Incidents Spike
BUENOS AIRES — Anti-Semitic incidents increased dramatically in Buenos Aires in the first two months of 2009, says a new report on anti-Semitism published by the DAIA Argentine Jewish political umbrella group. The report showed 253 anti-Semitic incidents in January and February, compared with 302 such incidents in all of 2008. Most of the incidents were anonymous e-mail threats and graffiti. The spike was prompted by Israel’s Gaza invasion, officials said.
Iranian Prez To Speak
NEW YORK — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will speak at the United Nations General Assembly, UN officials said last week. The visit will come a week after a Sept. 15 deadline set by the United States and other western nations for Iran to accept an invitation to hold talks on its nuclear program.
Philanthropist Dies
PITTSBURGH — Alex Grass, founder of the Rite Aid pharmacy chain and a prominent Jewish philanthropist, died Aug. 27 of respiratory failure at his family home in Harrisburg, Pa. He was 82. He turned a discount store in Scranton, Pa., into the national Rite Aid chain, which has 4,900 stores and $24 billion in sales. He was a member of the United Jewish Communities/Federation board of trustees and a past national chair of United Jewish Appeal, as well as chair of the board of governors of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Museum Shooter Appears In Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The man charged with killing a security officer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum made his first appearance in court on Sept. 2.
James von Brunn, who is charged with gunning down guard Stephen Johns on June 10, was wheeled into a hearing in a Washington federal courtroom.
Previous hearings were delayed because of the injuries von Brunn sustained from the return fire of museum security officers after the 89-year-old white supremacist started shooting at the entrance to the museum.
Prosecutor Nicole Waid said at the hearing that von Brunn wanted to “send a message to the Jewish community” that the Holocaust was a hoax. She said von Brunn planned the shooting months in advance, and had set up funeral plans and put his finances in order because he expected to die in the attack, the Washington Post reported.
Von Brunn objected to his lawyer’s request, later granted, that the judge order a mental competency exam.
“Your Constitution guarantees me a speedy and fair trial,” he said, according to media reports. “I’m a United States citizen, and as a U.S. Naval officer, I swore to protect my country. I take my vows seriously.”