THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM REPORT
“Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality…[of the Holocaust],” and “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” are three common examples of contemporary antisemitism according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by more than 904 governments, institutions, and organizations worldwide.
During remarks alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas invoked all three of these antisemitic tropes, during an official visit to Germany’s Chancellery. In his remarks, he claimed Israel has committed “50 Holocausts,” engaging in Holocaust trivialization and distortion, while also accusing the Jewish State of institutionalized racism under the apartheid label.
Condemnations of these unconscionable remarks made by the Palestinian leader on German soil, poured in from leaders around the world. Meanwhile, New Mexico became the 30th U.S. state to endorse the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.
The word “Hitler” was painted on a synagogue in New York City where Holocaust survivors are members. Synagogues and a Holocaust Museum were also vandalized in Germany, Russia, and Australia. A German security guard was arrested for making a Hitler salute towards a group of Israeli athletes visiting a memorial to the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.
Five Jewish Americans were among those shot in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem, and the New York Times cut ties with a Gaza freelancer who issued a call to ‘kill Jews like Hitler did.”
On campus, a federal complaint was filed against the State University of New York at New Paltz for antisemitic discrimination, and students at Ohio State University held a memorial vigil to honor the U.S.-designated terror organization Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades member Ibrahim Nabulsi, who was responsible for multiple shooting attacks on Jewish Israelis.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 33 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 13 (39.4%) from the far-right, 3 (9.1%) from the far-left, 12 (36.4%) with Islamist motivations, and 5 (15.2%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
NYC PRO-GAZA RALLY SPEAKERS: MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SUPPORTS THE MURDER OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN; THE GATES OF AL-AQSA MOSQUE CAN ONLY BE OPENED BY MARTYRS
By MEMRI
On August 8, 2022, Within Our Lifetime, along with other pro-Palestinian organizations held a rally titled “NYC Stands with Gaza,” following the recent round of fighting between the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel. In the rally, Nerdeen Kiswani of Within Our Lifetime said: “If you stand with Israel, you stand with death and destruction.” She added that “resistance is not terrorism” and said that Palestinians have the right to “defend themselves by every means possible.” She also accused New York City mayor Eric Adams of supporting the murder of Palestinians and Palestinian children.
VANDALS SCRAWL ‘HITLER’ ON NEW YORK CITY SYNAGOGUE
By LUKE TRESS
The word “Hitler” was painted onto the wall of a synagogue in New York City on Wednesday. Rabbi Asher Altschul found the graffiti on Congregation Beth Shalom of Kingsbay in Brooklyn early in the morning, said local New York City councilwoman Inna Vernikov. “There are Holocaust survivors who attend this shul and after the atrocities they have seen during World War II, they now have to come to a synagogue in the United States of America in 2022 and see a Hitler sign on the wall,” Vernikov said. Images from the scene showed the Nazi dictator’s name scrawled on a brick wall in white paint.
NY TIMES CUTS TIES WITH GAZA FREELANCER WHO CALLED TO KILL JEWS ‘LIKE HITLER DID’
By TOI STAFF
The New York Times on Friday terminated its relationship with a Palestinian freelancer and fixer in the Gaza Strip after a media watchdog noted his repeated antisemitism and calls for violence against Jews on social media.Fixers are hired by news outlets in foreign countries to coordinate logistics or assist with other journalistic tasks, such as working as a translator or a guide. On Thursday, Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel media watchdog, published a list of social media posts by Fady Hanona, who was a contributor to at least six articles published by the Times during the latest flareup of violence in Gaza. The pieces in the Times detailed the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, and a ceasefire reached after three days. It was not clear whether Hanona contributed through writing or other tasks. Hanona’s since-deleted social media posts included support for terror groups and members and support for killing Jews.
WORLD NEWS
UNITED KINGDOM
‘ZIONISTS, GO HOME!’ CHANTED AT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST IN LONDON
By GADI ZAIG
An anti-Israel protest held on Downing Street, London, told all Zionists to “go home” on Wednesday. One of the protest’s attendees brought a sign saying “Stop the Judaization of Jerusalem, and Britain, Europe, Ukraine and USA.” Another poster there said that “Zionism uses Jews as human shields.” The protest was referred to as a “Rally for Palestine,” organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, according to the organization’s website. It was in response to the three-day-long Operation Breaking Dawn that had ended just a few days earlier.
GERMANY
IN BERLIN, ABBAS SAYS ISRAEL COMMITTED ‘HOLOCAUSTS’; SCHOLZ GRIMACES BUT IS SILENT
By TOI STAFF AND AGENCIES
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas caused shock in Germany Tuesday when, standing beside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, he accused Israel of committing “holocausts” against Palestinians over the years.Scholz did not react verbally to Abbas’s comment in the moment, though he grimaced at the use of the word, which Abbas uttered in English. Scholz later said the use of the term in such a context was “unbearable.” Reacting to the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called Abbas’s comments “a moral travesty” and “a terrible distortion.”Abbas made his remarks when the two spoke to the media after holding a meeting on Middle East issues.
GERMAN GUARD DETAINED FOR HITLER SALUTE TO ISRAELI ATHLETES VISITING MUNICH MEMORIAL
By AFP AND TOI STAFF
A German security guard has been arrested for making a Hitler salute in front of a group of Israeli athletes visiting a memorial to the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, police said on Wednesday. The 16 athletes from the Israeli European Championships team were visiting the Olympic Park in Munich on Tuesday evening when the banned gesture was made, police said in a statement. “One of the four security guards present was observed at around 7:20 pm making a National Socialist gesture [forbidden ‘Hitler salute’],” the statement said. Police immediately arrested the suspect, a 19-year-old from Berlin, and he has been banned from all further European Championships events.
OUTRAGE AMONG JEWISH ACTIVISTS AS YET ANOTHER ANTISEMITIC IMAGE IS DISCOVERED AT LEADING GERMAN ART FESTIVAL
CANADA
ORTHODOX JEWISH MAN STABBED IN THE FACE BY COWORKER IN MONTREAL – REPORT
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed in the face with a pair of scissors on Thursday in Montreal, Canada, CTV News Montreal reported. According to StopAntisemitism.org, the 24-year-old man was attacked outside of a kosher meat processing plant.
The assailant was a Lebanese immigrant who was recently employed at the plant, according to the organization.
According to the CTV News report, the victim and the attacker are coworkers.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
BUDAPEST MUSIC FESTIVAL CONDEMNS SPANISH RAP GROUP FOR DEFACING ISRAELI FLAG, SAYS ‘THEY WILL NOT BE INVITED BACK’
By SHIRYN GHERMEZIAN
One of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe denounced the Spanish girl band Tribade for defacing an Israeli flag during the festival over the weekend.“The actions of the group Tribade are against our cherished values of welcome and respect and we deeply condemn this hateful stunt,” the Sziget Festival said in a statement shared on Monday on its Instagram Stories. “They will, of course, not be invited back to our festivals in the future.” Two members of the Barcelona-based rap group recorded themselves at the festival in Budapest, Hungary, going into a tented area, where attendees slept, and spray-painting the words “Free Palestine” and “Israel doesn’t exist” on the Israeli flag, as well as a caricature of genitals with the words “Eat this.” The “Gaupasa” singers posted the video on their Instagram Stories and wrote in the caption, “Tribade does not go back on its word.” The video has since been deleted from the band’s Instagram account.
ANTI-ISRAEL ORGS PLAN TO PROTEST 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST ZIONIST CONGRESS
By ZVIKA KLEIN
Wine bottles with portraits of German dictator Adolf Hitler and other authoritarian leaders continue to be sold in Italy’s Remini, despite massive flak from “anti-fascist” groups. This comes after Vina Lunardelli sparked controversy with the Historical Series launched in 1995. In 2013, Simon Wiesenthal Center called for a boycott of the series, which displayed all “notorious” dictators from French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte to Hitler.
MIDDLE EAST
5 AMERICANS, INCLUDING NEW YORKERS, AMONG 8 SHOT IN JERUSALEM TERROR ATTACK
By PHILISSA CRAMER
Jewish communities in two countries were reeling this weekend after a shooting just outside the Old City of Jerusalem left eight wounded. An Arab resident of East Jerusalem turned himself in to police after a manhunt that focused on the Silwan neighborhood there, according to Israeli media.The shooting took place early Sunday morning as people boarded a bus. Among those shot, according to various reports, were multiple members of a family from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a center of the Satmar Hasidic Orthodox sect; a teenager from a different Brooklyn family; a pair of Israeli brothers; and a pregnant woman who remains hospitalized along with her child, whom doctors delivered after she suffered an abdominal injury.
EX-AL JAZEERA CHIEF TWEETS THAT ‘SAME KILLER’ BEHIND DEATHS OF JESUS, PALESTINIANS
By TOI STAFF
The former director-general of Al Jazeera on Friday shared and then deleted an image that said “the same killer” — inferring Jews — was responsible for the deaths of Jesus Christ and slain Palestinians. The image shared by Yasser Abu Hilala was a composite of art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling a dead Jesus, and a Palestinian woman in a similar pose by the body of a young Palestinian, presumably her son. Text emblazoned on the image declared: “After 2000 years & it’s the same killer…” After deleting the tweet, Abu Hilala wrote on his account: “Based on the advice of those whose opinion I trust, I deleted the tweet to prevent confusion, while emphasizing that the design is not mine and I do not adopt it and everyone understands it in their own way.”
THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY – FATAH OFFICIAL: PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ‘ABBAS WAS RIGHT IN SAYING THAT ISRAEL HAS PERPETRATED ’50 HOLOCAUSTS’
ON CAMPUS
AUSTRALIAN JEWISH GROUPS SLAM UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE STUDENT UNION OVER PASSAGE OF ‘VENOMOUS’ PRO-BDS RESOLUTION
By CAM
The University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) in Australia passed a resolution on Monday supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, accusing the Jewish state of perpetrating an “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
“The UMSU supports the self-determination of the Palestinian people and their right to engage in self-defense against their occupiers,” the motion — passed by a 13-3 margin, with one abstention — said, adding that it “deems the use of Zionism to justify the illegal occupation of Palestine as racist and colonial.”
SUNY NEW PALTZ STUDENTS FILE FEDERAL COMPLAINT AGAINST ADMINISTRATION
By MELISSA WEISS
Two students at The State University of New York at New Paltz filed a federal civil rights complaint against the university, alleging that administrators did not adequately address issues of antisemitism and discrimination against Jewish and Israeli survivors of sexual violence on the upstate New York campus.
The complaint, filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law on behalf of Cassie Blotner, Ofek Preis and Jewish on Campus, stems from an incident in which Blotner, a co-founder of New Paltz Accountability (NPA), an unofficial campus group that called for awareness and accountability around sexual assault, shared a viral pro-Israel graphic on Instagram.
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
‘HISTORY WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM’: PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY LEADER MAHMOUD ABBAS CONDEMNED OVER ’50 HOLOCAUSTS’ REMARKS
By CAM
Leaders in Germany, the United States, and Israel have issued strong condemnations after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Jewish state on Tuesday of perpetrating “50 Holocausts” against the Palestinians since 1947.The remarks — in which Abbas also refused to denounce the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre, in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were murdered — came at a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholz did not immediately rebuke Abbas, but on Wednesday he tweeted, “I’m deeply outraged by the unspeakable statements by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. For us Germans, in particular, any relativization of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust.”
NEW MEXICO ADOPTS IHRA DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM
By ZVIKA KLEIN
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order on Tuesday establishing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as the state’s legal standard for determining when unlawful discriminatory conduct is motivated by antisemitism. New Mexico is the first state to integrate the IHRA definition into law via executive order, and the sixth state overall to incorporate it into law. Florida, South Carolina, Iowa, Arizona and Tennessee enacted laws using the definition through legislation. Twenty-two other states (Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming) have endorsed the IHRA definition as an educational tool through resolutions or executive orders.
BIPARTISAN GROUP IN CONGRESS CALLS FOR UN COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO BE DISBANDED
HUMANITY
DUTCH CITY RENAMES SQUARE IT HAD NAMED FOR MAYOR WHO BETRAYED JEWS TO NAZIS
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
A Dutch municipality has renamed a park that had been named for a mayor who helped the Nazis hunt his city’s Jews. The municipality of Hogeveen, a city of about 55,000 roughly 80 miles northeast of the Dutch capital of Amsterdam, last month renamed Mayor Tjalma Park, according to a report Thursday on the news site Jonet.nl. The new name is Municipal Park. In 2020, a local historian discovered that Jetze Tjalma, who had been mayor of Hoogeveen for 30 years until 1958, was the first mayor in Nazi-occupied Netherlands to hand over a list of local Jews after the German army invaded in 1940.
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.
