World Report

BERLIN (JTA) -- German prosecutors filed charges against a nightclub owner for inciting racial hatred. Prosecutors said last Friday the charges were filed against Rudolf Fischer for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks when he canceled an event last March for Noa Ben Artzi, the granddaughter of slain Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin.

"The nightclub owner canceled an event with the words 'I'm not going to open the place for you Jews,'" a Munich prosecutor said. "This was supported by credible testimony from several witnesses, even if the owner has denied it."

The charges were filed by officials with Keren Hayesod, also known as the United Israel Appeal, which was planning to host a dinner at Fischer's club.

BBC documentary zeroes in on Sharon

BRUSSELS (JTA) -- A BBC show harshly critical of Ariel Sharon aired in Belgium. The show, which aired Nov. 16 on the eve of the Belgian premier's visit to Israel, accuses the Israeli prime minister of being responsible for the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon.

A lawsuit by Palestinian victims against Sharon was launched in Belgium several months ago based on a 1993 law on "universal jurisdiction," which enables Belgian courts to judge atrocities committed elsewhere, regardless of whether or not they involved its citizens.

In another development, some Belgian Jews are planning to call for Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to be tried for war crimes under the same 1993 law being used against Sharon.

World anti-terror team boasts a Jewish judge

LONDON (JTA) -- A Jewish judge from South Africa was named to a new international task force on terrorism. Richard Goldstone had served as the first United Nations war crimes prosecutor in the former Yugoslavia.

Established by the London-based International Bar Association, the task force will prepare recommendations on legal issues relating to terrorism. It will deal with a range of issues, including extradition, laws pertaining to the financing of terrorist groups and the restriction of civil liberties in the fight against terror.