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March 2004
Venezuela's Coro Jewish Cemetery, con-
sidered to be the oldest active Jewish
cemetery in South America, is declared
a historic landmark.
The French Senate passes a bill ban-
ning all conspicuous religious signs in
state schools. Students in state schools
will be barred from wearing Muslim
veils, yarmulkes or large crosses from
the start of the new academic year.
Nine victims are killed in a double
suicide bombing in the Israeli city of
Ashdod. Sixteen people are wounded in
attacks at the southern Israeli port city.
Hamas and the Al-Aksa Brigade claim
responsibility for the blasts.
Syria buries terrorist mastermind
Mohammed Abu Abbas, who died in
Baghdad, after Israel refuses to allow his
body into Palestinian-populated areas.
The E.U. Monitoring Center on
Racism and Xenophobia, which sup-
pressed an earlier report showing that
most anti-Semitic attacks in Europe
were committed by young Muslims of _
North African origin, publishes a new
report that highlights the role of neo-
Nazis and other right-wing elements in
such attacks.
Argentine Jews mark the 12th
anniversary of the 1992 bombing of the
Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires.
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical
Association endorses civil marriages for
same-sex couples.
Spanish investigators say evidence
suggests that the Muslim terrorists who
carried out a string of bombings on
Madrid trains also had plans to bomb
Jewish sites near the Spanish capital.
Israel assassinates Hamas founder
Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
Several U.S. Jewish federations give
financial aid to Ethiopians claiming
Jewish ancestry. The $248,000 grant
comes in the wake of the death of
Lloyd Rigler, a major Los Angeles-based
funder of the North American
Conference on Ethiopian Jewry.
Australian lawmakers pass a resolu-
tion condemning anti-Semitism. The
resolution calls on Australian diplomats
around the world to combat anti-
Semitism in the countries where they're
based.
Jewish leaders dedicate a Torah at the
U.S. Capitol to memorialize U.S. and
Israeli victims of terrorism.
.
April 2004
Thousands of Chabad-Lubavitch Jews
rally in Brooklyn on what would have
been the 102nd birthday of their rebbe,
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who
died in 1994.
The German state of Baden-
Wuerttemberg bans the wearing of
Muslim head scarves in public schools.
Germany's high court ruled last year
that Muslim head coverings are allowed
unless states act otherwise.
U.S. officials and Jewish leaders testi-
fy to the Senate about the rise of anti-
Semitism in Europe. Witnesses appear-
ing before the Senate Foreign Relations
committee emphasize the troubling
convergence of traditional anti-
Semitism with modern, militant Islam.
The Ringling Brothers Barnum &
Bailey Circus performs before a sold-
out crowd of 19,000 Orthodox Jews at
Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.
No women are allowed to perform, the
organizers bring their own kosher food
and separate seating is provided for men
and women.
President Bush offers historic assur-
ances recognizing some Israeli claims to
the West Bank and rejecting a "right of
return" to Israel for Palestinian refugees.
The European Union cautiously
backs Israel's plan to withdraw from the
Gaza Strip. However, the E.U.'s foreign
policy chief, Javier Solana, says the
union will not recognize any change to
the pre-1967 borders unless arrived at
by agreement between Israel and the
Palestinians.
Mordechai Vanunu is released from
prison after serving 18 years for spilling
Israel's nuclear secrets to a British news-
paper.
Israel's president stresses Hungarian
participation in the Holocaust at the
opening of Hungary's first-ever
Holocaust center. The museum will
serve as a symbol of Hungary's readiness
to accept responsibility for the extermi-
nation of more than half a million Jews.
The Organization for Security and
Cooperation holds its second confer-
ence against anti-Semitism. Support at
a high political level sends a signal of
the seriousness of combating anti-
Semitism.
Israel assassinates the new leader of
Hamas, Abdel Aziz Rantissi. Mahmoud
Zahar replaces him as Hamas leader.
A new Jewish educational center is
built in northeastern India to serve a
group that believes it is one of the Lost
Tribes of Israel. The center in the
Indian state of Manipur aims to serve
the local community of Bnei Menashe.
May 2004
More than 100 Jewish tombs are dese-
crated at a cemetery in eastern France.
Swastikas and other Nazi insignia are
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Under the Supervision of the Council of Orthodox Rabbis
The ADL protects the
Jewish community
Ailti-Dc 4111Tkliii$1 I t•-tgue'-`
The ADL protects democratic principles by
defending church-state separation. Through
ADL's security awareness trainings to Jewish
institutions your religious freedom is protected.
Call and tell us how you want to get involved.
The Anti-Defamation League . Michigan Region
detroit@acil.org
Fax: 248-646-2462
Phone: 248-646-2440
www.adl.org
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2004
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