Swiss Jews furious at report warning of violent extremism

Ian Traynor, Central Europe correspondent
Wednesday January 5, 2005
The Guardian

Switzerland's small Jewish community is in uproar over a government report which describes some Jewish youth as armed radicals and talks of the possibility of "violent extremism" by some Swiss Jews.
The country's main Jewish organisation is calling for the contentious passages to be cut from the report and for a meeting with the justice minister, a Swiss nationalist, to demand an explanation for the allegations which it denounces as "false," "outrageous," and "perhaps made in bad will".

The deputy head of the domestic intelligence service has had to apologise for its report and order the deletion of references to some Jewish students in Geneva as armed radicals.

But Swiss Jewish leaders remain angry that the amended version of the annual report from the Swiss domestic intelligence service, on the risks of political violence and extremism, retains claims that "violent anti-semitic acts could lead to vigilantism and violent Jewish extremism".

The original report released last August said: "Jewish political extremism manifests itself in the conduct of associations fighting for the Zionist cause." It singled out an association of Jewish students in Geneva.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1383271,00.html

Good thing there isn't any anti-semitism there.

Mr Blocher is the leader of the nationalist Swiss People's party, which campaigns on an anti-immigration platform.

Blocher is some right wing anti-semitic nut job.

Why not come down to the lounge and post or maybe the economics forum? Ooooh.... I'll bet you'd like the gun control forum...

:silly:

Doesn't the report, without discrimination, refer to "extremism" wherever it may arise? Is there something wrong with that? Or, do some groups have to be excluded because of who they are? Isn't that being an anti-everyone but me kind of syndrome?

I just don't get the hypersensitivity, almost paranoia, being expressed ALL THE TIME. It's as if an illusion is pushed into a reality thingy.

:eyes:

"The original report released last August said: "Jewish political extremism manifests itself in the conduct of associations fighting for the Zionist cause." It singled out an association of Jewish students in Geneva.

"Some of the young members are armed. They belong to a security agency and attend every event in the Jewish community. At the moment there is no evidence of links between these groups and the Kahane-Hai terror group."

Ooohh... I knew an Italian-American who worked as an armored truck driver, with some other Italian-Americans. And my brother, Italian-American, owns some guns. Both belong (or belonged) to local Italian-American groups fighting for the preservation of Italian culture, an "Italianist" cause. These Italian-Americans are *armed*, although "at the moment" there is no evidence of links between these individuals and the Red Brigades.

I'm sorry, but isn't this guilt by ethnicity? And, yes, Blocher may not be a paragon of progressivism, but this was a *government* report.

:-)