tv Doc Film - Anti- Semitism in Europe Deutsche Welle November 9, 2018 4:15pm-5:00pm CET
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i in recent years the specter has once again reared its ugly head across europe the specter of anti semitism. for. a little over seven decades after the holocaust anti jewish attacks are on the rise again in europe. my suspicion was what crimes of jews committed to deserve two thousand years of persecution what do you think was the conceit that. most of the salt in the mood among french jews is very gloomy right now because a dozen people have been killed in france in recent years simply because they were jews. if those are those that were in poland the genie is out of the bottle
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anti semitism is becoming acceptable. ha ha ha said it is a state of mind that is not a matter of one country it's an international phenomenon. anti semitism has become much more common in europe the explanations for this phenomenon seem as varied as the proposals for how to deal with it for this report we traveled to berlin paris and warsaw to talk to people who've experienced anti-semitism and to discuss possible solutions. what is it like to be a jew in general today. was.
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in recent years jewish life culture and traditions have enjoyed a renaissance in germany. but prayer rooms and kindergartens are often located in closed areas away from the street and out of the public eye protected by police due to fears of anti-semitic attacks. today germany is home to about two hundred thousand jews their numbers have increased almost continuously since the one nine hundred ninety s. . many have emigrated from the former soviet union some have even come from israel. the most popular destination is berlin the very city where the nazis organized the extermination of european jews.
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admit this most ninety seven system simply means hostility directed against jews as jews. they are subject to this hostility because of characteristics that are often attributed to the ice their hatred for being something they are not since those who were open and his image is most built in anti-semitism is a wide ranging concept that some people use it to explain certain complexity third founded today's society it helps them to find scapegoats but. do you begin to feel . this country semitism is an assault on the democratic culture of our society. i'm so it's more than just gun jews and such in. berlin has the largest jewish community in germany. in december twenty seventeen and ugly anti semitic it is displayed in the front window some of the art on the walls features
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the star of david. the restaurant specializes in traditional sephardic jewish cuisine. one day owner your i find back and his girlfriend were standing outside taking a break when they were approached by a man who was apparently drunk second my guess i have a job in my yard i proffer no fire but by the course of my life i'm not going to get my toast and ya what got us up young dusty eyed source and john most of us into this is always a boyfriend not just in fact yards are tossed jamar the chrome and it's a job you know it's a go that don't think you got to come until noon should be read this you can fill the room but it's exactly the opposite of what i do you know in my mind i'm just interested from you but first i didn't know what he wanted done as well and then things just got worse. and he started coming. with all these anti semitic
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prejudices about jews and money and the holocaust and so forth. locals do so it's just people know it's kate bush pushed. him but you know why must i think he bought his base for the year i just did what he could said if i still do such and begin to kick some nice young folks john motson i'm fixin a. good thing that's for sure you can support your. defined bad case prompted a new discussion about anti semitism in berlin which has a particularly high incidence of verbal and physical attacks. nine hundred and forty seven cases were documented in twenty seventeen sixty percent more than the year before. criminal offenses or threats can be reported to an anti semitism research and information center in berlin. beyond a shadow there are a number of right wing extremist and populist groups and then there are those that
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can be described as left wing and anti imperialist and some groups are scribed to conspiracy theories. to use like an activist and then many of the so-called anti israel activists who are opposed to the existence of the state of israel stop this stood there is also the islamist brand of anti-semitism. and then we have a wide range of groups that occupy the political middle ground. by just because he has pointed me to highly ethical i would have to look at it they're going to have to run the quoting two official figures right wingers are involved in the majority of anti-semitic incidents that have been reported some farai politicians notably from the populist a.f.d. call for an end to what they see as an excessive focus on germany's nazi past including the holocaust. you know.
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it's. just a few dusty. it seems that comments that people used to make at their local pub or in the privacy of their home are now made fairly openly at public events and done social media sites. in the time that i did these kinds of accusations have always been part of german society but they've become socially acceptable to a certain extent mostly due to the popularity of the of tea party. went nuts and. i think this was one just out what sorts of answers does to semitism provide. well for example it allows people to identify with this certain philosophy and black
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nationalism and that creates a sort of national anti semitism where the jews are always the outside is. also anti semitism helps some people to make sense of the words of modern society exactions leiden. we're now on our way toward the capital of poland. until recently poland was widely regarded as the paragon of modern democratic progression in post communist eastern europe. but in the twenty fifteen national elections a right wing populist party took control of both houses of parliament. a new spirit of nationalism has caused concern among many and not just in poland. the country's independence day is november eleventh celebrations across poland often provide a platform for the expression of resurgent ultra nationalist sentiment.
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radical right wingers have essentially taken over the main independence day celebrations in warsaw and activists from all over europe travel here to join them . over the past decade attendance at this event has jumped from just five hundred to nearly one hundred thousand. this is the office of a group that features prominently in the independence day event the old polish youth organization the movement is based on a student group that was founded in one thousand twenty two the ritual group favored anti semitic policies such as limiting the number of jews in universities some members supported italy's fascist dictator benito mussolini today's version has the same model for the nation is the highest temporal good. the group's men. as are all under thirty six and all eerily polite. the neat and benito is the
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office dog's name. my family and one difference young people appreciate the fact that we respect poland's history in trying to preserve it we consider ourselves a national movement and we try to show people that they are part of that nation because that's the. and that's why the independence day march is so popular. not only. for us nationalists it's not enough to just have a passport but says you're a citizen. of peace there's a lot more to it that's just. a nation is composed of three basic elements. ethnic cultural and religious affiliation. i would like to add that poland is proud of its history because there are hardly any dark chapters in that history. feel coptic. feels others they should study on.
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in their eyes dark chapters in polish history usually involve past attacks on the country by germany and russia while poland itself is always innocent but propaganda materials distributed by all polish jews often feature in nationalist symbols a certain patriotic mysticism and soul stirring music and this is where associations with former times resurface. in the last couple of years what we have seen in poland is the first book talk with the rise in different types of xenophobia expressions of experience we can the. observe it very clearly since the refugee crisis in the. way i think that this. outbreak of snowfall being pulled down since
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two thousand and fifteen finally also resulted in an outbreak of of a new wave on sometimes half and half. i think it shows that when the flood gates olds in the fall we are open sooner or later it also translates into their way before stupidity against the jews. since the law and justice party came to power in twenty fifteen the mood in the country has changed earlier this year parliament approved a law that banned comments linking poland with nazi war crimes such as the phrase polish death camps most of them were located in occupied poland but were run by the nazis and prime minister much more of yet ski caused a global outcry after preferring to jewish perpetrators during the second world war . and you sure there is a. there's nowhere to semitism forward. to sue me to
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small forth there's never been an error in polish history a book each else not even so much as a decade of. again or just raises a more significant. as events turn toward deeply rooted belief in christianity and specifically catholicism. that religious faith requires us to respect our neighbors . senator john mccain was apparently unaware of this demonstration in fact suave in twenty fifteen featuring what is clearly an effigy of a jew. some say it represented george soros a prominent jewish investor and philanthropist who promotes liberal and internationalist policies. soros is despised by many on the far right around the world. sure isn't
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in poland is the. first for the right wing phenomenon it's the conservative discourse it's the discourse that tries to put into the wider context the matters of well independence pride. all there and it said try and some were the jewish history seems not to not to fit in apparently. and this has a good very dangerous record questions for us as for the jewish community. every year crowds gather and votes while on independence day to hear the preachings of yachts a former catholic priest. is that funny and even if most. abundant is more islam is more hollywood is most marxists more. stats then jamie i
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thank you we are just so determined to. find the match don't get tight how do you move the to. this to feel like they asked over just now and in america how far now so it's. we drive to the central polish city of college to meet me at la his blog features a traditional nationalist motto translated into english god honor fatherland. during our interview on secretive looking premises outlined his views on the issue of jews in poland. used to. unfortunately right now both those who are hated by the jews and those who speak uncoachable truths are called anti semites so it's important to note that every official jewish organization in polling. identifies with values that could be attributed to cultural marxism. even
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those are values that we as traditionalists catholics christian most right wingers are nationalists regard this fall psychology. this ideology of storm moral decay the fetus or. as catherine the great wrote the enslavement of entire countries. but. we've returned to warsaw on the government's new law that would criminalize the brain in polish people for any crimes committed during the holocaust sparked international criticism particularly from israel parliament later backed down and decided that violations of the law would result in only civil instead of criminal penalties. this is the museum of the history of polish jews the first jews arrived in what is now poland in the tenth century at the
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beginning of world war two poland had more jewish residents than any other european country about three point four million. only about two hundred thousand survived the holocaust. after the war many polish jews emigrated to israel and the us leaving a population of just forty thousand this is it is this video shown in the museum shows polish student demonstrations in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight the country's communist government used the protest as an excuse to launch a campaign against so-called zionist sympathizers many jews were forced to leave the communist party others had to resign their teaching jobs at schools and universities by nine hundred seventy one more than fourteen thousand polish jews had left the country in desperation and members compare things to the narrative has been drawn between the discourse. nineteen sixty eight and today's discourse both
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regarding just as the foreign factor in this state and diminishing the meaning of the holocaust. as the biggest tragedy in our history those who experienced more action item sixteen those who had to lift poland or who stayed in poland they see the similarities they can compare the climate nine hundred sixty eight days climate core vision of. present in in the european consciousness and i would say the core vision of fascism is the vision of total cultural homogenized and it's the vision. that is directed against all types of minorities ethnic religious ideology. political. and of course the jews are the sort of power of the minority. the
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risk is an outline made clothing label developed by jewish designer antoninus i met . her fashions often featured jewish symbols and hebrew language phrases. says she wants to rebranded jewish identity and show its modern and positive aspects she says a lot of germans buy her clothes at the same time so metzger has strengthened her own jewish identity and her relationship with the local jewish community. the. mistress of the posts. i believe that in poland the fear of outsiders is an emotionally charged issue and there are historical reasons for that. throughout its history poland has been overrun by other states and people are still deeply afraid of such invasions. in addition. we are an ethnically homogenous society with everyone's caucasian and they all look
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similar when they want to treat the exam. a lot of people are surprised to learn that some x. guy is jewish she's never experienced incidents of anti-semitism and says that it's safe for jews to wear a yarmulke or indeed her own clothing designs on the streets of warsaw. but she's still concerned about current developments. but no claim is the there are social tensions in poland just as there are in every country. is that. but here the hatred is not directed exclusively against jews but. people also hate gays arabs and black people or. nearly all in there are simply a lot of people who hate others because they're different. and that hatred to can
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take different forms but i don't think that the jews are any worse off than i am for example ok is. one period. some polish jews like to joke that there would be anti semitism in poland even if there were no jews there. our next stop is france home to europe's largest jewish community an estimated five hundred thousand jews live here more than in any other country except israel and the united states but in recent years france has been hit by a new wave of anti-semitic attacks and this is prompted many french jews to fear for their safety. in twenty fifteen four jewish hostages were gunned down in
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a kosher supermarket in vast san. the perpetrators parents were muslim immigrants from mali. in twenty twelve four people arrive by and three children were shot and killed outside a jewish school in toulouse the gunman's parents were immigrants from algeria. the sephardic chief rabbi of jerusalem shlomo amar spoke at the funeral and said that in every generation there are people whose primary goal is to annihilate the jews. in recent years three further jews. sarah holly me and me were murdered by muslims in anti-semitic attacks in france. generally speaking the french are not anti-semitic they're just not interested in that sort of thing. until about twenty years ago there were no public expressions
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of anti semitism here. the soup was in the room the major problems that we face in france today on not only the existence of traditional anti semitism even if expressed very subtly. by leaks. but also a brand new kind of anti semitism that established itself very rapidly. hate in football the. muslim but it's not the semitism is definitely a problem. of course not all muslims are anti semites you can't make general statements like that. but there are ordinary muslims who have no education and who come here from north africa sub-saharan africa or the middle east with classic anti semitic prejudices. because it's part of the cultural environment they grew up in.
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to look less because it's a situation is serious in the three years since the attacks and to loosen up the culture supermarket in paris a number of french jews have left the country because they're scared but i'm concerned about the future of french jews and the future of france. forces received some of. this is the paris suburb of socks and home to one of france's biggest jewish communities. it has approximately twelve thousand jewish residents and an estimated forty thousand christians and muslims on the surface the different faiths live together peacefully more or less but tensions are never far away. in july twenty fourth. demonstration that had been banned by the authorities got out of hand. the mits resulting street battles between arab and jewish youths
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protesters. attack jewish stores and a synagogue. in january this year and unknown assailant slashed the face of a fifteen year old jewish girl a few weeks later an eight year old jewish boy was beaten up. historian josh bin ceasar is an expert on jewish communities and arab countries and france this summer he was acquitted on charges of making defamatory statements about muslims receiving anti semitism from their mother's milk he explains why jews enjoy living in sa said despite the interethnic tensions. last fall the day of the soft soft sell is often called a little jerusalem. the jews in the region around paris tend to live in one
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district not scattered around the city. they feel safe in their shops and schools right now by those it gives them a sense of security and don't forget fifty two thousand jews left france for israel between two thousand and twenty sixteen that's a huge number. of holes. it's more than the entire jewish community in belgium and twice as much as the one in italy it involves hebrew school activities of the big c. diff welcome to delhi. many french jews who emigrate to israel end up in the city of netanya about thirty kilometers north of tel aviv some local residents now call the city a little cook does you know. among the new arrival as are the hmong family. they arrived here from vida was thirty kilometers north of paris. they left france
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in twenty seventeen after they were subjected to repeated anti semitic insults by their neighbors. to postpone the. i think that europe has a real problem with anti-semitism at one time some people were openly anti jewish. and today it's different they say they're anti israel and. this is all it's the same thing and we experience it first hand we don't understand why the. jews are a very small people globally speaking. people get really angry at us and we genuinely have no idea why. i feared for my children's safety. i didn't think there was any future for them in france. so i decided to take them to a place that was safe. you don't think it was up to there was a cost of them or they could think islam is
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a shrine is getting worse and worse in fact i'm sure of it. so i invite all jews who live in europe to come to israel if there's room for everyone so they should come here to this book to get. good. other jews have decided to stay in france and to defy anti semitism in their own way. rabbi michel serfaty emigrated to france from morocco and has lived here since the one nine hundred sixty s. he had a successful career as a professional basketball player and was ordained a rabbi in one thousand nine hundred five. his synagogue is located in the southern paris suburb of lease. serfaty has worked for years to promote better relations between jews and muslims he travels regularly through the suburbs of paris to engage muslims in dialogue. he also organizes joint
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sports events. once a year he and any mom conduct a special bus tour around the country. serfaty is seventy five years old he spent the last several decades searching for truth peace and reconciliation even if some call him a kind of don quixote. the weakest of the trip we speak in the name of religion or a sort of sense. i promised him our best to be a friend to muslims and to always represent them and islam correctly and to promote friendship between jews and muslims. and walk the. length to. all for muslims the qur'an. and kosher food for jews and how out for muslims all of them will show.
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it took a lot of courage for serfaty to set up his friendship bus ten years ago. but ultimately i think he's failed. because most of the muslims don't listen to him. you can understand why when you consider muslim children who were born in france it's. a lot of work have parents were also born here but their grandparents came from algeria morocco or tunisia you goalball they say i'm not french. they don't even say i'm tunisian or. they just say i'm a muslim is you know you're on the line palestine but you know how still. my country is. not you see. this is you know this is not my homeland. a local muslim iraq was my home his friends won't be ok jews and muslims practice circumcisions it's almost the same religion. or what he's doing it's not as if they
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are getting closer. but. it's there. so i don't see the same with them and. so there's not much difference. but. i guess well thank you and yes. shut up shuttle so none of the sun sets the lone star there's a mood that is. i can't afford to be pessimistic. in general jews have always contributed to western culture. but they've always stood their ground. in france the land of i mean. half the people defended drunk posts the goodies the holes in the church protected french jews during world war two we will be today the french must use western culture to help fight anti semitism along. i mean.
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the huge influx of new immigrants and refugees to germany that began in two thousand and fifteen has prompted a discussion about muslim anti semitism. this is berlin's north korean district forty four percent of the people who live here are either immigrants or descended from them. some critics say no current is not safe for jews and claim that multicultural integration has failed here. the authorities say that ninety four percent of all anti semitic crimes are committed by right wingers by contrast researchers at the university of belief and interviewed a number of german jews about anti-semitic attacks eighty one percent of those surveyed indicated that the alleged perpetrators were muslims. only in lana is
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a jewish theologian langar promotes peaceful coexistence between muslims and jews but some jewish critics say lana goes too far in his efforts to improve relations with muslims. right now langer is on his way to an interfaith forum at the dar al salam mosque in icon the mosque is regularly monitored viber lin security authorities because of its alleged ties to the muslim brotherhood organization lunger says that dialogue is the best way to bring muslims and jews together it's. an amount equal to a legacy we have a multicultural society here a nikon. we do face some challenges and we can find out more about them by talking to the local residents and taking part in public discussions. but there are also a number of opportunities here. and i am committed to not only talking about the challenges which include anti semitism among muslims. that's
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a hot topic right now among germ. but i also want to discuss those opportunities for example how jews and muslims can work together and i can and elsewhere might. like. you know. skip materialis sleeve there are of course muslims who are anti semitic as a few wouldn't as software that's just a game we can't deny that. this is an attack. but anti-semitism is unfortunately a homegrown concept so. it's started right here in europe and it's been here for decades and even centuries. ok i wondered is and does it have to should this is a problem of society and we have to fight it deviates will become from. you i
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was your duty i. was the god this is the annual i could stay demonstration in central berlin the events origins date back to one nine hundred seventy nine when iran's supreme leader called on muslims around the world to support the rights of palestinians and to oppose zionism most of the protestors are muslims but there are also left wingers present and even some anti zionist ultra orthodox jews. over there that her own lesser is that she find it interesting to have this special. their next right even if these kids could stay is the biggest public anti-semitic event in germany i can't believe that the authorities still allow it to take place and sadly the german people haven't yet realized that the philosophy
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of these people will eventually destroy german democracy. to keep. this was at the center of an instrument palestinian you i hate israel but not the jews themselves you've got to make that distinction i'm opposed to zionism but not jews month people forget that in my country palestinians are killed illegally and expelled from their homes just because a shelf. cupboard would be that's like i'm convinced that anti-semitism is quite often expressed as allegedly legitimate criticism of israel fine but tomorrow it's like fifty one and the vehemence with which that criticism is directed against israel for example for its policies toward the palestinians is completely disproportionate to them if. for me it clearly constitutes anti-semitism. guns and ordered to show off something to them it's just us. to.
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the israeli palestinian conflict dominates relations between the jewish world and the arab and muslim worlds and it is a bloody territorial conflict that has yet to be resolved because they thought conflict. opinion on this conflict is divided. about wide range of opinion this has to be taught in schools. everyone in german society including muslims and jews have to learn all sides of the conflict and understand that everyone has their own interpretation of the truth there is no single truth. is for us israel breakfast always taste better when my mom makes that i don't know why it just does this. german integration officials would like to see more young people like hussein yousef taking part in efforts to ease tensions
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between muslims and jews hussein is a student representative at his school. his parents came to germany from lebanon his family is religious but they fit perfectly well into german society hussein's older brothers are at college studying political science and a college but he hasn't decided on a career yet. this is the answer the high school and i can. ninety percent of the students here are either migrants or are descended from them. here like at similar schools officials have launched a number of initiatives to try to prevent racism and anti-semitism including
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educational programs aimed at raising awareness of these problems. the net are our school we have one of the highest proportions or migrant students among all the high schools in our car. and it's a relatively small school it's right on the main road but inside you can hardly tell you should just try to help students with all their problems you can either it's family difficulties and or poverty from your other issues there can be an went to the fact one gets a blues and we can have hundreds of official experts investigating anti-semitism and put together all kinds of figures but that won't help us resolve these problems the key is to maintain the dialogue and the situation. is just didn't. it you do come across anti-semitism and a lot of schoolyards it's. from the have so i was pleasantly surprised to find that
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in this school they've worked on preventive education programs for instance of. one hundred students have done better in those programs than we could have imagined . i thought you mentioned at the jews and muslims simply have to learn to get along and accept everyone as human beings they need to put that into practice in their neighborhoods you know muslims and jews should make friends with each other and do things together. that way they can show that they're just people whether they're christians jews or muslims. we're part of the same hand . with us. walking hand in hand to a brighter future hope does exist although many remain skeptical.
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this metaphor that this majority of people have been around for two thousand years exist and we will find a way to survive and. the problem right now is the problem with the jews and their culture to be able to survive in europe. and that quo. strain is being decided right now on the money it's worth and should see not to see me dismissed or give up if anti semitism continues to grow like it has it's possible that in a few decades all the jews in france will have left the country. they're already leaving other european countries ask you since. when i sometimes i ask myself whether we will gradually see to swing from everywhere and europe. these usually be the hopefully a year. you
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you can tell about a society by its garbage. the future worthless for the rich but for many poor people it offers their only chance of survival. and i could be lunch for today just like the. reporters travel to nairobi and york and to meet people who know the true value of garbage. it has created a thriving economy. a book doesn't this mean for economic inequality around the world you guys are starting class warfare the response to that statement should be yes we are starting play as we want to get. the rich to the trash an exclusive report starts november seventeenth on g.w. .
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this is you know we're news live from berlin germany marks the anniversary of one of the deadliest polygons. of the nazi era every one of you who shot. me did i not see him. but oh me. be him to know me. as solemn tribute to the victims of nazi persecution eighty years ago non jewish citizens on leash a night of terror.
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