World Briefs: ‘Camp Auschwitz’ Jan. 6 Rioter Was Wearing SS Shirt Underneath and more

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Prosecutors: ‘Camp Auschwitz’ Jan. 6 Rioter Was Wearing SS Shirt Underneath
Robert Keith Packer’s sister asked people not to judge him by his cover, a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt. A prosecutor said he was wearing a Nazi SS T-shirt underneath, JTA reported.

Robert Keith Packer was seen at the Capitol Hill riot and insurrection wearing a hoodie with the words, “Camp Auschwitz” on it. (Screenshot via JTA.org)

The revelation of what Packer, a 57-year-old Virginia pipefitter, was wearing on Jan. 6, 2021, came on Sept. 15 when a federal judge sentenced him to 75 days for his role in the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The sweatshirt, which became a symbol of the rioters’ ties to white supremacist movements, was “incredibly offensive,” U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said before handing down the sentence.

“It seems to me that he wore that sweatshirt for a reason. We don’t know what the reason was because Mr. Packer hasn’t told us,” said Nichols.

Germany’s Public Broadcaster Mandates That All Employees Support Israel’s Right to Exist
Germany’s public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, revised its code of conduct to require support for Israel’s right to exist, and employees who fail to do so may now be fired, JTA reported.

The move announced on Sept. 1 preceded a court order last week that DW reinstate a former employee who was fired after the company determined that she had made comments about Israel that could be construed as antisemitic. In all, seven employees from the broadcaster’s Arabic service were let go last year on similar grounds, and so far, two have successfully sued DW for reinstatement.

The revised conduct code appears to be timed to strengthen the company’s hand in such cases in the future. DW spokesperson Vera Tellmann said in an email that the company “is awaiting the reasons for the verdict in one case and reserves the right to take further legal action.”

DW is not the only German media company to expressly endorse Israel’s right to exist. In 1967, the Axel Springer company — one of Germany’s biggest media conglomerates that now owns Politico and Insider — established “corporate principles” that include “support [for] the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.”

Australian University Magazine Editor Fired After Writing ‘Death to Israel’
The student union at the University of Adelaide fired an editor of its campus student magazine after she called for “death to Israel” in an article last month, JTA reported
In a statement on Sept. 13, the board of YouX, the university’s student body, said that Habibah Jaghoori’s “recent public conduct would reasonably be perceived by any fair-minded person to be threatening the welfare of students at our University.”

Jaghoori, an editor of On Dit, the campus student magazine, concluded an article on Aug. 4 with the phrase “Death to Israel.” The article was prompted by the three-day conflict in early August between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. The conflict killed nearly 50 Palestinian civilians.

The YouX statement said it was not the article that prompted the firing of Jaghoori. Her removal was “specifically related to her conduct and behaviour since the article’s publication,” it said.

Study: Tel Aviv Home to 42,400 Millionaires
A new study released this week by Henley & Partners found that 42,400 millionaires live in Tel Aviv, or about one in 10 residents, reported JNS.org.

Among them, Israel’s coastal city and primary economic engine is home to 2,260 people with a net worth of more than $10 million, 118 residents with more than $100 million and 12 billionaires.

Tel Aviv placed second in terms of the richest cities in the Middle East — based on the number of millionaires — behind Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Globally, New York City has the most millionaires (345,600), followed by Tokyo, the San Francisco Bay area, London and Singapore.

Former Israeli Spy Jonathan Pollard to Remarry
Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst who served 30 years in prison in the United States on charges of spying for Israel, is engaged to be married, local media reported on Sept. 13, according to JNS.org.

Pollard will wed Rivka Abrahams-Donin, a widow and mother of seven from the Chabad community in Jerusalem. His former wife, Esther, whom he married while imprisoned, died earlier this year.

Pollard was arrested in 1985, convicted of espionage and sentenced two years later. He is the only U.S. citizen to ever receive a life sentence for spying for an ally and the only one to serve more than 10 years in jail for the crime.

Pollard was released on parole in 2015, eventually being permitted to move to Israel in December 2020.

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

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