HAARETZ: Police charged a man who allegedly posted a video on YouTube with inciting racism under a so-far untested Australian state law, officials said Thursday. A newspaper report said the video targeted Jews.
The 38-year-old man from the west coast city of Perth could become the first person convicted under Western Australia state's racial vilification laws enacted four years ago.
The laws were introduced in response to a series of violent attacks by white supremacists around Perth. The only person previously charged under the law was a 16-year-old Aboriginal girl, but a magistrate said the case involved petty name-calling and dismissed it.
State police spokeswoman Susan Usher said the suspect will appear in court next Tuesday charged with conduct likely to incite animosity or racist harassment. He cannot be identified under Australian law until his first court appearance.
If convicted, he faces a possible maximum penalty of 14 years in prison plus a fine of $18,000. >>> Associated Press | Thursday, May 14, 2009
HAARETZ: Anti-Semitism Is Rearing Its Head in Tel Aviv
Anti-Semitism is raising its head. Not in Warsaw, Munich or Paris, and there's no need for the Anti-Defamation League to wave the evidence around. It's right here, in our own home, in verdant Ramat Aviv, the most enlightened suburb of Tel Aviv, our most enlightened city. The entry of a handful of ultra-Orthodox Jews to this lovely, modest and tranquil neighborhood has provoked an unlovely wave of racism, tearing the thin veil of openness and liberality from this seemingly left-wing community. If anyone were to behave this way toward Israeli Arabs, the residents might raise a hue and cry, but when it comes to Haredim the gloves are off because attacking the "blacks" is the fashion. >>> By Gideon Levy | Thursday, May 14, 2009
