Ten Most Shocking Antisemitic Incidents of August 2022
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Information Hub collects comprehensive antisemitism data from around the world on a constant basis, and publishes a regular feature on the top ten antisemitic incidents that shook Jewish communities globally during the preceding month.
The ten most shocking antisemitic incidents of August 2022 are as follows:
1. Murderer of Jewish Man in France Admits to Antisemitic Motive, Media Reports Say
A 34-year-old Jewish man, Eyal Hadad, was murdered in Longperrier, France, northeast of Paris, and the suspected perpetrator, Hadad’s Muslim roommate, has confessed to an antisemitic motive, according to media reports.
The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Antisemitism (BNVCA) stated that the alleged assailant, Mohamed Dridi, killed Hadad with an ax blow to the head. Dridi was also said to have burned Hadad’s face in an attempt to prevent him from being identified.
2. NYPD Steps Up Patrols Near Brooklyn Synagogues Amid Surge of Antisemitic Assaults
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is increasing patrols near synagogues in Brooklyn amid a surge of antisemitic assaults taking place in the borough’s Williamsburg neighborhood, Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a press conference on Aug. 29.
In addition to an Aug. 22 slapping incident on Williamsburg’s Lynch Street, two Jewish men were sprayed in their faces with a fire extinguisher in separate incidents the previous day in same neighborhood.
Watch as Police Commissioner Sewell and NYPD executives provide a case update. https://t.co/bLzaQWyLg4
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) August 29, 2022
3. NYC Pro-Gaza Rally Speakers: Gates Of Al-Aqsa Mosque ‘Can Only Be Opened by Martyrs’
On Aug. 8, Within Our Lifetime, along with other pro-Palestinian organizations, held a rally titled “NYC Stands with Gaza,” following the recent round of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. At the rally, Nerdeen Kiswani of Within Our Lifetime said: “If you stand with Israel, you stand with death and destruction.” She added that “resistance is not terrorism” and said that Palestinians have the right to “defend themselves by every means possible.” She also accused New York City Mayor Eric Adams of supporting the murder of Palestinians and Palestinian children.
Leaders in Germany, the United States, and Israel issued strong condemnations after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Jewish state of perpetrating “50 Holocausts” against the Palestinians since 1947.
The remarks — in which Abbas also refused to denounce the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre, in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were murdered — came at a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Aug. 16.
5. Orthodox Jewish Man Stabbed in the Face by Coworker in Montreal
The victim of the Aug. 11 incident survived and is in stable condition, but had a laceration on his right eye, for which he received stitches.
GRAPHIC VIOLENCE WARNING – Jewish man stabbed in Montreal yesterday.
An Orthodox Jewish man is brutally attacked with a pair of scissors, stabbed in what appears to be the face/neck area.
The attacker has been arrested and the victim thankfully is in stable condition. pic.twitter.com/X5nivsOawU
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 12, 2022
One of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe denounced the Spanish girl band Tribade for defacing an Israeli flag during the event.
Two members of the Barcelona-based rap group recorded themselves at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary, going into a tented area, where attendees slept, and spray-painting the words “Free Palestine” and “Israel doesn’t exist” on the Israeli flag.
SHOCKING!
Members of the Spanish rap band Tribade entered a camp where Israelis were staying at a music festival in Hungary, defaced an Israeli flag with inscriptions including “Israel does not exist” and “Free Palestine,” and proudly posted about it on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/S9tEUsRSgh
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) August 16, 2022
7. Police Investigating Hanging of Antisemitic Banners at University of California, Davis
Police at the University of California, Davis are investigating recent incidents in which antisemitic banners were hung from a bridge on campus.
Messages written on the banners read, “The Holocaust is an anti-white lie,” and “Communism is Jewish.”
8. Germany: Man Sets Fire at Synagogue in Bremerhaven
A man set fire to a mattress in the entrance area of the synagogue at Kleiner Blink St. in Bremerhaven, Germany. A witness observed the incident. The officers put out the fire with a fire extinguisher and arrested the 53-year-old suspect.
9. Italian Company Says It’ll Stop Producing Hitler Wines
The heir to an Italian winery that has long produced an Adolf Hitler varietal says he will be putting a cork in its “historical” series of wines next year.
“That’s enough. We’re sick and tired of all this controversy,” Andrea Lunardelli, who expects to take over Vini Lunardelli in early 2023, told an Italian newspaper this week. “So from next year, the whole historical line with labels of people like Hitler and Mussolini will disappear.”
The Kyrene School District in Arizona failed to address the months-long antisemitic harassment of an eighth-grade student after the bullying had been brought to the attention of her school, according to the findings of a federal investigation.
The report by U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that over five months during the 2018-19 school year, one student faced such severe bullying that she was forced to choose homeschooling instead of continuing with the district.
For more information on CAM’s antisemitism incidents data, please visit: combatantisemitism.org/newsletters