YouTube condemned for showing video clips glorifying Nazi troops and Hitler

Video-sharing website YouTube has been condemned for showing video clips glorifying Nazi troops. The scenes, accompanied by militaristic music, have drawn millions of hits from potential Nazi sympathisers and voyeurs.

YouTube, which hosts film clips from the public, has 2,880 items on the Waffen SS, the most fanatical of Hitler's soldiers who were indicted for war crimes throughout WW2.

A Nazi swastika appears in a pro Nazi YouTube video.
The website has been condemned for hosting the videos

The entries have a string of 'Sieg Heil' comments and praise for the fighting prowess of the Waffen SS, recruited for their unswerving loyalty to Nazism.

The videos, some from Nazi propaganda news reels, have angered Jewish organisations who have called for YouTube to remove the 'hugely offensive' postings, including one that features the headline 'Hitler Was Right' directly below the YouTube logo.

Senior Liberal Democrat MP Susan Kramer was shocked by the content and the amount of SS sites on YouTube.

"Glorifying the Waffen SS or Hitler in any way is sickening," she said. "YouTube must understand its responsibilities. They should be hunting this type of material down if they want to maintain any credibility."

She added that YouTube has grown from fringe influence to mainstream source of content and that many young people view it alone where extremist views cannot be challenged by parents and teachers.

Another video posted on the site shows a picture of Hitler with the words 'Hitler was Right'

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it continues to be 'very concerned about the level of racist and anti-Semitic content on the internet'.

The YouTube clips include excerpts from history programmes but it is clear that many are directed at extremist right-wing elements around the world.

The Waffen SS regimental anthem is posted along with slickly edited montages of troops in heroic poses and Hitler addressing rallies. One viewer has simply posted a giant swastika made from 134 smaller swastikas.

Another states: "The fighting men of the German Waffen SS were true heroes - real Vikings!"

YouTube was bought by Google for $1.65 billion in a purchase described by its chief executive Chad Hurely as 'one of the most significant milestones for our company and our community."

Google has been keen for YouTube to become self-policing and has pledged to clean-up on pornographic and street violence entries. But the system is still awash with violence and soft-porn clips.

Daily Mail

Anti-Semitic violence nears record level

The number of anti-Semitic attacks in Britain has reached its second-highest level ever, MPs have been told. Figures from a charity show 547 such incidents were recorded last year, of which a record 114 were violent assaults.

The Community Security Trust (CST), which works to protect the Jewish community from persecution, collated the figures by counting every recorded anti-Semitic assault, threat, act of abuse, mass-produced literature and damage and desecration of Jewish property across the country.

Just this week, anti-Semitic graffiti was daubed across the pavements and walls of the orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Stamford Hill in north London. CST say similar incidents happen in Britain every day.

Mark Gardner, a spokesman for CST, said: "We have over twice as many incidents being reported to us per annum now than in the 1990s. We're concerned that what we're seeing is not merely because of a difficult time internationally and in the Middle East, but that it's becoming more endemic and we're really, really concerned about that."

Mr Gardner said the usual allies of British Jews fear showing support would further the Zionist cause. "In the 1990s, when Jews faced attacks from the far right there was a lot of sympathy from the liberal left establishments, but today the same voices simply see anti-Semitism as something useful to Zionists.

"Jewish people are feeling increasingly isolated in this struggle as far as traditional allies are concerned. It's disappointing that people who accept fears expressed by other minority groups are so quick to slap down fears expressed by the Jewish community." In a Commons debate on the issue this week, the Cohesion minister Parmjit Dhanda said the number of incidents of anti-Semitism was worryingly high, and called on the Government to continue to bear down on the problem. "We do recognise that there is no room for complacency," said Mr Dhanda. "The number of such incidences in the UK remains far too high. The Community Security Trust recorded 547 incidents during the course of 2007. Although this represents an 8 per cent fall over the previous year, it is still the second-worst actually on record."

Jon Benjamin, the chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said they were "extremely encouraged" by the Government's response. He said anti-Semitism had been a reality in the Jewish community for years in Britain, but there had been further signs it was getting worse.

"We know our community buildings have to be secure, and our schools need security," he said. "The quality of life for Jews here is good, but there are perceptible changes, such as the graffiti this week. People wearing head coverings to synagogue on a Saturday morning can feel somewhat vulnerable."

The total of incidents is slightly down on last year's record, but the most alarming change is the number of these that were violent assaults. This figure has risen to 114, the highest since CST records began in 1984.

The Conservative MP Paul Goodman said that while many places of worship were targets for hate crime, synagogues were becoming singularly dangerous. "Only one religious institution in Britain is under threat to such a degree that those who attend are advised not to linger outside after worship, namely the synagogue," he said.

Independent

Jews to ex-pats: Fight far-right in vote

British Jewish activists, decrying the far-right British National Party as anti-Semitic and racist, are urging former Londoners living in Israel to vote in the upcoming mayoral and council elections in an attempt to foil the BNP's bid to secure seats.

A joint campaign against the BNP's bid for electoral success is being mounted by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the umbrella group representing U.K. Jewry, the Searchlight anti-racism and anti-fascism organization and the UJS.

"It is important that olim [immigrants to Israel] vote, because any vote is one to keep the BNP out. It doesn't matter who you vote for, so long as it isn't for the BNP, and that will help keep the BNP out of the London assembly," said Jenni Woolf, National campaigns fieldworker for the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), speaking to Haaretz yesterday.

"The BNP is a racist organization through and through. They are deeply anti-Semitic and people shouldn't be fooled by their more professionalized, moderate image. It is just an image. It is easy to see through their literature," Woolf said in a phone conversation from her London office.

Public funding

The BNP is fielding candidates both for the London mayoral and the Greater London Assembly elections, to be held May 1. Woolf added, "If the BNP gets elected, it will receive public funding - which will be a huge problem for London in general as much as for the Jewish community."

The Union of Jewish Students fieldworker also stressed that potential voters resident in Israel should register before the cut-off date tomorrow.

Haaretz