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BONN (JTA) -
The unexpected electoral success of a neo-Nazi party in local elections has add«i to the deep concern fell throughout the countr>' over the escalation of right-wing violence against immigrants and other foreign refugees.- ---- - . . •
The German Peoples Union, or pVU. headed by anti-S»emitic publisher Gerhard Frey, polled 6.3 percent of the popular vote in Bremen, enough to win its first seats jn the legislature of that northern German city-state.
Prey is editor and publisher of the Munich-based National Zeitung, which has been largely dedicated to attempts to prove the Holocaust never (Kcurred.
Neo-Nazi and extreme right-wing fringe parties have flourished briefly in past local elections, only to fade from the political scene, The Republican Party, led by a former Nazi SS officer, was a recent example.
But the DVU's showing in Bremen has political observers troubled, because it can be linked to the influx of refugees, many frpm^ the Third World, an issue that has polarized Germans since their country was.iLni-fied a year ago.     _ :
Some commentators have likened the wave of violence against foreigners to the hatred of Jews that flared when the Third Reich was formed.
Rita Sussmuth, speaker of the BundestagGermany^ s lower house of Parliament, said thit these attacks ■'reawaken fears" that "are nourished by our past."
Sussmuth and Henning Voscherau,
mayor of Hamburg and president of the Bundesrat. the upper house, laid wreaths at the site of a former Nazi concentration camp in Neuengamme, near Hamburg.
Although Jewish institutions have not been targeted by the right-wing extremists, police in many cities have beefed up the protection of synagogues and other Jewish communal buildings.
Helmut Kohl
At least 30,000 asylum-seeking refugees entered Germany last month and. according, to government estimates, immigration for the whole year may reach 200,000.
Significantly, much if not most of the V iolence against foreigners has occurred in former East Germany.
Last weekend alone, n^Nazi and
skinhead youths attacked hostels and other buildings housing foreigners in 20 German towns.
A hostel for foreigners was attacked in Bad Honnef, just southwest of Bonn. It was repeatedly hit by lead balls, but no injuries were reported.
Quarters occupied by foreigners were set on fire in the town of Her-ford. southwest of Hanover. In Recklinghausen, near Dortmund, police arrested 15 people betweeir the ages of 14 and 19 for violence against Asian and African refugees.
Two men were arrested in Hagen. south of Dortmund, suspected of at-lempting to murder asylum-seekers.
The attacks generally appear to be in response to a perception that guest workers and immigrants from. Asia. Africa, the Soviet Union and elsewhere in Eastern Europe are taking jobs, housing and government subsidies away from native Germans.
Right-wing and neo-Nazi parties play on those fears to arouse dormant racism.
The federal government is upset by the phenomenon. The response of Chancellor Helmut Kohl has been to lobby for a constimtional amendment limiting the present blanket right to asylum in Germany.
Kohl warns that the situation could get worse unless the major political parties agree on ways to halt the flood of immigrants.
Foreigners are attracted to Germany because of its superior Hying standards. In order to gain access to social and financial benefits, one must claim toTiave been a victim of political prosecution in one's homeland.
A protester in Germany kneels in front of the riot police in a peaceful demonstration against racism. [IPPA photo]
JERUSALEM (JTA) -
Four policemen were hospitalized for injuries sustained Saturday during a violent demonstration by ultra-Orthodox Jews protesting the use by Sabbath drivers of .a new highway that runs near their neighborhoods.
Several^ policemen and two news cameramen were struck by rocks. One of the protesters was hospitalized, a number were hurt and several were arrested by the police.
The fracas erupted suddenly from what ^ began as a peaceful demonstration by local residents with a police permit. Leaders of the religious community, who had promised there would be no violence, apparently lost control.
Young religious activists knocked down police barriers and began hurling rocks at passing cars. No cars were reported damaged or drivers injured. .
Jerusalem Police Chief Haim Albaldes said his forces were under orders to exercise maximum restraint, But when the situation got out of hand, mounted police entered the fray using clubs. One of the leaders of the demonstration, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, complained that there had been no need for such measures.
The police had tear gas and water cannons on hand, butjieither was used. Some Arabs complained that the police had neyer showed such restraint dealing with Arab disturbances. But most Arab residents watched the~spectacle with a mixture of astonishment and amusement.
Police Minister Ronni Milo praised the police for showing"overall restraint." He warned, however, that a repetition of
Roni Milo
the violence would bemet by ' '.aggressive" police measures.
Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek said the demonstrators "violated both the law and the call of their own rabbis." But he suggested that they were only a minority within the religious community.
The new highway, which cuts the dis-, tance between downtown Jerusalem and the northern suburbs, opened Oct; 1 to a chorus of~protests and threats by ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose neighborhoods it skirts.. ■ ^['''■:'-^''y
Kollek pointed out that the highway does not pass through any religious neighborhood.
\r':i'>'i^r-- HEATED EXCHANGE :: : -
A Moledet member (left) exchanges heated words with a Peace Now demonstrator in Petach Tikvah recently over-PLb participation in the proposed peace talks. [IPPA photo]. >
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BEN ROSE
TORONTO -
Another Soviet Jewish woman-has been granted refugee status in Canada on the grounds of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union.
It is the second such case in the past month and as in the other instance the decision of the Immigration Refiigee Board was given "from the bench" which means that the board members decided the ■'^matter quickly and positively.
Mark Fromkin, who represented the woman, said he was encouraged by the decision and hopes it bodes Well for the "many other similar eases awaiting decision.
As in the other case, this board decided that the woman could not depend on the Soviet government to protect her from harassment and discrimination because she was a Jew; Fromkin said.
In the Soviet Union, the woman had lost her job because of discrimination. "Before the board, she was very nervous and had trouble expressing herself," Fromkin said. ' 'They seemed to be more impressed by her emotional state than by her words." —-■
Though one board's decision is not binding on another, if the boards continue to recognize that anti-Semitism is out of control in the Soviet Union, Fromkin said, this will expedite favorable decisions in similar cases.