The Australian Jewish News reports that Croation ultra-Nationalist Marko Perkovic and his band Thompson (not to be confused with this band), have been cleared to enter Australia and play a series of concerts (hat tip: Jewgle Perth).
According to the ADL:
Croatian-based singer Marko Perkovic (who is also called Thompson) and his band Thompson are known for singing nationalistic songs about Croatia and publicly supporting the Ustashe, a fascist, pro-Nazi regime in Croatia responsible for murdering tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, and Roma from 1941-1945.
Various media accounts report that Thompson’s concerts in Europe begin with the traditional “war cry” of the Ustashe.
Concertgoers, comprised mostly of young people, many wearing black shirts with Ustashe insignia and carrying banners with anti-Serb and anti-Roma rhetoric, often respond with Nazi salutes. Ustashe paraphernalia is allegedly sold at the concerts, as well.
At his concerts, Thompson also reportedly plays a song that relates the killing of Serbs at the Jasenovac death camp, where tens of thousands of people were killed by the Ustashe during World War II.
At a June 2007 concert in Zagreb, Perkovic reportedly opened his act by shouting a traditional Ustashe slogan, which was met with Nazi salutes from fans. The concert, attended by over 40,000 people, was aired on state-owned television.
While Perkovic denies he is Ustaše or fascist, he has allegedly let his guard down on occasion.
In November 2003, a Thompson concert scheduled in Amsterdam was cancelled amidst accusations of Perkovic giving the Nazi salute at previous concerts and his band’s alleged sympathy with Nazi “ideas.” The concert was relocated to Rotterdam, but Perkovic himself was banned from singing. In responding to the cancellation, Perkovic allegedly told a Croatian newspaper, “It is all to blame on the Jews. I have nothing against them and I did nothing to them. I know that Jesus Christ also did nothing against them, but still they hanged him on the cross. So what can I expect as a small man?”
Sounds to me like Perkovic and his band should change their name to Johnson.
