FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)The chairman of Amnesty International-Finland called Israel a “punk state.”
Writing on his blog on the website of the Finnish tabloid Iltalehti, Frank Johansson recounted a visit with a friend who lives in Israel: After “several years of residence in the holy country, he has come to the conclusion that ‘Israel is a punk state.’ On the basis of my own visit, which occurred during the 1970s and 1990s for the final time, I agree.”
Johansson used the statement as a jumping-off point to deplore the actions of an Israeli female soldier who recently posted photos of herself posing with Palestinian prisoners on Facebook. A post on the Tundra Tabloids blog translates the Finnish term used by Johansson, “nilkkimaa,” as “scum state.”
The Tundra Tabloids blog questioned Johansson’s ability to lead a human rights organization while making such public statements.
Suburban Paris Synagogue Receives Threatening Letter
A letter threatening to shoot Jews was received at a synagogue north of Paris.
The anonymous letter was discovered Tuesday by synagogue workers in Drancy. It had been delivered on Aug. 14 and included bullets and a swastika, according to the Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism.
“Dirty Jews, we’ll get you all, accompanied with nine bullets,” read the letter, according to Sammy Ghozlan, head of the bureau.
The synagogue’s rabbi, Haim Ammar, told JTA that an official investigation is underway, but it is too early to be seriously alarmed. “We are waiting to see if this comes from a real source, or an unbalanced person,” Ammar said. At this early stage, an alarmist reaction “won’t help anyone,” he added.
The synagogue has received several calls from concerned members, and is trying to reassure congregants and calm things down, he said. Surveillance measures will be increased at the synagogue, but no major changes currently will be made to regular security procedures.
The suburb of Drancy was the site of a Nazi internment camp where thousands of Jewish prisoners were detained and then systematically shipped to death camps in Poland.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Ghozlan asked authorities to reinforce security around Jewish gathering places across France in the weeks leading up to the Jewish High Holiday period.
Pig’s Head Left at Lithuanian Synagogue
A pig’s head was left at the entrance of a synagogue in Lithuania.
The pig’s head, which reportedly had a Star of David engraved on its forehead and wore a black hat with sidelocks attached to it, was discovered last Saturday at a synagogue in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas.
Lithuanian Jewish leaders called the incident a neo-Nazi provocation, according to the European Jewish Press. Kaunas police are investigating the incident but currently have no suspects, according to the Baltic News Service.
Up to 500 Jews live in Kaunas and about 5,000 Jews in all of Lithuania.