Jewish rabbis take part in U.S. anti-Islamophobia event

Jewish rabbis took part in an anti-Islamaphobia in Washington on Thursday, days before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 Twin Towers attack in New York, JTA reported.

“Ten years after 9/11, it has somehow become respectable to verbally attack Muslims and Islam in America,” Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the president of the Union of Reform Judaism, reportedly said at an event organized by Shoulder to Shoulder, a group founded a year ago to combat anti-Muslim rhetoric.

“There are very real consequences when entire populations are represented in the public imagination by their worst elements, when the sins of the few are applied to the group as a whole. I have watched in astonishment as prominent politicians, including candidates for president of the United States, have found it politically opportune to peddle divisive anti-Muslim bigotry,” Yoffie added.

Rabbi Burton Visotzky from the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary said Muslims “have always been part of the fabric of America,” the JTA report said.
Steve Gutow, a Reconstructionist rabbi and the president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the public policy umbrella group reportedly spoke at the event as well, saying “a great people and a great nation do not let their brothers and sisters suffer from bigotry and persecution.”

He condemned those who discriminate against Muslims throughout the United States, saying “our Muslim brothers and sisters suffer exactly that in all corners of this great country of ours. Today is a day to stand up and say we have had enough,” the report said.

Rabbi Marc Schneier, co-founder of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Rabbi Jack Moline, representing the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, representing the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Faith and the Common Good project, and Rabbi Dr. Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, representing the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, were also in attendance, the JTA report said.

Haaretz

SDL and Unite Against Fascism stage Edinburgh rallies (UK)

Hundreds of police have staged a show of force in central Edinburgh at a rally by the Scottish Defence League.

Almost 200 supporters of the far right group were heavily outnumbered by officers drawn from forces across the central belt.

They were penned in after the city council refused them permission to march.

A counter demonstration of about 400 Unite Against Fascism protesters was allowed to hold a procession.

They marched along Princes Street before attending a rally.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police confirmed there was a "substantial police presence" and said both demonstrations passed off without incident and without any arrests.
'Minimum disruption'

The Lothian and Borders force was supported by officers from Strathclyde, Tayside, Fife, Central, and British Transport Police.

Assistant Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "We are satisfied with the conduct of the vast majority of those who visited Edinburgh for their respective demonstrations.

"The day passed without significant incident and allowed local residents and businesses to go about their day with minimum disruption."

He added: "I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the public in Edinburgh for their patience and support throughout the policing of this event.

"Edinburgh remains a hub for various demonstrations to take place and Lothian and Borders Police have a wealth of experience in facilitating both planned and spontaneous gatherings."
Disorder fears

The Scottish Defence League is an offshoot of the English Defence League, which has been associated with trouble at gatherings south of the border.

Last year there were minor skirmishes when about 50 SDL supporters staged a rally in the capital.

They were outnumbered by 2,000 counter-protesters marching under the banner of Scotland United.

This year the SDL had originally wanted to march from near the US Consulate to the east end of Princes Street.

This proposal was turned down by members of the council's licensing committee over fears of public disorder.

Speakers at a UAF rally were due to include Malcolm Chisholm MSP, Colin Keir MSP and union representatives.

BBC News

Neo-Nazi Authour released for being old. (Austria)

A fascist writer who has denied the Holocaust has been released from jail early for being advanced in years. Viennese newspapers reported yesterday (Thurs) that Gerd Honsik was allowed to travel to Spain where he has lived with his family for years. The High Court of Vienna (OGH) argued the 69-year-old integrated well into society there. It cited his age as another reason for the early release on probation. The Austrian was sentenced to five years behind bars in 2009 for extreme-right statements he had made in articles in a magazine he published. His prison term was reduced by one year in an appeal hearing a few months later before he was ordered to spend an extra two years in jail in another trial last September.

Honsik was convicted of breaking Austria’s law against spreading Nazi propaganda and ideology in his book "Freispruch für Hitler?" (Acquittal for Hitler?) and sentenced to one and a half years in prison in 1992. He fled to Spain, a country criticised as a safe haven for neo-Nazis and alleged World War Two (WWII) criminals by many anti-fascism groups. Honsik was arrested in Malaga and eventually extradited to his homeland in 2007. Honsik has been in court over various disputed statements many times over the years. He doubted the existence of gas chambers at Nazi death camps in WWII in his books "Der Juden Drittes Reich" (The Jews’s Third Reich) and "Schelm und Scheusal" (Prankster and Monster). The infamous fascist claimed the Nazis’ mass murder could be doubted and called for a "forensic examination" of the "alleged Holocaust."

Austrian Times