Karel de Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade, is in the "Top 10 Anti-Semitic Slurs of 2010'' list established by the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
De Gucht, a former Belgian Foreign Minister, stated in a radio interview in September, "Don’t underestimate the power of the Jewish Lobby on Capitol Hill. You shouldn’t underestimate the grip it has on American politics, no matter whether it’s Republicans or Democrats." He was then asked about his views on the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington.
He also said it was difficult to have a "rational" conversation with a moderate Jew on the issues of Israel and the Middle East "because there is a belief among most Jews that they’re right."
At the top of the Simon Wiesenthal Center list is former Associated Press White House correspondent Helen Thomas who said during an American Jewish Heritage Month celebration at the White House that "Jews should get the hell out of Palestine. They should go home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else."
Later, in a speech, she said, "Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists. They put their money where their mouth is.''
Film director Oliver Stone is number three. He blamed "Jewish domination of the media" for the Holocaust's continued historic resonance. He stated that “Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it’s been used cheaply. Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than the Jewish people."
The list also includes comments from former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, Christina Patterson, a journalist with the British newspaper The Independent, former Malaysian Premier Mahatir Mohammad, Thilo Sarrazin, then a board member of Bundesbank, Germany's central bank, and Petras Stankeras, an historian and advisor to Lithuania's interior ministry.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, says anti-Semitism "continues to have surprising legs in the new millennium."
"Never before, in recent memory, has the Simon Wiesenthal Center seen such a proliferation of anti-Semitism going mainstream. Our list shows that anti-Semitic canards normally thought to belong to the lunatic fringe have in fact been bought into by major elements of Western society.''
"Our list shows that anti-Semitic canards normally thought to belong to the lunatic fringe have in fact been bought into by major elements of Western society."