A Swiss Holocaust denier took a job as a liaison between Islamic organizations and a European Neo-Nazi group, he has revealed to JTA. “A few years ago, my friends in the Iran regime motivated me to function as go-between with the international Revisionist Szene and the Islamic groups in Europe,” Albert “Ahmed” Huber told JTA…. More ▸
More than a dozen Palestinian and left-wing organizations in Switzerland are calling for a boycott of Israeli consumer goods to protest Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. The boycott is aimed not only at Israeli products, but also at products of Jewish-owned businesses. Organizers concede that the campaign is unlikely to have a significant impact on… More ▸
The trail of international terrorism against Jews has reached the Swiss city of Biel. French and Spanish investigators asked Swiss police recently to probe an official at the Islamic Center of Biel, who is suspected of channeling money to the Al-Qaida terrorists who perpetrated an attack on a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, in April 2002…. More ▸
Swiss legislators are calling for the dismissal of a senior Foreign Ministry official who wrote a letter that appeared to sanction terrorist attacks against Israel. In his letter to the Swiss-based group “Pro-PLO,” the head of the ministry’s Middle East department, Amb. Thomas Kupfer, described Palestinian suicide bombers as “resistance fighters” who did not “obtain… More ▸
The president of Switzerland has backtracked on a vow to help Holocaust survivors made by a predecessor. In an interview this week, Swiss President Kaspar Villiger said it would not be legally possible to make payments to survivors or Jewish groups from a $5 billion foundation to help victims of genocide, war and natural disasters…. More ▸
Switzerland has decided not to ease a ban on kosher slaughter. But the Swiss government did promise Swiss Jewish leaders last week that the import of kosher meat will be guaranteed by law, according to a spokeswomen for Economy Minister Pasqual Couchepin. “The decision was made in close cooperation with the Swiss Federations of Jewish… More ▸
Switzerland’s Jewish community is gearing up for a fight with an animal rights group that wants to bar Jewish ritual slaughter. Shortly after the government launched a campaign to end a century-old law barring ritual slaughter, the Swiss Animal Association has called for a referendum on the issue. In addition, the referendum would ask Swiss… More ▸
Christoph Meili was living as an average guy when he did an extraordinary thing for the Jewish community and suddenly found himself idolized as a superhero. But after basking in the community’s adulation, the spotlight ultimately shifted elsewhere — and he had to figure out how to build a new existence in a foreign country…. More ▸
Disputes over a yarmulke and a Righteous Gentile have soured relations between the outgoing president of Switzerland and Hungary’s Jewish community. On a state visit to Hungary in December, problems began for then-President Moritz Leuenberger — who became transport minister on Jan. 1 under Switzerland’s system of rotating the presidency among its Cabinet members —… More ▸
The Swiss government has launched a campaign to end a century-old law barring Jewish ritual slaughter. Launched by Economics Minister Pasqual Couchepin, the campaign has created a heated outcry against any lessening of the prohibition. It also prompted fears of a widespread anti-Semitic backlash in a country that has experienced such backlashes in recent years,… More ▸
