THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
This week, a string of successive antisemitic attacks continued in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams promised to crack down on these incidents saying, “Make no mistake, an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on every New Yorker…We won’t let this vicious hatred go unanswered.”
In Flatbush, Brooklyn, A 22-year-old Jewish man was punched in the face by a perpetrator who then chased a Jewish teenager. Separately, a Chasidic Jewish man was attacked in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and a Manhattan crossing guard was fired after threatening a Jewish family. Graffiti reading “F**K Jews” was spray-painted on a dental office in Queens, and an Israeli-owned restaurant in Manhattan.
Also in the U.S., Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez falsely claimed that Israel puts Palestinian children in cages in the West Bank, and a New Hampshire man was arrested for calling in threats to a local synagogue with voicemails saying “stop killing Muslims and Christians,” “apartheid free Palestine,” and “Shame on Israel. Israel terrorists, assassin.”
Thousands of far-right antisemitic flyers were leafleted this week in several locations in Texas, Oregon, Washington, Florida, and California.
Police are investigating an assault on a Jewish man in London, and Dutch universities ordered staff to disclose ties with Jewish and Israeli groups at the request of a pro-Palestinian organization, before pausing the investigation.
U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen called for action after a swastika was found inside a secure area of the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria, and a Bulgarian lawmaker gave a Nazi salute during a debate inside the European Parliament.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 49 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 26 (53.1%) from the far-right, 11 (22.4%) from the far-left, 3 (6.1%) with Islamist motivations, and 9 (18.4%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
JEWISH MAN, 22, PUNCHED IN FACE IN BROOKLYN, SECOND CONSECUTIVE ATTACK IN ROW
By JNS
The New York City Police Department and the Anti-Defamation League are offering rewards leading to the arrest of a man seen on security video punching a 22-year-old Jewish man in Brooklyn, N.Y. The victim was walking in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn, near the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Flatbush, when he was stopped by an unknown male who had stepped out of a vehicle and asked for directions. The victim “answered the suspect and then walked away. The suspect then slapped the victim in the face, causing redness and pain.” The suspect fled in a minivan being driven by another suspect, said the police.
MANHATTAN CROSSING GUARD INVESTIGATED AFTER ALLEGEDLY ABUSING RABBI, CHILD WITH ANTISEMITIC SLURS
By Benjamin Kerstein
A New York City crossing guard has been removed from her post and is under investigation for verbally abusing a rabbi and her child with antisemitic slurs. Rabbi Erica Gerson was crossing 79th Street and Amsterdam Ave when the harassment took place. “It was pick-up time and I was crossing as [I] always do with my nine-year-old,” Gerson recounted. “I overheard [the crossing guard] describing one group of kids as ‘those Jewish kids,’ and I thought that was strange.” “She called us ‘nasty people, now we know why there’s no peace in the Middle East,’ and along with that she cursed a Kosher establishment,” Gerson said.
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING FOOTAGE OF A JEWISH MAN ASSAULTED IN A NORTH LONDON FLAT
By JC REPORTER
The metropolitan police have confirmed they’re investigating after footage emerged of a Jewish man being attacked in a block of flats in North London. The footage, which was shared by Shomrim, shows the victim arguing with his attacker before the man grabs his phone and the pair tussle. They then spill out onto the street where the attacker repeatedly hits the Jewish man, knocking his kippah off his head. He then runs off away from the property on St. Ann’s Road in Haringey.
CHARITY COMMISSION TO ASSESS AMNESTY ‘APARTHEID’ REPORT FUNDING CLAIMS
By LEE HARPIN
The Charity Commission has confirmed to Jewish News it is assessing whether donations were used to fund Amnesty International’s “apartheid state” report on Israel – and “if so, whether this is of regulatory concern”. A spokesperson for the watchdog said it was “aware” of concerns raised over this matter and “in line with our standard process are currently assessing information to determine if charitable funds have been used to fund the report and, if so, whether this is of regulatory concern. ”
CARDIFF TEENAGER CHARGED WITH BEING A MEMBER OF PROSCRIBED NEO-NAZI GROUP FEUERKRIEG DIVISION
CANADA
MAYOR ‘DISGUSTED’ BY ANTISEMITIC, WHITE SUPREMACY SYMBOLS ON DISPLAY AT PROTEST IN NEW BRUNSWICK
By Hadeel Ibrahim
Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers has apologized for minimizing the harm done by protesters in the city using antisemitic and white supremacist symbols. In a statement, Rogers said that when, at the end of Saturday’s demonstration, she described the protest as “peaceful,” she meant it was contained without the use of force. “I am disgusted that antisemitic and white supremacist symbols were used. As I have previously expressed, I agree that they are hateful and cause trauma. They have no place in our city or civil society.”
GERMANY
FORMER GERMAN MUSLIM LEADER SENTENCED FOR INCITING HATRED, ANTISEMITISM ON SOCIAL MEDIA
By Sharon Wrobel
The former head of an influential Turkish Muslim association in Germany was convicted of inciting hatred and condoning crimes in antisemitic social media postings he made. Mustafa Keskin, was given a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Keskin — who resigned last March as chairman of the Gottingen branch of DITIB, a Turkish religious group, after his posts on various social media platforms were exposed — was also ordered to pay a fine of 1,200 euros in installments of 75 euros to a charitable organization.
SWASTIKA SMEARED ON OSNABRÜCK MEMORIAL PLAQUE FOR JEWISH NAZI VICTIMS
OTHER WORLD NEWS
SCOOP: SWASTIKA DISCOVERED AT U.S. EMBASSY IN BULGARIA
By Hans Nichols, Barak Ravid BARBERÁ
A swastika drawn on a window shade in purple ink was found inside the U.S. embassy in Bulgaria, raising concern within the State Department headquarters itself about antisemitism. News of the discovery circulated in Washington after the embassy in Sofia sent back a diplomatic cable describing the incident. The image was first identified a day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The latest swastika was found in a secure part of the embassy, indicating whoever drew it had access inside an American diplomatic outpost.
BULGARIAN LAWMAKER GIVES NAZI SALUTE IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
By Saim Dušan Inayatullah
A Bulgarian nationalist MEP gave a Nazi salute in the chamber of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, after he spoke during a debate on the rule of law in Poland and Hungary. Angel Dzhambazki of the Bulgarian nationalist VMRO party is seen extending his right arm in front of him before exiting the chamber in a video of the debate. VMRO is in the euroskeptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament. What did Dzhambazki say? “We will never allow you to tell us what to say and do. Long live Orban and Fidesz, long live Kaczynski and PiS, long live Bulgaria and our nation-state,” Dzhambazki said during the debate. “Long live the Europe of nations,” he concluded.
PORTUGUESE PAPER ALLEGES JEWISH COMMUNITY ABUSES CITIZENSHIP LAW TO GENERATE PROFIT
By Itamar Eichner
The Jewish community in Portugal has been whipped into a tizzy after a leading newspaper accused Jews in the city of Porto of abusing legislation that grants citizenship to descendants of Portuguese Jews, who were exiled in medieval times, to enrich themselves. The lengthy report, published in daily newspaper Público, features harsh criticism that gives off a whiff of antisemitism. It stated that Porto’s modest Jewish community couldn’t pool together enough resources to hire the services of a rabbi or even fix the roof of the synagogue. But its fortunes seemed to have shifted by 2019, as the community now runs a kosher hotel, a mikveh and finished the construction of a new museum. “What began as a gesture of goodwill and correction of a historical wrong eventually became a business with huge profits for the Jewish community of Porto,” the newspaper claimed.
THE MIDDLE EAST
FORMER IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRALIA AND MEXICO MOHAMMAD-HASSAN GHADIRI-ABYANEH MAKES ANTISEMITIC REMARKS
By MEMRI
In an interview on Javanan.tv former Iranian ambassador to Australia and Mexico Mohammad-Hassan Ghadiri-Abyaneh said that Jews infiltrate wealthy and powerful non-Jewish families, and that the mortality rate in those families subsequently increases so that the Jews get a larger portion of the inheritance. Furthermore, Ghadiri-Abyaneh claimed that the Israeli flag represents a Zionist belief that the geographic area between the Nile and the Euphrates rivers, which he claims spans 20 countries and includes Mecca and Medina, belongs to Israel.
ON CAMPUS
IN MOVE THAT ‘REEKS OF ANTISEMITISM,’ DUTCH UNIVERSITIES ORDER STAFF TO DISCLOSE TIES WITH ISRAELI, JEWISH GROUPS
By CAM
More than a dozen universities in the Netherlands are ordering staff members to disclose their ties with Israeli and Jewish organizations, following a freedom of information request filed by The Rights Forum, a pro-Palestinian advocacy group. The list of organizations named in the request included the Central Jewish Board of the Netherlands, Anti-Defamation League, and International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, among others. Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands Binyomin Jacobs said the The Rights Forum’s request “reeks of antisemitism.” “What really concerns me is the number of universities that were so compliant with such a transparently antisemitic request,” he added. “It reminds us that most mayors cooperated during the occupation to pass on the names of their Jewish citizens to the Germans.”
IN A FIRST, UT AUSTIN STUDENT GOVERNMENT TAKES UP MEASURE CONDEMNING ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION
By Gabby Deutch
In the first challenge to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism on an American college campus, a student governing body at the University of Texas at Austin is set to vote a resolution condemning the definition and “affirming the rights of advocates for Palestine.” The goal of the resolution is “to affirm the speech, actions, protests, and campaigns of students advocating for Palestine as a protected right at the University of Texas at Austin,” according to its authors. Another UT student governing body, the Graduate Student Assembly, will vote on the resolution later this month following its own heated debate.
BLACKPOOL ARTIST AND YOUTH WORKER HORRIFIED TO DISCOVER SWASTIKA GRAFFITI NEAR PRESTON’S UCLAN CAMPUS
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
WATCHDOG GROUP: JANUARY SAW 90 PERCENT INCREASE IN ATTACKS AGAINST US JEWS
By JNS
The Combat Antisemitism Movement revealed in its latest monthly report that it monitored 19 physical attacks targeting Jews in January, which represents a 90 percent increase from the same time period last year. In total, CAM tracked 158 anti-Semitic incidents reported in the media in January, marking a 9.2 percent decrease from January 2021’s 174 incidents. On the positive side, it highlighted nine “adoptions and endorsements” of the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism took place in January—in Alabama, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia, the town of Southampton in New York and Argentina’s Santa Fe Province.
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
NEW YORK MAYOR DECRIES ‘VICIOUS HATRED’ AGAINST JEWS AS ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS CONTINUE
By LUKE TRESS
New York Mayor Eric Adams vowed to crack down on a spate of antisemitic attacks in the city after a Jewish teen was attacked in Brooklyn, marking the second consecutive weekend that visibly Jewish New Yorkers were assaulted during Shabbat. Mayor Adams said the police’s hate crimes unit was investigating the attack. “Make no mistake, an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on every New Yorker. We will catch the perpetrators of this assault,” he said. Adams said the incident was “disgusting anytime but it’s especially outrageous as we come to the end of Shabbos. We won’t let this vicious hatred go unanswered.”
UK BOARD OF DEPUTIES WELCOMES NEW GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOLS TO AVOID BIAS WHEN TEACHING ABOUT ISRAEL
HUMANITY
FOLLOWING LATEST ATTACK, BROOKLYN JEWISH LEADER URGES NEW YORK CITY OFFICIALS TO LAUNCH ANTISEMITISM AWARENESS CAMPAIGN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By Ben Cohen
The head of an organization representing Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn has urged the city of New York to launch an antisemitism awareness program in the city’s public schools while praising new Mayor Eric Adams’ determination to stamp out hate crime. Rabbi David Niederman, president of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, told The Algemeiner that the latest antisemitic attack in the city, in which a Jewish teenager was punched in the face by an unidentified assailant, underlined his concern that attacks on Jews in New York are becoming normalized.
JEWISH FAMILY-RUN SOUP SHOP SENDS GAZPACHO, ELIE WIESEL’S ‘NIGHT’ TO MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE AFTER ‘GESTAPO’ MIXUP
By Shiryn Ghermezian
A Jewish mother-daughter duo behind a Washington, DC, soup shop has offered to help Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) understand the difference between the gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police, and the vegetable-based cold soup gazpacho after the US lawmaker confused the two in a recent interview. The company, Soupergirl, is sending cases of gazpacho, a dictionary, and a copy of “Night” by Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel to Greene in light of her comments.
ARABS SHOULD EMBRACE JEWS, REJECT ANTISEMITISM, SAYS JORDANIAN ACADEMIC
The Combat Antisemitism Movement is a global coalition engaging more than 360,000 people and 440 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.
