E/CN.4/1997/71 page 14 anti-Semitic utterances and publications on the part of extremist circles. One might say that while part of anti-Semitism in Christian countries in recent decades has become anti-Zionism, in the Muslim world anti-Zionism appears to be turning into anti-Jewish manifestations, thus broadening a political and territorial conflict into a clash between ideological and religious world views. The use of Christian and secular European anti-Semitism motifs in Muslim publications is on the rise, yet at the same time Muslim extremists are turning increasingly to their own religious sources, first and foremost the Qur'an, as a primary anti-Jewish source. “4. Anti-Semitism on the Internet “The Internet has become the new battleground in the fight to influence public opinion. While it is still far behind newspapers, magazines, radio and television in the size of its audience, the Internet has already captured the imagination of people with a message, including purveyors of hate, racists and anti-Semites. On the Internet, one can disseminate a large amount of material at a relatively low initial cost, regardless of the size of the audience. Those materials may include not only text, but also charts and tables, photographic images, sound recordings and video clips. There are various possibilities for interactive dialogue and discussion. “Most of the anti-Semitic material on the Internet today comes from the United States and Canada and is in English. This is not surprising, as the Internet began in the United States and has had its greatest penetration into society at large there. However, use of the Internet has become common throughout the industrialized world, and we are now witness to the appearance of anti-Semitic sources throughout the globe. Due to open international access, most sources are available in English, instead of or in addition to the national language.” F. Discrimination against the Romanies or Gypsies 28. Street children in Bulgaria, most of them Romany, often fall prey to attacks by skinheads. They may be called “dirty Gypsies” and beaten with chains or baseball bats under the indifferent gaze of the police, who sometimes ill-treat the children themselves. 18 29. In Bucharest, in Romania, Romanies suffer violence at the hands of individuals, at which the police connive. The attack on a Romany community in the Curtes Ages district on 12 and 14 June 1996 is an example: one house is said to have been set ablaze and five others damaged by a group of people from the district in full view of the police. 19 30. In Czechoslovakia, 181 attacks on Romanies are said to have been reported in 1995. Being “at the bottom of the social ladder, Roma face daily discrimination in housing, education and employment. They are often segregated in 'special schools', denied residency permits and refused jobs solely because of their ethnicity. Since January 1993, Roma have been negatively affected by the Czech citizenship law, which came into effect after the split of Czechoslovakia. A large number of Roma are now without Czech