Australians protesting Croat’s concert

By · October 31, 2007

Jewish community officials are protesting a Melbourne club’s plans to host a Croatian rock star favored by neo-Nazis.

The Melbourne Knights Soccer Club unveiled plans to sponsor a concert by Marko Perkovic, who goes by the stage name Thompson, on Dec. 28 at the Melbourne Croatia Social Club, which is affiliated with the Knights club.

Thompson concerts often feature nationalist imagery and slogans, and to attract fans wearing the insignia of the Ustashe regime, a Nazi-backed fascist movement responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Jews during World War II.

“It is regrettable and disturbing to learn that the Croatian community is again sponsoring an alleged Nazi sympathizer for an Australian entertainment tour,” said Manny Waks, the executive officer for the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission. “This is not the first time Mr. Perkovic has been invited to Australia, and this does not reflect well on the Croatian community.”

The Knights club apologized recently for hosting a concert for neo-Nazi skinheads earlier this month.

Waks urged immigration officials to consider carefully Perkovic’s visa application “in light of the distress this is causing many in the wider Australian community.” Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Perkovic had not yet submitted an application for a visa.