October 2004
Issue No. 372
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A human balance
Adam Ma’nit yearns for the release of Jews from the strangling vines of stereotype and bigotry.

Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999)
Famed Jewish violinist and human rights activist Yehudi Menuhin on the origins of his name and its meaning.

The Longest Hatred
The history of antisemitism makes for grim reading, but understanding is crucial in the fight against it.

Fear and loathing
Peace activist Lucy Michaels describes how Judeophobia impacts on her life and her work.

Judeophobia - the facts

Zog Ate My Brains
Chip Berlet picks apart popular conspiracy theories and their seductions.

Spreading the Stain
Palestinian writer Asma Agbarieh confronts both Arab antisemitism and Israel’s use of antisemitism as moral cover for its policies.

Portrait of the Artist as an Antisemite
Artists, writers and musicians have often given credence to hatred of Jews.

The World According to Judeophobes
Many charismatic leaders have found in the Jews the perfect scapegoats.

Demagogues in Denial
Holocaust denial is the gravest of insults to Jewish memory. Nick Ryan meets the naysayers.

Action & Resources
Anti-racist action and resources.

News, views, and & voices

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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR

Type ‘Jew’ into any internet search engine and you are guaranteed to find a high proportion of antisemitic websites. The internet’s assurance of anonymity combined with easy access to reams of hate literature and networking forums has been keeping the fires of Judeophobia alive. But the internet is not the problem – it’s the antisemites themselves. They share a passionate belief in the simplest of reasons for the problems of a complex world – it’s all the Jews’ fault.

In these millennial times, with all the apocalyptic imagery of war, disease, famine and even locusts, people are seduced into believing all sorts of ludicrous fantasies.

One of my favourites is the ‘warning’ that Jews are now masquerading as imams and corrupting Muslim minds in the mosques of South Asia. Another hoot is the Syrian Defence Minister’s recent allegation that Jews use the blood of non-Jews to make unleavened bread for Passover. Doesn’t he know it’s not kosher?

But we’d be making a mistake if we simply dismissed these things out of hand. Millions of people all over the world heartily believe the most vile and hateful things about Jews. As if to prove this point, we recently received a cancellation letter from a reader who couldn’t tolerate ‘that a magazine of your calibre still after 60 years put in print history’s most vicious, and for some most profitable lie, that six million Jewish people were murdered by Hitler’s regime.’

And so it goes on.

Adam Ma'anit for the New Internationalist Co-operative adam@newint.org

Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe

The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.

Raised Voices video:

Atossa Soltani from Brazil on the Climate Change

Desmond Desai from South Africa on Corporate Power

Iranian women speak out

3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.

Raised Voices audio:

Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power

Vinayan from India on agriculture