FRIENDS OF SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES CALLS ON CROATIAN CULTURAL CENTER TO CANCEL ULTRANATIONALISTCROATIAN SINGER'S VANCOUVER CONCERT
TORONTO – October 23/07 – As a result of the efforts of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC), theplanned Toronto concert of Croatian singer Marko Perkovic, known as ‘Thompson’, has been cancelled. The Center also wants his upcoming Vancouver concert cancelled.
“Thompson has been singing for years in Croatia,” said FSWC Director of National Affairs, Leo Adler. “One of those songs -titled Jasanovic/Stara Gardinska, which Thompson sang live in Croatia in 2002 - venerated those two infamous concentration camps where at least 90,000 Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and anti-fascistCroatians were murdered by the Ustashe movement and its Nazi collaborators during World War II.
"The difficulty with Thompson," added Adler, "is that he and his music act as a lightning rod for young Croatians who proudlywear Ustashe uniforms and display Ustashe symbols, which occurred at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb in June."
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has been closely monitoring Thompson’s activities. Recently, Friends of Simon WiesenthalCenter notified the management of Toronto's Koolhaus Entertainment Complex of Thompson’s music and typical audience.
“We were pleased to learn that the Koolhaus management cancelled Thompson’s scheduled appearance immediately after our information was forwarded..........we urge the Croatian Cultural Center inVancouver to follow suit,” said Adler.
“Much of Thompson's music is a breach of Canadian values and possibly this country’s hate speech laws. We have notifiedthe Vancouver Police Hate Crimes Team because of the serious nature of this complaint and the fact that Thompson’s concerts attract extremist elements. We are pleased with the VPC’scooperation."
Adler said, “This is not an issue of censorship or criticism of any religion, culture or ethnicity. Rather, this is aboutpromoting the values of a liberal democracy.”
For more information on this story, please see page 6of Response Magazine - Fall/Winter 2007 Issue, ....
ABOUT THE FRIENDS OF SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center forHolocaust Studies is a Canadian human rights organization dedicated to fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. With over25,000 members of all faiths around the world, the Simon Wiesenthal Center confronts important contemporary issues including racism, anti-Semitism, terrorism and genocide. Friends is affiliatedwith the world-wide, Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, an accredited Non-Government Organization with status at international agencies, including the United Nations, UNESCO, OSCE and theCouncil of Europe, with offices in New York, Miami, Paris, Jerusalem, Buenos Aires, and Toronto. Simon Wiesenthal died in 2005 after devoting his life to preserving the memories ofHolocaust victims, while simultaneously seeking justice for the war criminals.
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