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October 14, 2008
Israeli to Quit Romanian Parliament
Jerusalem
JTA Wire Service
An Israeli member of the Romanian parliament says he will resign, citing increased anti Semitism in the country. Nati Meir, a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2004, is an independent lawmaker, though he started his political career as a member of the extreme right wing Greater Romania Party. Meir is expected to resign Monday, Ynet reported. Meanwhile, he told Ynet that Jews should “think twice” before doing business in Romania.” Jews are going to be facing some tough times here,” he said. “The era of Israeli growth in Romania is over.” Meir said that anti Semitism has increased over his 13 years in the country. “If this is the situation we face, and I as a parliament member see these things, and I have no right to respond to it, I decided to do something,” he said. “The Nationalist Party is dancing on Jewish blood and no one is standing up and saying it’s illegal. If I didn’t take this step, then where would we be?” Meir said he and his family are considering returning to Israel. Meir left Israel after serving 30 months in prison for impersonating a lawyer, according to The Guardian.
Russia May be Backing Away from Iran Sale
Russia appears to be backing away from a proposed sale of state-of-the-art anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert raised the sale of the S-300s in meetings in Moscow this week with Russian President Dimitri Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Israel fears the missiles, which have a range of 150 kilometers, will diminish its air superiority in the region and inhibit its ability to preemptively attack Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Asked Thursday about the Russian response to Olmert’s request, Andrei Nesterenko, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: “We have declared more than once at the very highest political level that we do not intend to supply those types of armaments to countries located in regions that are, to put it mildly, uneasy. This is not in the interests of our country’s policy or the interests of preserving stability in one region or another of the world.”
Denmark to Extradite Neo Nazi Music Producers
Denmark will extradite two producers of rabidly neo Nazi music to Germany. Flemming C. and Stephan G., who were arrested in Denmark on Aug. 27, are wanted for producing, commissioning and distributing the music. The Oct. 7 announcement comes as England debates whether to extradite accused Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben to Germany. In the Danish case, the decision by Denmark’s Ministry of Justice reportedly was part of an international effort to prosecute purveyors of far right music. According to the Deutsche Welle news service in Germany, the two producers may be responsible for the production of 100,000 illegal CDs on the Celtic Moon label. The two producers will have a chance to counter the extradition order in court, said Morten Jakobsen of Denmark’s Justice Ministry International Office. Reportedly one is German and the other Danish. According to reports they are linked with, among others, members of the right wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany. Critics of the party for years have been calling on the German government to ban the NPD. Meanwhile, the German born Toben is imprisoned in England, denied bail as he awaits a decision on extradition to face Holocaust denial charges in a Mannheim court. Toben, who now lives in Australia and founded an anti Semitic organization there, was en route from the United States to Dubai when he was nabbed during a stopover in London.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.