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Comments (0)More than 10,000 protesters blocked a major neo-Nazi march in the former East German city of Dresden, forming a human chain surrounding the center of the city.
An estimated 6,500 far-right extremists from across Europe had convened Saturday in Germany to mark the 65th anniversary of the Allied bombing of Dresden during World War II, which killed an estimated 25,000 civilians. The right-wing extremists were forced to call off their march.
Protesters prevented “the biggest neo-Nazi march in Europe,” Lena Roth, a spokeswoman for protest organizer Dresden Without Nazis told the Deutsche Welle news service. The aim of the protesters was to discourage neo-Nazis from planning future marches.
Far-rightists have used the Dresden bombing anniversary to push for recognition of German suffering during World War II in a tone that comes close to Holocaust denial, critics say. Neo-Nazis, including leading members of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany, refer to the Dresden “bombing Holocaust” and belittle Nazi crimes against humanity.
Several organizations—urged on by Dresden Mayor Helma Orosz and including all mainstream political parties—rallied against the neo-Nazi march with largely peaceful demonstrations calling attention to the victims of National Socialism. They reminded the right-wingers that Germany started World War II, bringing disaster to much of Europe. Some protesters, including several prominent German athletes, formed a human chain to block the neo-Nazi march.
Others attacked cars and buses in which the right-wingers had traveled to Dresden and set fire to trash bins, blocking the route of the neo-Nazi march. Police ultimately informed the right-wing marchers that authorities could not guarantee their safety and urged them to call off the march.
Meanwhile, ceremonies were held in the city to remember the victims of the Allied air raids, with wreath layings, church services and memorial concerts. The raids were started on Feb. 13, 1945.
Haiti Accusations get British Lawmaker in Dutch
A British lawmaker was removed from a party position after calling on Israel to look into claims that its rescue team in Haiti harvested victims’ organs.
Jenny Tonge of the Liberal Democrat party was fired as party health spokesman last Friday after she legitimized the claims by calling for an investigation, the Guardian reported.
Accusations that the Israeli rescue team in Haiti that made headlines around the world was harvesting body parts in the country devastated by an earthquake last month appeared in the online Palestinian Telegraph. Tonge is a patron of the virulently anti-Israel Web site.
Her firing came after she told the Jewish Chronicle, “To prevent allegations such as these—which have already been posted on YouTube—going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti.”
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said last Friday night that Tonge “apologizes unreservedly” for the statement, according to the Guardian.
“I have decided that Jenny Tonge will stand down as Liberal Democrat health spokesperson in the Lords following her unacceptable comments suggesting an inquiry into highly offensive allegations against the IDF humanitarian operation in Haiti,” Clegg said. “The comments were wrong, distasteful and provocative, and I recognize the deep and understandable distress they have caused to the Jewish community.
“While I do not believe that Jenny Tonge is anti-Semitic or racist, I regard her comments as wholly unacceptable. Jenny Tonge apologizes unreservedly for the offense she has caused.”
In 2004, Tonge was fired as spokeswoman on children’s issues after suggesting that if she were a Palestinian mother, she would consider becoming a suicide bomber.
Deadly Indian Bomb Likely Meant for Chabad
A bomb that exploded in a crowded cafe in India was likely meant for the nearby Chabad house, Indian authorities said.
The bomb that detonated Saturday in Pune killed nine people and injured 57. The bakery is located several dozen yards from the city’s Chabad house.
Pune is 125 miles southeast of Mumbai, where in November 2008 a major terrorist attack in the city at several sites simultaneously, including the Chabad house, killed 179 people, including six Jewish victims at the Jewish center.
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said Sunday that the Chabad house in Pune had been under surveillance by David Headley, an American of Pakistani descent in prison in Chicago for allegedly scouting out targets for the Mumbai attack.
The Pune bomb that detonated Saturday evening was left in the cafe, called the German Bakery, in a shopping bag by terrorists pretending to be customers, according to reports.
Police have speculated that another terrorist was meant to pick up the bag and take it to the nearby Chabad house, Haaretz reported. The bag exploded when a waiter opened it.