By, Jennifer Lipman
1 min read
ByJennifer Lipman, Jennifer Lipman
Comments by designer John Galliano and filmmaker Lars Von Trier have appeared in a now-annual list of the top ten antisemitic slurs of the year.
Earlier today the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a US human rights organisation, released its list of the worst anti-Jewish comments of 2011.
In the top spot was a statement by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who gave a speech at the UN General Assembly in September in which he omitted to mention any Jewish biblical connection to Israel.
"I come before you today from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and the birthplace of Jesus Christ peace be upon him, to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people," said Mr Abbas.
Other jibes that made the list included couturier John Galliano, who escaped a prison sentence earlier this year after being found guilty of antisemitic and racist behaviour . In a drunken rant caught on film, he shouted that he love Hitler and said to the victims: "People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be f****** gassed."
Mr Von Trier, who made headlines around the world after confessing during a press conference at Cannes that he was a Nazi who understood and even sympathised with Hitler , appeared in fifth place in the list. (He was, in fact, brought up as a Jew.)
A slur by UNESCO award-winning composer Mikis Theodorakis, who blamed "Zionists" and "American Jews" for the Greek economic crisis, was also featured, as was Reverend Jeremiah Wright's comment that "Israel is an illegal, genocidal place… to equate Judaism with the state of Israel is to equate Christianity with [rapper] Flavor Flav."
Another list, released today by the media watchdog Honest Reporting, described the Guardian newspaper as the recipient of this year's "Dishonest Reporting award". The site highlighted the commentator Deborah Orr's piece suggesting that the prisoner swap to return Gilad Shalit showed the Jewish state's "obscene idea that Israeli lives are more important than Palestinian lives".
