Germany’s Bavaria Orders Christian Crosses in All State Buildings
The German state of Bavaria has ordered Christian crosses to be placed at the entrances to its public buildings.
Premier Markus Söder said Crosses should not be seen as religious symbols but as a “clear avowal of our Bavarian identity and Christian values“.
But opponents said the ruling Christian Social Union (CSU) was trying to score points ahead of October’s election amid fears of a rise of the far right.
Crosses are compulsory in public school classrooms and courtrooms.
The decree, which comes into effect on 1 June, will not affect municipal and federal government buildings in the predominantly Roman Catholic southern state.
“The cross is a fundamental symbol of our Bavarian identity and way of life,” Mr Söder said in a statement (in German). “It stands for elemental values such as charity, human dignity and tolerance.“
He denied the measure violated constitutional rules about religious neutrality and, on Twitter, said he had placed a cross in the lobby of the state chancellery in Munich.
Ethiopia Demands UK Return Pillaged Treasure Taken 150 Years Ago (DEBATE)
Ethiopia is calling for the return of valuable artefacts plundered by British forces 150 years ago. The East African treasures are currently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The country has demanded that all of the looted antiquities be sent back to Ethiopia on a permanent basis, refusing an offer of a long-term loan by the V&A Museum.
Among the treasures are a gold crown and chalice seized by British forces during the Battle of Maqdala in 1868 after troops ransacked the fortress of Emperor Tewodros II. The items were sold to raise money for the British military and were first exhibited in 1872.
The V&A announced in February it was staging an exhibition with the looted treasure, reigniting the diplomatic row. Addis Ababa first requested the artefacts back in 2007, according to Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Tourism Hirut Woldemariam.
Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), says the exhibition was organized in consultation with the Ethiopian community in London and remains “committed to continuing the important and wide-ranging dialogue with colleagues at the Ethiopian Embassy in London.”
The issue remains a bone of contention between the two nations, as commentators from both sides outlined to RT.
British broadcaster Jon Gaunt pointed to Iraq and Syria where antiquities have been looted by ISIS, suggesting unstable nations like Ethiopia can not be tasked with looking after their own treasures.
This argument was refuted by Ethiopian political commentator Awol Allo, blasting it as “condescending” and a “colonial narrative.” Allo said people should be able to visit Ethiopia and see the national treasures there.
Selected Comments:
I would punch that brit right between its beard and his eyes. These are thief eyes, on what ground is UK entitled to keep stolen goods. Oh, it was 200 years ago, but as everybody know stolen goods are still stolen, even after 2000 years, so they should be returned with apologies.
The British looted & stolen many things from Poor countries around the world & now they must return to the real owners.
The British museums would be empty if they decide to gave back artefacts. What about all the Great British Countryside Mansions paid for by African Slaves blood.
So, would Britain feel the same way if Ethiopia had important looted British historical artifacts on display in an Ethiopian museum? I think not. Looted history should be returned to the owners when at all possible. Theft is theft..time does not turn a theft into a legal transfer by virtue of the thief managing to hold onto it for a few generations.
Shame on the British Empire! An ancient Christian Empire looted of its Royal regalia by a professed Christian State. They even stripped the crowns from the bodies of the Emperors in their burial vault. How would the British have felt if a group of marauding Ethiopians exhumed the body of Queen Victoria and stripped the rings from her fingers? Send the loot back now!
Unless the British create ISIS in Ethiopia in the near future, there is no terrorist in Ethiopia. Ethiopian is a peaceful country. Just give the item back without any excuse …
I have a theory the U.K. wants to put Zera Yacob, Crown Prince and heir to Haile Selassie on the Ethiopian throne. He was educated at Eton. Presumably they will then return the regalia. All part of the U.K. elite’s plan to reassert control over the Horn of Africa. Al Shabaab will fulfill a similar role in Somalia. British Empire Mk ll.
Germany Abolishes Its Main Music Awards After An Anti-Semitic Rap Scandal
Germany’s Echo music awards—the equivalent to the Grammys in the US or the Brit Awards in the UK—were scrapped by the Federal Association of the Music Industry on Wednesday, in the wake of national outrage over its award for best hip-hop album on Apr. 12.
Popular rappers Kollegah and Farid Bang, both Muslim, took the prize for their album “Jung, Brutal, Gutaussehend” (young, brutal, handsome), which contains a track with the lyrics: “My body is more defined than Auschwitz inmates.”
The duo was allowed to perform the track at the awards ceremony, the date of which coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day. In another album track, they rap that they’re going to “make another Holocaust, show up with a Molotov.”
A number of artists returned their own Echo awards in protest (paywall) at the rap prize, as criticism rained in from the press, politicians, and business leaders. Foreign Minister Heiko Mass tweeted that: “Anti-Semitic provocations do not deserve awards, they are simply disgusting.” Airbus CEO Tom Enders said the award damaged Germany’s international reputation, asking: “Is anti-Semitism becoming acceptable in Germany?”
The music association said that the Echo brand was irreparably damaged, and that they don’t want the music prize to be seen as a platform for anti-Semitism.
Kippah Rallies
As in many European countries, there are concerns that anti-Semitism is growing in Germany too—the government recently appointed an anti-Semitism minister. Last year, Germany experienced an average of four anti-Semitic crimes a day, and recently there have been reports of Jewish children being bullied in schools. Last week, two men wearing kippahs—traditional Jewish skullcaps—were attacked by a Syrian Palestinian in Berlin, one was beaten with a belt.
On Tuesday, the head of the Central Council of Jews told Radio Eins(link in German) that Jews should “wear a baseball cap or something else” as a head covering rather than go out wearing their kippahs in big cities like Munich and Berlin.
Nationwide rallies are taking place this evening in Germany in solidarity with the Jewish community, and thousands are expected to turn up wearing kippahs.
People around the world paused to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on Tuesday, a remembrance of the more than 1.5 million Armenians who were systematically exterminated between 1915 and 1923 under the Ottoman Empire.
Thousands of people marched in Los Angeles, home to one of America’s largest Armenian communities, to demand recognition of the genocide. Yet in his commemorative statement, Trump only went as far as describing the events as a “mass atrocity”:
Today we commemorate the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century, when one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. We recall the horrific events of 1915 and grieve for the lives lost and the many who suffered.
By international law, genocide is defined as an “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Although Trump’s statement recognizes the tragedy that took place, it missed an important detail, widely recognized by scholars, historians, and other experts — that what took place was not indiscriminate massacres, but a planned act of genocide.
This refusal to describe the events as a genocide is based on the U.S’s fear of upsetting the Turkish government, which vehemently denies allegations of genocide. Yet the U.S. is not alone. As of 2018, just 29 countries worldwide have officially recognized what happened in those years as a “genocide.”
Their stance is in stark contrast to a country like Germany, which has made the utmost efforts to heal the wounds of the Holocaust through commemorations and reparations. Meanwhile, Turkey continues to deny many of its crimes and even persecutes those who demand its recognition.
When former President Barack Obama came to power in 2009, he promised the more than one million Armenians living in the United States that he would recognize the genocide, although, like many of his foreign policy promises, it never materialized.
Yet recognition of the genocide remains an important conservative issue. The Armenian genocide was the first Christian genocide of the twentieth century and led to the displacement of millions of people from their Biblical homelands.
To this day, Turkey controls vast swaths of Armenian territory, while many of its Armenian inhabitants have been forced to convert to Islam. Christians are systematically persecuted, particularly those living in Kurdish territories. One recent example is the continued detention of American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson on what appear to be phony terror-related charges.
Trump has styled himself as a defender of persecuted Christians around the world, and recognition of the genocide would go a long way to reinforcing his image as a protector of Christians in the Middle East.
A failure to recognize the past also serves as a partial endorsement of Turkey’s denial, under an Islamist regime whose leader Recep Erdogan has shown increasing aggression towards America with the threat of an “Ottoman slap” against U.S. troops in Syria.
Danny Tarkanian, an Armenian American endorsed by Trump in his race in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, has urged Trump to “set an example for the rest of world by formally acknowledging what truly happened.”
“If we are to prevent the worst of human tragedies from occurring, the world must recognize genocide and call it what it is,” Tarkanian told Breitbart News. “Adolf Hitler used the Armenian Genocide as a justified precedent for his atrocities against millions when he said, ‘Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?‘”
Clearly defining past genocides is important to holding modern genocidal actors accountable. In 2016, former Secretary of State John Kerry rightly acknowledged that the Islamic State had committed acts of genocide against Assyrian Christians and Yazidis in Iraq and Syria. Yet why couldn’t the same recognition be given to Armenians?
Since coming to office last year, Trump has demonstrated considerable boldness with foreign policy issues ranging from North Korea to officially acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Now, it is time for his administration to show further strength by acknowledging the tragic history of one of America’s most loyal immigrant communities.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on April 25, 2018
Request comes as treasures plundered by British forces in 1868 are put on display
A crown, probably made in Gondar, Ethiopia, around 1740 Victoria and Albert museum
Ethiopia has demanded Britain permanently return all artefacts that originated in the African country but are now held by the Victoria and Albert Museum.
An Ethiopian official said the government would not accept them on loan.
The declaration comes after the museum – one of London’s most popular tourist attractions – put treasures plundered by British forces from the east African nation in 1868 on display.
“Well, it would be exciting if the items held at the V&A could be part of a long-term loan with a cultural institution in Ethiopia,” museum director Tristram Hunt said.
“These items have never been on a long-term loan in Ethiopia, but as we look to the future I think what we’re interested in are partnerships around conservation, interpretation, heritage management, and these need to be supported by government assistance so that institutions like the V&A can support sister institutions in Ethiopia.”
Among the items on display are sacred manuscripts and gold taken from the Battle of Maqdala 150 years ago, when British troops ransacked the fortress of Emperor Tewodros II.
The offer of a loan did not go far enough for Ethiopia.
“What we have asked (for) was the restitution of our heritage, our Maqdala heritage, looted from Maqdala 150 years ago. We presented our request in 2007 and we are waiting for it,” government minister Hirut Woldemariam said.
Ephrem Amare, Ethiopian National Museum director, added: “It is clearly known where these treasures came from and whom they belong to. Our main demand has never been to borrow them. Ethiopia’s demand has always been the restoration of those illegally looted treasures. Not to borrow them.”
The V&A said on Tuesday the idea of a long-term loan had come up as it discussed its Maqdala exhibition with Ethiopian authorities. “The V&A is committed to continuing this important and wide-ranging dialogue with colleagues at the Ethiopian Embassy in London,” it added in a statement.
In launching the Maqdala 1868 exhibition of what Mr Hunt called “stunning pieces with a complex history” this month, he said the display had been organised in consultation with the Ethiopian community in London.
“As custodians of these Ethiopian treasures, we have a responsibility to celebrate the beauty of their craftsmanship, shine a light on their cultural and religious significance and reflect on their living meaning, while being open about how they came to Britain,” he said in a blog on the museum website.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on April 25, 2018
A demonstration against anti-Semitism in Berlin is urging participants to wear a kippah on Wednesday in response to an attack on an Israeli man wearing the traditional Jewish skullcap.
The “Berlin wears a kippah” protest is set for Wednesday evening in front of the Jewish community center in the German capital. It follows the assault of Adam Armush, a 21-year-old Israeli Arab who was violently assaulted by a 19-year-old Muslim refugee in the German capital last Tuesday.
The video of Armush being whipped with a belt while his attacker cries out “Yahudi!” or “Jew” in Arabic quickly went viral. Berlin police identified the attacker as a Palestinian from Syria named Knaan S. who was registered at a refugee home in Brandenburg state outside Berlin, but who most recently was living “out of a suitcase” in the capital.
The Jewish community plans to hand out thousands of kippahs to everyone interested in expressing solidarity with the Jewish community in Germany by wearing them proudly across the city and elsewhere.
Addis Ethiopia Weblog 