Sweden's Jewish community condemns Quran burning incident

Turkey's Anadolu Agency reports:

"Those who burn books will in the end burn people," Jewish and Muslim communities in Sweden have warned, quoting famous German Jewish author Heinrich Heine following recent burnings of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

In a reference to book burnings in Nazi Germany, the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities and the AMANAH Muslim Jewish Partnership of Trust said in a joint statement on Wednesday ​​​​​​​that book burning often indicates the beginning of the normalization of hatred towards a group in society.

"Historically against Jews, now against Muslims," said the statement, warning that racists and extremists are once again "allowed to abuse democracy and Freedom of Speech in order to normalize hate against one of the religious minorities in Sweden, by burning Quran."

Drawing attention to the intensified attacks on Jewish and Muslim people in the country, they expressed concern.

There are two strange things about this story.

One is that, while there is certainly plenty of right-wing antisemitism in Sweden, a great deal of it is fueled by the immigrant Muslim community there. I hope that behind the scenes of Jewish-Muslim cooperation against hate, the Jewish community is not sweeping Muslim antisemitism under the rug.

The other is that I cannot find this story in any Swedish media. In fact, the only place it is being reported is Turkey. I have no idea why.

---

---

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

Read More

Algerian Islamists try again to make "normalization" illegal

From Middle East Monitor:

Algerian lawmakers, on Tuesday, submitted a Bill criminalising normalisation with Israel, including articles prohibiting travel or any direct or indirect contact with Tel Aviv, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Youssef Ajesa, a lawmaker from the Movement of Society for Peace, told Anadolu Agency that he "lodged on behalf of his party's group of deputies (65 out of 462) the Bill to the Parliament."

The Movement of Society for Peace is an Islamic party that forms the largest opposition bloc in the Algerian Parliament. The party's leadership, however, has constantly confirmed its support for the country's foreign policy.

Ajesa said "his parliamentary bloc tried to include other groups to contribute to the Bill, but it did not receive a response, so I took the initiative to present it in its name."

The Bill includes seven articles that aim to "criminalise normalisation with the Zionist entity (Israel)" as well as forbidding any contacts with Israel or travelling to and from Israel.

What is not mentioned is that Algerian parties have submitted similar bills in the past and they (surprisingly) failed.

Apparently, this bill is meant to copy Iraq's draft bill from last week to criminalize any contacts with Israel, a "crime" that could be punished with the death penalty.. The Iraqi parliament legal committee discussed the bill yesterday ahead of its second draft reading.

---

---

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

Read More

UAE doesn't issue a visa for the Mufti of Palestine - but may allow Israelis to enter freely

Anadolu Agency reports that  the United Arab Emirates has not issued a visa to the mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein.

He was slated to attend a conference in the UAE and was to arrive on Sunday.

A Palestinian official told the agency that  the Palestinian authorities have been working on this, saying that a solution is on its way.

Yet it is Wednesday and nothing has been reported about this being resolved yet.

The UAE has been frosty with the PLO for a while now, partially due to its support of Abbas rival Mohammed Dahlan.

Palestinian media is bitter, pointing out that Israelis have been welcomed with open arms to the UAE in recent months, even to the point of the deputy tourism minister of one of the emirates welcoming Israelis visiting a high tech expo without a visa, telling Ynet, "Bruchim Habaim" - "Welcome" in Hebrew. And it is possible that the lift on limitations of Israeli visitors to the UAE may become permanent.

---

---

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Read More