Europe’s Three-Rings Circus of Israel and Jew Hatred: Latest Roundup

UK: In a post that appeared on his Twitter feed, Liberal Democratic MP David Ward wrote, “The big question is – if I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? – probably yes”, followed by another tweet shortly thereafter, that reads “Ich bin ein #palestinian – the West must make up its mind – which side is it on?” Later, facing discipline by how own party, he offered a tepid apology: “I utterly condemn the violence on both sides in Israel and Gaza.” Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, also a Liberal Democrat, set the tone for Ward’s comment by previously suggesting that “I have to say though I really do think now the Israeli response appears to be deliberately disproportionate.” The Liberal Democratic Party, which cultivates money from the London representatives Middle East oil elites, is increasingly neither liberal nor democratic.

Germany: In a sermon at Berlin’s Al-Nur Mosque on Friday, Sheikh Abu Bilal Ismail said Gaza is currently facing the world’s “strongest war machine,” behind which stands “those Jewish Zionist criminals, murderers of the prophets, who shed blood, kill children, turn wives into widows, demolish houses with their inhabitants inside and are assaulting Gaza with all their might.” He urged God “to destroy the Zionist Jews … to kill every last one of them and not have pity on any of them … Shake the ground under their feet, make them suffer.” He also said Jews “act like sole rulers of the entire world and disseminate corruption.” Elsewhere, a sign accused Israel of “a Holocaust” reading ““Don’t do to the Palestinians what Hitler did to you.”

Belgium: The Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA, filed a complaint against the parties responsible for hanging a Turkish- and French-language sign at a cafe in Saint-Nicolas, a town located just east of the southern city of Liege. The Turkish text reads: “Dogs are allowed in this establishment but Jews are not under any circumstances.” The French text replaces “Jews” with “Zionists.” Following the LBCA complaint, the mayor of Saint-Nicolas, Jacques Heleven, dispatched police to the cafe, who had the sign removed and confirmed the LBCA report. The window display also included a Palestinian flag, an Israeli flag crossed out with a red “X” sign, and a kaffieh, or Palestinian shawl, draped around it. Last week, the Belgian Jewish newspaper “Joods Actueel” reported that a shop owner in Antwerp had refused to sell an Orthodox Jewish woman clothes “out of protest.” An employee confirmed that the shop had temporarily adopted a policy of not selling to Jews.