THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM REPORT
A bipartisan group of U.S. Congressmen signed a letter urging the UN to fire the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese over her history of antisemitic statements.
Following a trip leading a delegation of US Senators to Abraham Accords member states, U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) discussed opportunities for the Senate to expand Middle East cooperation. Meanwhile, the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism was adopted by the Republic of Croatia; the cities of Kansas City, Missouri, and Florence, Italy; Westchester County, New York; and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Twenty-four-year-old U.S. Holocaust denier and white nationalism influencer Nick Fuentes was briefly reinstated to Twitter, before being suspended again after unleashing a new slew of antisemitic posts promoting Kanye West’s antisemitic presidential campaign and conspiracies about a “Zionist Occupied Government.”
In Houston, Texas, a woman trespassed into a synagogue, where she damaged a Torah scroll and harassed preschool children, and a synagogue in St. Louis, Missouri was graffitied in an incident being investigated as a potential hate crime. In New York City, a vandal broke a fence outside Congregation Toras Emes on Staten Island, and another synagogue in Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood received a package containing powder and an antisemitic letter.
In Berkeley, California, billboards featuring messages against antisemitism were defaced with the spray-painted words, “Free Palestine,” where last semester a dozen student groups at UC Berkeley School of Law agreed to boycott speakers who support Israel or Zionism.
In London, England, a Jewish mother and her young child were verbally harangued on a public bus by a fellow passenger who called them “vermin,” and an Israeli orchestra director resigned from the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden, Germany, due to “systematic antisemitic belittling” he said he faced.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed concern over antisemitic titles being sold at a state-run book fair in Cairo, Egypt.
According to a new report, there was a 22% rise in university-related antisemitic incidents in the UK over the past two years, and a survey of Dutch citizens found a majority did not know that the Holocaust had affected their country.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 38 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 22 (57.9%) from the far-right, 5 (13.2%) from the far-left, 3 (7.9%) with Islamist motivations, and 8 (21.1%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
WHITE SUPREMACIST NICK FUENTES RETURNS TO TWITTER WITH A SPREE OF ANTISEMITIC COMMENTS
By PHILISSA CRAMER
The white supremacist and far-right provocateur Nick Fuentes was reinstated to Twitter Tuesday and returned to the social media platform with a volley of antisemitic posts and comments, including praise for Hitler. Fuentes is a Holocaust denier who first gained prominence after participating in the white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 and was banned from Twitter in July 2021, amid the platform’s crackdown on far-right extremists He burst back onto the public stage in November, when he and Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, had dinner with former President Donald Trump shortly after Ye embarked on an antisemitic spree on social media and in interviews. Fuentes made clear upon his return to Twitter Tuesday that he planned to pick up where he left off, posting a series of comments reflecting the brand of antisemitism that he has continued spreading in spaces that have provided refuge for far-right extremists after Twitter and Facebook cracked down on them.
PROVOCATIVE JEWBELONG BILLBOARDS VANDALIZED WITH ‘FREE PALESTINE’ IN BERKELEY, CA
By EMMA GOSS
Two of eight new billboards in Berkeley were defaced last week by vandals who took issue with their provocative message: “You don’t need to go to law school to know anti-Zionism is antisemitism.” Paid for by JewBelong, a New Jersey–based nonprofit known for its edgy messaging delivered in 22 states, the billboards and their tongue-in-cheek message refer to the recent controversy at UC Berkeley, where last semester a dozen student groups at the law school agreed to ban speakers who support Israel or Zionism. The Berkeley billboards went up over the week of Jan. 9. By Jan. 20, they had been reported defaced. On one, the “Jew” in JewBelong was crossed out and the logo was painted over with “Every1belong.” On the other billboard, the words “anti-Zionism is antisemitism” were crossed out. On both, “Free Palestine” was added to the message. “I feel strongly this is a hate crime. I don’t see it any other way,” Archie Gottesman, JewBelong’s co-founder, said in a phone interview with J.
A HOUSTON, TX SYNAGOGUE IS TIGHTENING SECURITY AFTER A WOMAN BROKE IN TWICE, DAMAGED A TORAH AND HARASSED CHILDREN
By MATT SAMUELS FOR THE HOUSTON JEWISH HERALD-VOICE
A Houston synagogue is shoring up its security practices after a woman who said she was motivated to vandalize it by Messianic beliefs entered without being detected. Ezra Law broke into Congregation Emanu El in the early hours of Jan. 14, causing damage to both the building and a sacred Torah. After spending six hours in the building — including drinking wine and spilling it on one of the sacred Torahs — she was discovered by security personnel before Shabbat services and subsequently arrested. Law was soon released on bond, but instead of showing up at her court arraignment, she returned to Emanu El on Friday to disrupt a preschool class, harassing young children before fleeing. Law was arrested again later that day and was released for a second time on Sunday. That night, she posted online that she had targeted the synagogue in retaliation for being turned away previously because of her belief in Jesus.
ST. LOUIS, MO SYNAGOGUE VANDALIZED OVERNIGHT IN POSSIBLE HATE CRIME
WORLD NEWS
UNITED KINGDOM
‘YOU ARE VERMIN’: LONDON’S ORTHODOX JEWS TARGETED IN LATEST WAVE OF ANTISEMITIC HATE CRIMES
By DION J. PIERRE
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London has arrested a Tik Tok user who filmed himself staging a series of menacing pranks against the Orthodox Jewish community. According to Shomrim Stamford Hill, a Jewish community defense group, the 18 year old male went on a “1 man hate spree,” blocking a car being driven by an Orthodox Jewish man, jumping on the back of a Jewish teenager, and faking a robbery on a Jewish man whom he accosted and told, “you’re under arrest, give me what you have.” He also filmed himself wearing a fedora while saying, “Guys, I’m a f***king Jew.” The male was arrested on Wednesday and in is police custody. In another incident that took place on a Transportation for London (TFL) bus, a “deranged male” verbally abused a Jewish mother and her three-year-old child, calling them “vermin” and “bad people.” “TFL bus driver sadly took no action,” Shomrim said.
GERMANY
ALLEGING ANTISEMITIC BULLYING, ISRAELI MUSICIAN RESIGNS FROM POST WITH GERMAN ORCHESTRA
By BEN COHEN
In the latest scandal involving antisemitism to rock the German art world, a prominent Bulgarian-Israeli musician has resigned from his post as the orchestra director of the Hessian State Theater in the city of Wiesbaden, citing antisemitic bullying as the reason. In his resignation letter issued on Sunday, Ilia Jossifov — a Bulgarian-born classical musician whose credits include performances with the Israeli Opera and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra — stated that he had been subjected to “systematic antisemitic belittling and months of harassment” by his colleague Holger von Berg, the theater’s managing director. At issue was a poster that hung in von Berg’s office for several months showing a Nazi swastika alongside the likeness of Richard Wagner, the viscerally antisemitic nineteenth century German composer. Jossifov claimed that von Berg refused repeated appeals to remove the poster and that he had made antisemitic comments as well.
CANADA
SASKATOON POLICE INVESTIGATING FLYERS SPREADING ANTISEMITIC CONSPIRACY THEORIES
By NICHOLAS FREW
Police are working to figure out who distributed flyers promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories in Saskatoon. Last week, the Saskatoon Police Service received reports of printed flyers being distributed in the city’s north end, including along Whiteswan Drive in the Lawson Heights neighborhood, in resealable plastic bags filled with popcorn shells. Some of the flyers alleged that “every single aspect” of mass immigration, the media and abortion is Jewish. They each listed names of companies, organizations and/or individuals. The flyers play up far-right conspiracy theories of white genocide — that Jewish people are out to kill the white race — and that Jews are puppet masters of society trying to spread discord, Panneton said. They appear to be linked to the Goyim Defense League.
FRANCE
ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI DISCOVERED ON THE FACADES OF SEVERAL SHOPS IN PARIS
By LE PARISIEN
It is a Star of David on the lowered curtain of a cheese factory and on that of a bicycle salesman, “I am racist” written on an electrical cabinet… The Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF) denounced, this Monday, the realization of several antisemitic tags in the night on the facade of several shops in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. “The whole neighborhood is covered with Stars of David, the word Jude or the expression I am racist tagged in large white letters”, denounced the UEJF on Twitter. “The historic Jewish presence in the neighborhood as well as the proximity of many synagogues and Jewish institutions make these tags a real security issue,” continues the organization.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
AUSTRALIA – JEWISH COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF VICTORIA (JCCV) HAS CONDEMNED A GATHERING OF NEO-NAZIS AT ELWOOD BEACH
By AJN STAFF
The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has condemned a gathering of neo-Nazis at Elwood Beach, photos of which emerged on social media over the weekend. The group – which gathered at the Point Ormond lookout and performed Hitler salutes – were allegedly members of the European Australia Movement, founded by neo-Nazi white supremacist Thomas Sewell. Elwood has a sizeable Jewish community. “It is a sad reality that there seems to be a small group of Victorians who feel the need to use the summer holidays to scare or intimidate the Jewish community,” JCCV president Daniel Aghion said. “The ideology that this pathetic group represents is one of bigotry and violence. The Victorian Jewish community will not be cowered by these public displays of hate.”
RUSSIA – AGAIN THE SAME BLOOD LIBEL: UKRAINE HARVESTS ORGANS FROM RUSSIANS AND TRANSFERS THEM TO ISRAEL
MIDDLE EAST
AS CAIRO BOOK FAIR OPENS, ISRAEL EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER PERSISTENT ANTISEMITISM
By LAZAR BERMAN
Israel expressed concern on Monday over antisemitic books being sold at Egypt’s state-run book fair. “We are worried about the persistence of antisemitic features in Egyptian society,” read a statement from the Foreign Ministry, “that are expressed in books published and presented in the Cairo International Book Fair.” A particularly egregious example is a new book on the history of Zionism, its cover featuring caricatures of hook-nosed Jewish men rubbing their hands together as they appear to plot against Egypt.
‘THIS IS NOT NORMAL’: ANTISEMITISM IN PALESTINIAN SCHOOL CURRICULUM PERSISTS AS PROBLEM DESPITE GLOBAL OUTRAGE, EXPERTS SAY
By DION J. PIERRE
Study cards for eleventh graders accusing Jews of being “in control of global events through financial power,” seventh graders instructed to describe Israeli soldiers as “Satan’s aides” in a textbook chapter imploring Muslims to “liberate” the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and children gathered to listen to a poem with the following line: “Give me a Kalashnikov, an [M-] 14, an axe and a knife.” These are some of the examples of the virulent antisemitism experts say continues to show up in educational materials provided to children living in territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The problem has persisted despite years of outrage and international pressure and contributes to prolonging the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, experts and lawmakers told The Algemeiner.
ON CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE ADOPTS IHRA DEFINITION
By AJN STAFF
The University of Melbourne has become the first university in Australia to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. The adoption, along with all of the definition’s examples, forms part of a broader anti-racism commitment made by the university on Tuesday. The announcement came just days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is marked on January 27. The Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) said in a statement it was “thrilled to hear” of the adoption. “This sends a message to all Jewish students around the country that our voices are being heard. The University’s anti-racism commitment will go a long way to fostering an inclusive and thriving campus experience for all minority groups,” AUJS said.
ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI ON UC BERKELEY
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
IN THE NETHERLANDS, A MAJORITY DO NOT KNOW THE HOLOCAUST AFFECTED THEIR COUNTRY
By DAVID I. KLEIN
A recent study of the Dutch population conducted by the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany showed an alarming lack of education around the Holocaust in the Netherlands. For one, a majority of Dutch respondents, across all age groups, did not cite their own country as a place where the Holocaust took place. The study, for which Schoen Cooperman Research surveyed 2,000 people across the country of over 17 million, also found that a majority of respondents (54%) and a slightly larger share of those in the millenial and Gen Z generations (59%) did not know that the number of Jews murdered by the Nazis totaled 6 million. Many said the total was as little as 2 million or fewer.
ISRAEL-GAZA VIOLENCE ‘FUELLED RISE IN UK CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM’, REPORT REVEALS
By LEE HARPIN
University-related antisemitic incidents rose by 22 percent over the past two academic years, a new report has revealed. There were a total of 150 university-related antisemitic incidents reported to the Community Security Trust (CST) across the past two academic years covered in the report – between 2020/21 and 2021/22. Fifty-five of the 150 university-related antisemitic incidents took place in a single month, May 2021, when there was a significant escalation of conflict in Israel and Gaza. This was a period when national levels of anti-Jewish hate crimes increased, and university campuses were disproportionately affected. Overall, in the last two academic years,93% of university-related incidents were categorized as Abusive Behavior, totaling 140 incidents.
WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION REPORT SHOWS RISE IN ANTISEMITISM IN U.S.
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
US BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL LETTER CALLS FOR UN OFFICIAL’S FIRING OVER OUTRAGEOUS ANTISEMITIC REMARKS
By ANDREW BERNARD
11 Democratic and Republican members of Congress on Monday called for the firing of the UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, for her “outrageous” antisemitic statements. “Enough is enough,” the letter, led by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), reads. “Ms. Albanese’s comments are only the latest in a pattern of antisemitic behavior and rhetoric at the UN, which is obsessively focused on the world’s only Jewish state.” The letter, which was addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, cites Albanese’s comments and writings over the past 10 years, including a 2014 letter in which she claimed America was “subjugated by the Jewish lobby” and her 2022 remarks to a Hamas conference in Gaza where she told the terrorist group’s attendees that they “have a right to resist this occupation.”
US SENATOR ROSEN HIGHLIGHTS POTENTIAL FOR AIR- AND MISSILE-DEFENSE, WATER PROJECTS THROUGH ABRAHAM ACCORDS
By MARC ROD
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who returned last weekend from leading a group of fellow senators on a delegation to Abraham Accords member countries, told Jewish Insider yesterday that she sees opportunities for the Senate to work this year on efforts to expand Middle East cooperation on air-defense and water-resiliency projects through the Arab-Israeli agreements. It’s “particularly important that we continue to work and build on” the DEFEND Act — passed last year to promote regional air- and missile-defense cooperation, Rosen told Jewish Insider yesterday, following a press conference with other members of the delegation. Rosen noted that several members of the delegation — herself and Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) — are members of the Armed Services Committee, making them well-placed to work on the project, and said they’ll be meeting with with Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-RI) later this week to discuss the issue further.
RNC TO CONSIDER RESOLUTION CONDEMNING KANYE WEST, FUENTES AND ANTISEMITISM WRIT LARGE
By NATALIE ALLISON
Republican National Committee members are set to vote on a resolution this week condemning not just antisemitism, but Ye, better known as Kanye West, and other conservative provocateurs who have made antisemitic remarks. The resolution was filed by California national committeeman Shawn Steel, an Orange County attorney and past California Republican Party chair who said in an interview that he did not want a handful of antisemitic “nitwits” to represent the GOP. The resolution, first reported by POLITICO, does not mention Trump, but condemns Ye, Fuentes and conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos by name. It also calls out a handful of Democratic politicians — including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — for remarks highly critical of Israel and for ties they had with antisemitic figures.
KANYE WEST COULD BE DENIED ENTRY TO AUSTRALIA OVER ANTISEMITIC REMARKS, MINISTER SAYS
HUMANITY
‘BOOK OF NAMES’ LISTING ALL KNOWN HOLOCAUST VICTIMS PUT ON DISPLAY AT UNITED NATIONS
By LUKE TRESS
The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum has set up a display commemorating each known victim of the genocide at the United Nations in New York, reaffirming the world body’s commitment to remembering the Holocaust on the annual day of remembrance as antisemitism climbs in the US and abroad. The display, called “The Book of Names,” contains 4.8 million names of the 6 million dead that Yad Vashem researchers have identified, and blank pages symbolizing the victims’ names that have not yet been recovered. The exhibit was set up at the entrance to the UN’s world headquarters in Manhattan this week ahead of the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday. The book will be officially presented on Thursday at an event with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan and Israel’s UN envoy, Gilad Erdan.
HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY: VOLKSWAGEN COMMEMORATES THE VICTIMS OF NAZISM
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