Shorts: World

European lawmakers want action on hate

brussels (jta) | The European Parliament demanded that E.U. leaders step up the fight against homophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

Specific incidents mentioned in the resolution, passed June 19, included the murder of Ilan Halimi, a young Jewish man in France, and an attack on Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich.

In response, the Polish Parliament passed a counter resolution June 23 stating that "singular occurrences of intolerance in Poland are very scarce, and are severely criticized by the Polish authorities and therefore are not grounds for generalizations about Polish society."




Crackdown on Ukranian university

kiev (jta) | Ukraine's Education Ministry called for seven branches of a Ukrainian university known for supporting anti-Semitism to be disbanded.

The move is seen as a blow against MAUP, a Kiev-based private university that has printed anti-Semitic articles in school publications and supported conferences with anti-Semitic speakers.

"This is an important step forward, and we hope that this is the beginning of appropriate action taken against the leading purveyor of anti-Semitic activity in Ukraine," said Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia.




Sweden backs down on wine-labeling

(ynet) | Sweden's state-run wines and spirits monopoly Systembolaget has backtracked on a controversial policy to label some Israeli wines as coming from "occupied territory."

For a short period Israeli wines bearing the Golan and Yarden labels were being branded "Produce of Israeli-occupied Syrian territory" in the company's catalogues.

Systembolaget spokesperson Bjorn Rydberg said that the decision was taken following customer complaints about the label under which the wines were previously sold, which stated the wine was produced in Israel.




Kosher restaurant to open in Turkey

antalya (jta) | A kosher restaurant reportedly is set to open in Turkey.

Yediot Achronot reported that Silence Park, a new holiday resort to be launched in the city of Antalya next month, includes a glatt kosher restaurant, the first in Turkey.

The restaurant will serve meat and dairy meals, using both local fare and products imported from Israel.

Antalya is especially popular with Israeli vacationers given its geographical proximity and relatively cheap prices.