IRVING
World briefs
By JTA
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Irving plans British speaking tour
PRAGUE (JTA)—Convicted Holocaust denier and British author David Irving is attempting to revive his career as a historian.
Irving told the Guardian newspaper he will launch a series of speaking tours in British cities and universities as well as offer new books to potential readers. In 2005, Irving was sentenced to three years in an Austrian jail for his 1989 speeches in which he questioned the existence of Nazi death camps and called the Auschwitz gas chambers a “fairy tale.” A judge granted Irving early release, partly because he claimed to renounce his Holocaust denial views. But in the Sept. 29 Guardian interview, Irving said Jews were to blame for the Holocaust and that the “Jewish problem” was responsible for nearly all the wars of the past 100 years. In addition, he said of Auschwitz, “Much of what is shown the tourists there is faked postwar—watchtowers, even the famous gas chamber.” Irving now reportedly rents a 10-bedroom house near Windsor.
U.K. makes religious hatred criminal offense
LONDON (JTA)—Incitement to religious hatred is now a criminal offense in England and Wales. The Racial and Religious Hatred Act creates a new category of offense, “intentionally stirring up religious hatred against people on religious grounds.”
Kasparov running for Russian presidency
MOSCOW (JTA)—Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov is the opposition candidate for the Russian presidency. Kasparov, whose father was Jewish, was the overwhelming choice of the leading opposition coalition, The Other Russia, as its candidate at a conference Sept. 30 in Moscow, according to an Associated Press report. The Other Russia is a loose coalition of disparate groups whose only unifying factor is their strong opposition to the policies of President Vladimir Putin. The groups accuse Putin of using authoritarian tactics to erode the rule of law in the post-Soviet era. The coalition has little hope of gaining ground against the hugely popular Putin in next year’s elections, a fact Kasparov acknowledged following the vote. “The goal of The Other Russia is not winning elections but to have an election,” Kasparov told reporters. “We’re trying to force the regime to accept our rights to participate in free and fair elections, to agitate the Russian population and Russian public to support our ideas.”
Jews beaten in Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine (JTA)—Religious Israelis helping lead Sukkot observances were attacked in the Ukrainian city of Cherkassy. Israeli yeshiva student Josef Rafaelov, 23, and two other religious Israeli Jews wearing traditional garb were attacked Sept. 29 not far from the city’s synagogue on their way to services. Six young men, who witnesses said looked in the age range of 18 to 20, allegedly beat the three men. Two escaped and reported the incident to police. Rafaelov suffered head and other injuries. Doctors are describing his condition as stable. Law enforcement agencies are investigating but no arrests have been reported.
Pakistani envoy lashes out at survivors
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A Pakistani envoy to the United Nations was slammed for accusing Holocaust survivors of a campaign against Muslim symbols. A coalition of nine non-governmental organizations took the offensive against Masood Khan, Pakistan’s representative to the U.N.’s Geneva-based bodies. “In many instances Holocaust survivors, instead of promoting such harmony, are campaigning against Muslim symbols in the Western world,” Khan was quoted as saying in a Sept. 25 address to the U.N. Human Rights Council, in a letter to him signed by a number of NGOs. “They should be the most ardent advocates against discrimination,” Kahn said in the address. “Islamophobia is also a cruel form of anti-Semitism.” Kahn was addressing the body on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an umbrella group for Islamic nations. “We are unaware of any such ‘campaigning’ by Holocaust survivors,” said the Sept. 28 letter signed by nine groups including United Nations Watch, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. “Moreover, even if it were true that individuals were engaged in such an alleged effort, it would constitute unjustifiable stereotyping to label an entire group—particularly survivors of a genocide—on the basis of the alleged actions of a few. We believe that Holocaust survivors, elderly men and women who are often frail and suffering from illness, are deserving of our sympathy and respect, not denigration in a speech at the United Nations.”
Chelsea fans told to stop anti-Semitic slurs
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The chairman of the Chelsea soccer club has denounced fans’ anti-Semitic abuse of the new Israeli coach. Avram Grant was named Chelsea’s coach last month, replacing the popular Jose Mourinho, who guided the London team for three years. Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck wrote in the Sept. 29 match program, “We welcome all constructive points of view. But there have been a few which could be viewed as racist and anti-Semitic and that must stop immediately. This is one thing we will not tolerate whether in written correspondence, on the chat pages, on posters or banners or through singing and chanting. And it unfairly smears the reputation of the vast majority of Chelsea fans who rightly do not want to be associated with such activity.” Grant is a close friend of Chelsea’s Russian Jewish billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, and is a former coach of Israel’s national team.