THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, CAM celebrates Dr. King’s legacy – and in particular his leadership building interfaith partnerships to confront bigotry. We draw inspiration from the words of Dr. King’s friend and partner in fighting racism, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who declared, “When I marched in Selma, I felt my legs were praying!”
CAM has documented 36 new anti-Semitic incidents that took place in the past week (47% far-right, 25% far-left, 17% Islamist, and 11% unidentifiable). The visibility of anti-Semitic elements participating in the U.S. Capitol attack has raised alarms. Meanwhile, Jewish homes in London and a synagogue in Montreal were targets of anti-Semitic vandalism. Palestinian brothers filmed themselves harassing Orthodox Jews in Antwerp, and a new study reveals that UNRWA education materials for Palestinian youth are rife with anti-Semitic incitement.
In more positive news, the European Commission published a handbook to help European governments and EU agencies apply the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. The U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism was elevated to an ambassador-level position after a bipartisan bill was signed into law this week.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURE
FIYAZ MUGHAL, MUSLIM INTERFAITH ORGANIZER: THE INDICATOR OF CANCER IN SOCEITY IS WHEN ANTI-SEMITISM RISES
By CAM
As founder of two high-profile charities, Mughal has prioritized positive interfaith relations between Jews and Muslims. He believes firmly that “the survivability of pluralism in the West is based on the survival of the Jewish community.” He spoke to CAM to share his thoughts on Islamist anti-Semitism and the importance of Jewish-Muslim partnership. Read Here
MORE THAN 30 UNIVERSITIES AND SPORTS TEAMS ADOPT IHRA DEFINITION AT END OF LAST YEAR
By CAM
Thirty sports teams and universities adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism last December. Primarily in the United Kingdom, the spate of adoptions closed out a year in which a growing number of entities adopted the definition in an effort to curb increasing Jew-hatred the world over. Read Here
WATCH: MONITORING ANTI-SEMITISM – TRANSFORMING GLOBAL YOUTH
By CAM & IMPACT-se
CAM and IMPACT-SE hosted a webinar to discuss efforts to mitigate extremist influences and fight anti-Semitism in textbooks in the Middle East and across the globe. Watch the webinar to learn about anti-Semitic indoctrination of the world’s youth, but also the tides of change and how certain societies are moving to remove hate and teach tolerance to their students. Read Here
COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM MOVEMENT APPLAUDS ALBANIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ADOPTION OF IHRA DEFINITION
By CAM
The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement welcomed the decision by the Academy of Sciences of Albania to endorse the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism. The Academy is Albania’s most important scientific institution and confirmed the decision in a letter addressed to Robert Singer, Senior Advisor to CAM. Read Here
UNITED STATES
ANTI-SEMITISM SEEN IN CAPITOL INSURRECTION RAISES ALARMS
By Elana Schor, Associated Press
The presence of anti-Semitic symbols and sentiment at the Capitol riot raised alarms among Jewish Americans and experts who track discrimination and see it as part of an ongoing, disturbing trend. Read Here
POLICE INVESTIGATING ANTI-SEMITIC VANDALISM AT THREE ISRAELI RESTAURANTS IN PORTLAND
By Algemeiner Staff
Police are investigating after three Israeli-style restaurants in Portland, Oregon were vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. Graffiti found at two locations of the Shalom Y’all restaurants included messages such as “Murder,” “Free Palestine,” and “hummus is not Israeli.” Read Here
MEMBERS OF SEVERAL WELL-KNOWN HATE GROUPS IDENTIFIED AT CAPITOL RIOT
US ARMY SEEKS TO OUST JUNIOR OFFICER FOR JOKING ABOUT HOLOCAUST ON TIKTOK
ANTI-SEMITIC FLAG FOUND IN GLENDALE
NYPD ANTI-DISCRIMINATION HEAD RETIRES AMID PROBE INTO ANTI-SEMITIC, RACIST POSTS
MARIN DA WILL NOT CHARGE MAN WHO POSTED SWASTIKA STICKERS
TED CRUZ, AOC SPAR OVER USING HOLOCAUST ANALOGIES TO DESCRIBE US CAPITOL RIOT
STEVE KING AND JEANINE PIRRO COMPARE SOCIAL MEDIA CRACKDOWN ON FAR RIGHT TO KRISTALLNACHT
GLENN BECK COMPARES BIG TECH CENSORSHIP TO GHETTO, ‘JEWS BEHIND WALL’
ONLINE RETAILER ETSY REMOVES ‘CAMP AUSCHWITZ’ T-SHIRTS AFTER COMPLAINTS
‘HITLER WAS RIGHT ON ONE THING’ – CONGRESSWOMAN APOLOGIZES FOR ANTI-SEMITISM
‘BACHELORETTE’ ALUM: I GOT ATTACKED BY MASKLESS SECURITY GUARD
MICHAEL WENDLER, GERMAN POP STAR IN CAPE CORAL, IN HOT WATER OVER COMMENTS ON COVID-19 RULES
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
SHOCK AS JEWISH HOMES IN LONDON VANDALIZED WITH RED CROSSES PAINTED IN ‘BLOOD’, DEFENSE GROUP SAYS
By Algemeiner
Police in London are investigating a disturbing incident involving crosses that were painted on Jewish homes in a substance that appeared to have been blood. A number of houses on a street in Stamford Hill were marked with a single cross daubed alongside the mezuzot on the door frames. Read Here
DEPUTY CHAIR OF NEWHAM COUNCIL SUSPENDED OVER POST RELOCATING ISRAEL
By Jack Mendel
Labour’s deputy chair of Newham Council, Nazir Ahmed, has been suspended over a series of social media posts, including one suggesting Israel should be relocated to the United States. The graphic is the identical image Labour MP Naz Shah shared in 2016, leading to her apology and suspension from the party. Read Here
GERMANY
RISE IN GERMAN ANTI-SEMITISM, EXTREMISM, HAS JEWS QUESTIONING THEIR FUTURE
By Cnaan Lipshiz
Many critics see the AfD party, or Alternative for Deutschland, whose success in the last parliamentary elections was historic, as racist for its stance against immigration. Party leaders have denied espousing any anti-Semitism and pursued pro-Israel policies. But for many German Jews, the rise of AfD is foreboding. Read Here
OTHER WORLD NEWS
CANADA: SUSPECT ARRESTED AFTER MONTREAL SYNAGOGUE DEFACED WITH SWASTIKAS
By CAM
Police in Canada arrested a 28-year-old man after a synagogue in the Montreal suburb of Westmount was desecrated with several spray-painted swastikas. Rabbi Adam Scheier of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim described the incident, saying that the suspect “drove up to the synagogue and came out of his car holding a canister of gasoline and a can of spray paint.” Read Here
BELGIUM: PALESTINIAN TWIN BROTHERS FILM THEMSELVES HARASSING JEWS IN BELGIAN CITY OF ANTWERP
By CAM
Twin brothers from the Gaza Strip filmed themselves rollerblading through a Jewish neighborhood in Antwerp while carrying a Palestinian flag and harassing local residents. Adham and Amjad Salah, asylum-seekers in their 20s, were questioned and issued a warning by police after a complaint was filed by a Belgian Jewish umbrella group. Read Here
OSWIECIM, POLAND: SWASTIKA ON THE WALL OF THE JEWISH CEMETERY NEAR AUSCHWITZ
By Polish News
A swastika and the SS image appeared on the wall of the Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim, near the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Symbolism referring to Nazi ideology appeared for the first time, according to Tomasz Kuncewicz, director of the Jewish Museum in Oświęcim. Read Here
FRANCE: DELIVERY DRIVER TO BE DEPORTED AFTER REFUSING TO TAKE KOSHER FOOD ORDERS
By Associated Press
A court in France convicts a delivery driver of anti-Semitic discrimination for refusing to take orders for kosher food. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says the Algerian man would be deported after he completes his prison sentence. The conviction in Strasbourg came two days after two kosher restaurants reported that drivers working for Deliveroo refused to handle their food because they didn’t want to deliver to Jews. Read Here
THE MIDDLE EAST
TURKEY: PRO-GOVERNMENT MEDIA CLAIMS JEWS CONTROL AMERICA
By Seth J. Frantzmann
Turkey’s far-right pro-government media included asserted that US President-elect Joe Biden was brought to office by “Jewish controlled media organizations and powerful Jewish lobbies” and that “Jewish capital” controls the US “deep state.” Read Here
AL-QAEDA CALLS ON MUSLIMS TO TARGET ISRAELI VISITORS TO ARAB COUNTRIES
By JNS
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula blasted the governments of the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco for normalizing relations with Israel, calling on Muslims to target Israelis who visit these countries according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). Read Here
ON CAMPUS
U.S.: CALLS TO FIRE PENN PROF WHO GAVE NAZI SALUTE DURING VIDEO CONFERENCE
By Stuart Winer
Students were calling for the University of Pennsylvania to fire an archaeology professor after he used a Nazi salute and greeting during a video conference in response to another attendee who wouldn’t let him speak. Robert Schuyler, an associate professor of anthropology, made the gesture during the annual Society for Historical Archaeology conference. Read Here
UK: LEEDS JSOC SLAMS LEEDS UNI LECTURER FOR COMPARING JEWS TO NAZIS
By Danny Shaw
A lecturer at the University of Leeds has repeatedly made “anti-Semitic” posts on Twitter. In some of his tweets, Professor Ray Bush likens Jews to Nazis while in others he promotes anti-Semitic conspiracies. In one post, the African Studies lecturer tweeted: “Does it take a Nazi to recognise a Nazi #nazi #israel #racism ?” Read Here
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
NEO-NAZIS, QANON AND CAMP AUSCHWITZ: A GUIDE TO THE HATE SYMBOLS AND SIGNS ON DISPLAY AT THE CAPITOL RIOTS
By LAURA E. ADKINS AND EMILY BURACK
WE DON’T HAVE ADEQUATE TOOLS TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM. BIDEN SHOULD CHANGE THAT.
By KENNETH L. MARCUS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
STUDY FINDS UNRWA EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS REPLETE WITH ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-ISRAEL HATE, INCITEMENT
By Algemeiner Staff
A new study by IMPACT-se of educational materials used by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which serves Palestinian refugees, has found that the materials contain anti-Israel and anti-Semitic racism, encouragement of terrorism and jihad, and rejection of peace with the Jewish state. Read Here
SURVEY SHOWS JEWS FEEL SAFER IN POST-CORBYN ERA
By JC Reporter
Two thirds of British Jews now feel that they have a long-term future in the country following the fall of Jeremy Corbyn. The survey, carried out by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and King’s College London, shows that 66% of those questioned for the CAA’s ‘Anti-Semitism Barometer’ either ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that Jews have a long-term future in the UK. For the past two years, that figure was 50%. Read Here
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
BILL ELEVATING US ANTI-SEMITISM SPECIAL ENVOY TO AMBASSADOR RANK SIGNED INTO LAW
By CAM
A bipartisan bill to bolster the US State Department’s role in fighting anti-Semitism was signed into law after its recent passage by Congress. H.R. 221 — known as the “Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act” — elevates the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism position — currently held by Elan Carr — to the ambassador-rank level. Read Here
EUROPEAN COMMISSION PUBLISHES IHRA ANTI-SEMITISM DEFINITION HANDBOOK
By JEREMY SHARON
The European Commission published a new handbook for governments and EU agencies to utilize the International Holocaust and Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. The commission provides guidance for how the definition can be used practically, including training police and law enforcement agencies, monitoring anti-Semitism and prosecuting it. Read Here
HUMANITY
UAE REUNITES TWO MORE JEWISH YEMENI FAMILIES, SPLIT FOR DECADES
By Tzvi Joffre
The UAE helped reunite two Jewish Yemeni families with their relatives they had not seen for decades. The first family of 15 members was reunited in Abu Dhabi after Emirati officials helped family members from Yemen and London travel to the city. Read Here
OLDEST LIVING OLYMPIC CHAMPION, A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, TURNS 100
By Justin Spike
For Agnes Keleti, the oldest living Olympic champion, the fondest memory of her remarkable 100 years is simply that she has lived through it all. The Holocaust survivor and winner of 10 Olympic medals in gymnastics — including five golds — celebrates her 100th birthday in her native Budapest, punctuating a life of achievement, adventure, tragedy and perseverance which, she says, passed by in a flash. Read Here
The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement is a non-partisan, global grassroots movement of individuals and organizations, across all religions and faiths, united around the goal of ending anti-Semitism in all its forms. Since its launching in February 2019, 294 organizations and 299,000 individuals have joined the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement by signing the campaign’s pledge. The CAM Pledge draws upon the IHRA international definition of anti- Semitism and its list of specific behaviors used to discriminate against the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel.
