In an op-ed published in the EU Reporter, Taulant Balla, Chairman of the Socialist Party Parliamentary Group in Albania’s Parliament, expounded upon the significance of his country adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. Balla wrote, “Adopting the IHRA definition is a powerful statement of tolerance and respect…As such, I hope that the important step which Albania has just taken, will prove to be a catalyst for others to follow suit.” Read Here
Watch this Week’s Summary of Anti-Semitic Incidents Around the World
Three Jewish cemeteries were targeted with anti-Semitic graffiti in Michigan, Hungary and Moldova and several universities witnessed acts of Jew-hatred. Fortunately, two more universities adopted the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, and international anti-Semitism envoys spoke with one voice to urge European football clubs to also adopt the IHRA definition.
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One Night That Changed The Nussbaum Family Forever
Unrelenting Anti-Semitism at the University of Illinois
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SOCIAL MEDIA SPOTLIGHT
SPECIAL FEATURE
ALBANIA’S COMMITMENT TO DEFEATING ANTI-SEMITISM CAN INSPIRE THE REGION
By Taulant Balla, Chairman of the Socialist Party Parliamentary Group of the Republic of Albania
EUROPE’S ROLE IN COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM: INTERVIEW WITH MS. KATHARINA VON SCHNURBEIN
By CAM
Ms. Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission Coordinator on Combatting Anti-Semitism and Fostering Jewish Life, spoke with CAM after recently participating in the Balkans Forum Against Anti-Semitism. Ms. von Schnurbein provided an inside perspective on European efforts to combat anti-Semitism, including the EU’s new comprehensive strategy on anti-Semitism for 2021. Read Here
UNITED STATES
HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISTS UNCOVER HITLER QUOTES IN KENTUCKY POLICE TRAINING MATERIALS
By PHILISSA CRAMER
A report by Louisville, Kentucky, high school students has drawn attention to police training materials that quoted Adolf Hitler admiringly. Hitler was the most-quoted person in a Kentucky State Police training presentation that drew quotes from Mein Kampf. Read Here
JEWISH GROUPS CALL FOR RESIGNATION OF NEW YORK SANITATION COMMISSIONER
By JNS
Jewish organizations have called on a sanitation commissioner on Long Island, N.Y., to resign after Facebook posts surfaced that included the denigration of victims of the Nazi Holocaust, anti-Semitism, white supremacy, and anti-black. Ryan Hemsley, a commissioner on the five-member Oceanside Sanitation Board, refused to do so. Read Here
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
STEVE BELL CARTOON OF STARMER AND CORBYN DRAWS CLAIMS OF ‘ANTI-SEMITISM’
By Mathilde Frot
A Steve Bell cartoon in the Guardian depicting Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer carrying Jeremy Corbyn’s decapitated head on a golden plate following Mr Corbyn’s suspension from the party. Online users compared Mr Bell’s cartoon to the Caravaggio painting, Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, depicting the princess of Judea looking away as she receives the preacher’s dismembered head on a platter. Read Here
ISLAM CHANNEL FINED $20,000 AFTER BROADCASTING SHOW THAT CONTAINED ‘ANTI-SEMITIC HATE SPEECH’
By Lee Harpin
British watchdog Ofcom has fined the Islam Channel £20,000 for broadcasting a programme that contained “anti-Semitic hate speech.” An episode of The Rightly Guided Khalifas, a religious education series, contained three breaches of the British Broadcasting Code and “associated Jewish people with ‘tyranny’, ‘oppression’, ‘troublemaking’ and ‘poisonous acts’.” Read Here
GERMANY
THE OUTER WALL OF HALLE JEWISH CEMETERY SMEARED
By dubisthalle
Unknown people smeared the outer wall of the new Jewish cemetery in Dessauer Strasse in Halle. As the police announced, a lettering was sprayed on the wall. Whether it is a politically motivated crime is the subject of the investigation. Read Here
NEO-NAZI GUNMAN WHO ATTACKED GERMAN SYNAGOGUE ON YOM KIPPYR IS FULLY CUPLABLE, EXPERT TELLS TRIAL
By Algemeiner Staff
The neo-Nazi who carried out a gun attack on Yom Kippur services at a synagogue in Halle was not suffering from a pathological disorder and was fully responsible for his act, an expert psychologist said in court. Balliet suffered from a “complex personality disorder” but was did not exhibit pathological tendencies. Read Here
THE MIDDLE EAST
FRENCH CARTOON ROW: ISLAMIC LEADERS PUSH HOLOCAUST DENIAL IN RESPONSE
By Seth J. Frantzman
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah raged against cartoons that had offended the prophet. Then in a unrelated comment, he said in a matter “less sensitive” than offending Muslims, France had prosecuted “philosopher Roger Garaudy, for questioning the myths of the so-called Holocaust.” In his speech, Nasrallah denied the Holocaust. Read Here
UN SPEAKS OF TEMPLE MOUNT AS SOLELY MUSLIM SITE, IGNORES JEWISH TIES
By Tovah Lazaroff
Some 138 United Nations countries approved a draft resolution that spoke of the Temple Mount solely as an Islamic holy site, by referencing it only by its Muslim name of al-Haram al-Sharif. The reference in the text to the Temple Mount, the most holy site in Judaism, solely by its Muslim name is viewed as an attempt to delegitimize and erase [Jewish] history. Read Here
OTHER WORLD NEWS
HEADSTONES SMASHED AT JEWISH CEMETERIES IN MOLDOVA AND HUNGARY
By JTA
Headstones were smashed and graves defaced at Jewish cemeteries in Hungary and Moldova. At least five headstones were destroyed at a cemetery in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau. Swastikas, a pentagram and the number 666 were spray painted on other headstones. The same cemetery has been targeted for vandalism for three years straight. Read Here
GREEK NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER CONVICTED OF HATE SPEECH FOR DEFAMING JEWISH LEADER
By JTA
The Athens Court of Justice imposed a $2,200 fine on Stefanos Chios, the publisher of the Makeleio newspaper. “A crude Jew who runs a loan-shark firm has bought the debts of poor Greeks. The President of the Jewish Community who pretends to be our friend, is stealing our money through the back door,” Chios wrote in about the previous president of the Jewish Community of Athens. Read Here
ON CAMPUS
QUEEN MARY REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO INCLUSION BY ADOPTING IHRA DEFINITION OF ANTI-SEMITISM
By Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London has formally to adopted in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism at a meeting of the University Senate. The adoption provides a clear working definition that can be applied when dealing with complaints under the University’s policies. Read Here
PACE UNIVERSITY STUDENT GOVERNMENT ADOPTS UNIVERSAL DEFINITION OF ANTI-SEMITISM
By JNS
The student government at Pace University in New York City adopted the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. The resolution was introduced by Eden Litvin, a student at the school and president of its chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), and co-signed by SSI, the university’s Hillel and the Israeli-American Council Mishelanu campus network. Read Here
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT, ACTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM ARE ALSO ACTS OF HATE
By Matan S. Doron
STUDIES & STATISTICS
ANTI-SEMITISM AS AN UNDERLYING PRECURSOR TO VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN AMERICAN FAR-RIGHT AND ISLAMIST CONTEXTS
By GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY PROGRAM ON EXTREMISM & DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
Based on this report’s finding that anti-Semitism is foundational to multiple violent extremist movements in the United States, counter-extremism practitioners and scholars may consider incorporating anti-Semitism as a diagnostic factor for extremist radicalization. Anti-Semitism has long been widespread among American extremist movements of multiple persuasions, acting as a least common denominator between extremist groups. Read Full Report Here
FEATURED PARTNER
The Pinsker Centre is a a think tank supporting free speech and open debate on university campuses. The Centre focuses on global foreign policy, contemporary geopolitical issues facing the Middle East, and brings distinct specialism in discussing the challenges of the State of Israel. The Pinsker Centre actively promotes academic engagement and seeks to combat intolerance of both peoples and ideas.
THE CAERULEAN: ”IN CONVERSATION WITH ELAN CARR”
By Dan Mikhaylov
On June 4th, the Pinsker Centre and the S&P Sephardi Community co-hosted a webinar to discuss fighting intolerance and anti-Semitism. It was moderated by the Professor of Political Science at UCL, Dr Melanie Garson, who specialises in international conflict resolution. They were joined by Elan Carr, the US Special Envoy to monitor and combat Anti-Semitism (SEAS). Read Here
FROM OUR PARTNERS
WATCH: SPECIAL SERIES ON WHITE SUPREMACY
By CAM
Alums for Campus Fairness released the final chapter in a four-part video series on white supremacy. The organization initiated the series as anti-Semitism has risen across the US, including on campuses. Read Here
CALLING CAMPUSES TO ADOPT IHRA’S DEFINITION OF ANTI-SEMITISM
By Ilan Sinelnikov
The SSI movement has set itself an important goal this academic year. The national movement and its chapters are working on promoting the official adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism by student governments, academic departments, and school deans. Read Here
BRITISH LAWYERS, ACTIVISTS SEEK TO DISMANTLE RACIST, ANTI-SEMITIC YOUTUBE ALTERNATIVE WEBSITE
By Eliana Rudee
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL ENVOYS ON ANTI-SEMITISM CO-SIGN LETTER URGING FOOTBALL CLUBS TO ADOPT IHRA DEFINITION OF ANTI-SEMITISM
By YOSSI LEMPKOWICZ
European and International Special Envoys to combat anti-Semitism have co-signed a letter urging football clubs to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism ‘’in order to strengthen the resolve of the Jewish community and support the international work on combating anti-Semitism in football.’ The initiative came from Lord John Mann, the British government’s adviser on anti-Semitism. Read Here
MALAWI SAYS IT WILL BE FIRST AFRICAN NATION TO OPEN EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM
By Algemeiner Staff and Agencies
Malawi announced it would become the first African nation to open an embassy in Jerusalem. Malawi Foreign Minister Eisenhower Mkaka described the decision as a “bold and significant step.” The embassy is expected to open by next summer. Read Here
BELGIAN CITY OF ANTWERP BOOSTS PROTECTION FOR JEWISH COMMUNITY AFTER VIENNA ATTACK
By Algemeiner Staff
HUMANITY
HUNDREDS OF SCHOOLS GET SHOAH TEXTBOOKS TO COUNTER CONSPIRACY THEORY EXPOSURE
By JEWISH NEWS REPORTER
Hundreds of schools across England are to receive copies of a research-informed textbook on the Holocaust to help combat myths and misconceptions held by students. Teachers are increasingly concerned about the levels of Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism, hate speech and extremism which young people are exposed to online, the co-author of the book has said. Read More
WILL.I.AM FROM BLACK EYED PEAS ASKS ‘WHAT’S UP MISHPACHA?’ IN NEW MUSIC VIDEO WITH ISRAELI POP DUO STATIC AND BEN EL
By Shiryn Ghermezian
Israeli pop duo Static and Ben El have collaborated with the Black Eyed Peas on a new English song titled “Shake Ya Boom Boom.” “What’s up mishpacha?” Black Eyed Peas lead member will.i.am calls out toward the beginning of the song’s music video, before later singing “Shalom” in the song’s opening lyrics. Read Here
The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement is a non-partisan, global grassroots movement of individuals and organizations, across all religions and faiths, united around the goal of ending anti-Semitism in all its forms. Since its launching in February 2019, 289 organizations and 297,000 individuals have joined the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement by signing the campaign’s pledge. The CAM Pledge draws upon the IHRA international definition of anti- Semitism and its list of specific behaviors used to discriminate against the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel.
