Round-Up: Jew Hate In The News

Azerbaijan via Israel

In Tel Aviv-Jaffa, almost 600 Azerbaijani Jews marched along the Old City of Jaffa and then demonstrated outside of the Armenian Cultural Center and the Armenian Church.  They were protesting about Armenian mortar fire killing a 76-year-old Azerbaijani citizen and 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, after days of skirmishes in the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan. Israeli political analyst Arye Gut, who organized the demonstration, spoke out against the occupation of Karabakh and the glorification of the Nazi-allied Armenian Legion.

“Garagen Nzhdeh is a national hero and has a memorial in the middle of Yerevan.  He was a fascist but because he was Armenian, he is a national hero.  It does not work like that. How can we, Israelis, react to the monument erected four years ago in Yerevan to commemorate Nzhadeh, an anti-Semite and apparent Nazi accomplice,” Gut asked. “Thanks to the Armenian Legion the towns of Simferopol, Yevpatoria, Alushta, Kerch and Feodosia, as well as other areas of Western Crimea, were completely expunged of Jews. The prolongation of his memory is a reprehensible insult to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The glorification of Armenian fascists and Nazis who worked closely with Nazi Germany, are being promoted at the state level in Armenia.”

Gut also asserted, “Armenia is striving by all means possible to spoil relations between Israel and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a real strategic partner of Israel in the world, an example of multiculturalism and tolerance. Today, there is a 25,000-strong Jewish community in Azerbaijan.  And in contrast, Armenia has almost no Jews.  There are 50 ethnic Jews in Armenia.”

Florida

The president of Florida State University announced the campus will adopt the IHRA universal definition of anti-Semitism and the division of student affairs “will institute annual training for its staff surrounding anti-Semitism, religious discrimination and ways to foster a more inclusive campus for our Jewish students and employees.”

 “As a minority group, the Jewish people have faced bias and discrimination and have been marginalized for centuries. It is one of the oldest forms of bigotry and is as intolerable as all forms of hate,” said John Thrasher in a statement. “The United States, the State of Florida and Florida State University recognize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of Antisemitism and its contemporary examples.”

He also said the university “has re-established its Jewish Student Union and is creating a Jewish Alumni Network to provide enhanced support and educational resources for all our students,” according to Thrasher.  

“My university leadership team and I will continue to work determinedly to combat anti-Semitism and unlawful behavior. While freedom of speech is of paramount importance on a college campus, so is creating a climate of acceptance and appreciation for the value and richness of the many cultures and ideas that make Florida State University such an excellent academic experience.”