THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
This past week, the president of Poland signed a law preventing Holocaust restitution to heirs of property stolen by the Nazis, drawing harsh criticism from the global Jewish community. In response to the outrage, Poland’s foreign ministry said it is “reviewing” changes to the annual educational school trips from Israel to former Nazi death camps.
Holocaust distortion and pandemic Jew-blaming incidents were seen this week in Montreal, Wisconsin, Missouri, Munich, Sydney, and in many locations in France.
In Melbourne, Australia, a Covid-19 rules violation prompted an outpouring of antisemitic rhetoric, including by a hospital worker who said, “put them in a gas chamber.” In Kiev, Ukraine, a string of vandalism incidents targeting Jews continued, with graffiti saying, “Jews — into the oven” and “Happy Holocoust.”
In London, an elderly Jewish man was assaulted and had his kippah knocked off his head, while near the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian demonstrators burned a makeshift Star of David with a Nazi swastika. Swastikas were graffitied outside of a synagogue in Madrid, Spain, and on the campaign posters of two Jewish MPs in Montreal.
Meanwhile, the government of France announced it would become the 11th country to pull out of the UN’s upcoming 20th anniversary commemoration of the Durban World Conference Against Racism, citing concerns about its poisonous antisemitic legacy. The Combat Antisemitism Movement is urging more countries to follow, especially those who have already adopted the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.
CAM’s weekly global antisemitism report highlights 42 new media reports of antisemitic incidents, including 25 (60%) from the far-right, 9 (21%) from the far-left, 5 (12%) with Islamist motivations, and 3 (7%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURES
ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER YAIR LAPID THANKS CENTRAL AMERICAN NATIONS FOR LONGSTANDING TIES WITH JEWISH STATE
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid addressed the Central America Forum for Israel last month, and spoke warmly of the region’s longstanding backing of the Jewish state. “Today is an opportunity to thank the peoples and nations of Central America for their support,” Lapid said. “We are grateful for the recognition of Jerusalem as our eternal capital,” he added, referring to the embassies opened by Guatemala and Honduras in the city in recent years.
JOIN LATEST YAD VASHEM ‘LIFE, HATRED AND HOPE’ WEBINAR, ON ‘THE AUSCHWITZ ALBUM’
The latest webinar in the yearlong “Life, Hatred and Hope” series — co-sponsored by Christian Friends of Yad Vashem, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), American Christian Leaders for Israel, and the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) — will take place on Wednesday, August 25th, at 12 PM EDT. Liz Elsby — Senior Holocaust Guide, Yad Vashem Educator, and Holocaust Art Expert — will talk about “The Auschwitz Album.”
CALL ON YOUR COUNTRY TO PULL OUT FROM THE DURBAN IV ANTISEMITIC HATE FEST
We call on all member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) to demonstrate their continued commitment to the global fight against antisemitism and solidarity with the Jewish people by withdrawing from the Durban IV conference.
UNITED STATES
AFTER WRITER CALLS IDF GENOCIDAL, DAILY BEAST TO CHECK EDITORIAL STANDARD
By Ben Sales
The Daily Beast has edited an article to remove the word “genocidal” as a description for Israel’s military. Criticizing the choice of Mayim Bialik as a host of the game show “Jeopardy!”, the article said that the Jewish actor had “proclaimed her donation toward bulletproof vests for the genocidal Israeli Defense Forces.” Appearing to respond to criticism, the article’s author, Tirhakah Love, who recently joined the Daily Beast, tweeted, “the Zionists should really stop emailing me cus girl I do not care.” In a subsequent tweet, Love said Zionism was “an articulation of white supremacy.” Read Here
ANTISEMITIC MERCHANDISE PERSISTS ON PINTEREST, DESPITE RESTRICTIONS
YORK, MAINE POLICE INVESTIGATING RACIST, ANTISEMITIC, HOMOPHOBIC GRAFFITI
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
MAN, 71, SPEAKS OF SHOCK AFTER KIPPAH KNOCKED FROM HIS HEAD OUTSIDE THEATRE
By Mathilde Frot
A 71-year-old has spoken of feeling “shaken up” after his kippah was knocked from his head in an alleged hate crime as he left a showing of the play Leopoldstadt, which is about the Holocaust. Scotland Yard said it was investigating reports of a religiously-aggravated assault. An “unknown suspect is believed to have grabbed the victim’s kippah from his head and threw it on the floor,” the force said. Read Here
FILM-MAKER KEN LOACH SAYS HE HAS BEEN EXPELLED FROM LABOUR
By JC Reporter
Film director Ken Loach says he has been expelled from the Labour party. The 85-year-old revealed that he had been kicked out because he would not “disown those already expelled”. Mr Loach attacked the Labour party over a “witch hunt” and hard-left Labour MPs branded the move “a disgrace” but it was welcomed by Jewish leaders. Mr Loach, whose work includes the films ‘Kes’ and ‘I, Daniel Blake’ has faced accusations of antisemitism, which he denies. Read Here
‘WHITE SUPREMACIST’ FACES TRIAL OVER ALLEGED RACIST, ANTISEMITIC PODCASTS
GERMANY
ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI IN MUNICH
By Eli Nahum
A passerby in Munich-Schwabing discovered antisemitic graffiti on two posters for the federal election. The graffiti reads: “Protect the children from the gene injection. Bolshevism Jewish Republic” and ′′World Jewish Order.” Read Here
CANADA
TRUDEAU CONDEMNS ANTISEMITIC VANDALISM ON ELECTION SIGNS FOR TWO OF HIS MONTREAL MPS
By Joe Lofaro
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “disgusted” and “angry” that election signs for two of his MPs in Montreal were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. In posts on their Twitter profiles, MPs Rachel Bendayan and Anthony Housefather shared photos of swastikas drawn over their signs in their ridings. “It is completely unacceptable,” said Trudeau in a tweet. “I stand in solidarity with Rachel and Anthony, and the entire Jewish community, against this type of hatred.” Read Here
FRANCE
SWASTIKAS DAUBED ON FRENCH VACCINATION CENTERS, IN APPARENT NAZI COMPARISON
By TOI STAFF and AGENCIES
The French health ministry has said at least 22 health sites were vandalized in recent weeks, some with graffiti comparing the COVID-19 vaccination drive to the Holocaust. Five coronavirus testing sites, 15 vaccination centers, a medical laboratory, and a health center were defaced since July 12. A number of the sites were graffitied with swastikas, yellow stars, and the words “collaborators,” “Nazi” and “genocide.” Read Here
ANTISEMITIC SLOGANS DURING ANTI-PASS PROTEST IN BESANÇON: “THE GENOCIDE OF THE GOYIM”
OTHER WORLD NEWS
POLAND OFFICIALLY APPROVES LAW THAT LIMITS HOLOCAUST RESTITUTION CLAIMS, SPARKING GLOBAL JEWISH OUTRAGE
By GABE FRIEDMAN
Poland’s president signed into law a bill that will restrict Holocaust restitution claims by Jews and others who had property stolen by the Nazis or Soviet-backed occupation forces during the World War II era. The law, signed by President Andrzej Duda, gives all property restitution claims a 30-year time limit from the alleged theft. That will effectively wipe out any claims from the World War II years. Read Here
AUSTRALIA: AFTER MELBOURNE LOCKDOWN BREACH, HOSPITAL INTERN SAYS SEND JEWS TO ‘GAS CHAMBER’
By STUART WINER and JTA
An Australian hospital worker has said on social media that dozens of Jews who violated a strict coronavirus lockdown in Melbourne by holding an engagement party should be put in “a gas chamber,” amid an outpour of antisemitic rhetoric directed at the local Jewish community after a video of the event was shared online. Among numerous other incidents, a synagogue and a Jewish institute have both received hate calls. Read Here
THE MIDDLE EAST
PALESTINIAN DEMONSTRATORS BURN STAR OF DAVID WITH SWASTIKA IN MIDDLE IN NABLUS AREA
By CAM
Palestinian demonstrators set fire to a makeshift Star of David with a Nazi swastika in the middle in the Nablus area, in a disturbing display of antisemitic hatred. Images posted on social media showed the symbols being burned with torches near the Palestinian town of Beita, where there have been protests in recent months related to a land dispute with the neighboring Israeli community of Evyatar. Read Here
ON CAMPUS
A NEW ISRAEL-HATING CURRICULUM IS COMING TO CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS
By David Bernstein & Pamela Paresky
The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) was unanimously adopted in March by the California Board of Education. Now, with the ESMC ideological underpinnings in place, the very people who authored and promoted earlier versions of the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC)––versions so explicitly antisemitic they were unable to pass––are now pushing a “Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum” that contains even more extreme prescriptions than the original.
EMORY UNIVERSITY INVESTIGATES ACTS OF RACISM, ANTISEMITISM AT EMORY AUTISM CENTER
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
ISRAELI SURVEY OF US UNIVERSITIES SEES LEFT-LEANING GROUPS AS ‘SIGNIFICANT’ SOURCE OF CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM
By Dion J. Pierre
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs released a study identifying left-wing organizations as “significant” sources of antisemitism and anti-Israel activity at American universities. The study by Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf reported the findings of surveys of several focus groups comprising Jewish campus professionals from college campuses across the country. A majority of the respondents said that antisemitism and anti-Israel activity was at least a “moderate” problem on campus, with most also saying that it came from a “minority” of students on campus.
SURVEY: AMERICANS VIEW TALIBAN TAKEOVER OF AFGHANISTAN AS A THREAT TO ISRAEL
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
FRANCE’S MACRON TO BOYCOTT UN RACISM CONFERENCE ON ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS
By Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron will stay away from a United Nations conference on racism next month because of concerns about antisemitism. “Concerned by a history of antisemitic remarks made at the U.N. conference on racism, known as the Durban conference, the President of the Republic has decided that France will not participate in the follow-up conference to be held this year,” his office said. The meeting in New York is being held to mark the 20th anniversary of the 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa.
ISRAEL RECALLS ENVOY TO PROTEST SIGNING OF POLAND’S ANTI-RESTITUTION LAW
By REUTERS, TOVAH LAZAROFF
Israel recalled its envoy from Poland to protest a new law that limits the ability of Jews to recover property seized by Nazis during the Holocaust. “Poland today approved – not for the first time – an immoral, antisemitic law,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in video message. “This evening I instructed the charge d’affaires at our embassy in Warsaw to return immediately to Israel for consultations, for an indefinite period of time,” Lapid said. In addition, Lapid asked Poland’s Ambassador Marek Magierowski, who is out of the country, not to return.
HUMANITY
PALESTINIAN FIREFIGHTERS HELP ISRAEL BATTLE JERUSALEM-AREA BLAZES
By AARON BOXERMAN
The Palestinian Authority sent four firefighting teams to assist Israeli first responders, as fires continued to burn in the Jerusalem hills for the third consecutive day. Four Palestinian Civil Defense trucks and 20 firefighters joined the efforts to put out the flames, which have raged across hills and towns west of Jerusalem. Lt. Col. Nael Azza, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense, said it was the fourth time in recent years that Palestinian firefighters had joined with Israelis to respond to an evolving disaster.
‘A SIGN OF FAITH’ IN JEWISH GERMAN LIFE: UNIVERSITY OF POTSDAM OPENS CITY’S FIRST SYNAGOGUE SINCE THE HOLOCAUST
By Dion J. Pierre
The city of Potsdam opened its first synagogue since the Holocaust, nearly 83 years after the last Jewish house of worship was destroyed by the Nazis. Complementing two rabbinical seminaries, it was the highlight attraction of the day’s opening ceremony of the European Center for Jewish Scholarship at the University of Potsdam.
CHABAD RABBI TWEETS UNUSUAL 3-WEEK JEWISH HERITAGE ROAD TRIP DEEP INTO TURKEY
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, 330 organizations and 341,000 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.
