In a new report provided to the Herald by the New Zealand Jewish Council, figures showed in the 12 months from October 7, 2023, there were 227 recorded anti-Semitic incidents - a jump from 166 incidents in the eight-and-a-half years prior.

"Since the start of 2024, the number and severity of antisemitic incidents has decreased, however, there are still approximately 3.6 times more reported incidents than prior to 7 October 2023," the report said. Read more

The awarding of honorary doctorates falls within the autonomy of the faculties and is carried out on the "basis of assessments made at the time of the award", explained the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Antti Räsänen, on Wednesday when asked by katholisch.de.

Neither the university nor the faculty actively monitored or supervised the further "work or activities of the award winners" after the award ceremony.

Räsänen went on to emphasise that neither the University of Helsinki nor the Faculty of Theology are involved in international conflicts or politics.

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People both in the antagonists and in their normal allies are pressed to make a choice.

To choose Israel is to see its war against Hamas as just in all respects.

It is to weep only for its fallen, to approve of all its actions in war, to minimise and count as collateral damage the harm done to the people of Gaza.

It is to see attempts to make peace or to point out unethical behaviour by Israel, or moral complexities in its cause as anti-Semitic, weak-minded, dishonest moral equivalence, and lacking in necessary strength of commitment.

To choose Hamas would be to adopt the same attitudes in reverse.

In both cases the appeal to allies is strengthened by identifying its cause with the best of their tradition and by asserting that its loss would fatally wound that tradition.

Advocates for Israel portray it as bright light of Western democracy in the storm clouds of totalitarian corruption or as the best of the Judaeo-Christian civilisation in a culturally bereft Islamic world.

To opponents of Israel, Hamas represents best the spirit of Islam in resisting the colonisation of Muslim lands by a corrupt and Godless West and in fighting against the existence of Israel.

Such binary views of responses to the conflict are based on the conflating of terms that are quite different.

They identify Israel with the land, with the people to whom it is home and who put their stamp on it and on its Government and its policies and actions.

Similarly they identify Gaza with the territory, with the people who live there, and with its ruling party Hamas and its policies and actions.

This identification blurs proper distinctions between land, people and ruling powers, and so between combatants and civilians. It also obscures the complexity of the conflict and lead to actions that will lead to further and more bitter conflict.

In Australia most people have a natural sympathy for Israel, and public advocacy for choosing its cause over that of Hamas is stronger.

We should then reflect on the reasons that are given to commend this stance.

The first is that criticism by Australians of actions taken by the Israeli Government is anti-Semitic. Some such criticism may be so described, but much is not.

The test is whether the criticism is driven by prejudice against Israel and its Jewish citizens or by reflection on the actions and policies of its Government.

In fact such criticism is compatible with an adamantine conviction that the State of Israel has a right to exist and to defend itself, with respect for its inhabitants, and with a full recognition of the appalling history of pogrom and extermination that they have suffered, and with abhorrence at the unjustifiable brutality of the Hamas invasion.

Such criticism, too, can be a gift, as it was to Australia when outsiders criticised it for the White Australia policy.

It can encourage citizens to question the actions of its Government for failure to live up to its proclaimed values, and lead to better policy and actions.

The charge of anti-Semitism, too, encourages wider reflection on the phrase itself. In common usage it refers only to Jewish people and to the State of Israel, and calls to mind the Holocaust.

Etymologically, however, it does not refer solely to attitudes to Jews and to Israel.

The Semites as an ethnic group include both Jews and Palestinians and by extension the Jewish and Muslim religions and customs of their people.

Seen from this broader perspective anti-Semitism therefore would strictly include prejudice against and consequent ill-treatment of the inhabitants of both Israel and Gaza.

Second, the attempt to align the State of Israel, its people and its Government and its allies with Judaeo-Christian civilisation and with Western democracy in opposition to Gaza, identified with its Government and people, is weakly founded.

In historical practice Christian societies tried to break the link that is now claimed to connect them with Jewish people.

In societies where Christians were the majority, Jews were periodically persecuted and always had reason to fear discrimination.

In Christian faith, certainly, God's enduring relationship with the Jewish people through Jesus the Jew is central and irreplaceable. That is why the pervasive anti-Jewish prejudice found historically among Christians is so shaming.

If we are to talk coherently about a Judaeo-Christian civilisation, however, we must situate it more broadly within all the actual connections, religious and other, that have formed our contemporary world.

These include Judaism and Christianity, but also other Abrahamic religions, notably Islam with its profound influence on the formation of modern Europe.

As with the charge of anti-Semitism, reflection on the invocation of Judaeo-Christian civilization in the current war leads away from a simple taking of sides to the recognition of complexity.

The association of Israel, its citizens and its Government with the Western tradition of democracy in opposition to the totalitarianism of Gaza, its citizens and Hamas is equally oversimplified.

It is true that, even though Hamas also came to power in Gaza through a democratic election, the democratic institutions of Israel under the rule of law are far stronger than in many states in which Islam is the established religion.

Democracy, however, means more than free elections and winning votes. It demands a respect for the rule of law and an equal respect for all citizens.

Ultimately Western democracy rests on the secular version of the Christian belief that the life of each human being is equally precious, and that this should be reflected in public life and institutions.

Both the rule of law and the equal value of each human being have come under increasing pressure recently in Israel and Gaza, as indeed they have in many of Israel's allies as well as in its enemies.

This is shown in the widespread disapproval by citizens both of Israel and Gaza of their ruling powers.

Third, the imputation that those who criticise the actions of Israel in war and call for peace and protection for the people of Gaza are guilty of moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel is also misplaced.

One can argue that the Hamas incursion and indiscriminate killing in Israel was morally unjustifiable and that the people of Israel have the right to defend itself, while at the same time criticising also the response of the Government of israel as disproportionate, without being guilty of moral equivalence.

This position can be better described as moral universality.

The basis of morality is the equal value and right to life of each human being, Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian.

That impartial universality and the consequent obligation to respect equally the life of each human being shape the criteria for judging the actions in war of both sides.

The viciousness of the actions of an enemy military force does not justify a disproportionate killing of its non-combatants.

To praise one Government for actions that would be reprehensible if taken by another Government, and to demand that others adopt this position, is moral partisanship and bullying.

In this war we should resist the attempt to build total and uncritical support for the States of Israel and the territory of Gaza, still less of their ruling powers.

We should focus our attention on the lives of the persons of precious and equal value who compose these states. That alone focuses on the complexities of the relationships on which any enduring peace, justice and equality must be built.

To fail to do so ignores the resentment and hostility which feed discrimination and inequality, which in turn breed violence and revolt.

In the Cretan myth, dragons' teeth sown in the ground rose up as fully armed soldiers.

The response to the present war will come back to haunt or to bless the peoples of both Palestine and Israel in the future.

The proper role of non-combatant nations is to encourage the saving, not the taking of lives. Continue reading

• Andrew Hamilton is consulting editor of Eureka Street, and writer at Jesuit Social Services.

It comes after reports of disorder at Auckland War Memorial Museum when a small number of Palestinian sympathisers gathering to rally against the building being lit up in Israeli colours met Israeli sympathisers there.

There were also ugly scenes in Sydney last Monday after thousands of pro-Palestinian sympathisers gathered on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, which was illuminated in blue and white in support of Israel.

Video from the event showed protesters also burning Israeli flags, setting off flares and chanting anti-Semitic phrases, including "gas the Jews".

The director-general of security for the Australia Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have since jointly warned of the potential for "spontaneous violence", the Syndey Morning Herald reported. Read more

It comes after reports of disorder at Auckland War Memorial Museum when a small number of Palestinian sympathisers gathering to rally against the building being lit up in Israeli colours met Israeli sympathisers there.

There were also ugly scenes in Sydney last Monday after thousands of pro-Palestinian sympathisers gathered on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, which was illuminated in blue and white in support of Israel. Read more

Four members of the family were killed by a driver on 6 June and a nine-year-old boy was seriously injured.

Police say killing the family was a deliberate act. They believe the family was targeted because of their Muslim faith.

The 20-year old driver of the vehicle that ploughed into the family has been arrested and faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Responding forcefully to the killings, the Canadian Catholic Bishops' Conference (CCCB) is condemning religious violence in Canada and specifically hatred against Jews and Muslims.

Speaking for the conference, CCCB president Archbishop Richard Gagnon says the bishops "adamantly object to all forms and expressions of hatred and they strongly denounce the recent violence seen in Canada against the Jewish People and Muslims, for which there can be no possible justification ever."

There has been "a disturbing rise in harmful and violent acts against the Jewish People and Muslims" in recent weeks, including "offensive slurs, prejudice, hostility, and even terror claiming lives," he says.

The bishops are appealing to "the minds and hearts of the Catholic faithful, and all people of goodwill, to denounce antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all similar forms of extremism and violence against fellow human beings of all faith traditions."

They are also asking Catholics to promise to pray for:

"An increase in tireless, sincere and constructive dialogue, greater understanding, social harmony, and mutual respect, in order that Canadians from all backgrounds, faith traditions and cultures may live not as strangers or adversaries, but peacefully as brothers and sisters."

The Catholic Church will work with the Muslim community to root out hate, one of the bishops has vowed.

"I am horrified by the hate-motivated killing of an innocent Muslim family," he says.

"I unconditionally condemn acts of hatred and violence. People of all faiths, and all people, should always feel safe, everywhere in our country."

He went on to say that the Catholic community in the victims' hometown of London Ontario is offering its support "to our Muslim brothers and sisters, pledging to work together with them to end crimes of hate.

"I ask the faithful of the diocese to keep the family of those killed and their community in our prayers, asking God to bring them comfort in this time of grief and to grant the full recovery of the survivor."

Political leaders in the Canadian House of Commons are also condemning the allegedly premeditated hate crime.

"We cannot allow any form of hate to take root," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "We must confront the ugly face of hatred.

"We know we need to look truth in the face, this hatred does exist in our country."

Source

• Catholic News Service
• Image: The Globe and Mail

Tuesday's discovery came in the opening phase of a £10.6m facelift project in the city's landmark Wenceslas Square, scene of the some of the Czech Republic's most dramatic historic events and a frequent site of political protest. Read more

In a statement, they said the Catholic bishops under the Nazi regime did not oppose the war of annihilation started by Germany or the crimes the regime committed.

They also said the Nazi-era bishops gave the war a religious meaning.

Bishop Georg Batzing, who is the president of the German bishops' conference, says critics have accused the Church of failing not only to remember its role, but also of not owning up to it.

"We must not sit back, but carry the legacy into the future," he told a news conference.

"This is all the more true given that Europe does not seem to be in a good state at the moment."

Batzing says the "old demon of division, nationalism, ‘ethnic' thinking and authoritarian rule" is appearing in many places.

"Terrifying anti-Semitism is widespread, even here in Germany," he says.

He told the news conference that anyone who has learned the lessons of history must vehemently oppose these tendencies.

"This applies without ifs and buts to the Church, which is committed to the gospel of peace and justice."

Source

• The Catholic Universe
• Image: Holocaust Encyclopaedia - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

France's political leaders called for French people to join protest marches after a video surfaced of one of a series of anti-Semitic rallies. In the video, the crowd turned on French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut who happens to be a Jew, calling him a "dirty Zionist" and saying "France belongs to us."

People all over France responded to their political leaders' call in large numbers. In Paris alone about 20,000 rallied against the anti-Semitic trend.

After the rallies President Emmanuel Macron announced new measures against extremism. These include a resolution to pass new legislation classifying anti-Zionism (the right of Israel as a state to exist) as a form of anti-Semitism, and therefore a crime.

The French bishops' conference has also condemned the increase in anti-Semitism.

Last week conference president, Archbishop Georges Pontier, wrote to France's chief rabbi, Haim Korsia, offering support and saying:

"Attacks from seemingly religious motives on our fellow citizens are unacceptable; we stand beside you in struggling against every manifestation of hatred.

"Our society cannot find peace unless it supports a constructive dialogue among all its members. May we never resign ourselves to the growth of intolerance and rejection."

Msgr Olivier Dumas, the conference secretary-general, called on all political parties and faith groups to "show solidarity with Jews" and condemn attacks on religious targets.

"This climate of violence and hatred must end," he told Vatican Radio. "We must wage a struggle against anti-Semitism with fierce determination, knowing where hatred of Jews led in our history, and do everything to ensure powerful impulses for such unimaginable violence never arise again."

He said fighting anti-Semitism was a responsibility "not just for institutions and religious leaders, but for all French citizens "who should mobilize through education and a permanent re-reading of history."

Source

• Yated Ne'eman
• National Catholic Reporter
• CBN News
• Image: SFGate

We share common religious roots with Jews, Pope Francis says.

Francis's comments about anti-Semitism were made to the World Congress of Mountain Jews earlier this week. These Jews, who come from modern-day Iran, were targeted for extermination by German troops in World War 2.

His comments were particularly relevant given that it is just over a week since an anti-Semitic shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue saw 11 dead and 6 others wounded.

All Christians should take care not to forget the Holocaust, Francis said.

Keeping memories of the Holocaust alive is a sign of Christian solidarity with Jews and also ensures future generations can learn from the mistakes of the past.

"The Holocaust must be commemorated so that there will be a living memory of the past. With a living memory there will be no future, for if the darkest pages of history do not teach us to avoid the same errors, human dignity will remain a dead letter."

This week's World Congress marked the first time Mountain Jews have travelled to meet the pope.

Pope Francis met other members of their community in Azerbaijan in 2016.

Francis also acknowledged this week is the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass).

On 9 November 1938, Nazis killed over 100 Jews, destroying their stores and synagogues. Over 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps.

"The attempt to replace the God of goodness with the idolatry of power and the ideology of hatred ended in the folly of exterminating creatures," Francis said.

"Sadly, anti-Semitic attitudes are also present in our own times," he said.

"We need more inter-faith dialogue for the sake of humanity.

"As I have often repeated, a Christian cannot be an anti-Semite; we share the same roots. It would be a contradiction of faith and life."

Source

• La Croix
• ABC News
• Image: Reuters

It surfaces often in the research conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks various U.S. hate groups, including neo-Nazis, white nationalists, skinheads and others.

"They're all anti-Semites — that's the tie that binds them," said Heidi Beirich, director of the center's Intelligence Project. "They believe Jews are pulling the strings behind bad things happening in this country." Read more

Francis also expressed his "closeness" to the Jewish community and the people of that city, and prayed for all the victims and their relatives.

"May the Most High receive the dead in his peace, comfort their families and sustain the wounded," he prayed before pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Sunday.

"We are all, in reality, wounded by this inhuman act of violence."

The attack left at least 11 adults dead, including two brothers and a husband and wife. In addition, six people were injured including four police officers.

The man who allegedly opened fire at the synagogue, Robert Bowers, is reportedly a frequent poster on Gab, a social network that has attracted many from the far-right fringe.

Bowers reportedly joined Gab at the beginning of this year, using it to post a series of anti-Semitic messages and redistribute messages from other users.

Immediately before he allegedly attacked the synagogue, Bowers wrote this about HIAS, a Jewish organisation that helps refugees:

"HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."

The suspect, Robert Bowers, 46, is in custody and faces 29 criminal counts in what is thought to be the worst anti-Semitic attack in recent US history.

President Donald Trump has called the attack a "wicked act of mass murder."

Source

• America Magazine
• Stuff
• BBC
• Image: WBDJ7

The American Jewish Congress is reacting to the Pope's signature last Monday on a decree recognising the "heroic virtues" of Cardinal August Hlond (1881-1948).

Hlond was the highest ranking church official in Poland from 1926 to 1948. He is credited with keeping the church strong and protecting its autonomy during the Nazi occupation and postwar communism.

Hlond's cause was recommended by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The American Jewish Congress is contradicting the views held by the Congregation.

It says Hlond fostered anti-Semitism and refused to help endangered Jews.

"While realising the Holy See has its own criteria for the cause of canonisation, such a step will be perceived within the Jewish community and beyond as an expression of approval (or at least absence of condemnation) of his extremely negative approach," Rabbi David Rosen says.

Rosen is the Congress's international inter-religious director.

He cited a 1936 pastoral letter Hlond wrote three years before the Nazi invasion. The letter urges Poles to stay away from the "harmful moral influence of Jews" and to boycott Jewish stores and stalls in the marketplace.

Hlond's letter also alleged Jews were perpetrating fraud, usury and prostitution, and corrupting Catholic morals by "spreading pornography."

He went on to accuse Jews of "waging war against the Catholic Church" and acting as "the vanguard of atheism, the Bolshevik movement and revolutionary activity," and warned that a "Jewish problem" would continue "as long as Jews remain Jews."

He then urged Polish Catholics to shun Jewish publications and to stay away from their "anti-Christian culture."

"While he [Hlond] did temper his remarks with an admission that 'not all Jews are this way,' and forbade assaults on Jews or attacks on their property, he nevertheless condemned Judaism and Jewry for rejecting Jesus and advocated a virtual boycott of Jewish establishments," Rosen says.

After the war, the Congress says Hlond refused to meet with Polish Jewish leaders over concerns they had about accusations of ritual murder ahead of Passover and the danger of pogroms.

On July 4, 1946, a mob attacked the building of the Jewish Committee in Kielce, leaving 42 Jews dead and more than 40 wounded.

"Cardinal Hlond held a press conference but he did not condemn the pogrom nor urge Poles to stop murdering Jews.

"Rather, he pointed out that the Jews were all communists or supporters of communism and that the pogrom was their own fault," the Congress says.

Source

• The Tablet
• The Times of Israel
• The Jerusalem Post
• Cision
• Image: Jerusalem Post

The Polish Bishops' Conference describes anti-Jewish rhetoric in Poland as being "contradictory to the principles of Christian love of one's neighbour."

A group of Polish rabbis responded, saying they "deeply appreciate" their condemnation of anti-Semitism.

They have vowed to "continue to speak out against analogous attitudes among Jews".

They were referring to anti-Polish sentiment voiced by Israelis and American Jews recently.

Bad feelings erupted in late January over a new Polish law criminalising anyone who blames Poland for the Nazi Holocaust.

Anyone who "publicly and against the facts attributes to the Polish nation or Polish state responsibility or co-responsibility for Nazi crimes," or "flagrantly reduces in any way the responsibility of the real perpetrators" may go to jail for up to three years.

Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Poland's Catholic primate, says anti-Semitism is "a moral evil and a sin".

He says attempts to divide people or pit them against each other "in a nationalistic context should be totally censured".

Another Polish archbishop, Stanislaw Gadecki, says hostility belongs "neither to Christian nature nor to the nature of Judaism."

He urged prayers to ensure "the great good achieved by common efforts of Poles and Jews" was not squandered.

"We need a spirit of peace to mitigate these extreme positions and show there's more uniting than dividing us," he said.

The Polish bishops also said St John Paul II had urged Christian nations to "uproot from their mentality all unjust prejudices about Jews and other symptoms of anti-Semitism."

Poland's new law has been condemned as "baseless" by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jerusalem-based Yad Vashem Memorial Institute.

The Institute says the law will impede Holocaust research and debate.

Source

• Business Insider
• Crux Now
• Image: Catholic Herald

Archbishop Waclaw Depo of Czestochowa says the new law's critics are trying to "alter historical truth".

The law imposes fines or up to three years' jail for anyone who "publicly and against the facts attributes to the Polish nation or Polish state responsibility or co-responsibility for Nazi crimes", or "flagrantly reduces in any way the responsibility of the real perpetrators".

The law has been called "baseless" by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

His view is echoed by the Jerusalem-based Yad Vashem Memorial Institute.

The Institute says the law would impede research and debate on the Holocaust.

Polish newspapers have said US officials have threatened to suspend joint military projects.

The newspapers say President Andrzej Duda and Premier Mateusz Morawiecki would not be received by President Donald Trump or other Administration members.

Archbishop Depo says the world has "turned away from the truth - not just truth about God, but also truth about us and about our history, turning us into executioners".

"In reality, we're a nation of sacrifice and suffering, which first felt the painful blows of the Second World War and then had them extended by years of Soviet occupation".

The archbishop spoke after a conciliatory appeal by representatives of 6850 Poles honoured by Israel for saving Jewish lives under Nazi occupation - members of the Polish Association of Righteous Among Nations - was published in US, European and Israeli newspapers.

The Polish Association of Righteous Among Nations said hundreds of Poles had paid with their lives for showing "kindness and responsibility" to persecuted Jews, while other "ignoble Poles" had "acted on their own behalf" against Holocaust victims.

It urged Jews and Poles to continue building "an alliance and future" based on "friendship, solidarity and truth", and also called for "empathy, judiciousness and thoughtfulness when creating laws".

Controversy over the law had sparked a wave of anti-Jewish feeling and urged the country's Bishops' Conference to speak out, says Stanislaw Krajewski, a Warsaw University professor who co-chairs the Polish Council of Christians and Jews.

"Whatever the government intended, the anti-Jewish genie is out of the bottle again, and certain extremist groups seem to think they now have permission, thanks to recent signals, to say and do what they like."

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Image: Jewish Website

There have been many attacks against the Swedish Jewish community over the past few years, with two during the past week.

It is thought the most recent events are connected with United States President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

In one of the violent events last week, masked youths threw molotov cocktails through a Goteborg synagogue window at people celebrating the Hannukah festival.

Hannukah runs from 12 December until 20 December.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of attempted arson.

Two days later, two bottle bombs were discovered outside the Jewish burial chapel in the southern Swedish city of Malmo.

This is the second time in recent years the Jewish chapel has been attacked. There was an arson attempt in 2009.

In addition to the attacks, hundreds of protestors gathered in Malmo last week, publicly shouting for violence against the Jewish community.

"We want our freedom back, and we will shoot the Jews," a radio station reported the crowd as saying.

The next day, protestors publicly burned an Israeli flag in Stockholm.

At another protest against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, protesters called for an intifada and promised "we will shoot the Jews."

A day later, during a demonstration in Stockholm, a speaker called Jews "apes and pigs." There were promises of martyrdom.

Malmo's Jewish community sees the recent events as "extremely serious."

"We strongly emphasize that we can never accept being subjected to threats and attacks," the Jewish assembly said.

Responding to the violence, the Bishop of Stockholm wrote to one of the affected communities, expressing solidarity.

The Bishop's concern was echoed by Cardinal Anders Arborelius.

"It's with deep sorrow that I have heard about the detestable attack on your parish," he wrote.

"I just want to express my sympathy in this difficult situation. I pray that God will help and protect all of you."

Antje Jackelen, the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala, said "I would like to assure you of the solidarity of the Swedish church in the fight against anti-Semitism and violence in the name of religion."

The Times of Israel reported Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven as saying "There is no place for anti-Semitism in Swedish society."

Sweden's Interior Minister for Justice, Morgan Johansson, is vowing to protect the Jewish community.

He said there is increased security around Jewish buildings around the country and police have been patrolling for anti-Semitic activity.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Arutz Sheva
• Hot Air
• Image: The Tablet

Speaking after a ceremony celebrating the centenary of a synagogue in the southern German town of Augsburg that survived the Nazi regime, Steinmeier said:

"The social media often propagate the spread of hate messages and anti-Semitic provocation."

Besides centuries'-long anti-Semitism in Germany, he says anti-Jewish sentiment is also a factor among some newly-arrived Muslim migrants.

Attacks on people because of their beliefs are the same as attacks on society as a whole, he says.

However, on a positive note Steinmeier, who is a Jew, also points out:

"The majority of German society and the civil administration ... has positioned itself clearly against anti-Semitism and condemned it ... and that is very important.

"It seems a miracle that today it [the synagogue] - 80 years after the breakdown of civilization during the Holocaust - has become a vibrant Jewish community."

Source

• DW
• Image: Reuters

Jewish leaders praised the Archbishop, Justin Welby.

He admitted the Church "compounded the spread" of anti-Semitism.

Welby's comments appear in a booklet called ‘Lessons Learned'.

This is a collection of essays produced by the Holocaust Educational Trust and Community Security Trust.

"It is a shameful truth that, through its theological teachings, the church, which should have offered an antidote, compounded the spread of this virus," he wrote.

"The fact that anti-Semitism has infected the body of the Church is something of which we as Christians must be deeply repentant.

"We live with the consequences of our history of denial and complicity."

Jonathan Arkush praised Welby's intervention as "powerful and timely.

"Millennia of theological anti-Semitism against Jews - including the canard that Jews killed Jesus - permeate European thought."

The essay booklet also showcase a Tory minister blasting "dinner party anti-Semitism."

They also show Communities Secretary Sajid Javid taking aim at "respectable middle-class people".

Arkush said "dinner party anti-Semites… would recoil in horror if you accused them of racism, but are quite happy to repeat modern takes on age-old myths about Jews".

"[They] can't condemn the murder of Jewish children in France without a caveat criticising the Israeli government" and "demand that a Jewish-American artist declare support for Palestine if he wants to perform at a festival in Spain.

"I can't remember the last time I spoke to a Jewish friend or colleague who hasn't, at some point, found themselves sitting awkwardly at a party while a fellow guest railed against the international ‘kosher conspiracy'."

Elsewhere in the booklet, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said that there were "lines which must not be crossed" in acceptable discourse.

Source

• Jewish News
• Image:www.christiantoday.com

An employee of a state-funded charity in Belgium says the aim is to distract from the allies' treatment of Palestinians.

Brigitte Herremans, who works for Catholic organisations Broederlijk Delen and Pax Christi, made the comments on Flemish Radio 1. Read more

This was one of the messages aired during a recent seminar held by the Yad VaShem memorial at the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem.

"Evil cannot be overlooked. You cannot put your head in the sand today, especially after the Holocaust," said Ephraim Kaye, Yad VaShem's director of international seminars.

He added the world is seeing a "clash of civilisations" that threatens Jews and Christians alike.

"Today we're in the same boat, Christians and Jews. More Christians are being murdered every day than Jews throughout the Middle East and in other places," Kaye told CBN News.

"We need each other. There is a clash of civilisations."

Kaye told the Christian leaders who attended the seminar that "fundamentalist radical, extremist Islam" poses dangers to the entire world and that the Church should not ignore this problem.

For her part, Susanna Kokkonen, director of Christian Friends of Yad VaShem, noted that during the Holocaust, when Adolf Hitler launched his campaign of extermination against the Jews during World War II, the Church was silent.

"We think about the Holocaust, the Church was silent. We don't have to be silent today," Kokkonen, who led the Christian leaders' seminar, told CBN News.

As Jews and Christians alike face a new threat to their existence today, Kokkonen believes much of the Church is still silent. Read more

Source:

• World