Wrestling with it: U.S. vs. Iran

Published on May 15, 2013

Iran is a mainstay in international wrestling. The United States has a long and proud wrestling history, too.

Twitter rife with hate speech, terror activity

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on March 20, 2013

When it comes to stemming the proliferation of hate speech on social media, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, likes Facebook’s attitude.

Long the bane of Venezuelan Jews, Chavez is gone. Now what?

Published on March 6, 2013

For more than a decade, Venezuelan Jews have been holding their breath, subject to the whims of a mercurial president who used his bully pulpit to intimidate, rail against Israel and embrace Iran.

Seth MacFarlane: Not an anti-Semite

By Rob Eshman
Published on February 25, 2013

No one sends out press releases to announce that something is not anti-Semitic. That’s why this morning’s media is full of reports that host Seth MacFarlane’s Oscar performance last night was just shy of Mahmoud Ahmadinijad’s U.N. speech.

Holocaust Exhibition opens at United Nations Hall in Bangkok

Published on February 4, 2013

Courage To Remember, The Simon Wiesenthal Center's renowned Holocaust exhibition opened at United Nations Hall in Bangkok, Thailand in commemoration of International Holocaust Memorial Day.

Petition aims to have Facebook pull anti-Israel page

Published on February 4, 2013

A Facebook petition to remove an anti-Israel page that uses an expletive in its name has 75,000 likes, the removal campaign's creator says.

Top Egyptian official calls Holocaust a ‘myth’

Published on January 30, 2013

A top Egyptian official close to President Mohamed Morsi called the Holocaust a myth.

Muslim Brotherhood tops Simon Wiesenthal Center anti-Semite list

Published on December 28, 2012

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood produced the worst anti-Semitic and anti-Israel slurs this year, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Wiesenthal officials ask Ecuador to intercede for Alan Gross

Published on November 12, 2012

Officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center met with Ecuadorian authorities to seek their support in asking Cuba to release American prisoner Alan Gross.

Soviet gulag survivor’s courage

Published on November 1, 2012

It was standing room only at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, as a crowd packed the Hertz Theatre to hear Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, the celebrated Russian refusenik and author, stress the importance of standing up for one’s principles.

Jobbik official files police complaint against Zuroff

Published on August 15, 2012

The vice president of Hungary's ultranationalist Jobbik Party filed a complaint with police against Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff for making "false statements."

Simon Wiesenthal Center urges German Chancellor to pass law declaring circumcision legal

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on July 6, 2012

Simon Wiesenthal Center honors uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer

By Danielle Berrin
Published on May 24, 2012

3 New spots on SWC most wanted Nazi list have Canadian links

Published on April 20, 2012

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's latest list of the world's 10 most-wanted Nazi war criminals contains three new names, all with Canadian connections, and the Center claims to have new evidence against one of them.

[UPDATE] Gibson’s Maccabee film on hold; screenwriter calls Mel “Jew-hater,” Gibson responds

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 11, 2012

Demand Iranian suspects’ extradition to Argentina, Wiesenthal Center says

Published on January 10, 2012

The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged the presidents of Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela to demand the extradition to Argentina of the Iranians implicated in the 1994 terrorist attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

2011 top ten anti-Israel/anti-Semitic slurs

Published on December 13, 2011

For the last two years, The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights NGO, has compiled a list of the top ten anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slurs.

Museum of Tolerance architects threaten to quit

Published on October 4, 2011

The architects of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem have threatened to quit two weeks before construction is set to begin.

Hitler’s 1919 letter on eradicating Jews going public

Published on June 7, 2011

A 1919 letter written by Adolf Hitler that purports to be the first time he presented his efforts to eradicate Germany's Jews will soon be available to the public. Starting in July, the letter will be exhibited at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. It has been accessible only to historian

Should the Simon Wiesenthal Center honor Tom Cruise?

By Danielle Berrin
Published on April 14, 2011

Remembering Elizabeth Taylor

By Tom Teicholz
Published on March 24, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor, who died Wednesday at age 79, spent much of her life in the public eye – famous for her violet eyes and her jewelry – and she managed over the years to transition from child star, to legendary beauty, to Oscar-winning actress, to tabloid fodder for her passionate affairs, her tumultuous marriages and divorces, to philanthropist being among the first notable Hollywood personality to speak about AIDS and, as co-founder of AMFAR, one of the earliest AIDS research and support organizations – no small achievement.

Elizabeth Taylor: Tales from the Jewish Crypt [VIDEO]

By Danielle Berrin
Published on March 24, 2011

Julian Schnabel on Jewish Condemnation of “Miral:” “It Comes Out of Fear” [VIDEO]

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 16, 2011

Sony, Japanese band apologize for Nazi costumes

Published on March 2, 2011

Sony Music apologized after the popular Japanese rock group Kishidan appeared on MTV Japan wearing SS-like uniforms. The apology Wednesday came after The Simon Wiesenthal Center called on the band, Sony and MTV to apologize. In a message posted on the band's website, Sony said it was sorry for the costume worn by the band during the MTV interview.

Australian government appeals Zentai ruling

Published on January 5, 2011

The Australian government is appealing a court ruling that spared an alleged Nazi war criminal from being extradited to Hungary. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor approved the extradition of Charles Zentai in 2009, but a Federal Court judge overturned the decision last year. The government on Tuesday appealed the ruling that said Zentai, 89, of Perth, was not eligible for extradition. Zentai, a former soldier in the Hungarian army, is wanted for questioning in the murder of an 18-year-old Jewish man in Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1944.

Air France-KLM rapped for in-flight reading

Published on October 18, 2010

The Paris-based Simon Wiesenthal Center wants an Air France-KLM affiliate to stop selling a French magazine with a cover article that the center says targets Israel.

Israel Supreme Court OKs Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem project

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 29, 2008

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Simon Wiesenthal Center can build is long-planned Center for Human Dignity -- Museum of Tolerance on a contested site in the middle of Jerusalem

Iraqi First Lady at Museum of Tolerance: I remember the Jews of Kurdistan

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 28, 2008

The wife of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani paid a visit to the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Friday, toured its Museum of Tolerance, and recalled her friendship with the Jews of her Kurdish hometown

Hollywood-Israel link flourishing

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 15, 2008

A group of hotshot Hollywood television executives sit around a table sipping Evian water, working their cellphones and bemoaning the lack of fresh ideas for a series to pull their network out of the cellar.

Museum of too much tolerance?

By David Suissa
Published on May 8, 2008

Should the Museum of Tolerance tolerate parties and simchas in a place that commemorates the death of 6 million Jews?

When challah becomes the bread of affliction

By Adam Wills
Published on May 1, 2008

Rabbi Marvin Hier fondly recalls bakery-fresh buns and muffins in his lunch when he attended yeshiva. He also admits to a penchant for challah.
Hier hasn't eaten challah, let alone matzah, in several years. But this bread-free existence isn't part of some Passover-inspired, Atkins-style diet. The founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center was diagnosed with celiac disease (CD) more than four years ago.

Wiesenthal Center: Democratic candidates favor hands-on peace approach; McCain, not so much

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 10, 2008

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama favor an active U.S. role in encouraging Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, while Republican John McCain advocates more of a hands-off approach.

The three contenders cited their stands, often in lengthy statements, in response to a 10-part questionnaire sent them by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Fundraising the Rabbi Hier way

By Amy Klein
Published on November 15, 2007

Interview with Rabbi Marvin Hier who created the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Museum of Tolerance and Yeshiva University of Los Angeles (YULA).

Museum of Tolerance faces fight with neighbors over expansion plans

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 18, 2007

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which has been battling for more than three years to construct a $200 million center in Israel, is facing another emotional building controversy, this one in its own backyard.

Briefs: City Council approves Weiss Iran divestment bill; UC puts Jewish High Holidays on calendar

Published on June 28, 2007

Community briefs.

Rabbi Hier tops ‘Newsweek’ list of rabbis

By Amy Klein
Published on March 25, 2007

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most influential American rabbi of them all? Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, according to a list published Monday in Newsweek. An article titled "American Jews: The List -- Choosing the Chosen," rates America's 50 most influential rabbis -- with three of the top five working in Los Angeles (a total of 11 Angelenos are named).

Ugly ties bind genocide past and present

By Amy Klein
Published on March 15, 2007

The "Genocide and Religion: Victims, Perpetrators, Bystanders and Resisters" Synoposium went deeper than many such conferences by examining as many as possible of the various groups involved in a genocide -- the perpetrators, the victims, the bystanders and resisters -- all of whom can be found in every such conflict, past and present.

Briefs: Hier scolds Carter, and vice versa; StandWithUs distributes “Israel 101”

Published on February 8, 2007

Briefs

Israeli entry ‘Mud’ wins at Sundance

Published on February 1, 2007

Briefs: Journalist: West Is losing ‘War of Ideas;’ Daniel Pipes comes to Pepperdine

Published on January 25, 2007

Community Briefs

European anti-Semitism up since Hezbollah war

By Dinah Spritzer
Published on November 16, 2006

Israel's recent war with Hezbollah resulted in a new wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe -- almost all in Western Europe, a new report finds.

Wiesenthal’s Project in Jerusalem on Hold Amid Dispute

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 23, 2006

Since its beginning in 1977, with one phone and a very long extension cord, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has seemingly moved from one success to the next, with its shrewd, strategic planning and winning message of tolerance. Now it faces a daunting, unfamiliar and discomforting challenge.

Lessons From Nuremberg

By Toby Axelrod
Published on December 8, 2005

The Nuremberg Trials, which opened with the reading of charges against 24 defendants in Berlin on Oct. 18, 1945, and reconvened in Nuremberg on Nov. 20, confronted Germans with the reality of what had been done in their name. It was the beginning of a process of reckoning and repentance that continues to this day.

Community Briefs

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 21, 2005

Community briefs.

The Circuit

By Gaby Wenig
Published on May 13, 2004

Recognition and Honor to individuals, groups, schools and a special appearance by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Tolerator

By Amy Klein
Published on May 6, 2004

Jerusalem -- Half a dozen Israeli teens shouted like rock groupies and pressed up against the blue metal police railing in hopes of catching a glimpse of larger-than-life California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was in Jerusalem Sunday to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Museum of Tolerance's new $200 million museum here.

Rites Launch Israel Tolerance Museum

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 6, 2004

Amid a gaggle of Israeli security guards, bustling volunteers and California Highway Patrol officers wired up to communicate with who knows whom, Rabbi Abraham Cooper runs around the first two of about 50 rows of plastic seats temporarily set up in Jerusalem's Cats Square.

"Bring me chairs over here," says Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, as he tries to move some seats to make room for one more.

"[Israeli Defense Minister] Shaul Mofaz is not going to be a happy man," he says aloud to no one in particular. "See this guy over here?" he tells his helpers, pointing to a flimsy seat that doesn't look big enough to hold the name on the sign: "Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger," "this guy doesn't move."

Community Briefs

Published on December 11, 2003

In a 40-minute private audience Monday, Dec. 1 with Pope John Paul II, a Simon Wiesenthal Center delegation appealed to the pontiff to condemn suicide bombings and international terrorism as "crimes against God and crimes against humanity."

Shoah-Era Opera an Allegory of Victory

By Gaby Wenig
Published on December 4, 2003

Today, "Brundibar" is experiencing a revival of sorts. It is the title and story of a new children's book written by Tony Kushner, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak (Hyperion Books for Children), and this weekend, the Jewish Community Foundation and the Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation sponsored Youth Opera Camp of Santa Monica College Conservatory will be performing the opera at the Miles Memorial Playhouse and Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Bringing Tolerance to the World

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 9, 2002

French multimedia mogul Jean-Marie Messier will spearhead a five-year project to build a European Museum of Mutual Respect in Paris, modeled largely on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance.

The chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal announced plans for the museum while accepting the Wiesenthal Center's 2002 Humanitarian Award at its national tribute dinner May 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Pressure Power?

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 5, 2001

Henry Bean can barely contain his anger when he talks about the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Open Letter to President Bill

By Ari Hier
Published on January 18, 2001

This is the first time I have written a letter of this kind, but I felt it was time to express my feelings on paper.

Teaching Cops Tolerance

By David Evanier
Published on December 14, 2000

There's enough work to go around for everyone in teaching tolerance and diversity to law enforcement in California, according to the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Reaching Out

By Adam Wills
Published on September 21, 2000

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein is talking about kabbalistic teachings with such passion that he pitches forward in his chair, but just as quickly settles back. His arms are a flurry of activity, and he continuously grabs the black kippah that keeps threatening to slip from his head.

Hier Under Fire

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 20, 1999

Some Catholic and Jewish leaders are denouncing a campaign by Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center against elevating wartime Pope Pius XII to sainthood.

Web Hate Sites Proliferating

By Lev Krichevsky
Published on April 1, 1999

The growth of hate sites on the World Wide Web is staggering, according to a report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Recapturing the Dream

Published on November 26, 1998

A curious thing happened in the pages of The Jewish Journal the week of Nov. 20. During a period when a host of issues of major importance to the American Jewish community were occuring that commanded front page attention elsewhere, The Journal chose to devote the cover story and an editorial in the Nov. 20 issue to the complaints of a disgruntled documentary director and his co-writer against Moriah Films of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. In spite of The Journal's claims that it was not "picking on the Wiesenthal Center," one wonders what the editorial staff's true motives were in giving an inordinate amount of space to the attempt by these individuals to politicize what was for all intents and purposes a dispute over the best creative approach to a film about Israel's first 50 years.

Picture Imperfect

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 19, 1998

"A Dream No More," an ambitious documentary on Israel's first 50 years, intended originally as a highlight of the nation's anniversary jubilee, is, indeed, a dream no more. Nearly completed, the film has been permanently shelved by the producing Simon Wiesenthal Center, to the considerable dismay of the documentary's chief creators.

Twenty Years and Counting

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 24, 1998

With 400,000 dues-paying families, it claims to be the largest Jewish membership organization anywhere and has evolved from a self-defined Center for Holocaust Studies into what Hier says is "a human rights organization... that fights intolerance and anti-Semitism around the world."

Fugard at the Museum of Tolerance

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on July 10, 1997

If you missed Athol Fugard's "Valley Song" at the Taper, here's a chance to see two plays by the pre-eminent South African playwright at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance.