MP Dame Louise Ellman quit the Labour Party, saying Jeremy Corbyn is “not fit” to become prime minister. The Liverpool Riverside MP said in a letter she had been “deeply troubled” by the “growth of anti-Semitism” in Labour. Dame Louise, who is Jewish, has been a party member for 55 years but said she “can no longer advocate voting Labour when it risks Corbyn becoming PM”. Read Here
Please forward to your family and friends and ask them to take the Combat Anti-Semitism pledge today! Join The Movement and make a difference!
THIS WEEK’S CONTENT
As we look back, 2019 was a challenging year for the Jewish people. In the United States, violent assailants struck Jewish institutions in Poway, Monsey and Jersey City. The Halle attack in Germany, the Jeremy Corbyn led Labour Party in the UK, and the multitude of other incidents across the continent, illustrated that Jews in Europe are again under attack.
These stories help remind us of the struggles that occurred in 2019, while also recognizing the important policy initiatives and support from civil society in the last year.
At CAS, we are making progress growing our coalition, building awareness and addressing key areas for action. It has never been more important to be united in the fight against anti-Semitism, and thanks to your support and with your help we will continue to grow and have a greater impact in 2020.
Best wishes for a healthy, safe, and happy new year.
WATCH: 2019 Summary of Anti-Semitism Around the World
UNITED STATES
(8 Articles)
1. SHOOTING AT THE CHABAD OF POWAY LEFT 1 DEAD AND 3 WOUNDED
By Jennifer Medina, Christopher Mele and Heather Murphy
The gunman entered Poway Synagogue on Saturday, April 27th, yelling anti-Semitic slurs, and opened fire with an A.R. 15-style gun. He paused when the rabbi of the congregation tried to talk with him. But he fired again, shooting the rabbi in the hand. His attack left a 60-year-old woman dead, the rabbi wounded and a 34-year-old man and a girl with shrapnel wounds. It was the Sabbath and the last day of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Jewish freedom. Read Here
2. ILHAN OMAR AND RASHIDA TLAIB PARTNERED WITH VICIOUS ANTI-SEMITES TO PLAN THEIR TRIP TO ISRAEL
BY DAVID FRENCH
The most important element of the story is the fact that the two congresswomen shunned a bipartisan delegation to Israel to go on a trip to Israel sponsored by anti-Semitic group, Mifta, who has published blood libel, neo-Nazi propaganda and celebrates terrorism against Jews. Read Here
3. ANTI-SEMITIC POSTERS, GRAFFITI FOUND AT NY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL ON YOM KIPPUR EVE
By JTA
On Yom Kippur eve, anti-Semitic stickers, posters, and graffiti were discovered at the Holocaust Garden of Remembrance memorial in White Plains, NY. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist local authorities in investigating what he called a “heinous act.” Read Here
4. ABOUT 75 HEADSTONES TOPPLED AT JEWISH CEMETERY IN NEBRASKA
By AP
Police say about 75 headstones have been toppled and more than $50,000 in damage caused at the Temple Israel Cemetery in northeastern Omaha. The headstones had been pushed off their bases, and many were broken.
Read Here
5. AN 18-YEAR-OLD IS ACCUSED OF DIRECTING SYNAGOGUE ATTACKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY UNDER THE NAME ‘OPERATION KRISTALLNACHT,’ ACCORDING TO THE FBI
By NICOLE EINBINDER
Federal authorities have accused a New Jersey man of ordering the vandalism of synagogues in Michigan and Wisconsin in September. 18-year-old Richard Tobin directed members of a white supremacist organization to deface the synagogues with swastikas and other anti-Semitic symbols. Tobin said he directed members to vandalize properties throughout the country, launching “Operation Kristallnacht” to “tag the sh-t” out of synagogues. Read Here
6. DEADLY SHOOTING IN JERSEY CITY KOSHER MARKET Leaves 3 dead, 3 wounded
By AP AND TOI STAFF
US investigators are looking to pinpoint what prompted a deadly attack on a Jewish market in Jersey City amid fears that it was motivated by anti-Semitism. A gun battle and standoff at the JC Kosher supermarket turned the neighborhood into a virtual war zone and left four people dead. Officials believe the two dead attackers identified themselves as Black Hebrew Israelites, a movement whose members have been known to rail against white people and Jews. Authorities have found social media postings from one of the attackers that were anti-police and anti-Jewish. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop called the bloodshed a hate crime against Jews, as did New York’s mayor and governor, as well as Jewish groups. Read Here
7. BEVERLY HILLS POLICE INVESTIGATE VANDALISM AT NESSAH SYNAGOGUE AS A HATE CRIME
By THOMAS CURWEN
Beverly Hills police are investigating the vandalism of Nessah Synagogue after an employee arrived to discover an open door, overturned furniture and damage to several relics. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. Damage inside the synagogue was “ugly,” according to one witness, and will require extensive cleanup. A place of worship for the Persian Jewish community, the Nessah Synagogue occupies a respected place in Los Angeles’ Iranian community. Read Here
8. fiVe Wounded in a Stabbing attack at Rabbi’s Home in N.Y. Suburb
By Rebecca Liebson, Neil Vigdor, Michael Gold and Eliza Shapiro
A man with a large knife burst into the home of a Hasidic rabbi in a New York suburb on Saturday night, stabbing and wounding five people just as they were gathering to light candles for Hanukkah, officials and a witness said. The suspect, that appears to be an African American male from Harlem, has been arrested. This week we have seen over eight anti-Semitic incidents in the state of New York. Read Here
ISRAEL AND THE REST OF THE WORLD
(4 Pieces)
1. THIS YEAR’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE UK
LABOUR IN CHAOS AS VETERAN MP JOHN MANN RESIGNS SAYING HE WILL ‘NEVER FORGIVE’ CORBYN FOR ‘LETTING ANTI-SEMITES HIJACK SOUL OF PARTY’
By BRITTANY VONOW
Labour was thrown into chaos as a veteran MP John Mann stood down after 18 years in parliament and took aim at Corbyn for his failure to tackle the anti-Semitism crisis that has seen more than half a dozen MPs quit in protest. Read Here
OUTRAGE OVER CORBYN’S ROSH HASHANAH VIDEO FEATURING ACTIVIST WHO SAID KADDISH FOR HAMAS MEMBER
BY JC REPORTER 
A Rosh Hashanah video by Jeremy Corbyn has sparked outrage. In the video, the opposition leader visits a grocer in London, where he discusses the Jewish New Year symbols of honey and apples. Entering the shop alongside Mr. Corbyn is Rob Abrams, a Jewish anti-Zionist activist who led a Kaddish in Parliament Square for the 62 Palestinians killed on the Israel-Gaza border, at least 50 of whom were Hamas operatives. Read Here
LOUISE ELLMAN: MP QUITS LABOUR OVER ANTI-SEMITISM CONCERNS
By BBC
RED PAINT DAUBED ON BRIGHTON SHUL ON EVE OF KRISTALLNACHT ANNIVERSARY
By JEWISH NEWS REPORTER
Blood red paint has been thrown over the door of the historic Middle Street Synagogue in Brighton on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Worshippers found the doors to the 144-year-old building had been splashed with a dark substance. The anti-Semitic vandalism has been slammed as “cowardly” as it came on the 81st anniversary of the infamous Nazi attack on Jewish stores and buildings. Read Here
RABBI BEATEN WHILE VISITING LONDON BY 2 TEENS SHOUTING ‘F*** JEWS’
By JTA
A rabbi visiting London was beaten and left bleeding on the ground in the city’s Stamford Hill neighborhood. Two teenagers allegedly shouted “kill Jews” and “f*** Jews” during the attack, according to the Shomrim of Stamford Hill. The attack has been reported to London Police. Read Here
LONDON MAN JAILED FOR ‘VILE’ ANTI-SEMITIC HARASSMENT OF JEWISH WOMEN
By ALGEMEINER STAFF
A 20-year-old man from London was jailed after he admitted to stalking and harassing Jewish women. Sam Hemmati targeted a number of Jewish victims and bombarded them with anti-Semitic messages across several different social media platforms. Hemmati sent the victims sexually-explicit material and made offensive comments, including making reference to the Holocaust. Read Here
‘Sickening’ antisemitic graffiti on synagogue and shops in London
Peter Stubley
The Jewish community in London to terrible images of anti-Semitic graffiti spray-painted on shops and a synagogue. The Star of David accompanied by messages suggesting Israel is behind September 11th terrorist attacks were found across the city. The authorities are investigating these incidents and various inquiries are underway to find who is responsible. Read Here
2. THIS YEAR’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM IN GERMANY
IN TWO CASES, MEN WEARING KIPPAS TARGETED WITH ANTI-SEMITIC INSULTS IN GERMANY
BY JTA
An Orthodox rabbi and a 20-year-old man, both wearing kippas, were subjected to anti-Semitic slurs in separate incidents in Germany. The rabbi was targeted Monday night in Dusseldorf and the young man on Sunday night in Berlin. In Dusseldorf, Rabbi Chaim Barkahn told the German news agency dpa that he was insulted with anti-Semitic slurs and followed on the street. In the Berlin incident, in the Prenzlauer Berg district, the man said the perpetrators allegedly also tried to spit on him. Both incidents are being investigated. Read Here
VICIOUS ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACK IN GERMANY: ‘NOT SURPRISED HITLER GASSED YOU!’
BY JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Outside a synagogue, in Freiburg, Germany a man viciously cursed and threatened the synagogue’s community leader. The man approached 62-year old Irina Katz, who was welcoming congregants, and shouted “Away with you! Otherwise, I’ll beat you dead, you whore! Away! Away! Are we in Germany or in Jew-land? I’m not surprised Hitler gassed you!” Katz said that attacks on the synagogue had increased, including attempts at arson, vandalism, and throwing of beer cans. “Jews in the city live in fear and ‘Jew’ has become a curse word on school yards. Read Here
2 SHOT DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED AS GERMAN SYNAGOGUE TARGETED IN YOM KIPPUR ATTACK
BY TOI STAFF
Tragedy struck in Germany on Yom Kippur. Two people were shot dead in the city of Halle by a neo-Nazi gunman outside a synagogue as dozens of Jews prayed inside. The perpetrator sought to enter the synagogue but security measures in place helped to “withstand the attack,” which was live-streamed by the gunman. Read Here
76-YEAR-OLD BERLIN PENSIONER BEATEN UP IN BROAD DAYLIGHT BY ANTI-SEMITIC ASSAILANT
By ALGEMEINER STAFF
An elderly man has been viciously beaten up in broad daylight on a Berlin street by a youth who showered him with anti-Semitic abuse. The 76-year-old pensioner was walking along the Berliner Strasse in the Pankow district of the German capital when his passage was blocked by a 16-year-old youth and four of his friends. Read Here
3. THIS year’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST
AL JAZEERA PULLS VIDEO CLAIMING JEWS EXPLOITED HOLOCAUST TO CREATE ISRAEL
By STUART WINER
Al Jazeera on Saturday removed an Arabic-language video that questioned Holocaust history, accused Jews of exploiting the massacres of their European communities in order to establish the State of Israel, and suggested that Zionism itself is derived from Nazi ideology. The seven-minute video, published on the network’s AJ+ channel Friday, drew sharp condemnation from the [Israeli] Foreign Ministry and the World Jewish Congress, which both denounced the video as promoting anti-Semitism in the Arab world. Read Here
EGYPTIAN ACADEMIC: ‘JEWS EAT MATZAH MADE WITH DONATED HUMAN BLOOD’
By JNS
Dr. Fouad Abdel Wahed, an Egyptian professor of Hebrew at King Saud University, said in an episode of the anti-Semitic Egyptian TV show “Blue Line” that Jews eat matzah on Passover that contain human blood. Read Here
HIZBULLAH SECRETARY-GENERAL HASSAN NASRALLAH: WE HAVE ENOUGH MISSILES TO SEND ISRAEL BACK TO THE STONE AGE
By MEMRI
Hizbullah Secretary-General Nasrallah said that Hizbullah can strike any part of Israel. Pointing at a map, he turned his attention to Israel’s coast, where most of Israel’s population lives and implied that Hizbullah has thousands of missiles that it can use to send Israel “back to the stone age.” Read Here
IRAN GUARDS CHIEF: DESTROYING ISRAEL NOW NOT A DREAM BUT AN ‘ACHIEVABLE GOAL’
By AFP
General Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard said destroying the Jewish State was now an “achievable goal. “We have managed to obtain the capacity to destroy the impostor Zionist regime. This sinister regime must be wiped off the map and this is no longer a dream but it is an achievable goal.” Read Here
PALESTINIAN WHO CONVERTED TO JUDAISM ARRESTED, BADLY BEATEN BY PA FORCES
By YIFAT ERLICH
A Palestinian from the West Bank who converted to Judaism in Israel was arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces. He claims to have been tortured on multiple occasions, which left his limbs badly burned. The 50-year-old is a Hebron resident who worked at a supermarket in the Jerusalem area. He converted on the eve of Rosh Hashanah in the city of Bnei Brak. Read Here
AL-JAZEERA’S MIDAN VOICE INTERNET CHANNEL: JEWS CREATED AND CONTROL THE PORN INDUSTRY IN ORDER TO POLLUTE AMERICAN AND CHRISTIAN VALUES
By MEMRI
A video about Jewish control of the pornography industry was uploaded by Midan Voice, an Al-Jazeera Internet audio channel directed at youth. The narrator said that the Jews dominate the porn industry and spread pornography in order to “pollute Christian culture” and destroy American values. Read Here
4. This Year’s News on anti-Semitism in other parts of the World.
ISRAELI EMBASSY IN FINLAND ATTACKED FOR 15TH TIME IN 18 MONTHS
By MARCY OSTER
The Israeli embassy in Finland has been vandalized by neo-Nazi and far-right extremists for at least the 15th time in the last year and a half. The glass front door of the embassy in Helsinki was shattered over the weekend, and images of swastikas and Adolf Hitler were hung in the entrance to the building. Read Here
5 MEN TELL HUNGARIAN CANTOR AND HIS WIFE THEY ‘BELONG IN THE GAS CHAMBER’
By MARCY OSTER
Five young men in Hungary told a Jewish cantor on the street that he and his wife are “filthy Jews” who “belong in the gas chamber.” “They also shouted the Nazi salute “Sieg Heil. Read Here
‘FREE PALESTINE’ SPRAY-PAINTED ON BARCELONA’S LARGEST SYNAGOGUE
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
“Free Palestine” was spray-painted on the front door of the largest synagogue in Barcelona. The vandalism took place at the Synagogue of the Jewish Community of Barcelona. Police have no suspects. Read Here
ISRAELIS BRUTALLY BEATEN IN POLAND CLUB, ATTACKERS SAID TO SCREAM ‘F**K ISRAEL’
By TOI STAFF
Several Israelis were brutally assaulted in a club in Warsaw after they were approached by a group of “Arabic speakers” who asked them if they were from Israel. “When they answered in the affirmative, they were relentlessly attacked, accompanied by shouts of ‘fuck Israel. Read Here
ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI PAINTED ON WALL OF FORMER KRAKOW GHETTO
By JTA AND KATARZYNA MARKUSZ
Polish police are looking for vandals that painted a swastika and other graffiti on the wall of the former ghetto in Krakow. The graffiti read “whores Jews, get the f**k out of Poland” alongside a swastika. Police investigated in the area but did not find any clues leading to the vandal. Read Here
AUSTRALIAN JEWISH BOY FORCED TO KISS MUSLIM CLASSMATE’S SHOES, DRAWING OUTCRY
By JTA
In Melbourne, Australia, a five-year-old Jewish student began wetting himself in class after he was subjected to anti-Semitic bullying over the course of months, while a 12-year-old Jewish student was forced to kiss the feet of a Muslim child and was physically assaulted. Both Jewish students had to leave their public schools because their families felt the principals did not provide them adequate support. Read Here
ON KRISTALLNACHT ANNIVERSARY, YELLOW STARS APPEAR ON JEWISH HOMES IN SCANDINAVIA
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Stickers shaped like yellow stars that Nazis made Jews wear were placed on multiple Jewish sites in Denmark and Sweden on the Kristallnacht anniversary. In Denmark, the stickers were found on the mailbox of Ella and Henrik Chievitz, a Jewish couple from Silkeborg, on the home of another Jewish family in the Copenhagen area and on the Jewish cemetery of Randers. Read Here
FRANCE ANTI-SEMITISM: JEWISH GRAVES DEFACED WITH NAZI SWASTIKAS
By BBC
More than 100 graves at a Jewish cemetery in France have been defaced with Nazi swastikas in the latest in a wave of anti-Semitic attacks. Vandals spray-painted the gravestones in the eastern town of Westhoffen, near Strasbourg, days after another incident in a nearby village. In response, President Emmanuel Macron said France would fight anti-Semitism “until our dead can sleep in peace”. One tombstone was defaced with the words “Elsässischen Schwarzen Wolfe” (“Black Alsatian Wolves”), the name of a militant far-right group active in the 1970s and 1980s. Read Here
ISRAELI STUDENT IN PARIS SAYS HE WAS BEATEN UNCONSCIOUS FOR SPEAKING HEBREW
By TOI STAFF
An Israeli student was assaulted in the Paris metro after he was heard speaking Hebrew. France’s National Bureau of Vigilance Against anti-Semitism identified the student as B. Yogev, 30. It said he entered the train at the Château d’Eau station in Paris and answered a phone call from his father before he was accosted by two men, described as tall and of African origin. One of those men attacked the student, striking him on the head, body, and face. The student fainted on the floor of the train car. Read Here
ON CAMPUS
(9 Articles)
1. PRO-ISRAEL NYU STUDENTS FILE CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT FOR ‘EXTREME ANTI-SEMITISM’ ON CAMPUS
By JENNI FINK
Pro-Israel students at New York University (NYU) filed a civil rights complaint alleging the school failed to act properly in addressing the activities of the NYU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) that gave rise to “extreme anti-Semitism” at the school. Read Here
2. DUKE UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA TO BE PROBED OVER ‘ANTI-ISRAEL’ GAZA CONFERENCE
by TOI STAFF
The US Department of Education will investigate a Middle East conference on Gaza co-sponsored by two North Carolina universities over allegations that it was biased against Israel. Rep. George Holding (R, NC), called on the department to check into the late March conference co-sponsored by Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Read Here
3. ‘IF YOU CAN’T BE ANTI-SEMITIC, THERE’S NO FREE SPEECH,’ MALAYSIAN PM MAHATHIR MOHAMAD TELLS APPRECIATIVE CROWD AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
By Ben Cohen
Speaking to a packed audience, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad refused to say whether he accepted the fact that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. He also said “Why can’t I say something about the Jews, when people say nasty things about me? When you say ‘you cannot be anti-Semitic,’ there is no free speech.” Read Here
4. PRO-PALESTINIAN STUDENT WALKS OUT ON HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR’S SPEECH AFTER ACCUSING ISRAEL OF ‘ETHNIC CLEANSING’
By BEN SALES
Following a speech by a Holocaust survivor, Benedictine University senior Ayah Ali called on the Holocaust survivor to condemn the establishment of Israel and then walked out on his speech after he did not do so. Ali is affiliated with the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Read Here
5. HUNDREDS OF JEWISH STUDENTS WALK OUT IN PROTEST AS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDENT SENATE PASSES RESOLUTION DENYING LINK BETWEEN ANTI-ZIONISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM
By CALEB GALARAGA
More than 400 Jewish students walked out in protest during a student government meeting at the University of Illinois at which a motion was approved denying any link between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. The document was authored by five student senators aligned with Students for Justice in Palestine. Read Here
6. REPORT SAYS SJP PROMULGATES ‘BLATANT FORMS OF ANTI-SEMITISM’
By AARON BANDLER
A new report from the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP) states that National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) has promulgated “blatant forms of anti-Semitism” across college campuses nationwide. The report also documents alleged instances of SJP-incited altercations on college campuses. Read Here
7. Protesters violently disrupt pro-Israel event at Toronto’s York University
By JTA
Violence erupted at a protest by pro-Palestinian students against an appearance by Israeli army reservists at York University in Toronto. Members of the university chapter of Students Against Israeli Apartheid, or SAIA, tried to shut down a university-approved panel discussion featuring Reservists on Duty, a group made up of former Israeli soldiers. Read Here
8. JEWISH STUDENT GOV’T MEMBER AT MCGILL U TOLD TO CANCEL ISRAEL TRIP OR RESIGN
By DAVID LAZARUS
A Jewish student leader at McGill University in Montreal is fighting efforts to oust her from the student union for accepting a trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Jordyn Wright, a member of the Student Society of McGill University’s legislative council and board of directors, said she is “outraged and disgusted” She is refusing to resign or quit the trip, despite the threat of impeachment upon return. Read Here
9. ARIZONA STATE U STUDENT GOVERNMENT PASSES A RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT JEWISH STUDENTS
By JTA
The undergraduate student government of Arizona State University passed a resolution in support of the Tempe school’s Jewish students. The resolution says the student government supports “all students in mutual civil dialogue and debate in an environment that is free from threat and intimidation,” and that it “does not support anti-Semitism, and stands by the Jewish community.” Read Here
STUDIES AND STATISTICS
(5 Pieces)
1. A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM BY TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY’S KANTOR CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN JEWRY
By ARON HELLER
More Jews were killed in anti-Semitic violence around the world in 2018 than during any other year in decades, according to a report released Wednesday by the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University. The result has been a “sense of emergency” among Jews in many countries, resulting from concerns over both their security and their “place” in society, said Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress, during an address Wednesday. Read Here
2. GERMANY ISSUES AN ‘EARLY WARNING’ REPORT ABOUT RISE OF ISLAMIST ANTI-SEMITISM
By TOBY AXELROD
Germany’s top intelligence agency, the BfV, has written a comprehensive analysis about rising anti-Semitism by Islamist extremists amongst recent Muslim immigrants or refugees. In 2018, the government appointed a commissioner, Felix Klein, to focus specifically on the topic. Read Here
3. FOUR ANTI-SEMITIC CRIMES PER DAY SINCE 2001,’ OFFICIAL GERMAN STATISTICS REVEAL
BY BEN COHEN
Statistics on hate crimes compiled by Germany’s Interior Ministry demonstrate that an average of four anti-Semitic incidents have been reported every day for nearly 20 years. According to the ministry, there were a total of 1,799 anti-Semitic offenses in 2018. Read Here
4. THE HARASSMENT OF JEWISH STUDENTS ON U.S. CAMPUSES: HOW ELIMINATIONIST ANTI-ZIONISM AND ACADEMIC BDS INCITE CAMPUS ANTI-SEMITISM
By AMCHA INITIATIVE
Acts of classical anti-Semitism in the U.S. reached near-historic levels in 2018, the nation’s colleges and universities revealed a different but troubling story. According to AMCHA Initiative’s survey of anti-Semitic activity in 2018 on campuses across the country, harassment motivated by classical anti-Semitism decreased. However, the number of Israel-related acts of harassment increased significantly. Read Here
5. ROUGHLY ONE-QUARTER OF EUROPEANS ARE ANTI-SEMITES, ACCORDING TO NEW ADL POLL
By JNS
Approximately one in four Europeans holds anti-Semitic views, according to a global 2019 poll released by the Anti-Defamation League. The results were particularly alarming with regard to Eastern and Central Europe, where the study found a significant increase in anti-Semitic beliefs linked to old tropes such as Jews controlling business and finance, and having “dual loyalty.” In Western Europe, levels of anti-Semitism have remained more consistent, according to the study. Read Here
SPECIAL ENVOY TO MONITOR & COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM UPDATE
This section also highlights the work of government officials around the world that are combating anti-Semitism in their official capacities.
(10 Articles)
1. SECRETARY OF STATE MICHAEL POMPEO NAMES ELAN CARR SPECIAL ENVOY TO COMBAT & MONITOR ANTI-SEMITISM
By AMANDA BORSCHEL-DAN and DAVID HOROVITZ
On February 5th, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the appointment of Elan Carr to serve as the Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism. Carr, a Jewish Iraq War veteran and lawyer, will be the first Special Envoy to serve during the Trump administration. Carr’s appointment has garnered widespread bipartisan support. As Special Envoy, Carr will advance US foreign policy on anti-Semitism, developing and implementing policies and projects to support efforts to combat anti-Semitism abroad. Carr is uniquely qualified for such a task, since he not only has the professional expertise needed, but also has a personal connection to anti-Semitism. Read Here
2. POMPEO AT AIPAC SAYS ‘ANTI-ZIONISM IS ANTI-SEMITISM’
By ERIC CORTELLESSA
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announces that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. “Don’t get me wrong,” he added, “criticizing Israel’s policies is an acceptable thing to do in a democracy. But criticizing the very right to exist of Israel is not acceptable. Anti-Zionism denies the very legitimacy of the Israeli state and of the Jewish people. Read Here
3. CANADA TO ADOPT HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE ALLIANCE DEFINITION OF ANTI-SEMITISM
By JTA
Canada will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, saying the decision is part of the government’s anti-racism strategy. Read Here
4. UN RELEASES ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ REPORT LINKING ANTI-SEMITISM TO BDS MOVEMENT
BY JNS
An ‘unprecedented’ UN report “Combatting Anti-Semitism to Eliminate Discrimination and Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief,” was released by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed, and defines anti-Semitism as a global phenomenon coming from the far right, radical Islamist groups and from the political left. It also links anti-Semitism to the BDS movement. Read Here
5. GERMAN OFFICIALS PRESENT PLAN TO COMBAT ANTI-SEMITIC VIOLENCE, FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISM
By DW
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and his 16 state-level counterparts have agreed to measures aiming to prevent attacks like in the city of Halle. Seehofer underscored the necessity of making it more difficult for people who exhibit extremist tendencies to obtain firearms. Seehofer and his colleagues released a 10-point plan for addressing extremism. Read Here
6. SENATORS ANNOUNCE BIPARTISAN TASK FORCE TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM
By AARON BANDLER
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and James Lankford (R-Okl.) announced that they are launching the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism. Rosen and Lankford urged their colleagues to put political partisanship aside and join the task force. The task force will work with “law enforcement, federal agencies, state and local government, educators, advocates, clergy, and other stakeholders” to denounce, provide education and support legislation to help fight anti-Semitism. Read Here
7. Court Annuls Municipal BDS Campaign in Spain Over ‘Violation of Fundamental Rights’
By Algemeiner Staff
A Spanish court has found that a decision by the city hall of Camargo in Cantabria, northern Spain, to boycott companies over their ties to Israel was illegal, a Madrid-based pro-Israel group announced. The Contentious Administrative Court number 1 of Santander, called the city hall’s support of the boycott campaign “a clear violation of the fundamental rights to equality.” Read Here
8. FRENCH PARLIAMENT DECIDES ANTI-ZIONISM IS ANTI-SEMITISM
BY LAHAV HARKOV
Anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism, France’s National Assembly determined, voting on a resolution calling on the government to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism. The motion passed 154-72. “For some years now, France, the whole of Europe, but also almost all Western democracies are facing a rise in anti-Semitism,” the resolution states. “Anti-Zionist acts can at times hide anti-Semitic realities. Hate toward Israel due to its perception as a Jewish collective is akin to hatred toward the entire Jewish community.” Read Here
9. Greece to officially adopt broad definition of anti-Semitism
By MARCY OSTER
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made the announcement on Friday during a meeting at his office with the President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, David Saltiel, and the head of the Greek Delegation to the IHRA, Dr. Efstathios Lianos Liantis, the Ekathimerini newspaper reported.Mitsotakis assigned the country’s vice president, Panagiotis Pikrammenos, oversight of the project as well as coordinating and supervising the integration of the IHRA definitions into domestic legislation and education. Read Here
10. TRUMP TO SIGN ORDER TARGETING ANTI-SEMITISM ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES
BY PETER BAKER AND MAGGIE HABERMAN
President Trump signed an executive order targeting anti-Semitism on college campuses by threatening to withhold federal money from educational institutions that fail to combat discrimination. The order effectively interprets Judaism as a nationality, not just a religion, to trigger a federal law penalizing colleges and universities deemed to be shirking their responsibility to foster an open climate for minority students. Read Here
REAL stories
(4 Videos)
1. Israeli restaurant owner in Berlin fights Anti-Semitism
Yorai Feinberg
1. NY Student DISCUSSES THE “EXTREME ANTI-SEMITISM” THAT HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO FESTER ON NYU’S CAMPUS
ADELA COjab
3. French mother of four discusses the anti-Semitism she and her family experienced in France.
Sarah
4. RABBI RIVKIN ON TOWSON UNIVERSITY “COMBAT HATE RALLY”
RABBI RIVKIN
HUMANITY
(7 Articles)
1. GERMAN NEWSPAPER PRINTS CUT-OUT KIPPAH, URGING READERS TO WEAR IT IN SOLIDARITY WITH JEWS
By JACK GUY
Bestselling German newspaper Bild published a cut-out kippah on its front-page, urging readers to show their solidarity with the country’s Jewish community in the face of rising anti-Semitism. The move comes after a leading government official warned Jews in Germany not to wear skullcaps in public because of an increase in anti-Semitic attacks. Read Here
2. POLISH ORGANIZATION AIMS TO RESTORE COUNTRY’S JEWISH HERITAGE, BUILDING BOTH BRIDGES AND AWARENESS
By ELIANA RUDEE
Michał Laszczkowski, CEO of Poland’s Cultural Heritage Foundation, is the visionary behind the $28 million restoration and documenting of Jewish sepulchral heritage in Poland and has raised funds from Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Their biggest project is cleaning up the major Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. Laszczkowski expressed the need for Poles “to have a place to understand Jewish heritage and contributions to Polish society.” Read Here
3. UAE TO OPEN SYNAGOGUE, PART OF INTERFAITH COMPOUND, IN 2022
By TOI STAFF
The United Arab Emirates will build a new synagogue as part of an interfaith compound that will also house a mosque and church and is reportedly set to open in 2022. The announcement of the Abrahamic Family House is part of an interfaith initiative to oversee projects advancing tolerance. Read Here
4. A GROUNDBREAKING ARAB INITIATIVE TO REPUDIATE BDS
BY JENNI FRAZER
In a groundbreaking event in London, 30 public figures from 15 countries in the Arab world came together to repudiate the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel and to call for direct civil relations between the Jewish state and their respective societies. The participants came from all over the Arab world, and were young and old, men and women, diplomats, media and arts personalities, often at odds with the leadership of their states but taking a nuanced and independent route to talking about the resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict. Read Here
5. LEBANESE BUSINESSMAN TO GIVE HITLER HAT TO ISRAELI FOUNDATION
BY FRANCE 24
A Lebanese businessman has decided to donate Adolf Hitler’s top hat and other objects linked to the Nazi leader to an Israeli foundation in order to keep the items out of the hands of neo-fascists. Abdallah Chatila, who has made a fortune in Geneva said that he had “wished to buy these objects so that they could not be used for the purpose of neo-Nazi propaganda. Chatila scooped up as many other Hitler-related articles as he could at the auction and has donated them to the Keren Hayesod association. European Jewish Association head, rabbi Menachem Margolin, said he was “bowled over” by the gestures from the businessman. “In a cynical world, a real act of kindness, generosity, and solidarity,” he said. Read Here
6. THOUSANDS MARCH IN SUPPORT OF ITALIAN LAWMAKER, A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, TARGETED WITH THREATS
BY MARCY OSTER
An Italian senator and Holocaust survivor who was put under police protection after receiving anti-Semitic threats online was escorted through downtown Milan by the mayors of Italian cities and ordinary citizens in a show of support. Some of Liliana Segre’s escorts in the march carried a large banner reading “Hatred has no future.” About 1,000 mayors wearing marched with Serge in a show of support. Read Here
7. ORTHODOX COMMUNITY RAISES $50K FOR FAMILY OF JERSEY CITY DETECTIVE KILLED DURING DEADLY RAID ON KOSHER MARKET
By RON KAMPEAS
Orthodox Jews from New York areas just north of a deadly attack on a Jersey City kosher supermarket raised $50,000 for the family of a detective slain by shooters on their way to the store. The assailants shot dead Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals during an encounter at a nearby cemetery. Members of Orthodox Jewish communities in Rockland County and across the Hudson Valley, used an Orthodox Jewish social media fundraising app and raised close to $50,000 for the family within 20 hours. Read Here
OVER 150,000 INDIVIDUALS AND 170 ORGANIZATIONS HAVE SIGNED OUR PLEDGE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
“Combat anti-Semitism (CAS) is a non-partisan, global grassroots movement of interfaith individuals and organizations united to combat anti-Semitism. CAS exposes anti-Semitic activity from across the ideological spectrum and highlights those working to fight against its resurgence. One of the most pernicious forms of modern anti-Semitism is the effort to deny and delegitimize the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and their profound historic, religious and cultural connection to their ancestral homeland, Israel. Humanity flourishes when religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity is respected, and we hope to encourage understanding and set an example through our work. Anti-Semitism is the oldest form of bigotry and by working to eliminate it, we hope tragedies like the holocaust or any incidents of hate inspired speech or violence perpetrated against the Jewish people, Israel, or any discriminated group are reduced significantly.”
