World Roundup: the first Jewish museum in Paraguay

From a Jewish community numbering 1000 Paraguayans erecting the county’s first Jewish museum to a Swedish mother filing for asylum in her own country, its our patented World Roundup of Jewish news, dated 25/11/2013.[divider]

Country:  Slovakia

European Jewish leaders threatened to “fight back” after the recent victory of a neo-Nazi candidate in Slovakian regional elections. EJC President Moshe Kantor said neo-Nazis were “using democratic systems against democrats” after Marian Kotleba became president of a self-governing region.

Country:  Germany

German President Joachim Gauck has defended his decision to sign the Prague Declaration in 2008, which called the Nazi and Communist regimes twin disasters of the 20th century. He told a conference of the Central Council of Jews in Germany: “We should avoid competition between victims.”

Country:  France

Jewish students in France have said “a boycott of Israel is a boycott of peace” after a small left-wing French party voted to incorporate an Israel boycott into its policies. The Left Party is led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, who got 11 percent of the votes in the first round of the 2012 presidential election.

Country:  Paraguay

The tiny Jewish community of Paraguay, comprising less than 1,000 members, has inaugurated its new Jewish museum after an 11-year wait for construction to complete. The Walter Kochmann Jewish Museum of Paraguay includes the country’s first Holocaust studies centre and an area on Judaism

Country:  Australia

In a controversial U-turn, the new Australian government has said it will no longer automatically criticise Jewish settlement-building in the West Bank. The ruling Labor coalition said it felt UN resolutions were one-sided against Israel. Opposition leaders said the decision needed explaining.

Country:  Sweden

A Swedish Jewish mother has filed for asylum in her own country to draw attention to rising anti-Semitism, neo-Nazi marches and bans on kosher slaughter and attacks on ritual circumcision. Annika Hernroth-Rothstein, 31, has been criticised by some Swedish Jews, who call her “a provocation”.