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Antisemitic Pogroms In Moldova, Chants In Spain, And Violence Throughout Europe

Jew Hatred

A small pogrom - the only victim was a candelabra that the AP is calling a menorah and which I'm assuming was a hanukkiyah - but nonetheless thoroughly charming:

Dozens of people led by an Orthodox priest smashed a menorah in Moldova's capital, using hammers and iron bars to remove the candelabra during Hanukkah, officials said... there was no official reaction from Moldova's Orthodox Church, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church and counts 70 percent of Moldovans as members. The national government said in a statement that "hatred, intolerance and xenophobia" are unacceptable. Jewish leader Alexandr Bilinkis called on the Orthodox Church to take a position over the priest's actions.

According to Wikipedia, by the by, the word "pogrom" - originally coined to describe a singular kind of historically-rooted anti-Jewish violence, characterized by a distinctive cluster of motivations and behaviors - is now a a term for general violence. Couple this with what's happening to "antisemitism," and soon physical anti-Jewish bigotry will recede into the background. Because that's what happens when you run out of words for describing something distinctive. It just goes away.

Well except in Spain, where what started with individuals hurling antisemitic insults at Israeli ambassadors has now become a crowd thing:

According to referee Alfonso Alvarez Izquierdo, "From the 14th minute and on five other occasions in the first half, (anti-Semitic) chants... were directed at the visiting goalkeeper by the home fans behind the goal, every time he touched the ball," the referee said in his match report posted on the Spanish federation Web site... The fans waved Palestinian flags and also shouted "murderer" at Aouate. Aouate sounded unfazed by the chanting, telling local media that, "This happens to me every time I play here in Pamplona. It really makes me happy that we won." This is not the first time that the Israeli 'keeper has been subjected to anti-Semitic taunts by Osasuna fans. In 2006, while playing for Deportivo La Coruna, he also came in for some untoward treatment.

And also probably except in France, where things have somehow gotten worse since French Muslims first started kidnapping Jews and torturing them for sport: "they cut bits off the flesh of the young man, they cut his fingers and ears, they burned him with acid, and in the end poured flammable liquid on him and set him on fire."

Hating Jews is fun again, ingrained at every level of French public life and throughout most of the EU. We don't actually know how deeply it's ingrained, since the Europeans refuse to keep good numbers on antisemitism:

Most EU countries fail to compile statistics on anti-Semitism, a new report says, complicating efforts to gauge the level of animosity toward Jews within the 27-nation bloc. Often, anti-Semitic incidents do not make it into official records because they are not labeled as such or because victims or witnesses do not report them, the Vienna-based European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said in Monday's report... The agency did not blatantly single out states that are failing to track anti-Semitic incidents. But its breakdown of country-specific data - both official and unofficial - only included Austria, Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. It also gave recent examples of anti-Semitic incidents in other EU countries, indicating the problem is widespread.

I'd send you over to Carl at Israel Matzav for an extensive breakdown - the post used to be here - but his blog is currently banned by Google. Really. So instead go to this post over at Soccer Dad. Title: "The Danger Of Anti-Semitism In Europe Is Exceeded Only By The Apathy To It."

References:
* Priest leads mob in smashing menorah in Moldova's capital [Ha'aretz]
* Pogrom [Wiki]
* The Orwellian Origin and Development of the Term "Anti-Semitism" [MR]
* Anti-Semitic slurs yelled at ambassador to Spain [JPost]
* Spanish soccer fans chant anti-Semitic slogans at Israeli goalkeeper [Ha'aretz]
* Ilan Halimi was just the beginning ........... [Atlas]
* France's Private Concentration Camp [FrontPageMag]
* France fines comedian 10,000 euros over anti-Semitic stunt [Ha'aretz]
* 'EU nations fail to track anti-Semitism' [JPost]
* Long past time for Jews to get out of France [Israel Matzav]
* The Danger Of Anti-Semitism In Europe Is Exceded Only By The Apathy To It [Soccer Dad]

Related Mere Rhetoric Categories:
* European Antisemitism
* Islamic Antisemitism
* Global Antisemitism

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  • Omri Ceren is a PhD candidate studying Rhetoric at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. He lives in downtown Los Angeles.

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