THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM REPORT
Sweden, the current chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), appointed an official to examine obstacles to Jewish life and propose ways to strengthen it in the country.
During a U.N. Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) briefing on antisemitism, the European Commission’s antisemitism envoy, Katarina von Schnurbein, presented the bloc’s strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life to member states and NGOs, including the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
British Columbia became the latest Canadian province to endorse the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, the same week a local imam gave a sermon praying for the annihilation of “criminal, plundering Jews.”
In Quebec, Canadian police carried out raids against members of the antisemitic Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi terror group. In Toronto, a Jewish Canadian MP described with horror how visibly Jewish parents at her daughter’s graduation were harassed by young people shouting, ‘stop killing Palestinians.’
Swastika vandalism was found inside a synagogue in New York’s Rockland county, and publicly antisemitic Neo-Nazi gatherings were observed in Switzerland and Australia. At least four antisemitic assaults were recorded in London, including a gang attack on Jewish children, and a brick thrown from a window at a Jewish family.
Politicians in Spain’s Catalan region accused Israel of the apartheid libel, and the opening of the prestigious “documenta fifteen” art show in Germany featured groups that support the boycott of Israel. One of the exhibit’s works shows a pig wearing a helmet emblazoned with the word “Mossad,” alongside a man depicted with sidelocks, fangs, and bloodshot eyes, while wearing a black hat with the SS insignia.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 29 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 12 (41.4%) from the far-right, 6 (20.7%) from the far-left, 4 (13.8%) with Islamist motivations, and 7 (24.1%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
POLICE: ANTISEMITIC IMAGES FOUND INSIDE ROCKLAND, NY SYNAGOGUE
By NEWS 12 STAFF
Police say several swastikas were found inside a synagogue in Monsey. Police told News 12 one was drawn behind a coat rack and another a few steps ahead under a metal counter where coffee is made. One was found drawn on the wall and another was scratched deep into the computer screen. A black piece of clothing was also torn. It is unknown when the act was committed. Those who go to the synagogue first noticed the antisemitic markings Friday evening when they arrived.
CLEVELAND’S 2019 ‘POLICE OFFICER OF YEAR’ INVESTIGATED FOR TWEETS SALUTING HITLER, TARGETING JEWS
By KASSY DILLON
A decorated Cleveland police officer is under investigation for resurfaced antisemitic tweets following being honored last year by the police department. According to Canary Mission, Ismail Quran was awarded the 2019 Officer of the Year Award and the distinguished service medal last November at the Cleveland Division of Police Awards. In 2019, a year after Quran joined the department, Canary Mission exposed his tweets that glorify Hitler, spread anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories, and express his disdain for Israel and Zionists. According to their investigation, in 2017, Quran was also a member of a closed Facebook group that honored Osama Bin Laden.
OVER THREE WEEKENDS, ANTISEMITIC FLYERS LAND IN SOUTH TAMPA YARDS
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
ROUNDABOUT REMOVED FROM PARK AFTER BEING DAUBED WITH SWASTIKAS
By CASEY COOPER-FISKE
A roundabout has been removed from a park in a city suburb after it was vandalized with Swastikas. The mini roundabout at Fitzmaurice Park in Thorpe St Andrew was removed on Monday after vandals used marker pens to draw the symbol on it. The Swastika is closely associated with the Nazi Party. It was removed from the park’s play area by Thorpe St Andrew Town Council, who said the vandalism had cost public money and the hours of staff.
GANG IN STAMFORD HILL REPORTEDLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ATTACKS ON VISIBLY JEWISH CHILDREN
By CAMPAIGN AGAINST ANTISEMITISM
It has been reported that a gang in North London is responsible for two separate attacks on visibly Jewish children. At 20:39 on 9th June, an eleven-year-old boy on a bicycle was chased by three male teenagers. Video footage appears to show one of the teenagers, also on a bicycle, cornering the boy in an attempt to prevent him from escaping. The suspect reportedly told the boy to get off of his bike before the boy shouted for help, prompting the suspect to flee. In a separate incident that occurred at 17:10 on 13th June, a nine-year-old boy was walking down the street when teenagers reportedly threw a metal box at his leg, severely bruising it.
GERMANY
OPENING OF PRESTIGIOUS DOCUMENTA ART SHOW IN GERMANY MARRED BY ANTISEMITISM CONTROVERSY
By CAM
The opening of the prestigious “documenta fifteen” art show in Kassel, Germany, this week was accompanied by controversy over the participation of groups that support the boycott of Israel. Documenta, held quinquennially, is being curated this year by Ruangrupa, an Indonesian collective with numerous members who have engaged in anti-Israel activism, including the signing of a document titled “A Letter Against Apartheid.” Ruangrupa is being accused of inviting organizations from developing countries that support the BDS movement, which the German Parliament designated as antisemitic in 2019. Around half of documenta’s funding comes from the German government, raising the question of whether a violation of the law has occurred.
CANADA
BRITISH COLUMBIA IMAM PRAYS FOR THE ANNIHILATION OF “CRIMINAL, PLUNDERING JEWS”
By B’NAI BRITH CANADA
A local Muslim preacher has once again been delivering sermons of the most extreme antisemitic nature to his followers in Victoria. Younus Kathrada – who leads an organization called Muslim Youth of Victoria – was recently highlighted by MEMRI TV beseeching Allah to “bring annihilation upon the plundering Jews” and calling for victory “over those criminal, plundering Jews.” B’nai Brith Canada recently submitted a formal criminal complaint to the Victoria Police Department (VPD), regarding Kathrada’s latest hate speech. According to the VPD: “The Victoria PD and several other agencies on Vancouver Island are very much aware of Kathrada’s statements and are monitoring him.”
CANADIAN POLICE RAID HOMES OF SUSPECTED NEO-NAZIS
By GRAEME MASSIE
Canadian police have carried out a string of raids at the rural homes of suspected members of the Atomwaffen Division neo-Nazi group. More than 60 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers conducted the raids southwest of Quebec City, officials say. “It’s a far-right affiliated group, which could be described as having neo-Nazi allegiance,” RCMP Cpl Charles Poirier told CBC. Two search warrants were executed in the towns of Saint-Ferdinand and Plessisville for what officials described as a “national security operation.” “Searches underway in St-Ferdinand and Plessisville. Investigation targeting individuals with suspected ties to the Atomwaffen Division terrorist group. All measures are in place to ensure the safety of the public and our police officers,” tweeted the RCMP, along with pictures of heavily armed officers.
FRANCE
MEYER HABIB RE-ELECTED TO REPRESENT FRENCH-ISRAELIS IN PARIS
By AHAV HARKOV
Meyer Habib was elected for the third time on Sunday to represent French citizens in Israel and other Eastern Mediterranean states in the parliament in Paris. A dual French-Israeli citizen, he was first elected to the National Assembly, the lower house of the French legislature, in 2013, and has been an outspoken advocate for Israel and has called for France to take greater action against antisemitism. Habib is a longtime friend of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has campaigned for him. Habib has accused Foreign Minister Yair Lapid of refusing to speak to him, while sources close to Lapid said that the French lawmaker tried to bring internal Israeli politics into meetings between the minister and French community leaders.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
AUSTRALIA: DISTURBING SCENES AT LOCAL PARK
By CARLY ADNO
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark has reminded the Jewish community to remain vigilant following a disturbing neo-Nazi incident at Balmoral Beach on Saturday. According to witnesses at Hunter Park, a group of five men and one woman dressed in black unfurled a neo-Nazi flag before raising their arms in a Nazi salute. Police have confirmed the flag is used by the European Australian Movement (EAM), a far-right group associated with the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network. The group then remained at the park, where they proceeded to set up for a barbecue.
ISRAEL ACCUSED OF APARTHEID BY POLITICIANS IN SPAIN’S CATALONIA REGION
By NAAN LIPHSHIZ
The foreign affairs committee of the parliament of Catalonia, Spain’s second-most populous region, accused Israel of committing “apartheid.” Thursday’s vote in Barcelona adopted a draft resolution submitted months ago by far-left politicians. About half of the 30 lawmakers who sit on the committee voted in favor of the draft resolution. Several others voted against and the rest abstained, resulting in the resolution’s passage. Political parties are represented in the committee according to their electoral size, meaning the vote could reflect the position of the majority of the 135 lawmakers serving in the Parliament of Catalonia. The issue has not been brought to a plenum vote. Pro-Palestinian media reported on the vote as a historic first in the European Union.
SWITZERLAND: NEO-NAZIS SING ANTISEMITIC SONGS AT MEETINGS IN RÜTI
MIDDLE EAST
IRANIAN TV FABRICATES SOCCER LEGEND CRISTIANO RONALDO DECLARING HIS HATRED OF ISRAELI ‘ASSASSINS’
By SHIRYN GHERMEZIAN
Iran’s state television has falsely quoted Portuguese soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo as saying that he dislikes Israeli soccer fans and calls them “assassins.” During a report that aired on June 15, Iranian state television showed a video clip of the Manchester United striker speaking, falsely translating him as saying: “Israeli football fans, for me, are the most hated. I cannot tolerate them. I won’t exchange my shirts with assassins.” However, Ronaldo never made those remarks, news outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Monday. In the original English-language video, Ronaldo drew attention to the struggle Syrian children faced during that country’s brutal civil war.
ON CAMPUS
CANADIAN MP LAMENTS ANTI-ISRAEL TAUNTS AT DAUGHTER’S HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
By FAYGIE HOLT
A Canadian Parliament minister took to social media this week to recount an incident of antisemitism at her daughter’s graduation ceremony. In her posting, Ya’ara Saks, MP for York Centre in Toronto, wrote: “I debated whether to share this because it was so hard, but I think it’s important to state that this happens nearly every day: Yesterday, I went to my daughter’s graduation at Wonderland. … Many of the parents there were visibly Jewish (kipot, modest dress, sheitels). As families were walking, a group of young people passed and yelled out ‘stop killing Palestinians.’ “These parents are Canadians, living here. This wasn’t a public event nor had it anything to do with the conflict; it was a high school graduation,” wrote the MP. “They’re just visibly Jewish. This is so wrong. It’s collectively blaming Jews for a foreign conflict. It’s hate, it’s antisemitism, it’s dangerous, and it needs to stop.”
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
WHICH EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ARE BEST FOR JEWS? A NEW STUDY OFFERS UNEXPECTED ANSWERS.
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Antisemitic sentiment is especially prevalent in Italy and Hungary, according to multiple surveys. But a first-of-its-kind index combining different measures of Jewish experience found that they are also the best countries in Europe for Jews to live in. The index, unveiled Monday, is based on a study that combines polling data and policy information to create a single quality-of-life metric for Jews in the 12 European Union countries with sizable Jewish communities, according to Daniel Staetsky, who wrote the report for the European Jewish Association in Brussels.Titled “Europe and Jews, a country index of respect and tolerance towards Jews,” the study ranks the 12 countries surveyed as follows: Italy: 79, Hungary: 76, Denmark: 75, the United Kingdom: 75, Austria: 75, the Netherlands: 74, Sweden: 73, Germany: 72, Spain: 70, France: 68, Poland: 66, Belgium: 60.
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
BRITISH COLUMBIA ADOPTS IHRA DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM
By DION J. PIERRE
The Canadian province of British Columbia adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism on Wednesday. According to the Jewish News Syndicate, British Columbia Premier John Horgan announced the news in a letter to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), located in Vancouver. “To effectively combat one of the world’s oldest forms of hatred, we must first clearly identify it,” Premier Horgan wrote in a letter to Nicolas Slobinsky, an official with the CIJA. “In this light, we see the IHRA definition as an important non-legally binding educational tool to help us determine what is and what is not antisemitic, which allows us to work toward a society that is better for all British Columbians.”
PALESTINIAN UN REP DENOUNCES IHRA ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION, AS EU ANTISEMITISM ENVOY PRESENTS PLAN TO WORLD BODY
By JACOB MILLER
A United Nations briefing on antisemitism became politically charged on Wednesday when a Palestinian representative to the world body criticized the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism for conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Palestinian Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N. Feda Abdelhady Nasser’s remarks occurred at the end of a three-hour U.N. Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) briefing on antisemitism, which featured a new proposal to tackle European antisemitism from the European Union’s coordinator on combating antisemitism, Katharina Von Schnurbein. “It is an undeniable fact that seven of its 11 examples appended to the definition wrongly conflate criticism of Israeli policies and practices in occupied Palestine with antisemitism,” she said. The definition’s 11 examples of antisemitism include Holocaust denial behavior and offensive stereotypes of Jews, in addition to methods of criticizing Israel.
SWEDEN UNDERTAKES MEASURES TO ADDRESS JEWISH LIFE, ANTISEMITISM IN COUNTRY
By JNS
Sweden is appointing an official to examine the obstacles to Jewish life in the Scandinavian country and make proposals on how to strengthen Jewish life there, according to the European Jewish Congress, which praised the move. “No one should hesitate to live out their identity and tell others about it. We must ensure that Jews can and dare to live a Jewish life, now and in the future,” said Swedish Minister of Culture Jeanette Gustafsdotter, according to a press release provided by the EJC. The announcement comes as Sweden hosts a meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in Stockholm. Sweden assumed the presidency of the IHRA in March and named Swedish ambassador Ann Bernes as the organization’s president. (The alliance rotates leadership among its members every year.) Representatives from 35 countries are attending this year’s event.
US FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS ARKANSAS LAW AGAINST ISRAEL BOYCOTTS
HUMANITY
APPEAL TO PRESERVE JEWISH-AFRICAN HERITAGE SIGNED BY INTERNATIONAL LEADERS IN MOROCCO
By SHIRYN GHERMEZIAN
An appeal to advance cooperation across Africa in preserving Jewish-African heritage was signed by African and international Jewish leaders this week in Morocco. The “Call of Rabat” appeal pushes for recognition by individuals, civil society groups, and governments of the long history of Jewish life in Africa, while emphasizing preservation and accessibility for Jewish historical sites. A total of 51 government officials, entrepreneurs, scholars, diplomats, rabbis, and community leaders from 22 countries attended the second Jewish Africa Conference.
MEET INDIANA UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT-LED ‘ANTISEMITISM PREVENTION TASK FORCE’
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