A distant relation of the 19th century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh was fined the equivalent of $1,000 by an Amsterdam court last week for making anti-Semitic slurs.
Theo van Gogh, a filmmaker, columnist and satirical author, was sued for making offensive remarks about a Dutch Jewish writer, Leon de Winter. He also told sick jokes about Anne Frank and concentration camps.
But in court he said he would stick to his brand of humor in the interests of free speech. He joked about aliens seeking asylum in Holland and called the public prosecutor an “ass.”
The Dutch Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism has meanwhile sued van Gogh and other publishers of the Joop Klepzeiker Agenda, which carried two anti-Semitic cartoons by the French cartoonist Vuillemin.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
