World Report

PRAGUE (JTA) -- The rich tapestry of Jewish history in Moravia has been unveiled in the Czech town of Brno with the opening of one of the biggest cultural events the region has seen in many years.

"Jewish Moravia, Jewish Brno" will present a series of concerts, films, theater productions and exhibitions over the next few months to remind the wider Czech public of a heritage that refused to die in spite of persistent persecution.

The festival was organized by the Czech-based Association for Culture and Dialog, also known as K2001, which aims to break down cultural barriers and foster dialogue between different ethnic and religious groups.

Brno's National Theater was packed Monday for the festival's opening ceremony.

Among those who attended was Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with Jews. He brought a message from Pope John Paul II calling for Christians and Jews to work together for the good of the world.

Duke tramples Jews during Moscow tour

MOSCOW (JTA) -- Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke accused Jews of trying to put Russia into an "electronic concentration camp," according to the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews.

The KKK Grand Wizard, who spoke Dec. 13 in Moscow at the invitation of the Union of Writers of Russia, is on an extended book tour to promote the sale of a Russian translation of his new book, "The Jewish Question Through the Eyes of an American."

Duke's tour of Russia comes at a time when a wave of anti-Semitism toward both individuals and Jewish institutions are on the rise in the nation.

Shoah denier faces more time in prison

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) -- A German-born man living in Australia faces the prospect of a second prison term for Holocaust denial should he return to his homeland.

Germany's highest court ruled recently that laws against denying the Holocaust and spreading Nazi propaganda apply to the Internet, even if the content originates in another country.

Last year, Fredrick Toben was sentenced in Germany to 10 months in jail after he traveled there with the expressed intent of challenging German laws prohibiting racial incitement.

Germany to review status of Witnesses

BERLIN (JTA) -- Germany's highest court overturned a previous ruling denying official status to the Jehovah's Witnesses and ordered a new study of its bid to be recognized as a religious body.

In 1997, a lower court ruled that the Christian sect should be refused the status of a public body because it forbade its members from taking part in political elections. "A religious group should be judged not by its beliefs but by its behavior," the high court judge said Tuesday.

Members of Jehovah's Witnesses -- now numbering 192,000 in Germany -- were severely persecuted during the Nazi era. Advocacy organizations have since formed to educate others about the oppression non-Jewish people faced under Hitler's rule.