Thursday, May 6, 2010

Reaction in Israel to Anti-Semitic Blood Libel in Germany

Jerusalem - Israeli officials are outraged by the decision made by the general prosecutor in Cologne, Germany, regarding a cartoon that showed a Jew eating a Palestinian boy and drinking his blood.

After a complaint was lodged with the police about the cartoon, the general prosecutor allowed for the continued display of the cartoon, ruling that “at issue is not an antisemitism cartoon but an expression of legitimate criticism about Israel’s inhuman policies towards the Palestinians.” The cartoon has been on display in the square of the Cologne cathedral, which is the most important Catholic church in Germany.

Emanuel Nahshon, an official with the Israeli embassy in Berlin, said in response that this was a boost of support for Israel-haters. “We do not intervene in the decisions made by legal authorities in Germany, but at the same time we believe that this cartoon possesses a blatant antisemitic characteristics and encourages hatred and violence.

“The argument about the need to discern between hatred for the people of Israel and hatred for the State of Israel is completely ludicrous. When a figure with the flag of the State of Israel is depicted eating a Palestinian child, it reminds all of us of the most wicked blood libels of European antisemitism.”


View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News

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