Shimon Peres, who served as the ninth president of Israel, died on 28 September 2016 at the age of 93. Colin Schindler reflects on his life and achievements. The transformation of Szymon Perski from Vishnyeva in Belarus into Shimon Peres, a founding father of the state of Israel, is a reflection of how the Jews […]
Blocked identitaire
‘We announce tonight that Richard Spencer, of the American National Policy Institute, has this week been banned from the UK for life…” So ran a statement on Facebook by the Traditional Britain Group, which brings together Nazis and far right Tories. The 9 July statement said the ban had been announced by the then home […]
Bletchley woman loses baby in ‘racist’ attack
A pregnant woman has lost her baby after she was kicked and fell to the floor in a “racially aggravated” attack, the BBC reported on 13 September. The 34 year old was shopping in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, when she was racially insulted by a man, police said. He later followed her and kicked her in […]
The Greek debt, a European tragedy
This video (which is subtitled in English) was sent to us by the Greek Solidarity Campaign to which Searchlight is affiliated. The GSC is an independent, non-party political campaign established to organise solidarity with the people resisting “austerity” in Greece. It is supported by the TUC and has a number of affiliated groups and individual […]
Seventeen Jewish graves desecrated in Belfast cemetery
Seventeen Jewish graves have been destroyed and vandalised in what appears to have been an organised attack inside a Belfast cemetery, The Guardian reported on 28 August. Up to eight youths, some using hammers, attacked the graves in west Belfast on Friday evening, according to a member of the Northern Ireland assembly. The Police Service […]
Far-Right blamed as entrance to mosque in Germany bricked up
Muslims living in a small town in northern Germany were shocked to find someone had bricked up the entrance to their mosque during the night, Justin Huggler reported in The Daily Telegraph on 30 August. Those gathering for prayers last Friday in the town of Parchim found the door to the mosque jammed with concrete […]
Hungary blocks more than 20 websites for Holocaust denial
The World Jewish Congress has reported a statement by the Budapest chief prosecutor that a Budapest court has ordered the temporary shutdown of nearly two dozen websites that carry content denying the Holocaust. The websites sell the Hungarian edition of a Swedish author’s book that denies the Holocaust and other crimes committed by the Nazi […]
Hungarian extremist sentenced to 13 years in prison for terrorism
A far-right extremist, whose group sadistically assaulted and nearly killed a media personality, bombed gay clubs in Budapest and attacked the homes of Socialist and liberal politicians using Molotov cocktails, received a 13-year prison sentence on Tuesday in the Budapest Capital Regional Court, Hungarian Free Press reports on 30 August 2016. Between 2007 and 2009, […]
Argentinian pupils wearing Nazi armbands attack Jewish students in ‘Mengele village’
Children from a German school in Buenos Aires wearing swastika armbands and fake Hitler moustaches attacked pupils from a Jewish school in a resort where several Nazi war criminals lived for decades after the Second World War, including Dr Josef Mengele, Auschwitz’s “Angel of Death”, The Sunday Telegraph reported on 28 August 2016. The incident […]
Number of neo-Nazi rock concerts on the rise in Germany
The first half of 2016 has already seen some 98 far-right musical events in Germany, with some concerts drawing thousands of fans, according to Die Welt. Authorities have warned that such events serve as recruitment tools, Deutsche Welle reported on 20 August 2016. Of that total, around 40 were rock concerts and 49 Liederabende, where right-wing extremist singers […]
Call-to-arms by German populist right AfD
Populist right-wing AfD party co-leader Frauke Petry has encouraged Germans to carry firearms. She claims the government has lost its state monopoly to protect the public, especially in thinly populated areas, Deutsche Welle reported on 20 August. Petry, who caused an uproar January by suggesting German police could use firearms to deter incoming refugees, on Saturday […]
Australia: Far-right Pauline Hanson supporters dressed as Muslims storm church
A far-right nationalist group that links itself to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson stormed a church service on Sunday dressed in Muslim-style attire and chanting anti-Islamic slogans, leaving some members of the congregation “deeply traumatised”, The Sidney Morning Herald reported on 15 August 2016. The incident, on the NSW Central Coast, reflects the emboldened attitudes of […]
Germany: New far-right group comes under gaze of state spies
The far-right Identitarian Movement is growing in popularity in Germany to the extent that the main federal intelligence agency has started watching them, The Local.de reported on 12 August 2016. Up until this point, the movement, which has been present in Germany since 2012, had been observed by spy agencies at the state level. “We […]
Viktor Orbán and his responsibility for rising antisemitism in Hungary
Quite a political storm is brewing in Hungary, after Ronald S. Lauder of the World Jewish Congress named Hungary Europe’s most antisemitic country, the Hungarian Free Press reported on 19 July 2016. Specifically, Mr. Lauder said the following: “The worst offender is Hungary. Because they now have a neo-Nazi party called Jobbik. They had started to put […]
