Vedrana Rudan’s Statement is Pure Anti-Semitism

ZAGREB, CROATIA - The marking of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Jewish religious association “Bet Israel” and the Jewish congregation of Zagreb, passed with the Anti-Semitic speech by Vedrana Rudan on Nova TV. Her statement that Jews should finally become people, was mentioned a number of times in speeches, and the anniversary of the serious casualties of the Jewish people during World War II became harder.

The president of Bet Israel, Ivo Goldstein, could not hide his disappointment that such comments were shown on national television. He considers that Vedrana Rudan is an unserious person that tried to deal with serious things in a totally wrong way, adding that it is useless to defend yourself from such statements.

“Unfortunately, Mrs Rudan is the manifestation of a widespread disease that manifests itself in the Croatian society, and that is Anti-Semitism” stresses Goldstein.

The Jewish religious association Bet Israel is considering filing a suit against Vedrana Rudan, who after only one “IN magazine” show lost her column.

“I would not like to speak about the steps that we will take now. Things need to calm down a little and then we will se what we will do, but some steps must be taken” considers Goldstein.

However, the small Palestinian boy that died in an Israeli attack, that Rudan keeps on mentioning in her column, is a victim of Israeli politics, before which they cannot close their eyes.

Vedrana Rudan’s column is only one in a series of Anti-Semitic provocations

“A victim is a victim, and I cannot say anything else but that I regret every victim, not only civilian, but every victim that fell in war. However, all of those facts and every such victim needs to be placed in a certain context and not pull out some examples at the cost of some others” said the president of Bet Israel.

In the end he added that Vedrana Rudan’s column is only one in a series of Anti-Semitic provocations that have occurred in recent days. The most terrifying one occurring just before the marking of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“From one certain telephone number, which seems to be a phone booth in Split, came a threat that a bomb was planted here, and that everything will blow into the air in one hour, with swearing on the account of Jews.

We immediately informed the police, who arrived and searched the whole building. Luckily, they did not find anything” said Goldstein.

The vice-president of the Jewish congregation of Zagreb, Sanja Zoricic Tabakovic, also agrees with him, and saw Vedrana Rudan’s comment by chance. As she says, she would not have looked at it had it not attracted attention.

We considered a law suit and have sent that statement to the world

“I heard that she was talking about the war between the Jews and Palestinians, I started looking at it with a lot of attention. I was shocked with such a real Anti-Semitic outburst” said Zoricic Tabakovic. She added that you cannot link the Holocaust and smoke from Auschwitz with any daily politics and any war of today.

She stresses that this does not mean that people cannot criticize Israeli politics, but that Vedrana Rudan’s comments were pure Anti-Semitism, which must be reacted to.

“We considered a law suit and have sent the statement to the world. We have not finally decided what we will do, I am not even certain if it is us to us to undertake something” said the vice-president of the Jewish congregation in Zagreb. She added that all victims need to be talked about, even Palestinians, but it is Anti-Semitic to bring the Israeli-Palestinian war into the context that Vedrana Rudan did.

Zarko Puhovski, who held the most shaking speech at the ceremony in Bet Israel, considers that it is distasteful and unserious to make such comments in the context of entertainment shows like “IN magazine”.

Vedrana Rudan’s statement certainly helps the Anti-Semitic spirit

“In the context of a semi-humorous show, it needs to be said that it is distasteful and that it certainly helps the Anti-Semitic spirit that exists in one part of the people. That part is small, but it exists” stresses Puhovski.

As he says, he is against law suits, including this one. It is enough to say that something distasteful is in question, considers Puhovski.

“Vedrana Rudan is a person intelligent enough and educated enough to understand that she made a mistake that can be relatively easily fixed” he stresses.

He considers that there is no dispute that every victim is equal, and that a war occurred where the ratio of victims is one hundred to one. Every victim should be spoken about, concluded Puhovski.