Israel Shamir (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: Исраэль Шамир, ; born 1947 or 1948), also known by the names Robert David, Vassili Krasevsky, Jöran Jermas
and Adam Ermash, is a Swedish writer and journalist, known for promoting
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
[Ravid, Mathan. "At Issue: Antiracism for Anti-Jewish Purposes?: Reflections on the Swedish" Mana" Affair." Jewish Political Studies Review (2010): 75-84.](_blank)
quote: Still another is the internationally infamous anti-Semite Israel Shamir, whom Mana published on its website in 2003. His article hinted, among other things, that Jews were responsible for establishing and administrating the Gulag Archipelago, and claimed that a settlement in the West Bank was a bulwark for "Nazified Jewish faith." The arguments were enhanced with descriptions of famous mythic or real Jews in such terms as "Shylock the loan shark" or "the-pay-while you-cry-Holocaust-sobster" for Elie Wiesel.25 and
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
.
Shamir has published or self-published a number of his books; his book ''Flowers of Galilee'' (2004) was banned for a time in France over allegations it was inciting racial hatred and
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
.
Background and personal life
Shamir says that he was born in a Jewish family in Russia, and converted to Orthodox Christianity.
By his own account, his birth name was Izrail Schmerler.
Shamir says that he was born in
Novosibirsk,
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, in 1947, although the ''
Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia
The ''Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia'' (''SJE''; russian: Краткая еврейская энциклопедия, Kratkaya Yevreyskaya Entsiklopedia) was published in 11 volumes in Jerusalem from 1976 to 2005 in Russian by the Society for Resear ...
'' says that a man called Schmerler was born in 1948.
Shamir says that he "studied mathematics and law at
Novosibirsk University". He also says he moved to Israel in 1969.
He claimed to have served in the Israeli
Paratroopers Brigade and fought in the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...
. He also claimed to have worked for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
from Hebrew into Russian.
'' that Shamir is a "maniac" who "has invented his entire personal history. Nothing he says about himself is true".
and says that was registered in Sweden in 1984 and gained Swedish citizenship in 1992.
Shamir says he left Sweden for Russia and then Israel in 1993, before returning in 1998, saying that he had remarried in Israel in July 1994.
However, others argue that Swedish files show that he was married in Sweden. He was known as Jöran Jermas from 2001 to 2005, before changing his name to Adam Ermash, although continuing to use Israel Shamir as a pen name.
Shamir says that he went to Russia and wrote about the political changes in the country until 1993, for newspapers including ''
'' and the extreme nationalist ''Zavtra''.
The French edition of Shamir's ''Flowers of Galilee'' was originally co-published in October 2003 by Éditions Blanche and Éditions Balland. It was withdrawn from sale at the end of October after Balland's director had his attention drawn to the content of the book, which he considered anti-semitic.