The party is a member of the left-wing bloc that backed Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov in his failed bid for the presidency in the July 3 runoff.

Some members of the radical Workers Party said Anpilov had fallen into disfavor because of his anti-Semitic statements.

According to others in the party, Anpilov had engaged in financial improprieties.

A week before the first presidential vote in June, Anpilov, a former Soviet correspondent in Nicaragua and Cuba, said he might become minister of mass media in a Zyuganov government.

"Most of those who appear on Russian television are people of Jewish descent," he said at the time, vowing to rid the country's television programs of Jews.

Racists get on line via Canadian link

TORONTO (JTA) — At least 12 groups are promoting white supremacy and hate against minorities through an Internet provider in British Columbia, according to the Canadian representative of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto.

Freedom Site and Skin-Net are two World Wide Web home pages that provide links to the pages of numerous other groups, including some that are connected to the site of Toronto-based Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, said Sol Littman of the Wiesenthal Center.

Littman said he informed the owner of the British Columbia-based Internet provider that he is not obliged to provide Internet access to hatemongers.

But the owner, Bernard Klatt of the Fairview Technology Centre, has reportedly shown little concern about the issue.

"I am aware they are there," he said of the sites. "I probably should go look at them."

Canadian Jewish film leader dies

MONTREAL (JTA) — Harold Greenberg, a Jewish community philanthropist and leader who helped to pioneer the film industry in Canada, has died at age 66.

Greenberg, described as one of the most important cultural architects of Canada's production and broadcasting industries, 30 years ago founded Astral Communications, then Astral Bellevue Pathe, with his brothers Harvey, Sidney and Ian.

He was president and chief executive officer of Astral and was executive producer of many films in the 1970s, including the smash hit "Porky's" and its sequels.

A later distribution company the brothers founded, Astral, was instrumental in bringing pay and pay-per-view television to Canada.

Greenberg also played a key role in the early development of Israel's film industry. In 1968, he opened the first motion picture lab in Israel, Berky Pahe Humphries in Givatayim.

Among his Jewish-related honors, he was awarded the State of Israel Bonds' Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award.

New Gibraltar coins stamped with chai

GIBRALTAR (JTA) — Gibraltar has issued commemorative coins bearing the Hebrew symbol for

chai

, which means "life" in English.

The coins were struck to commemorate the refurbishment of Gibraltar's oldest synagogue.

Opened in March 1799, the Nefusot Yehuda Synagogue, which also is known as La Esnoga Flamenca, or Flemish Synagogue, is the largest synagogue on Gibraltar.

Gibraltar, a peninsula, is a British colony extending from the southern coast of Spain into the Mediterranean Sea. Several hundred Jews live there.

The coins, which are legal tender, are available in gold, silver and copper-nickel, and show Queen Elizabeth II on the front. The synagogue, the Rock of Gibraltar and the chai symbol with its English translation appear on the back of the coin.

The silver and copper-nickel coins are about the size of a U.S. silver dollar and cost $39.95 and $7.95 each. The gold coins, at $175, are slightly smaller than the U.S. quarter. They are available through Pobjoy Mint Ltd., at (414) 873-6772.

Germany names new ambassador to Israel

BONN (JTA) — The vice director of the German Foreign Ministry, Theodor Wallau, has been named as the new German ambassador to Israel.

The 59-year-old career diplomat will replace Franz Bertele, who is retiring after a two-year term in Israel.

Wallau was responsible for the Middle East desk at the ministry. He has previously served as ambassador to Brazil and Indonesia.