THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM REPORT
Efforts to combat resurgent antisemitism in the U.S. accelerated with the Tennessee Legislature passing a law against antisemitic discrimination in schools using the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. Ohio’s governor issued an order endorsing the IHRA’s definition, directing state agencies and universities to use it. In Arizona, an amendment was passed on hate crimes reporting legislation that would define antisemitism using the same definition.
The student government at University of California – Santa Cruz also adopted the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. New data from Australia shows a 35% increase in antisemitism, and the CAM Information Hub tracked an average of 6.3 antisemitic incidents per day in the first quarter of 2022, up from 5.7 in 2021.
During Passover weekend, two antisemitic hate crimes were committed in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history at the Tree of Life synagogue. In Boca Raton, Florida – a town with a large Jewish population – flyers were left at homes with a picture of Adolf Hitler and a caption reading “Died fighting the human race’s eternal enemy, the Jew.”
As observed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the latest current event to be blamed on the Jewish people is Russia’s war in Ukraine. Flyers claiming “Every Single Aspect of the Ukraine-Russia-War is Jewish” were scattered throughout multiple Los Angeles locations during Passover.
A Jewish pedestrian in Haifa, Israel was stabbed by a teenage girl, whose father told police she “wanted to hurt Jews,” and two groups of Jews were violently assaulted on their way to prayers at the Western Wall.
A giant swastika was found carved into an Australia soccer pitch, and a Belgian public broadcaster apologized for airing a parody that compared an apparent shortage in popular wafer cookies caused by the war in Ukraine, to the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 36 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 20 (55.6%) from the far-right, 1 (2.8%) from the far-left, 9 (25.0%) with Islamist motivations, and 6 (16.7%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
BEVERLY HILLS RESIDENTS WAKE UP TO ANTISEMITIC FLIERS ON FIRST DAY OF PASSOVER
By JNS
Antisemitic fliers blaming Russia’s war in Ukraine on Jews were left in front of homes in Beverly Hills, Calif., on the first day of Passover. “Every single aspect of the Ukraine-Russia war is Jewish,” said the flier, which included photos of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also listed the names of people in the Russian and Ukrainian governments it claims are Jewish. Posting a picture of the flier on social media, Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse wrote: “This was sent to me from a resident who woke up to this antisemitism at their front door along with other streets in our city and Los Angeles. … Hate will never win. We are only stronger.” The flier is similar to previous ones that blamed the coronavirus pandemic on a Jewish conspiracy.
TWO ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS OCCUR IN SQUIRREL HILL, PITTSBURGH OVER PASSOVER WEEKEND
By DAVID RULLO
Squirrel Hill was the site of two separate incidents of antisemitism. A hate group distributed flyers filled with antisemitic tropes in the community. More than 20 families had the flyers thrown into their driveways. Jon Prince’s family found a flyer on their property. After returning home from a seder, his 17-year-old son noticed the flyer at the end of their driveway while taking their dog for a walk. Prince said the incident was “unsettling,” because his home is less than a mile from the Tree of Life building. A second incident occurred Sunday. A male yelled “F— Jews” as he walked down Murray Avenue past Shaare Torah Congregation. Police were notified, but the man was gone when they arrived.
‘SCHINDLER’S LIST’ LEGGINGS? CLOTHES WITH IMAGES FROM THE HOLOCAUST MOVIE GO VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
JEMIMA GOLDSMITH SLAMS MOB OF ‘HUNDREDS OF MEN’ WHO PROTESTED OUTSIDE HER 88-YEAR-OLD MOTHER’S SURREY HOME AGAINST HER FORMER HUSBAND IMRAN KHAN
By MATT POWELL
Jemima Goldsmith says protestors who are against her ex-husband, ousted Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, crowded around the house of her elderly mother and threatened to break in. A man with a loudspeaker threatened Ms Goldsmith, who divorced Mr Kahn twenty years ago, and her children saying they would come into the house if she did not come down. Speaking before the protest, when she became aware of them, she tweeted: ‘Protests outside my house, targeting my children, antisemitic abuse on social media…. It’s almost like I’m back in 90s Lahore.’
SCOTTISH JEWS SEEK REASSURANCE FROM STURGEON OVER IHRA
GERMANY
GERMAN INTEL AGENCY WARNS ANTISEMITISM IS FILTERING INTO MAINSTREAM DISCOURSE
By AP
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency that antisemitic offenses are continuing to rise and those that come to light are only “the tip of the iceberg.” The head of the BfV agency, Thomas Haldenwang, said it is alarming that antisemitic narratives are sometimes embraced by people in “the middle of German society,” serving as a link between social discourse and extremist ideologies. He said his agency has seen that increasingly in protests against coronavirus restrictions or over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, in a few cases, in connection with Russia’s war in Ukraine. A report from the BfV said that 2,351 antisemitic offenses, including 57 acts of violence, were reported in 2020 — compared with 2,032 and 73, respectively, the previous year. Haldenwang said that “this is only the tip of the iceberg.” He said the number of incidents that don’t lead to a criminal complaint is believed to be “significantly larger.”
FRANCE
JEWISH GROUP DEMANDS LE PEN REMOVE ‘WHITE SUPREMACIST DOG WHISTLE’
By LAHAV HARKOV
A Jewish group affiliated with French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s National Rally Party called on her to remove campaign posters in which she is making a gesture used by white supremacists. The poster features Le Pen leaning on a desk in a dark blue suit with the slogan “for all French people.” One of her hands is gripping the desk as her left thumb and index finger make a circle, while the other fingers are fanned out on the desk. That hand gesture, also known as the “OK” sign, has been used as a white supremacist signal in recent years. The new Le Pen posters have been posted at town halls across France ahead of the runoff between Le Pen and French President Emmanuel Macron on April 24.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
GIANT NAZI SWASTIKA CARVED ONTO AUSTRALIAN SOCCER PITCH
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Vandals carved a giant Nazi swastika onto a soccer ground in Melbourne, Australia that was left untouched for several weeks. The massive swastika carved into the field, owned by grassroots team Lilydale Eagles Soccer Club in Melbourne, was discovered by an Australian Jew during a private helicopter flight across various parts of Victoria. The man, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, reported his 450m. sighting to the ADC. The ADC denounced the vandals who carved the antisemitic symbol, also expressing shock over the local council’s, the Yarra Ranges Council, disregard of the swastika, putting off its removal for several weeks.
BELGIAN STATE TV APOLOGIZES FOR VIDEO PARODYING ‘SCHINDLER’S LIST’
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
A state-owned broadcaster in Belgium apologized for a video that parodies Steven Spielberg’s classic Holocaust movie “Schindler’s List” by dubbing alternative dialogue about an apparent cookie shortage over some of the film’s footage. VRT, a public broadcaster which is owned and funded by the government of the Flemish Region, said that it was removing the “inappropriate” video from its YouTube channel. Some Jewish and Christian groups had criticized the segment, which aired as part of the popular evening show “The Ideal World.” It aimed to satirize reports in Belgian media about how the war in Ukraine could be causing shortages in the supply of the popular Cent Wafer cookie brand. One character portraying a Jewish concentration camp prisoner is dubbed to say: “Goddamn, that shit boy is gone with the last family pack of Cent Wafers” about a character being led to Nazi gas chambers.
MIDDLE EAST
FATHER OF TEEN WHO STABBED MAN IN HAIFA TELLS POLICE SHE ‘WANTED TO HURT JEWS’
By JNS
A 15-year-old Arab Israeli teenager who attacked a Haifa man, wounding him moderately, wanted to “hurt Jews,” her father told the police. The victim, 47, said that he had left his house to purchase something and was walking through a city park, enjoying the pleasant spring weather, when he sustained a sudden blow to the head. “I didn’t understand what it was, then I saw it was a big rock. I turned around and saw a girl standing there, with a keffiyeh wrapped around her face, holding a knife,” the man said. “She came up to me and I fell on my back. She shouted something in Arabic, and I recognized the word ‘Palestine.’ While I was still on the ground, I started to fight her off by kicking, which is why I have a wound on my leg. I started to cry for help. Two Arab guys arrived and talked to her, and tried to stop her,” he said.
VIDEO SHOWS ORTHODOX JEWS ASSAULTED IN OLD CITY WHILE ON WAY TO THE WESTERN WALL
By TOI STAFF
A small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews was attacked while walking through Jerusalem’s Old City. Security camera footage showed the three men, wrapped in their prayer shawls (talliot), making their way to prayers at the Western Wall. As they were walking through one of the alleys in the Old City, a group of Palestinians jumped out and attacked them violently, threw large objects at them, punched and kicked them and then fled the scene.
PALESTINIAN ADVISER TO ABBAS: JEWS NOT CONNECTED TO LAND, ‘OCCUPATION’ TO DISAPPEAR
ON CAMPUS
UC SANTA CRUZ: SGA PASSES ‘STOP RACISM’ EVENT FUNDING AND ANTISEMITISM RESOLUTION
By ELLIE MYERS
Senator of Education Flora Jathanna brought forward an antisemitism resolution, which she said came about through a conversation with a concerned student. The goal of the resolution is to “adopt the official definition of antisemitism put forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.” Examples of antisemitism in the bill cover comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and accusing Jews of being disloyal American citizens. When introducing the resolution, Jathanna read a statement from Senator of the Arts Chloe Rosencrantz: “As a Jewish woman, this bill is significant to a step in the right direction for hate and antisemitism at UCCS. It has been an issue for two millennia and continues to be even though we only make up roughly 2% of the overall population.” Rosencrantz went on to say that she believes the resolution will “make Jewish students and non-Jewish students feel welcome and safer on campus, knowing that SGA condemns antisemitic acts.”
CHILE’S JEWISH STUDENTS SITUATION GROWS WORSE BY THE DAY
By EMILY SCHRADER
Chile has long been a hotbed of anti-Israel extremism due to its population of half a million Palestinians, but the situation for Jewish students on campus grows worse by the day. Sadly, the extremism in Chile that is often manifested as harassment of the Jewish community has been largely ignored by Israel and the global Jewish world. Last week Chile’s Israel hatred finally went viral, with Chile even trending on Twitter in Israel during Chile’s “apartheid week.” The impetus? A visit from Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad, who spoke on multiple campuses about the cooperation between Arabs and Jews within Israel, contrary to the extremist narrative of the Palestinian community.
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
AMNESTY’S ‘APARTHEID ISRAEL’ REPORT IS RIDDLED WITH ERRORS, SAY RESEARCHERS
By FELIX POPE
Amnesty International’s report which claimed Israel was practising apartheid is riddled with errors, omissions and double standards. The human rights group sparked accusations of antisemitism on the release of its report “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity”. The report depicted Israel as guilty of “apartheid” crimes since its foundation in 1948. NGO Monitor produced a detailed response in which it said Amnesty’s conclusions were “fundamentally flawed” and “construct a fraudulent and libellous narrative of Israeli cruelty”. Its author claimed Amnesty conducted “almost no” primary research. Among the errors cited was a claim by Amnesty that Israel has expropriated at least 32.2 million dunams of land, despite the fact that “all of pre-1967 Israel is only about 20.7 million dunams”.
35% RISE IN ANTISEMITISM IN AUSTRALIA – REPORT
By ZVIKA KLEIN
Antisemitism in Australia rose by 35% in 2021, according to a recent report published by an Australian Jewish umbrella organization. During the 12-month period from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, there were 447 antisemitic incidents logged across Australia by volunteer Community Security Groups (CSGs), official Jewish state roof bodies, and the Executive Council of American Jewry (ECAJ). The total figure consists of 272 attacks (physical assault, verbal abuse, harassment, vandalism, graffiti) and 175 threats (by email, telephone, postal mail, posters, stickers).
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
WHITE HOUSE DRAWS ON UKRAINE, ANTISEMITISM FIGHT FOR ANNUAL (VIRTUAL) SEDER
By JACOB MAGID
The White House held its second virtual Passover seder with senior administration officials using the opportunity to tie lessons from the holiday to the plight of the Ukrainian people fighting off the ongoing Russian invasion. The seder also featured the first public appearance of Deborah Lipstadt since she was confirmed to become US special envoy to combat and monitor antisemitism. Speaking about the Yachatz section of the seder where participants break the middle piece of matzah, Lipstadt said, “I think it tells us that the world is always in some form of balance or imbalance between wholeness and brokenness.” “This past month, it has been terribly broken. All around us we see pain, suffering, killings, attacks on children and civilians,” she said. But the seder’s instruction of Jews to come together for the holiday allows us to remember that not everything is broken and that we have much to be thankful for, Lipstadt added.
TENNESSEE LAWMAKERS PASS BILL PROHIBITING SCHOOLS FROM TEACHING ANTISEMITIC IDEAS
By JNS
Tennessee passed a bill that bans local schools from teaching students antisemitic rhetoric. HB2573 passed the House of Representatives with 95 votes in favor and none against after the House agreed on certain amendments. It then passed the Senate with a vote of 29-0. It requires each local education agency (LEA) to adopt a written policy that prohibits teachers and administrative staff from exposing students to antisemitic concepts. The policy must be distributed “or made available” to teachers and staff members at the beginning of each school year. An amendment to the bill stated that if a person complains about antisemitism occurring at a public school, state government agencies, the LEA should take into consideration the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antsemitism to determine if the alleged act was “motivated by antisemitic intent.”
HUMANITY
AT DINNER, JEWISH CELEBS DISCUSS ANTISEMITISM IN YOUTUBE SPECIAL
By EVELYN FRICK
It’s fun and exciting when our favorite celebrities regale us with the minutiae of their lives. What color were the balloon arches at Jenny Slate’s bat mitzvah? How does Morgan Spector react to being the object of the internet’s thirst? But when our favorite celebrities speak out on issues that matter, that’s a special kind of heartening. In “Recipe for Change: Standing Up to Antisemitism,” a YouTube special produced by The SpringHill Company, a whole cohort of Jewish celebrities are doing just that. Featuring Idina Menzel, Ilana Glazer, Rachel Bloom, Skylar Astin, Michael Twitty, Hannah Einbinder, Alex Edelman, Tommy Dorfman, Josh Peck, Hari Nef, Michael Zegen and more, “Recipe for Change” brings together this group to discuss the current global rise of antisemitism.
JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA SURPASS $50 MILLION MARK FOR UKRAINIAN AID
By JNS
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) has surpassed its fundraising goal of $50 million for aid to Ukraine. The funds have been allocated to 35 NGOs operating on the ground in Ukraine and neighboring countries. Some of these groups include the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and World ORT. The funds are being used to provide housing, clothing, cash assistance, medical attention, mental-health services, life-saving rescue operations, security and transportation for refugees, including those making aliyah to Israel. The funds also went to host thousands of Ukrainian Jewish refugees for Passover seders.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement is a global coalition engaging more than 360,000 people and 450 organizations from a diverse array of religious, political, and cultural backgrounds in the common mission of fighting the world’s oldest hatred. We act collaboratively to build a better future, free of bigotry, for Jews and all humanity.
