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Newsletter : 8fax0813.txt
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>JN Aug. 13, 1998, Vol. 6, No. 144
Swiss Anti-Semitism Increases
By Lisa Schlein (VOA-Geneva)
A report by the Geneva-based "Committee Against anti-Semitism" finds the practice in Switzerland has increased significantly since controversy over the Holocaust fund erupted in 1995. The report says that anti-Jewish sentiments espoused by far right-wing groups are filtering into the country's mainstream politics.
The report says the controversy over dormant Holocaust accounts and
Switzerland's wartime gold dealings with the Nazis has triggered
the latest wave of anti-Semitism.
The committee's secretary-general, Brigitte Sion, says a major
change began 18 months ago after former Swiss President Jean-Pascal
Delamuraz compared the Jewish reclamation claims to blackmail. Sion
says the president's remarks prompted many people to think they now
had the right to openly express their anti-Semitic views.
The report says most far-right groups in Switzerland are small and
fragmented. But it notes they are becoming more organized -- and
more radical. Sion says these groups are finding new arguments to
feed what she calls their xenophobic, stereotypical theories about
Jews.
"For example, the Holocaust deniers -- who keep claiming that the
Holocaust was something made up by the Jews to get more money by
Germany and by other countries -- say that 'Here is another proof
to our theory that the lie of the Holocaust is, again, a means of
getting money.' This time (they say it's) from Switzerland."
The report by the Committee Against anti-Semitism says the
so-called "Holocaust deniers" are becoming more active in
Switzerland. It finds the amount of hate mail and verbal threats
against Switzerland's 18,000-member Jewish community growing. But
perhaps the greatest concern noted in the report is the finding
that extremist anti-Semitic views are being adopted by some of
Switzerland's mainstream politicians.
Swiss Banks Want to Settle Holocaust Claims
By IsraelWire
Swiss banks remain interested in striking a "reasonable agreement" quickly, when talks with Holocaust survivors and Jewish groups over claims for dormant accounts resume, Switzerland's biggest bank said.
But UBS declined comment on a Swiss media report that a deal was
imminent in the months-long row over claims from the World Jewish
Congress and lawyers representing Holocaust survivors who are suing
the banks in US courts.
The Swiss news agency SDA, quoting unidentified sources, said the
banks had boosted their offer to settle the claims to between $1.2
billion and $1.5 billion during talks convened by US District Court
Judge Edward Korman, in New York.
The claimants accuse the banks of stonewalling Holocaust victims,
who tried to get back money deposited in Switzerland for
safekeeping during the Nazi era. Banks acknowledge they made errors
handling the funds, but deny they deliberately kept them.
UBS spokesman Michael Willi said, "We can only say we are basically
interested in a reasonable agreement. We are also interested in
reaching an agreement quickly. But we cannot comment on the course
of the talks."
The latest meetings followed what had appeared to be a breakdown in
talks in June, when class-action claimants' lawyers rejected an
offer by the two big banks to settle all claims against them for
$600 million.
The WJC and class-action plaintiffs had been holding out for a $1.5
billion "global settlement" that would cover claims against the
Swiss government and the Swiss Central Bank, which bought tons of
gold from Nazi Germany, much of it looted.
Both the Berne government and the Swiss National Bank have refused
to take part in the settlement talks. Meanwhile, US states and
large cities have sought to pressure banks to negotiate,
threatening punitive sanctions against Swiss banks, and ultimately
against all Swiss firms, unless the claimants' demands are met
Bus Driver Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Outburst
By IsraelWire
An Argentinean bus driver, accused of refusing to permit a Jewish male to get on his bus, made a public apology for his remarks and insisted he was not a racist.
Last week, witnesses reported that the bus passed by a 15-year-old
teenager wearing a yarmulke (skullcap), who was waiting at a bus
stop. The boy ran to the next stop and waited for the bus once
again. The driver opened the door and told the teenager, "No Jew
will board my bus."
When the teen tried boarding the bus, the driver struck him and
knocked his yarmulke off his head. The driver said, "It was a
moment of anger. I did not intend to act like a bigot."
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