move one critical lawmaker said was aimed at American evangelist Billy Graham.
The amendment to Russia’s law on freedom of religion applies specifically to foreigners and bans missionary work, publishing, business deals and advertising, the Interfax news agency reported.
The measure, which needs President Boris Yeltsin’s approval before becoming law, requires foreign religious groups to become affiliated with Russian churches or organizations or to obtain state accreditation, Interfax said.
