[reprinted from JTA]

February 9, 2009
LONDON (JTA) -- A senior British diplomat was arrested following a complaint about anti-Semitic remarks he made while working out.

Rowan Laxton, the head of the South Asia Group at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was watching television reports on Israel's military action in Gaza while using an exercise bike at a London gym.

According to the Daily Mail, staff and other gym members allegedly heard him shout "f***ing Israelis, f***ing Jews," as well as that Israeli soldiers should be "wiped off the face of the earth."

Scotland Yard spokesman said a 47-year-old man was arrested in connection with an incident on Jan. 27 following a complaint received by police from a member of the public. He said the man was bailed out pending further inquiries and is due to return at the end of March to a central London police station.

Arrests of those making anti-Semitic remarks are rare in Britain. By law, the maximum penalty for inciting religious hatred is seven years in prison, a fine or both.

Laxton served in the Middle East and is considered an expert on the area.

A  Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said the issue is a police matter and thus the office cannot comment at this stage.

[reprinted from JTA]

February 9, 2009
ROME (JTA) -- World Jewish Congress leaders who met with Vatican officials expressed optimism that Jewish-Catholic relations would survive the controversy over the rehabilitation of a Holocaust-denying bishop.

The WJC said Richard Prasquier, president of the French-Jewish umbrella organization CRIF, and Maram Stern, the WJC deputy secretary-general responsible for interfaith dialogue, met Monday at the Vatican with Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican official in charge of relations with the Jews, to discuss the controversy over Richard Williamson.

According to a WJC statement, its representatives "expressed optimism that the Williamson affair would soon be over and that it would not burden the Catholic-Jewish relationship in the longer term," Prasquier said. "Today, we strongly reaffirmed that the denial of the Shoah is not an opinion but a crime."

Meanwhile, according to the statement, WJC President Ronald Lauder said he hoped that the controversy would not derail an expected papal visit to Israel in the spring. Such a trip, Lauder was quoted as saying, would "be an opportunity to reaffirm the Vatican's commitment to dialogue with Jews."

Reuters reported over the weekend that a delegation of the Council of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations would meet Thursday with the pope.