Introduction

2018 marks the centenary of the birth of Jewish-American conductor, pianist, composer and teacher Leonard Bernstein. This milestone has seen a global bonanza of 2,500 concerts, programs, exhibitions and theatrical productions. Bernstein features prominently in the pantheon of “Jewish geniuses” as designated by the West’s Jewish-dominated cultural and intellectual establishment. Bernstein’s centenary year inevitably yielded hagiography: for his Jewish biographer Allen Shawn, he was not just a “genius” but “a powerful cultural and political voice and symbol, transcending all categories.”[1] Mark Horowitz, curator of an exhibition at Philadelphia’s Jewish museum celebrating Bernstein’s “pride of tribe,” fully endorses this view, while for the Jewish music writer for the New Yorker, Alex Ross, Bernstein remains “American music’s dominant figure.”

Francuski publicysta i reżyser Alain Soral został skazany na rok więzienia za zniewagę oraz „podżeganie do nienawiści”. Były członek władz Frontu Narodowego miał bowiem po raz kolejny niepochlebnie wyrażać się o Żydach, zarzucając im manipulowanie ludźmi, apodyktyczność oraz wzbudzanie nienawiści. Przedstawiciele organizacji żydowskich zapowiadają przy tym, że będą ścigać Sorala tak długo, jak będzie on wygłaszał „antysemickie opinie”.

Earlier this week, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) reported that members of its “resistance units” had assembled at the gravesite of world champion wrestler and civil activist, Gholamreza Takhti, in order to pay respects to all those who were killed one year earlier in a nationwide protests against Iran’s theocratic government.

Thousands of protesters were arrested in January of last year as they participated in interconnected protests in more than 140 Iranian cities and towns, often chanting virtually unprecedented slogans such as “death to the dictator.” At least 14 of the detainees were tortured to death, and about 50 individuals were killed in the streets as protesters clashed with Iran’s repressive authorities.