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Jewish couple in Belgium afraid to leave house after antisemitic harassment and death threats

A Jewish woman named Nicole, 43, and her husband, have been left afraid to leave their house after persistent antisemitic harassment.

Nicole and her husband have lived in Marchienne-au-Pont for two and a half years, the last two months of which has seen them ensure antisemitic harassment, including death threats, damage to their home, verbal abuse and physical aggression.

Recently a Star of David was painted onto their door. The couple also appears to have been sent large amounts of hate mail.

“A few people have discovered that we are Jews. Since then we have been threatened with death” she said. Their treatment highlights the increasingly hostile environment that many Jews are subjected to across mainland Europe.

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Phoenix woman allegedly sent 65,000 messages, including antisemitic abuse, after first date

A Phoenix woman has been celebrated by neo-Nazi publication the Daily Stormer after allegedly sending 65,000 messages to a Jewish man she went on one date with, many of which were antisemitic.

31-year-old Jacqueline Ades was arrested on May 8th and has been charged with alleged threatening, stalking, harassment and failure to appear in court.

Police say that among the threatening messages she sent included “I hope you die … you rotten filthy Jew”, “I’m like the new Hitler…man was a genius”, and saying she wanted to “bathe” in the man’s blood”.

Ades has claimed that she “loved him selflessly”, despite bombarding him with antisemitic abuse and death threats.

She also allegedly illegally broke into his home and carried a butcher’s knife.

The notorious neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer described her as “awesome” and her actions, which apparently included thousands of similar messages to those detailed above, as a “harmless prank”.

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Legal challenge to infamous neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin clears first legal obstacle

A lawsuit against the founder of the neo-Nazi publication the Daily Stormer, Andrew Anglin, a far-right extremist who named the publication after the propaganda paper of the Third Reich, has cleared a major legal hurdle.

Anglin’s lawyers had challenged the US courts’ jurisdiction in the case, claiming he was not “a citizen of any state” and was not resident in the US when the alleged conduct was committed. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch dismissed this, stating that there was clear evidence that Anglin was domiciled in Ohio when the lawsuit was filed.

Tanya Gersh commenced legal action against Anglin last April, alleging that he had intentionally inflicted “emotional distress” against her, in breach of a Montana anti-intimidation law. Gersh claims that Anglin initiated what turned into a barrage of antisemitic abuse directed at her and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Montana, when he claimed that they were running an “extortion racket” against the mother of Anglin’s fellow neo-Nazi Richard Spencer. Anglin allegedly publicised the personal information of Jewish residents to his neo-Nazi following, which Gersh claims was used to incite the campaign; one of his articles allegedly urged neo-Nazis to “take action” against Gersh and other Jewish residents of Whitefish.

Gersh claims that her family received reams of threatening antisemitic messages, including her 12-year-old son.

Critics have accused Anglin of attempting to evade the lawsuit by concealing his whereabouts, which he claims he has done in response to “credible death threats”. He vacated the United States in 2010, but Gersh’s lawyers successfully proved he had maintained sufficient business, civic and family ties to the US to demonstrate that he was still domiciled there, including maintaining a postal address to receive donations. Speaking from the Bench, Magistrate Lynch said “even assuming Anglin’s statements are true, they are not sufficient to demonstrate that he lost his Ohio domicile by acquiring a new one abroad”.

David Dinielli, representing Gersh from the Southern Poverty Law Center, claimed that the decision was a clear indication that “you can run but you can’t hide” and that “traipsing around the world doesn’t mean you can escape the responsibility for the harm you caused in the U.S., even if that conduct occurred over the internet”.

Whilst the contemporary far right has attempted to re-brand itself into something more palatable, Anglin’s publication is explicitly neo-Nazi, with sections on the “Jewish question” and “race war”. Google and GoDaddy temporarily rendered the site inaccessible after Anglin mocked the victim of a neo-Nazi terrorist in a car ramming attack at Charlottesville.

Anglin’s site is currently describing Gersh and her team as “Jewish terrorists” on a bulletin pictured below.

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Survey: 51% of European Jews feel unsafe wearing Jewish symbols in public, 27% feel generally unsafe

A troubling international survey of Jews has highlighted the worrying effect that antisemitism is having on Jewish communities in Europe.

A survey conducted by the World Zionist Organisation showed that many respondents felt unsafe as Jews, particularly in Europe. 51% of European Jews said they felt unsafe displaying Jewish symbols in public, whereas 27% responded that they felt unsafe generally.  A third had witnessed an act of antisemitic vandalism.

The answers whilst troubling, do not surprise us in the slightest. We have watched as antisemitism in many European countries has spiralled out of control, with authorities often out of their depth when dealing with antisemitic crime.

Outside of Europe, the picture is less worrying, although it still leaves serious cause for concern. In America, 22% of Jews said they felt unsafe displaying Jewish symbols in public and 11% said they felt generally unsafe. These figures, whilst not as bad as those in Europe, are still unacceptably high for a developed country in the 21st century.

The survey also highlights the importance of reporting incidents to the authorities. The majority of those who said they had been the victim of or witnessed an antisemitic incident did not report it. 6% said they feared for their safety if they complained to the police, whereas 30% said they did not want to make a big deal out of it. 42% said they lacked faith in the authorities to deal with it appropriately. Such scepticism of the authorities is not entirely unwarranted. In the UK, Campaign Against Antisemitism was forced to take the Crown Prosecution Service to Judicial Review, whereas court proceedings across the continent have demonstrated an abject failure in dealing with antisemitism, including a German court that ruled that firebombing a Synagogue was not antisemitic. Nonetheless, when an incident is not reported, it is often the case that no action or investigation will take place.

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Police search for suspect who allegedly threatened to carry out mass shooting at Florida Synagogue

Police in Miame-Dade, Florida, have requested the public’s help in apprehending a suspect who allegedly threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a Synagogue.

The suspect has been identified as Steven H. Brooks.

Brooks allegedly threatened to shoot the members of the Synagogue with an Uzi.

Brooks has been given several warnings for trespass at the Synagogue previously, but nonetheless returned to the property.

Steven Rachminov of the police’s Specialized Protection and Security unit said that following the warnings, Brooks allegedly escalated his harassment to the point of posing a serious terrorist risk: “the information that I received was he basically put out an open threat to come back and basically spray the place down with an uzi. At that point, come on. You’re screaming ‘wolf’ to the highest level. Things need to be done”.

Despite such a serious threat allegedly being made, there is not currently a warrant for Brooks’s arrest, with the police first simply wanting to question him. Despite this, he has been described by police as “rabid” and members of the public have been warned not to approach him, a characterisation which makes the decision not to issue a warrant for his arrest seem bizarre.

Rabbi Eliezar Wolf, who is the Rabbi of the congregation, commented: “together with many other shuls and rabbis in the area, I am thankful to the MDPD for their support in protecting our communities. We are in close contact with a security firm we use … at the shul, as well the Greater Miami Jewish Federation“.

Anyone with information has been told to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS and may be eligible for a cash reward.

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“There is a Jew here” – threatening note, Swastika left at home of Israeli dignitary in Italy

Major correction: the graffiti pictured was of a more serious nature than we had originally appreciated. It translates to – “be a patriot, kill a Jew”. This is thus not just an instance of intimidation, but of incitement to violence. The oversight was due to a lack of a translator and having to rely on an intermediate source.

Luigi De Santis, an honourary Israeli consul in the Italian City of Bari, has reported threatening antisemitic vandalism at his house in the city.

The words “There is a Jew here, too” were scrawled on his property, on what appears to be a front door. A Swastika is worked into the message.

Another note said “Jewish also here” with a crucifix.

He apparently found a similar note in his post a few days ago.

These persistent incidents amount to antisemitic harassment, and the use of a cross and a Swastika to target a Jew is an example of the most stark and obvious Christian-European Antisemitism which is often incorrectly written off as no longer existing.

The language used appears quite threatening, as if to remind De Santis that the vandal knows where he lives and knows that he is Jewish.

The police are investigating.

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Antisemitic thugs attempt to carve swastika into Ukrainian activist’s chest

Last month three attackers set upon Ludmila Daschizkia in a street in Uman, Ukraine, removed a piece of her clothing, and attempted to carve a Swastika into her chest in a shocking antisemitic attack.

Dashizkia is an activist who is well known in Ukraine for her support of Breslov Hasidim who come to visit Rabbi Nachman’s grave in the city, which last year we reported had been desecrated with a pig’s head and blood by antisemites.

Dashizkia managed to escape with only minor injuries, but the attackers, if caught, may only have to pay a fine.

She commented: “I do not know who it was, but it’s an act of intimidation. It could be that the attackers were local neo-Nazis, but I’m not sure about it … Someone might have wanted to provoke an anti-Semitic scandal. I told the police, but I’m afraid they will not find the attackers”.

The wounds she received before her escape are picture below. It seems quite clear that it was an attempt to carve a swastika into her chest.

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Swedish Jewish Community Centre closes after threats from neo-Nazis

A Jewish community centre in Umea, Sweden, has closed following a campaign of intimidation by neo-Nazis, including swastika graffiti on its walls including the wording  “we know where you live”.

The Judisk Föreningen, or Jewish Association, in Umea has been the victim of persistent threatening emails, calls and graffiti from a local neo-Nazi group called Nordfront. The graffiti that finally triggered the closure is clearly a veiled threat, particularly in a City with as few as 50 Jewish residents.

In September 2015, the Swedish anti-Fascist organisation named Expo claimed that there was a rise in Neo-Nazism in Sweden. RT adds that there is a “similar trend” occurring in other countries and cites incidents since then which had occurred  in Paris, France, also London and Birmingham, in the UK. We have frequently commented on the rising Antisemitism in Sweden, and whilst this is often attributed to radical Islam, it is always worth noting that the threat to Jews comes not just from one sector of society, but from many, with observable problems from certain radical strains of Islam, the far left, and the far right.

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Further bomb threats at JCCs over Purim, now totalling 140 in 2016

Five further Jewish Community Centers received bomb threats over the weekend, when Jewish communities were celebrating Purim, following a spate of hoax threats that have been used to terrorise Jewish institutions.

The new threats bring the tally of bomb threats to 140 this year.

The threats were called in on Sunday and targeted the Jewish Community Center of Rochester, the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center, the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston, the Samson JCC of Milwaukee, and the JCC of Greater Vancouver in Canada.

Following the arrest of Juan Thomas as a suspect in connection to the bomb threats, it was hoped that they would cease, but their continuation clearly demonstrates that this is part of a campaign across North America, by a group of organised individuals and not merely a lone wolf, to intimidate North American Jews. The fact that further suspects have thus far evaded capture by Federal Investigators suggests that they are organised and not merely a group of extremists with telephones.

 

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Neo-Nazi finally faces trial, after 2 year delay, for threatening to massacre Jewish schoolchildren

David Lenio is finally being charged with allegedly threatening to massacre Jewish schoolchildren, after a delay of almost two years.

Lenio, a White Nationalist from Montana, is alleged to have said that he wishes to “execute 30 or more grade school students”, put “two in the head of a Rabbi or Jewish leader”, and said that the “USA needs a Hitler to rise to power”.

He is also alleged to have tweeted:

“I think every jew on the planet deserves to be killed for what kikes have done to our #dollar and cost of living Killing jews > wage #slave”

“I’m not even opposed to shooting up a random school like that sandy hoax stunt only realer, to voice my displeasure with being a wage slave”

“Let’s make national news, I david lenio know israel did 9/11 and I am so poor that I want to shoot up a kalispell Montana public school …”

Lenio appears to have been arrested in 2015, and subsequently released on a plea bargain which saw felony charges for intimidation reduced to a misdemeanour, in a manner which has been called into question.  Despite repeatedly referring to himself as a “wage slave”, Lenio appears to have been released into the custody of his wealthy investment banker father.

As a condition of this release, he was ordered not to use social media, a restriction which he has allegedly consistently breached. Despite him initially being apprehended with several weapons, there does not appear to be any evidence that he was disarmed as a condition of his release.

Fortunately, it appears that Lenio will finally come before a Judge this month to answer felony charges. The fact that it has taken this long, despite him apparently having consistently fetishised violence, particularly against Jews, is a rather worrying failure of the Justice and Security systems in the United States. This is a man who repeatedly threatened to kill Jews, against whom a case was dropped in an apparently clandestine manner, and who appeared to be heavily armed. Indeed, it seems quite miraculous that he did not carry out any of the attacks that he threatened, given that the only engagement he was forced to have with the authorities was to report where he was living if he moved. We can only hope that he finally meets with the full force of the law and that prosecutors are more proactive against bringing similar threats to justice in the future.

 

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Neo-Nazi group litters Jewish neighbourhood in Melbourne with Swastika stickers

The self-described “National Socialist” group Antipodean Resistance has stuck swastika stickers on poles and lampposts throughout Balaclava Road, a Jewish area of Melbourne.

CFCA reports that the group purposely targeted the area which has a higher-than-average Jewish population.

Antipodean Resistance is a Neo-Nazi group which is based largely in the Melbourne area in Australia. The group describes itself as “the Hitlers you’ve been waiting for” and seems to be militant in its approach, claiming that they want “no weaklings, degenerates, and no keyboard warriors” and calling for “action”.

The say that they “oppose substance abuse, homosexuality, and all other rotten, irresponsible distractions laid before us by Jews and globalist elites”.

The group is clearly both militant and unashamedly neo-Nazi. They appear to be quite organised, and have previously orchestrated similar “raids” at Melbourne University.

Though the appearance of Swastika stickers may appear harmless, it is clearly an attempt by this group to intimidate the local Jewish community with the knowledge that a group of militant neo-Nazis are on their doorstep.

On their website, the group brags about several other similar incidents, and speaks about how the Jewish area was “ethnically homogeneous”, using this as an excuse to peddle a conspiracy theory about Jews promoting mass immigration.

They have also produced extremely worrying rhetoric about other ethnic minorities and homosexuals, including mocking high suicide rates among LGBT individuals and calling for it to increase.

We hope that Melbourne police will take decisive action, and will update our readers when we have more information.

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FBI investigate gunshot fired into Indiana Synagogue

The FBI are preparing to launch an investigation after a bullet was fired through the window of a Synagogue in Indiana.

Police were called to the Adath B’Nai Israel Temple in Evansville on Sunday morning after a shot was heard and a bullet was found by the Rabbi.

Rabbi Gary Mazo commented that “someone had to walk into a children’s playground, then look into a classroom and then fire some sort of weapon. It was to inflict damage, but I think more importantly, (the person) tried to inflict fear,…we’re in this climate now where acts of hate are happening everywhere.”

As early police reports suggest that a low-powered weapon fired the shot, Rabbi Mazo says that he believes the incident was no more than a “cowardly act by a bigot”, and not something of a larger or more sinister scale. However, this is still clearly an attempt to intimidate the Jewish community, which has around 120 families.

Rabbi Mazo noted that this was an attempt to frighten the community, saying “we’ll stand up to fear, we’ll stand up to hatred and we’ll stand together. We know this is not representative of our community. We know that we live in a community that supports each other”. Unfortunately, campaigns of intimidation, from bomb threats to graffiti and vandalism, and sadly the ever-present threat of serious violence, are now a part of daily life for Jewish communities across the world.