THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
In the global struggle against increasingly normalized antisemitism, Romania passed legislation mandating education about the Holocaust and Jewish history for all high schools. France’s prime minister announced that new measures against antisemitism will be rolled out early next year, and the leader of the UK Labour Party proclaimed that “anti-Zionist antisemitism is the antithesis of the Labour tradition.”
After more than a dozen mezuzahs were stolen on campus this semester, Indiana University formed a task force to combat the rise in antisemitism at the university. Hundreds marched against recent antisemitic attacks in Austin, Texas and Los Gatos, California.
In the U.S, a series of brazen antisemitic threats aimed at Jewish communities signaled increasing alarm. The FBI arrested a St. Louis man for threatening to blow up a local synagogue, telling agents “I hate them with rage…I just feel like killing Jews.” A man in Queens threatened a kosher bagel store – demanding it “remove those Israeli flags or I’ll burn the building down.” Nearby, two more antisemitic assaults took place in Brooklyn. Ahead of Hanukkah, a menorah was stolen from outside the same Alabama synagogue which last year was vandalized with graffiti reading “F— Kikes,” and “Gas Em All.”
At a town planning board meeting in New York, a resident railed against the growing Jewish community and spoke of backing his car over Jews. Offensive political discourse trivializing the Holocaust continues to escalate, including a protest in Kansas, and one outside a New York Jewish politician’s office featuring yellow stars and swastikas. On campus, Duke University’s student government denied a new pro-Israel group recognition.
Elsewhere around the world, antisemitic vandalism targeted a Holocaust memorial in Spain, and the courthouse in Ottawa, Canada. A Brazilian journalist apologized for saying his country would need to “kill Jews to match Germany’s wealth.” As antisemitic incidents continue to reach record highs in Germany, hundreds participated in a torchlit march to celebrate leaders of Nazi Germany. In Poland, far-right nationalists held a rally in which a large crowed chanted “Death to Jews,” while burning a book about Polish Jews.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 43 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 21 (48.8%) from the far-right, 4 (9.3%) from the far-left, 5 (11.6%) with Islamist motivations, and 13 (30.2%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURES
TOP AUSTRIAN SOCCER ORGANIZATIONS ADOPT IHRA DEFINITION AT VIENNA FORUM ON FIGHTING ANTISEMITISM IN SPORTS
The Austrian Football Association (OFB) and Austrian Football Bundesliga officially adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism. This important step was announced during the one-day “Global Conference on Football’s Role in Combating Antisemitism,” hosted in Vienna by the Chelsea FC Foundation, the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), the Office of Lord Mann, and the International Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA). In 2021, the CAM Information Hub has tracked 52 media reports of sports-related antisemitic incidents worldwide, 36 of which were tied to soccer. A majority of the incidents monitored in the soccer realm had far-right connotations. The most common occurrences are antisemitic chants and gestures by fans.
CREATORS OF COMIC BOOK LEGEND SUPERMAN, JERRY SIEGEL AND JOE SHUSTER, INDUCTED INTO JEWISH-AMERICAN HALL OF FAME
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — the late creators of Superman, the first comic book superhero — were inducted this past weekend into the Jewish-American Hall of Fame. The online ceremony — co-hosted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) — told Siegel and Shuster’s life stories and highlighted their contributions to American culture. “Superman fought for truth, justice, and the American way, and I’d like to think so does the Jewish-American Hall of Fame,” JAHF Founder and Director Mel Wacks said. Siegel’s daughter, Lara Siegel Larson, recalled that her father had faced antisemitic bullying when he was young, and that the comic book characters he created later in life were “his way of fighting back.”
UNITED STATES
MAN ACCUSED OF THREATENING TO BLOW UP ST. LOUIS SYNAGOGUE
By Robert Patrick
A St. Louis man was ordered held pending trial on a federal charge that he threatened to blow up a St. Louis synagogue and kill Jewish people. Cody Steven Rush, 29, called the FBI three times, saying he wanted to blow up the Central Reform Congregation, according to federal charging documents. Speaking of Jewish people, Rush told the FBI, “I hate them with rage.” “I am feeling suicidal and homicidal. I just feel like killing Jews,” he told St. Louis police Detective James Wilcox.
NYPD INVESTIGATING THREAT AT KOSHER BAGEL STORE: ‘REMOVE THOSE ISRAELI FLAGS OR I’LL BURN THE BUILDING DOWN’
By Algemeiner Staff
The NYPD is investigating an antisemitic incident of aggravated harassment at a kosher bagel store in New York, over Israeli flags hung outside the establishment. The incident took place at Bagels & Co. in Queens, police said. A young man approached an employee and customers and said, “Remove those Israeli flags and shut the business down or I’ll burn the building down.” Caught on security cameras, the suspect can be seen wearing large gray headphones, a light-colored long-sleeved hoodie and a backpack. The unidentified male was recording the episode on his cellphone throughout.
LATEST ANTISEMITIC ASSAULT ON JEWISH MAN IN BROOKLYN PROMPTS $10,000 REWARD
By Algemeiner
The assault of a Jewish man in Brooklyn by an unknown assailant has prompted an investigation by New York police and a reward from the ADL. Responding to a call, officers arrived to find a 25-year-old man who claimed to have been punched in the face by another man who made antisemitic statements. The perpetrator fled the scene and has not been found.
SUSPECT IN BOSTON RABBI ATTACK ORDERED HELD UNTIL TRIAL
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
ANTISEMITIC ABUSE HURLED AT PREGNANT JEWISH COUPLE BY MAN ‘THREATENING TO BREAK THEIR BONES’
By MyLondon
Antisemitic abuse was hurled at a pregnant Jewish couple outside a hospital by a man ‘threatening to break their bones’. The man and woman were on their way to a maternity appointment at Whittington Hospital in North London when they were accosted. The man shouted “F Jews” at the couple outside the hospital before adding: “Move away from CCTV so I can break your bones and open you up.” The man then reportedly threw a full two-litre bottle of drink at the pregnant woman.
JEWISH LADIES CHASED ON CLAPTON COMMON BY THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD GANG REPORTEDLY THREATENING TO KILL THEM
GERMANY
‘NO RIGHT TO NAZI PROPAGANDA’: PROTESTORS MARCH AGAINST NEO-NAZI RALLY IN GERMAN TOWN
By Sharon Wrobel
A group of about 150 far-right extremists and neo-Nazis marched in residential areas of a German town for a torchlight commemoration of Adolf Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess, prompting a greater show of force by counter-protestors. Members and far-right supporters of the German “Third Way” party participated in the annual march in the Bavarian town of Wunsiedel to pay tribute to the World War II-era Nazi leader, who was once buried there. About 250 counter protestors responded by taking to the streets to demonstrate against right-wing extremism.
CANADA
HATE CRIME UNIT INVESTIGATES ANTISEMITIC VANDALISM ON COURTHOUSE IN OTTAWA
By CBC News
Ottawa police’s hate crime unit is investigating a slew of graffiti vandalism on the sides of Ottawa City Hall and the neighbouring provincial courthouse. Police say they were called to the area where someone sprayed antisemitic graffiti. More vandalism was found on Ottawa City Hall, including a reference to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson calling him a “fraud.” The mayor’s office is located inside the building.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
‘DEATH TO JEWS,’ POLISH NATIONALISTS SHOUT AT RALLY WHILE BURNING BOOK ABOUT JEWS IN POLAND
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Polish nationalists shouted “death to Jews” as they burned a book representing a historic pact protecting the rights of Poland’s Jews. The book burning at a rally in Kalisz, was part of a series of nationalist events on National Independence Day, Videos and eyewitness accounts show that Wojciech Olszański, a far-right activist, lit a red-covered book that was meant to symbolize the Statute of Kalisz. The statute served as the legal foundation for relations between non-Jews and Jews in Poland for centuries. Olszański poured a flammable liquid on the book that had been skewered on a sharp metal object, and lit the book on fire as the crowd cheered and shouted, “Death to Jews.”
BRAZILIAN JOURNALIST APOLOGIZES FOR SAYING HIS COUNTRY WOULD NEED TO KILL ITS JEWS TO MATCH GERMANY’S WEALTH
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
A journalist working for one of Brazil’s largest broadcasters apologized for saying on TV that the only way his country could match Germany’s wealth is by killing its Jews. Jose Carlos Bernardi, a pundit for Jovem Pan, a right-leaning radio and television station, made the comments in a discussion about a visit by former Brazilian president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva to Germany. Asked by journalist Amanda Klein how Brazil could attain the economic development enjoyed by Germany, Bernardi replied: “Only by attacking Jews will we get there. If we kill a gazillion Jews and appropriate their economic power, then Brazil will get rich. That’s what happened with Germany after the war.”
AUSTRALIA: JEWISH GRAVE DESECRATED IN LAUNCESTO WITH NEO-NAZI STICKER
THE MIDDLE EAST
ADL EXPOSES DOZENS OF ARABIC FACEBOOK PAGES DEDICATED TO ANTISEMITIC ‘PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION’
By Algemeiner Staff
Arabic-language pages promoting a notorious antisemitic text fabricated in the early 20th Century have become rife on Facebook, a new report from the ADL disclosed. The ADL said it had discovered “dozens of large Facebook pages or groups” promoting “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”. “All of these 39 pages or groups had over 100 likes or followers, and 19 of them had over 1,000,” noted the report. “In total, these groups and pages had been followed over 70,000 times and 34,000 likes.”
ON CAMPUS
INDIANA UNIVERSITY FORMS TASK FORCE TO COMBAT RISE IN ANTISEMITIC ACTS ON CAMPUS
By Jennie Runevitch
Indiana University has formed a new task force to combat antisemitism, following what it calls an alarming rise in antisemitic acts on its Bloomington campus. That includes religious symbols being ripped off students’ doors in residence halls. Starting in September, around Jewish High Holy Days, IU had at least a dozen reports of sacred religious symbols, mezuzahs, stolen from dormitory doors.
NATIONAL PRO-ISRAEL STUDENT GROUP ‘DISTURBED’ AFTER NEW DUKE UNIVERSITY CHAPTER BLOCKED OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POST
By Dion J. Pierre
Students Supporting Israel (SSI) said that it was “appalled” after a rare veto was issued by the student government to prevent recognition of a Duke University chapter of the pro-Israel group. SSI, which operates on over 160 college campuses in the US and abroad, said in a statement that a new chapter was chartered at Duke on Nov. 10th, with the goal of making “Israel education programming” available to students on campus. But Duke’s Student Government (DSG) President denied recognition of the new chapter, accusing the student group of “singling out” a Duke sophomore in a social media post. Earlier, the Duke sophomore had skeptically shared news of the Duke SSI’s chartering, along with the caption, “my school promotes settler colonialism.”
BUBB, MONTA LOMA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA HIT WITH OFFENSIVE GRAFFITI
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
WITH SIX INCIDENTS EVERY 24 HOURS, NO LET-UP IN ANTISEMITIC OUTRAGES IN GERMANY DURING 2021, GOVERNMENT FIGURES REVEAL
By Algemeiner Staff
New statistics released by Germany’s federal government showed no let-up in the number of antisemitic incidents this year, with an average of six incidents targeting Jews every 24 hours. As of Nov. 5, a total of 1,850 antisemitic crimes had been reported during 2021, the federal government said in response to a data request from a leader of The Left Party and the vice-president of the Bundestag. Of this year’s incidents, 35 have involved physical violence, with 17 people injured as a result of antisemitic attacks. Only 930 suspects have been identified. Just five people have been arrested and a further two arrest warrants have been issued, resulting in criticism of police inaction from some politicians.
ANTISEMITIC BULLYING AT RECORD LEVELS IN UK UNIVERSITIES, UP 59% OVER PREVIOUS YEAR
By Algemeiner Staff
Antisemitic bullying of British Jews on university campuses has reached record levels, rising by 59 percent since the previous year. There were 111 antisemitic incidents recorded in the 2020-2021 school year at universities in the United Kingdom, according to data shared by Community Security Trust (CST) nonprofit. The CST said 64 of the 111 incidents it recorded this year happened during the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip this May.
A QUARTER OF EUROPEAN JEWISH COMMUNITY LEADERS SAY THEY’VE CONSIDERED EMIGRATING AMID CONCERNS ABOUT GROWING ANTISEMITISM
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
ROMANIA MAKES HOLOCAUST EDUCATION MANDATORY IN ALL HIGH SCHOOLS
By MARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ
The Romanian Senate has adopted a law that makes it mandatory for all high schools and vocational schools in the country to teach a specific subject on the history of the Holocaust and the Jewish people. The law that passed stipulates that the course will be taught starting in 2023. Its contents will be decided by the country’s education ministry in collaboration with the Elie Wiesel Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania. In the words of Jewish lawmaker Silviu Vexler, who championed the law, the initiative aims at “countering intolerance and extremism” among youth. The law, which was previously passed by Romania’s lower chamber, was supported by 107 senators, while 13 legislators voted against it and one abstained.
POLISH, ISRAELI GOVERNMENTS CONDEMN ANTISEMITISM AT NATIONALIST RALLY
By Agencies
Israeli and Polish government officials condemned an antisemitic incident involving Polish nationalists chanting “Death to Jews” on Poland’s Independence Day. Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said he hoped that “the people who organized the shameful and scandalous assembly will suffer legal consequences.” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the “unequivocal condemnation” by Polish authorities and said Jewish people “expect the Polish government to act uncompromisingly against those who took part in this shocking display of hate.” “The horrific antisemitic incident in Poland reminds every Jew in the world of the strength of hatred that exists in the world,” Lapid said.
IHRA CHAIR AMBASSADOR CHRIS LAZARIS ON GREECE AND HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE
HUMANITY
‘Y’ALL MEANS ALL’: HUNDREDS RALLY AT TEXAS CAPITOL AGAINST RISE IN ANTISEMITIC ACTS
By KXAN
Hundreds gathered at the Texas Capitol grounds in protest against a rising number of antisemitic displays and actions in Austin — just two weeks after an arsonist set a fire at Congregation Beth Israel Halloween night. Community and state leaders convened at the Texas Capitol for the Rally for Kindness, a grassroots-led initiative aimed at challenging antisemitic acts and bigotry within the greater Austin community. ATXKind, a group formed by Jewish women in Austin, organized the event with support from Shalom Austin and the Austin region’s Anti-Defamation League.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement is a non-partisan, global grassroots movement of individuals and organizations, across all religions and faiths, united around the goal of ending antisemitism in all its forms. Since its launching in February 2019, 360 organizations and 355,000 individuals have joined the Combat Antisemitism Movement by signing the campaign’s pledge. The CAM Pledge draws upon the IHRA international definition of antisemitism and its list of specific behaviors used to discriminate against the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel.
