World Report

LONDON (JTA) -- Holocaust denier David Irving offered to pay Penguin Books $210,000 if the publisher as well as historian Deborah Lipstadt drop all further claims against him.

Last year, a British court ordered Irving to pay Penguin's and Lipstadt's legal costs, estimated at $3 million, when he lost a libel suit against them over Lipstadt's book "Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory."

Israel's ambassador received in Denmark

COPENHAGEN (JTA) -- Israel's controversial new ambassador to Denmark arrived here on Wednesday under heavy security.

Israel's nomination of Carmi Gillon sparked outrage in Denmark because he had admitted to authorizing the torture of Palestinian suspects when he led Israel's Shin Bet domestic security service between 1994 and 1996.

The choice prompted some Danish lawmakers and human rights groups to call for Gillon's arrest when he arrived or to refuse his diplomatic credentials, but the Foreign Ministry accepted the appointment and said it would welcome him accordingly.

Macedonia Jews blast the continued violence

SKOPJE (JTA) -- Jewish leaders in Macedonia joined officials from the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Islamic community, the Roman Catholic Church and the Methodist Church to issue a joint declaration condemning the ongoing violence in the former Yugoslav republic.

In the statement, the religious leaders deplored the deaths of young people, regardless of their religious affiliation, and expressed alarm at the constant threat to and destruction of religious buildings.

Hungarian leaders request hate inquiry

BUDAPEST (JTA) -- Jewish leaders in Hungary requested that state prosecutors probe whether spokesmen for a far-right party in Parliament incited hatred against Jews by denouncing the sale of Hungary's most popular soccer team to a leading Jewish businessman.

The request came after leaders of the extremist Hungarian Justice and Life Party, known by its Hungarian initials MIEP, had described the sale as a betrayal of the Hungarian nation. Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is believed to be eyeing a possible coalition with MIEP for the 2002 elections, also has been criticized for remaining silent in the face of MIEP's reaction to the sale.

Russia media reports attacking church critic

MOSCOW (JTA) -- A Russian Jewish leader is being attacked in the media for seeking charges against a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church for publishing and distributing an anti-Semitic tract, according to the Union of Councils for Jews in the FSU.

Church leaders in Yekaterinburg are defending the diocese's distribution of the book and accusing Mikhail Oshtrakh of "inciting antagonism toward Jews." The Prosecutor's Office said it is investigating the issue.

Shomer Shabbat clan wouldn't call for help

LONDON (JTA) -- An Orthodox Jewish family here surprised a suspected serial arsonist who was trying to set fire to the family home, but family members did not call the police because the incident happened on Shabbat.

Orthodox authorities later said the family should have phoned the police, because doing so could constitute saving a life, which takes precedence over Sabbath observance.

It was at least the seventh time since June that arsonists struck London's fervently Jewish neighborhood of Stamford Hill.

Alleged anti-Semite resigns after pressure

LONDON (JTA) -- The policy director of Britain's Federation of Small Businesses was forced to resign last week over allegations of anti-Semitism.

Jewish leaders welcomed the resignation of Donald Martin from one of the top positions of the 160,000-member lobbying group. Martin said he is "neither anti-Semitic nor racist," but a source close to the FSB said that Martin had "defended anti-Semitism" at the closed-door meeting at which he was forced to resign.

Tombstone vandals arrested in Ukraine

MOSCOW (JTA) -- Ukrainian police arrested two men in connection with the recent vandalism of Jewish tombstones in the city of Shepetovka, according to Ukrainian media reports.

One of the vandalized tombstones marks the grave of Rabbi Pinkhas of Korets, a successor of the founder of Chassidism, the Ba'al Shem Tov.

The grave is listed by UNESCO as a historic site and is visited annually by Jewish pilgrims from all over the world.