THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
Dear Friends,
Antisemitism concerns across the American southwest escalated, following a string of high-profile incidents in San Antonio and Austin last week. The FBI is investigating an arson at Austin’s Congregation Beth Israel, after someone set the front entrance on fire with a 5-gallon gasoline tank, causing extensive damage. Just outside of Austin, Hays County residents’ yards were leafleted with antisemitic flyers blaming the “Covid Agenda” on Jews.
In San Antonio, an appalling sign was hung outside an autobody shop that featured ‘Heil Hitler,’ the Nazi swastika, and a question: ‘How Many Poisoned Jews Does it Take to Make An Audi?’ At Arizona State University, grisly flyers were distributed asserting that Jews control the world, and at a school board meeting in suburban Phoenix a woman claimed that the Jewish race was behind Covid vaccines, critical race theory, and the recent increase in consumer prices.
The George Washington University campus community was shocked this week after a vandal broke into a fraternity house and destroyed a Jewish member’s miniature Torah scroll.
Elsewhere around the world, nine graves were destroyed in a Swiss Jewish cemetery, swastikas were spray painted near the entrance of a London synagogue, and a vandal painted “F**K Jews” outside a Jewish school in Gateshead, England. An Australian man faces charges for hanging a Nazi flag above an historic synagogue in Brisbane, and vandals destroyed a sculpture in Nordhausen, Germany that honored Jewish athletes who were persecuted by the Nazi regime.
Meanwhile, French Far-Left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon characterized Judaism as a racist and xenophobic religion, and a source of inspiration for a far-right potential presidential candidate in France.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 46 new media report s of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 32 (69.6%) from the far-right, 4 (8.7%) from the far-left, 2 (4.3%) with Islamist motivations, and 8 (17.4%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURES
CAM HISPANIC OUTREACH DIRECTOR ADDRESSES ‘IMPARABLES’ MEETING OF PRO-ISRAEL SPIRITUAL AND POLITICAL LEADERS FROM ACROSS LATIN AMERICA
CAM Director of Hispanic Outreach Shay Salamon recently took part in an “Imparables” meeting — a weekly online gathering that brings together spiritual and political leaders from across Latin America to discuss and pray for the State of Israel. Salamon was invited by Pastor Eduardo Gomez of Colombia — a member of the Latino Coalition for Israel’s Latin America Executive Committee — to share the work of CAM and give a presentation on the history of antisemitism and the Zionist movement.
INSPIRING CHRISTIAN MEDIA LEADERS TO CONFRONT THE DANGERS OF ANTISEMITISM
CAM sponsored the opening dinner of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Capitol Hill Media Summit in Washington, D.C. The event brought together the leadership of the major Christian media groups in the United States. CAM Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement EJ Kimball gave opening remarks at the dinner, highlighting CAM’s work to fight antisemitism, its unique interfaith approach, and the important role Christian media has to inform its viewers about the threat of antisemitism — a threat that targets not only Jews, but also anyone who believes the Jewish people have the same rights afforded to all other peoples in the world, including the right to self-determination and a state in their ancestral homeland.
OCTOBER SEES UPTICK IN FAR-RIGHT ANTISEMITISM, 6 IHRA ADOPTIONS, CAM MONTHLY REPORT FINDS
The CAM Information Hub tracked a total of 163 media reports of antisemitic incidents worldwide in October 2021, the exact same number as the previous month. CAM’s Monthly Antisemitism Report classifies incidents of Jew-hatred by the ideologies of the perpetrators. Of October’s incidents, 53.4% had far-right motives (a 17.6% rise from September), while 13.5% had far-left motives, and 10.4% had radical Islamist motives. The remainder — 22.7% — had unidentifiable motives.
MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS WORLDWIDE SEE SPATE OF ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS SINCE START OF ACADEMIC YEAR
In recent months, the CAM Information Hub has detected and monitored a new concerning trend — a rise in Jew-hatred incidents at middle and high schools across the globe. This perhaps should not come as a surprise, given the general worldwide surge of antisemitism witnessed in the past year, which peaked during the flare-up of Israel-Gaza violence in May, but it nevertheless requires the immediate attention of school officials and local authorities. In the short time since the current school year began, when many students returned to in-person learning after the Covid-19 pandemic, CAM has recorded 15 incidents of middle and high school-related antisemitism, largely in the United States and Canada.
UNITED STATES
AUTHORITIES RELEASE IMAGES OF SUSPECT IN AUSTIN SYNAGOGUE ARSON AS CITY COUNCIL PASSES RESOLUTION CONDEMNING ANTISEMITISM
By Benjamin Kerstein
The Austin Fire Department released images of the suspect in an arson attack on an Austin, Texas synagogue, the latest in a spate of incidents in the city that has prompted the passage of a City Council resolution condemning antisemitism. Congregation Beth Israel was set on fire on the night of Oct. 31, causing serious damage. The release said that the suspect drove into the parking lot of the synagogue in a black SUV and approached the building carrying a five-gallon gasoline can. He then returned to his vehicle. The FBI is also now investigating the incident.
‘HEIL HITLER’ SIGN OUTSIDE SAN ANTONIO AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SHOP CAUSES DISTRESS IN LOCAL COMMUNITY
By Algemeiner Staff
Residents of south side of San Antonio, Texas, have expressed distress over a bizarre sign outside a local garage that includes the words “Heil Hitler” and the Nazi swastika. The sign, in large red letters on a white banner, has been on display at the entrance to the Budget Automotive Repair shop on Quintana Road. The owner of the garage, Frank Pena said that it was his right to display the sign under the terms of the First Amendment. Local media chose to obscure the sign’s wording — “Heil Hitler and Dr. Porshe (sic) How Many Poisoned Jews Does it Take to Make An Audi?” with the “e” in “Heil” rendered as a swastika — in their reports of the controversy.
HARDWICK, VT RESIDENT’S DOOR DEFACED WITH ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
TEEN ARRESTED AFTER WALL NEAR CAMDEN SHUL DEFACED WITH SWASTIKAS
By Lee Harpin
A teenager has been arrested after walls near a synagogue in Camden were defaced with swastikas. Police were alerted to reports of a male spraying swastikas on walls in the vicinity of a synagogue in Belsize Square on Saturday night. Officers attended and began a search for the suspect. They located a 16-year-old male nearby who was arrested on suspicion of religiously aggravated criminal damage. He has been taken into custody. Further enquiries have established that other swastikas have been sprayed on walls elsewhere in the surrounding area.
SUSPECT BEHIND ‘F*** JEWS’ DAUBING AT GATESHEAD YESHIVA IS ARRESTED
By Lee Harpin
A suspect who sprayed “f**k Jews” on the pavement outside a yeshiva headquarters in Gateshead was arrested after being apprehended by two guards on duty at the building. The incident took place on Saturday – and followed two previous incidents of similar offensive daubings being sprayed in the local area last month. After catching the suspect, who had used yellow paint for the antisemitic act, the two guards called the local Community Security Trust (CST) control room and Northumbria Police to report the incident.
SWASTIKAS SIMILAR TO ONES FOUND NEAR NORTH LONDON SYNAGOGUE ON SATURDAY DISCOVERED NEARBY
GERMANY
SCULPTURE IN HONOR OF JEWISH ATHLETES DESTROYED
By Eli Nahum
Strangers destroyed a sculpture that honored a Jewish athlete in Nordhausen. The figure was part of the traveling exhibition “Between Success and Persecution. Jewish stars in German sport until 1933 and after ”and dedicated to the basketball player Ralph Klein. At the center of the exhibition are 17 German-Jewish athletes who, as national players, world and European champions or Olympic champions, were among the celebrated idols of their time. Quite a few of them were deported and murdered.
FRANCE
‘THESE TRADITIONS ARE LINKED TO JUDAISM’: FRENCH FAR-LEFT LEADER MÉLENCHON OFFERS BIZARRE DEFENSE OF FAR-RIGHT PUNDIT OVER CHARGE OF ANTISEMITISM
By Ben Cohen
The leader of France’s main far-left political party depicted Judaism as a xenophobic culture impervious to change. The context for the widely panned remarks of Jean-Luc Mélenchon — head of the La France Insoumise party — was his interview on BFMTV dealing with the potential presidential candidacy of Eric Zemmour, a far-right television pundit. Asked whether he considered Zemmour, who is Jewish, to be antisemitic, Mélenchon held up Judaism as the intellectual basis for Zemmour’s anti-immigrant, homophobic and ultranationalist platform. “Mr. Zemmour cannot be antisemitic because he reproduces many cultural themes: ‘We do not change tradition, we do not evolve, creolization, my god, what a horror,’” Mélenchon argued. “All these traditions are very much linked to Judaism.”
OTHER WORLD NEWS
AUSTRALIAN MAN FACES ‘PUBLIC NUISANCE’ CHARGE AFTER NAZI FLAG FLOWN ABOVE BRISBANE SYNAGOGUE
By CAM
A 45-year-old man from the Australian city of Brisbane will appear in court next month for flying a Nazi flag from a window of a high-rise residential building located next to a historic synagogue. After being alerted, Queensland police went to the downtown Brisbane apartment, confiscated the flag, and issued the man a public nuisance notice. The disturbing incident — taking place on Shabbat at the Brisbane Synagogue, prompted Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner to tweet, “This is sickening. For someone to fly this symbol of hatred and genocide right above the Brisbane Synagogue is pure evil. It’s time for this vile flag to be banned in Queensland.”
TOP OFFICIAL AT DUTCH TV STATION QUITS OVER ALLEGED ANTISEMITISM
By AFP
A top official at a new right-wing Dutch public television channel resigned after reports linking him to antisemitic propaganda. Taco Dankers, head of the supervisory board at Ongehoord Nederland (Unheard Netherlands), quit after the NRC daily said he runs a think-tank that promotes conspiracies about Jews and has made antisemitic comments in interviews. Dankers was the head of Gefira, a radical right-wing group that has claimed that mass migration to Europe is a Jewish plot to “dilute” the West and that the Jews were responsible for much of the Netherlands slave trade.
THE MIDDLE EAST
NAZI FLAG WITH STAR OF DAVID HUNG NEAR WEST BANK SETTLEMENT
By JPost Staff
A handmade Nazi flag with a Jewish Star of David was hung up near the entrance to Homesh, a West Bank settlement, in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The flag was discovered and taken down by “Har Shalom” Homesh Yeshiva students on Tuesday morning. A Jewish Star of David and a swastika can be seen on one side of the flag while two swastikas were sewn on its reverse.
ON CAMPUS
POLICE INVESTIGATING DESECRATION OF TORAH SCROLL AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FRATERNITY
By CNN
A fraternity house at George Washington University was vandalized, including desecration of a Torah scroll, according to the university and Tau Kappa Epsilon. “Our entire chapter is outraged and saddened by this blatant act of antisemitism and violence against our brothers,” the fraternity said. Chapter President Chris Osborne told CNN the house was broken into while members were away. “There was laundry detergent dumped on religious texts, specifically a Jewish Torah,” he said. “We believe it was an act of antisemitism,” Osborne said. “There was a Christian Bible and a Jewish Torah in the room, and only the Jewish Torah was vandalized. I believe it was a hate crime.”
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY POLICE INVESTIGATING ANTISEMITIC ‘WHO CONTROLS THE WORLD?’ FLYERS POSTED ON CAMPUS
By Dion J. Pierre
The Arizona State University Police Department is investigating the posting of antisemitic flyers on its Tempe campus, as a controversial student group denied responsibility for circulating them. The flyers — which asked, “Who Controls The World?,” and answered “Jews Do” in dripping-blood font against a Star of David — were posted near a kosher restaurant and in a newspaper dispenser. News of their discovery drew condemnation from members of the campus community, including Alma Hernandez, a Jewish Democrat in the state House of Representatives who teaches an ASU course on health policy.
MSS STUDENT RESPONDS GRAPHICALLY TO NAZI-THEMED ‘PRANK’ AT HER SCHOOL IN ONTARIO
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER DENDIAS: WE WILL FOCUS ON TACKLING ONLINE ANTISEMITISM
By Greek City Times
“We have a duty to do whatever is possible to stop the ‘pandemic’ of fake news, conspiracy theories and hate speech that is spreading on the internet and in social media,” Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias stressed in a video message to the 2nd Assembly of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) under the Greek presidency. Dendias said that in the first half of the Greek presidency “we focused our efforts on making an assessment of the ways to address the revival of antisemitism.” He added that “unfortunately, antisemitism is fed by ignorance, fear, feelings of inadequacy and conspiracy theories”. The foreign minister said that in the second half of Greece’s presidency, the focus will be on ways to tackle antisemitism in the digital sphere.
EU REFUSES TO OUTLAW THE ENTIRE HEZBOLLAH TERRORIST ENTITY
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
A spokesman for the EU said that the EU will not ban the entire terrorist movement Hezbollah and declines to say if the Islamic Republic is an antisemitic regime. When the Post asked about a full ban of Hezbollah, Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission Coordinator on combating Antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, punted the question to her EU superiors. Peter Stano, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Policy, told the Post that “The military wing of Hezbollah is already on the EU terror list. Any changes in the nature and scope of the existing listing are for EU Member States to discuss and decide by unanimity.”
AUSTRALIAN MP FARLOW URGES ADOPTION OF IHRA ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION FOR NSW
HUMANITY
SUPERMAN CREATORS TO BE POSTHUMOUSLY INDUCTED IN JEWISH AMERICAN HALL OF FAME
By JNS
The Jewish co-creators of the comic book superhero Superman will be posthumously inducted into the Jewish American Hall of Fame (JAHF) in a virtual ceremony. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster developed the superhero as well as his companion characters Clark Kent, Lois Lane and others. They will be inducted into the JAHF on Nov. 14 in a ceremony that will take place via Zoom. The event will include speeches by former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan S. Carr; Don Boozer, manager of the literature department at the Cleveland Public Library, which houses the largest collection of Superman memorabilia.
TOP SOCCER LEAGUE IN ITALY ADOPTS INTERNATIONALLY-ACCEPTED DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM
By Algemeiner Staff
Italy’s top soccer league has officially adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which provides guidance to governments and voluntary associations on identifying and responding to anti-Jewish rhetoric and discrimination. The Serie A division, composed of the leading 20 soccer clubs competing in the Italian league, adopted the IHRA definition on Nov. 1 at a meeting devoted to “The Fight against Antisemitism in Football: European Agreements.” The parley was initiated by Milena Santerini, Italy’s national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism, and included representatives of the Italian Jewish community and the president of Serie A, Paolo Dal Pino.
YEARLONG PROGRAM HELPS US COLLEGES FIND AND FIX OVERLOOKED CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM
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.
