Deputy Sues Sheriff

LOS ANGELES — The Jewish sheriff’s deputy who arrested actor Mel Gibson for drunken driving is suing his department for harassment he says he’s endured since the July 2006 incident. Because he reported the requests of superiors to remove Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade from the initial arrest report, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has passed him over for deserved promotions and retaliated in other ways, James Mee charged in his suit. Mee said the request by his superiors stemmed from Gibson’s celebrity status and friendship with Sheriff Lee Baca. Mee agreed to the separate report, but he was accused of leaking it to a Hollywood website.

Union Backs Boycott

LONDON — Britain’s national trade union again voted unanimously last week to support a boycott of goods made in West Bank settlements and of firms profiting from the area. Delegates to the Trade Unions Congress also condemned the Histadrut, Israel’s national trade union, for backing the Gaza blockade and Israel’s action to stop the aid flotilla in May. It reiterated its support for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Palestinian trade unions. In practice, the resolution, which is similar to one adopted last year, doesn’t have much effect beyond rhetoric. Protests outside supermarkets that sell products from the settlements hardly materialized.

Banker Resigns

BERLIN — A German official resigned from the country’s central bank board over remarks about Jews and Muslims widely condemned as racist. Thilo Sarrazin asked German President Christian Wulff on Sept. 10 to allow him to resign. The Bundesbank’s board had already asked Wulff to fire Sarrazin, who threatened to fight the decision. In his new book Germany Abolishes Itself, and in public comments surrounding its release, Sarrazin has blamed Muslim immigrants for what he considers a decline in German culture. He’s also said Jews and others possess superior genes.

Billboard Featuring Israeli NBAer Defaced

SACRAMENTO — The Anti-Defamation League is offering a reward in the vandalism of a billboard featuring NBA player Omri Casspi.
The $1,000 reward, announced last week by the ADL, is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever painted a swastika on the billboard of Casspi, a forward for the Sacramento Kings and the first Israeli to play in the National Basketball Association.
The swastika, painted on the forehead of Casspis photo, was reported on Sept. 8, the eve of Rosh Hashanah.
“ADL is in contact with the Sacramento Police Department, which is appropriately investigating the incident as a possible hate crime,” an ADL spokesperson said.
In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, Casspi called the incident “hurtful.”