Neo-Nazism/Racism and Attacks on the rise

[IzakHalevas]

Wow, you learn something everyday.

 

[north_malaysian]

In Malaysia, in any kind of form eg. club membership, library membership, to open bank account, applying credit card etc. you have to fill in your ethnic group. And there are only 4 options: Malay, Chinese, Indian and Others.

As for the Jews, they will put themselves as "others".. that's why most Malaysians dont know of any Jews in Malaysia.. even the younger generation of Penangites... I only know about Penangite Jews when I stumbled a road sign "Jalan Yahudi" in 1990 while walking to my Arabic tuition class in Burma Lane... but the road sign was no longer there as the road was renamed as "Jalan Zainal Abidin"...

From what I've known there is only one Jewish family remains in Penang, the Ephraims. Most of them migrated to Singapore and Australia in the 1970s. But not because being harassed by local Muslims, but for economics reason. Even Malaysia's economics is quite strong now, I think they would not dare to come back to Malaysia, thanks to our Anti-Jew former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir.

During his premiership (Mahathir), anti-Jewish remarks is something usual in the media... especially during 1997 economic crisis when out ex-PM blamed George Soros.

But nowadays, Naturei Kartei Jews are so famous as they're opposing Israel/Zionist ... they have good remarks given by Islamists in their newspapaer "Harakah"... since then, most of Islamists differentiate Jews and Zionists...

Some famous Malaysian Jews are:

1) The Sarkis brothers - Armenian Jews who built E&O Hotel (the oldest and expensive hotel in Penang)

2) Mother of current King of Negeri Sembilan state... (there's rumours saying she's a Jew, but many covered it up as saying she is a Eurasian)

 

[north_malaysian]

THE JEWS OF PENANG​

by Himanshu Bhatt

Nestled in the heart of George Town is a small and charming plot of land that has quitely borne the remains of a little-known people of Penang. Tucked safely behind its high walls along a narrow lazy stretch named Jalan Zainal Abidin (formerly known as Jalan Yahudi) is an intriguing Jewish cemetery.

Little is known of its past and less still of those it shelters. But the cemetery, with it neat rows of Hebrew-inscribed headstones, breathes a fresh aura of reverence that seems to defy its strange and elusive history. One cannot help but feel a deep sanctity that weighs gently upon the lush plot of land upon entering the cemetery's huge iron gates.

Bordered by a shady angsana trees and the paint-cracked walls of pre-war shophouses, the cemetery has preserved for more than 160 years, patiently bearing in its sweet and inconspicuous way, the spirit of the island's Jewish community.

All that is known of its origin is that an English lady of Jewish faith acquired the land in the early part of 19th century and, upon her death was buried there in 1835. The land was then transferred to the general ownership of the Jewish community.

While numerous local and visiting Jews in the region have been buried in the cemetery since then, it is interesting to note that Jews first arrived on Malaysian soil way back in the 11th century.

According to a business record left by Abraham, son of legendary Jewish leader Maimonides, traders from Fustat, the old city of Cairo, had travelled as far away as the Malayan Peninsula where the powerful Indianised port-civilisations of Kedah and Langkasuka were thriving. Dealing in dyes, textiles, medications, perfumes, precious stones and metals, the traders traversed around important centres in South-east Asia.

South-east Asia also received a large wave of Jewish immigration during the post-war communist regime in China. Much of China's Jewish community, comprising refugees from Soviet Russia and Hitler's Europe, and descendents of Jews who had been in China since the 8th century, fled to Hong Kong and South-east Asia, particularly Singapore. The cemetery in Penang was used largely to bury visiting Europeans who died in the area during the British colonial period.

According to Jenny Hazell, an official with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Berks, England, the Commission is currently undertaking the maintainance of the grave of Second Lieutenant Louis Victor Cohen, who died on Oct 9, 1941, at the age of 23 years. The Commission's resident caretaker Ong Thiam Lye, who is also caretaker of Taiping War Cemetery, visits the cemetery every six months to clean Cohen's headstone and clear the grass around the grave.

"I have maintained the graves of Cohen and several other British subjects buried at the Jalan Utama cemetery in Penang, but know little about their history," Ong said.

According to Tefa Ephraim, a Penang born Jew in her 60s, although numerous British subjects in Malaya were buried at the Penang cemetery before and during Second World War, the cemetery also received the remains of Jewish soldiers who died in places as far as China.

"Among those who remain, the younger generation is not as versed in Jewish customs and traditions as the elders."

Tefa was interviewed in 1996 when she returned from a short visit from Sydney where she now resides. She belongs to Penang's small but close-knit Jewish community which has largely dispersed since the 70s. Some of the local families buried at the cemetery includes the Manassehs, Mordecais, Jacobs, Ephraims and the Moses family.

Tefa's brother, Charles Ephraim, one of the few Penang-born Jews left here, offered some explanations for the dwindling of the community. "Much of the community has migrated abroad," he said during an interview. " Among those who remain, the younger generation is not as versed in Jewish customs and traditions as the elders."

Even the minyan, a custom which requires a quorum of at least ten males aged 12 and above at a religious ceremony, could not be met. "Friends from Singapore would come to funeral ceremonies to satisfy the quorum," Charles explained.

The inability to fulfil the minyan, coupled with lack of religious knowledge among emerging generations, forced the shutdown of Penang's only synagogue in late 1976. The synagogue, set in terrace shophouse along Nagore Road, was established long before Charles was born in 1932, and was closed after his father passed away in June 1976.

"We would meet regularly for Saturday prayers at the synagogue," Charles recounted. "It was a small place and had 12 copies of the Torah (the JEwish book of Faith) placed in a row for us to pray toward."

Like many of the Jews in Penang, the ancestry of the Ephraims is Persian. their grandfather, a businessman, migrated from Baghdad in the 19th century, joining the community in Penang that consisted of numerous watch dealers. The subsequent generations that emerged assimilated a variety of local social traits with their traditional Jewish lifestyles.

"When I was young, my family spoke a mixture of Hebrew and English at home, with smatterings of Hokkien, Malay and Arabic," Charles said.

He also has vivid memories of the Second World War, when Jews were persecuted in Europe. "During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, Jewish adults had to wear red and white striped tags on their sleeves for identification purposes. The Japanese afraid that we may be spies, also barred us from being present within half-a-mile of Penang island's shoreline," he said.

The cemetery nevertheless survived through the two wars, and had its last burial in 1978. A tattered registration book with pages falling off its spine still exist with a caretaker family that has tended the cemetery for five generations. The book, which bears name of people buried at the cemetery written in cursive and with blots of dried ink on its yellowish pages, contains a small autographs left by foreign visitors to the cemetery.

Fatimah Rabu (a Malay Muslim), in her seventies, is the oldest person in the caretaker family hired by the JEwish community to maintain the cemetery. She said she knew little of the site's history, but remembered her grandfather took care of the place years before her parents took over.

"Many visitors, including Orang Putih (Westerners), visit this place," Fatimah said. "Some, after visiting a particular grave, would place a clean pebble next to the headstone as a sign of holy remembrance."

"We dont know who these visitors are or where do they come from, but every now and then, someone is seen kneeling or walking solemnly around the cemetery."

Historian Paul Johnson once noted that the Jewish people have, over the centuries in history, exhibited a "tenacious adaptability even in the most adverse circumstances". The Jewish cemetery in Penang is not only the testament to the spirit of this perseverance, but also a silent symbol of a unique community's contribution to our nation's rich heritage.

Source: http://www.penangstory.net.my/mino-content-paperhimanshu.html

 

[north_malaysian]

it's suprising to know that some of the caretakers of the Jewish cemetery are Muslims...

 

[cihad]

ummm...there are a looott if malaysian muslims, so its not much of a suprise to me

 

[north_malaysian]

ummm...there are a looott if malaysian muslims, so its not much of a suprise to me

Only 15% of people living in George Town are Muslims... and in Yahudi Road area ... i think Muslims are less than 5%. So, it's amazed me that Malay Muslims are the caretakers of the cemetery. maybe both Muslims and Jews had good relationship before as most Jews came from Baghdad. There are several Malay families have Iraqi ancestry in Penang.

 

[thirdwatch512]

well, when there's racism/predjudicm, there's always an increase in pride, and a better sense of community happens.

like 9/11 for example.. during 9/11, for like a year, there were no rpeublicans and democrats. there were no african americans and hispanics. everyone worked together. america came together as a country for a first time in a while.

hopefully Jews will get more observant and start moving near their synagogues like they are supposed to! like i know jews who live 10 minutes away from a synagogue, which is bad, because jews aren't supposed to drive on the sabbath! lol. so hopefully one day the sense of community in judaism will strengthen, and Jews can work together, and forget all the predjudism.

 

[Muezzin]

well, when there's racism/predjudicm, there's always an increase in pride, and a better sense of community happens.

like 9/11 for example.. during 9/11, for like a year, there were no rpeublicans and democrats. there were no african americans and hispanics. everyone worked together. america came together as a country for a first time in a while.

Yeah, there was a tendency (but not by ALL Americans and not by YOU) to unite against a perceived common enemy - i.e. people of Middle Eastern descent or Muslims in general.

That's the way it looked to me as a Brit at least. 'The towers were destroyed, let's hijack people's genuine feelings and use them to justify going to bomb some foreigners!'

But that's historically true of most foreign policy from many countries. It also has nothing much to do with the topic, so I'll stop talking about it.

hopefully Jews will get more observant and start moving near their synagogues like they are supposed to! like i know jews who live 10 minutes away from a synagogue, which is bad, because jews aren't supposed to drive on the sabbath! lol. so hopefully one day the sense of community in judaism will strengthen, and Jews can work together, and forget all the predjudism.

Heck, I think everyone should unite, Jew, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Atheist et cetera. Not against a common enemy, just for the sake of co-operating for a change. Oh well.

 

[Sami Zaatari]

in UK neo nazis are in the goverment, theyre not bald, and they wear suits, theyre the BNP. their running for goverment, they hardly have any say in the goverment, just a few seats here and there.

 

[England]

in UK neo nazis are in the goverment, theyre not bald, and they wear suits, theyre the BNP. their running for goverment, they hardly have any say in the goverment, just a few seats here and there.

And the 2nd biggest party in Barking & Dagenham...

*walks off*

 

[Sami Zaatari]

your probaly a member arent you? either way, it is a fact they are neo-nazis, only a liar will say they are not as they have been caught on tape making nazi salutes and anti-semitic gestures. and nick griffin also ran an anti-semitic paper back in the 90's, several of their anti-jewish semitic quotes can easily be found. and on top of that in todays world if you deny the holocaust your classed as an anti-semite, the bnp deny the holocaust.

sad england is moving towards neo-nazism. not something to be proud off.

 

[England]

your probaly a member arent you? either way, it is a fact they are neo-nazis, only a liar will say they are not as they have been caught on tape making nazi salutes and anti-semitic gestures. and nick griffin also ran an anti-semitic paper back in the 90's, several of their anti-jewish semitic quotes can easily be found. and on top of that in todays world if you deny the holocaust your classed as an anti-semite, the bnp deny the holocaust.

sad england is moving towards neo-nazism. not something to be proud off.

You should provide valuabe sources to your claims. It does help The reason is alot of the stuff said about the BNP is over the top. People say they are anti-sikhs yet they have links with the Sikh community. People say they are anti-Jewish just as you have, yet they have a Jewish BNP councillor Pat Richardson her name is.
The majority of the country back the policies of the party, UNTIL they are told it's the BNP. Check here. Do read it. It's interesting.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13520516,00.html

 

[Sami Zaatari]

some famous bnp quotes:

When asked in 1993 if the BNP was racist, its deputy leader Richard Edmonds said, "We are 100 per cent racist, yes".[53] Founder John Tyndall proclaimed that "Mein Kampf is my bible".[54]

and how about this:

Joe Owens, a BNP candidate in Merseyside and former bodyguard to Nick Griffin, has served eight months in prison for sending razor blades in the post to Jewish people and another term for carrying CS gas and knuckledusters.[42]

is the direction the country of england is moving towards? hmmm not very bright i would say, but their choice, they can vote in neo-nazi thugs like this who simply grew up in bad neighborhoods and sat on the streets smoking and taking drugs everday and then growing up to only hang out in the pubs, go on vote them in.

 

[Sami Zaatari]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1984.stm

there you go, bbc for you. scroll down and you will find the mein kampf quote and the other one. how nice, so much for being over the top, these are all facts. as for the jew who works in bnp, lol sure she is, thats another political stunt, there is not a single honest jew who would ever join such an ogrinization and thats a fact unless your a complete sell out or your not a practicing jew at all.

 

[Muezzin]

The original article is not about the BNP, but is focused quite narrowly. If members wish to discuss that topic, they should do so in a new thread.

 

[don532]

Neo-Nazism seems to start more as a game among people. But at some point the game teaches that hate is the solution for all of the worlds problems. It then swallows the people into a vast pit of hate towards all who refuse to play the game.

Sadly unlike fun games the consequences of this one are dangerous and do hurt people that do not praticipate. It is the innocent that suffer.

Amen. I could not have said that any better.

 

[Philosopher]

I condemn racism against Jews.

 

[rav]

there you go, bbc for you. scroll down and you will find the mein kampf quote and the other one. how nice, so much for being over the top, these are all facts. as for the jew who works in bnp, lol sure she is, thats another political stunt, there is not a single honest jew who would ever join such an ogrinization and thats a fact unless your a complete sell out or your not a practicing jew at all.

I completly agree.

 

[AvarAllahNoor]

Nazis aside, what about other people who incite racisim and hatred? They come from all walks of life sadly!

 

[Talha777]

They are mostly Nazis though, or like Mr. England said, Sikh sympathizers of Nazis.