THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
This week we continued to see devastating antisemitic acts of violence, vandalism, and harassment targeting Jewish communities around the world following the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas.
In the UK, the highest number of recorded antisemitic incidents ever occurred in the month of May. In Germany, Muslim extremists staged a Nazi-style rally. In Sweden, a non-Jewish man wearing a kippah out of solidarity was assaulted by several men and called a “Jewish bastard,” and in France, an Algerian man threatened passersby in front of a synagogue, shouting, “We’re going to kill you all!”
In Los Angeles, a synagogue and a kosher restaurant were vandalized and two young Jewish brothers were targeted by paintball fire. In Massachusetts, police are investigating the vandalism of the Harvard Hillel center. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden again condemned rising antisemitism in the United States.
CAM’s weekly global antisemitism report highlights 63 new media reports of antisemitic incidents, including 24 (38%) with Islamist motivations, 17 (27%) from the far right, 10 (16%) from the far left, and 12 unidentifiable (19%).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURE
CONTEMPORARY JEW-HATRED ABETTED BY ‘CULTURE OF INDIFFERENCE AND IMPUNITY,’ CANADIAN ANTISEMITISM SPECIAL ENVOY WARNS
By CAM
Contemporary Jew-hatred is underpinned by a “culture of indifference and impunity” worldwide, Irwin Cotler — Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism — warned last week. Cotler — a former Canadian parliamentarian who served as justice minister and attorney general — spoke at the special virtual event “Justice for Sarah Halimi: An International Movement Is Born,” which was co-hosted by the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) and the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM). Read Here
COMBAT ANTISEMITISM MOVEMENT CONGRATULATES ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER ISAAC HERZOG ON ELECTION AS ISRAEL’S 11TH PRESIDENT
By CAM
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) welcomed Isaac Herzog’s election today by the Knesset as the eleventh President of the State of Israel. Herzog is a CAM Advisory Board member and a frequent participant in CAM events. During decades of public service, as a parliamentarian, government minister, Leader of the Opposition and in his current role as Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Herzog has resolutely dedicated himself to the welfare of the Jewish People and has been a powerful public voice in the fight against antisemitism, hatred and discrimination. Read Here
HOW TO COMBAT THE ANTISEMITISM SURGE OVER ISRAEL-GAZA VIOLENCE
By TARA KAVALER
Jewish communities around the world have experienced a surge in antisemitism; but the question remains, what can be done about it? Experts in human rights and Jewish groups say that education is the long-term answer. Sacha Roytman-Dratwa, executive director of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, says that in addition to beefing up security, governments should adopt the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism. “The IHRA Definition is one of the tools that help decision-makers and law enforcement agencies to define antisemitism,” Roytman-Dratwa said. Read Here
UNITED STATES
PICO-ROBERTSON SYNAGOGUE AND KOSHER RESTAURANT TARGETED WITH VANDALISM IN LOS ANGELES
By Ryan Torok & Aaron Bandler
Young Israel of Century City (YICC) is reeling from an incident involving an unidentified individual throwing a cinderblock at its synagogue’s window. The object did not cause any damage to the synagogue window because the windows are shatterproof. The individual also threw an object at Pat’s Restaurant, located one block away. One of the windows of the kosher restaurant was boarded up. Read Here
YOUNG JEWISH SIBLINGS IN LA TARGETED BY PAINTBALL FIRED FROM VEHICLE AFTER SHABBAT SERVICES
By Yoni Wilkenfeld
Two young Jewish boys returning from Shabbat services at a Los Angeles synagogue were shot with a paintball gun fired from a passing car. Yanky Munitz — the father of the boys, aged 11 and 13 — said that his sons were walking with their mother to their cousins’ home in the city’s Hancock Park area, when a paintball fired from a black Honda struck the younger boy in the chest. Read Here
ARRESTS AT BRONX MEMORIAL DAY MARCH AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS SHOUT VIOLENT SLOGANS, SCALE BRIDGE
QUESTLOVE, JULIAN CASABLANCAS AMONG 600 MUSICIANS IN LETTER CALLING ON ARTISTS TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL, PROCLAIM ‘SOLIDARITY’ WITH PALESTINIANS
GOOGLE DIVERSITY HEAD IN 2007: JEWS HAVE ‘INSATIABLE APPETITE FOR WAR’
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE COMPARES DEMOCRATS TO NAZIS
NYPD RELEASES NEW PHOTOS OF THREE WANTED OVER BRUTAL ASSAULT ON JEWISH MAN DURING PRO-PALESTINIAN RALLY
ALLEGED NEO-NAZI SUSPECTED OF PLANNING MASS SHOOTING ARRESTED IN TEXAS
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
WATCH: MUSLIM MEN FILM THEMSELVES TARGETING JEWS FOR THEIR VIEWS ON ‘CHILD KILLING’ IN ISRAEL – AS POLICE STAND BY
By Noa Hoffman
Three Muslim YouTubers have filmed themselves standing in front of a billboard bearing the words “Did we not learn from the Holocaust?” while pushing Jews for their views on Israel. The incident took place in Golders Green, one of London’s most heavily populated Jewish suburbs. Ali Dawah, Mohammed Hijab and a self-described comedian who goes by the name of Smile2Jannah, targeted identifiable Jewish passers-by, asking them for their views on Israel and delivering speeches about “the killing of children” to their camera in the interim. Read Here
BELFAST CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO BACK EXPULSION OF ISRAELI AMBASSADORS
By Noa Hoffman
Belfast City Council has voted to urge the UK and Northern Irish governments to immediately expel “Israeli ambassadors” from office. At a special meeting, councillors passed a motion stipulating that the local authority would “write to the Irish Government and the UK Government, urging them to expel from office Israeli ambassadors, with immediate effect.” The motion was proposed by Councillor Fiona Ferguson, of the Trotskyist People Before Profit Alliance party, and was backed by Sinn Fein, the Green Party and the Social Democratic Labour Party. Read Here
GERMANY
MUSLIM EXTREMISTS STAGE NAZI-STYLE RALLY ATTACKING ISRAEL IN CENTER OF HAMBURG, GERMANY, DESPITE CEASEFIRE IN MIDDLE EAST
By Ben Cohen
Antisemitic demonstrations targeting Israel have continued to be staged by Islamist groups in Germany, despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. In a sinister display that brought to mind demonstrations by neo-Nazi groups, hundreds of Islamist protestors lined the Steindamm in the port city of Hamburg. More than 200 men clad in black clothing lined up in military fashion. Several carried coffins bearing Arabic inscriptions as they angrily chanted slogans accusing Israel of being a “child murderer.” Read Here
ANTISEMITIC INSULTS IN HAMBURG AND BREMEN
By Eli Nahum
There were two antisemitic insults in Hamburg and Bremen. In downtown Hamburg, a 20-year-old Kippa carrier was insulted from a car at a traffic light according to the police. In Bremen, a 70-year-old man who, according to the police, was wearing a protective mask with a Star of David, was insolently insulted. Read Here
CANADA
WINNIPEG ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS: “GET LOST, YOU SON OF A JEW!
By B’nai Brith Canada
B’nai Brith Canada is seeking hate-crimes charges and a political response to a video showing protesters in Winnipeg playing an antisemitic song composed by a band linked to the Hamas terrorist group. Hundreds of people joined an anti-Israel protest outside the Manitoba Legislative Building in central Winnipeg. Read Here
‘IT WAS EXTREMELY UPSETTING’: JEWISH-OWNED BUSINESS IN TORONTO TARGETED WITH ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI
By Jon Woodward
A Jewish-owned Kensington Market business is speaking out after it was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti referencing the Holocaust in an attack that was recorded on the store’s surveillance cameras. “It was extremely upsetting,” Jeff Levy, owner of The Kensary cannabis dispensary said. Read Here
CANADIAN IMAM YOUNUS KATHRADA: MUSLIM ENMITY TOWARD THE JEWS IS JUST AND LOGICAL; WE HATE THE JEWS BECAUSE OF THEIR DISBELIEF IN ALLAH.
FRANCE
MIA KHALIFA CALLS ISRAEL ‘APARTHEID’ WHILE DRINKING NAZI-ERA CHAMPAGNE
By ZACHARY KEYSER
Lebanese-American porn star Mia Khalifa uploaded a post to Twitter of her drinking Nazi-era champagne, while condemning Israel as an apartheid state. The post faced widespread backlash, with many Twitter users pointing out that both alcohol and her occupation as a porn star are illegal in Gaza, and would result in her immediate arrest or execution. Read Here
A MAN LAUNCHES ANTISEMITIC INSULTS IN FRONT OF THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE IN STRASBOURG
By Eli Nahum
A 35-year-old Algerian man uttered antisemitic slurs and threatened passers-by passing in front of the great synagogue in Strasbourg. The man stood in front of the Great Peace Synagogue and began to utter antisemitic insults and death threats. “Assfucked Jews, bunch of bastards, we’re going to kill you all!” (« Enculés de juifs, bande de bâtards, on va tous vous crever ! »). Read Here
OTHER WORLD NEWS
NON-JEWISH MAN WEARING YARMULKE IN SOLIDARITY WITH JEWS IS ASSAULTED IN SWEDEN
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
A non-Jewish man who wore a kippah in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden was assaulted on the street by several men and was called “Jewish bastard” by at least one of them, a witness said. The incident “happened very quickly,” the witness said. “He didn’t have a chance to defend himself,” said the witness, who is related to the unnamed alleged victim. Police are looking into the incident, which happened during the afternoon in central Gothenburg, a port city of over 500,000. Read Here
IN UKRAINE, BULLET HOLES ARE FOUND IN A SYNAGOGUE OF KREMENCHUK
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
The aftermath of a shooting at the synagogue of Kremenchuk, a city located 130 miles southeast of Kyiv, was discovered early last month but reported by the local Jewish community on Monday. The delay was planned “in order to prevent panic in the Jewish community of the city,” the news site Jewish.ru reported, quoting a spokesperson for the United Jewish Community of Ukraine. No one was hurt in the incident. Read Here
AUSTRALIAN ISLAMIST EXTREMIST GROUP FANS THE ANTISEMITIC FLAMES
Anti-Israel incidents continued to occur around South Africa in spite of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with many turning antisemitic and targeting individuals and businesses.
THE MIDDLE EAST
IRAN QUDS FORCE CHIEF: ZIONISTS SHOULD REBUY HOMES IN EUROPE BEFORE PRICES RISE
By Times of Israel
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps’ extraterritorial Quds Force issued fresh threats against Israel. “I advise all Zionists to go back and repurchase the houses they have sold in Europe, the US and elsewhere to come to the Palestinian territories before the houses become more expensive than today,” Esmail Ghaani said, according to Fars News. Read Here
FATAH: “PALESTINE FROM THE SEA TO THE RIVER” – WILL BE LIBERATED
By Itamar Marcus
Toward the end of the recent Fatah/Hamas riot and rocket war, Fatah – like Hamas – tells Palestinians that Fatah’s ultimate goal is Israel’s destruction. Using the well-known Palestinian slogan “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea” to define the area of “Palestine,” the Deputy Secretary of Fatah’s Shuafat and Beit Hanina branch, Musa Al-Rajabi, vowed that Palestinians will continue to fight Israel until “the liberation of Palestine.” Read Here
PALESTINIAN POST-WAR CALLS FOR “ESCALATING THE INTIFADA”
By Nan Jacques Zilberdik
ON CAMPUS
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY CONDEMNS ANTISEMITISM, THEN APOLOGIZES FOR DOING SO
By Ben Sales
The chancellor of New Jersey’s flagship public university condemned antisemitism and then, following protest from a pro-Palestinian student group, apologized for the condemnation. The chancellor of Rutgers University, Christopher Molloy, released a statement condemning antisemitism. The next day, the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine group released a lengthy statement condemning the chancellor’s statement. Later that day, Molloy released a second statement apologizing for the first, and promising to “make sure that our communications going forward are much more sensitive and balanced.” Read Here
HARVARD POLICE INVESTIGATING VANDALISM OF JEWISH CENTER AFTER WINDOW SMASHED, PALESTINIAN FLAG ZIP-TIED TO DOOR
By Dion J. Pierre
Rabbi Jonah C. Steinberg of Harvard Hillel confirmed that Harvard University Police Department were investigating two acts of vandalism targeting the Jewish group’s Reisman Center in the Rosovsky Hall campus building. The most recent incident, which is the second in two weeks, occurred during a party on Mount Auburn Street when someone shattered one of Rosovsky Hall’s windows. Several days earlier, Rabbi Steinberg added, two masked people “zip-tied” a “Palestinian flag bearing [an] anti-police slogan … to the front door of Rosovsky Hall.” Read Here
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
AS HATE SURGES, PROMINENT EUROPEAN JEWS WORRY WAR AGAINST ANTISEMITISM IS LOST
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
JOIN THE DOTS BETWEEN THE HOLOCAUST, ANTI-JEWISH HATE AND ANTI-JEWISH STATEHOOD
By MARC CAVE
STUDIES & STATISTICS
MORE ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN UNITED KINGDOM IN MAY THAN ANY MONTH SINCE RECORDS BEGAN
By Jewish News
More antisemitic incidents have been reported in Britain in May than any other since records began. The Community Security Trust confirmed there has been 325 incidents of antisemitism since the start of the recent conflict. This surpasses the 317 recorded in July 2014 at the height of Operation Cast Lead, the last war between Israel and Hamas. More than 300 of the incidents were believed to be motivated or linked to events in the Middle East, while 116 were online and 209 offline. Read Here
ANTISEMITIC SENTIMENT IN SWEDEN DOWN, STUDY FINDS
By Jeremy Sharon
A new study of antisemitism in Sweden has shown that anti-Jewish prejudices are decreasing in the country among the majority of the population, although prevalent among the Muslim community and those identifying with far-right Sweden Democrats Party. The study was commissioned by the Living History Forum and based on responses from 3,507 individuals aged 18-79. “According to the results, the prevalence of antisemitic attitudes and ideas in the Swedish population fell between 2005 and 2020,” it concluded. Read Here
QUARTER OF TOP UK UNIVERSITIES BREACHED IHRA GUIDELINES IN RECENT GAZA CONFLICT: REPORT
By i24News
In a damning report, a UK think tank claims that up to a quarter of Britain’s leading universities released statements that veered into antisemitism at the height of the recent violence between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel. The Pinsker Centre, claimed that student unions or faculty bodies at 12 of the country’s top 40 universities – including Oxford and Cambridge – published “highly partisan” anti-Israel statements that might have breached the widely agreed working definition of antisemitism. Read Here
ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN TORONTO ARE UP FIVE TIMES THE MONTHLY AVERAGE
By Ron Johnson for TRNTO
A spike in antisemitic incidents in May is connected to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Middle East, a Toronto Jewish community group claims. The report from the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation of Greater Toronto found that more than 50 antisemitic incidents were reported in the GTA in May — five times the monthly average of 2021. Read Here
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
BIDEN AGAIN CALLS OUT ANTISEMITISM; CONGRESS PUSHES APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL ENVOY
By JACOB MAGID
US President Joe Biden spoke out for the second time in days against a rise in attacks targeting Jews across the US, as 132 members of Congress made a bipartisan plea for him to appoint a special antisemitism envoy. “I will not allow our fellow Americans to be intimidated or attacked because of who they are or the faith they practice,” Biden said in a statement, lamenting the “targeting and terrorizing American Jews.” Read Here
FRENCH SENATE ADOPTS ‘CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY’ BILL IN WAKE OF SARAH HALIMI LEGAL TRAVESTY, AS CONCERN RISES OVER ALLEGED MURDERER’S POSSIBLE RELEASE
By Ben Cohen
The French Senate has adopted the first draft of a bill that would amend the country’s penal code so that offenders under the influence of narcotics or alcohol are not deemed criminally irresponsible for their actions. The bill was triggered by the decision of France’s highest appeal court to excuse from trial the accused murderer of Sarah Halimi. The assailant, Kobili Traore, regaled his victim with antisemitic and Islamist rhetoric throughout Halimi’s ordeal. Read Here
UK LABOUR LEADER KEIR STARMER TELLS PIERS MORGAN: WE’RE TURNING THE PARTY AROUND ON ANTISEMITISM
US SENATOR RISCH INTRODUCES RESOLUTION FOCUSING ON INTERNATIONAL ANTISEMITISM
‘HOLOCAUST TEACHING BILL’ PROGRESSES IN ALBANY, NEW YORK’S CAPITAL, FOLLOWING ROADBLOCKS
NEVADA HOLOCAUST EDUCATION BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
UK EDUCATION SECRETARY WILLIAMSON SOUNDS WARNING OVER ANTISEMITISM IN SCHOOLS
FBI JOINS NYPD TO ADDRESS RISE IN ANTISEMITIC CRIMES IN NEW YORK CITY
CORY BOOKER STARTS NEW COALITION OF BLACKS AND JEWISH SENATORS AND RACISM
HUMANITY
LAW FIRM LEADERS CALL OUT SILENCE AROUND RISING ANTISEMITISM
By Sam Zieve Cohen
Managing partners from 17 prominent global law firms issued a letter denouncing antisemitism “in all its forms.” The letter, originally published in The American Lawyer, comes amid a sharp rise in antisemitic violence and rhetoric stemming from recent violence in Israel and Gaza. The letter cites a recent opinion piece written by New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, titled “Anti-Zionism Isn’t Anti-Semitism? Someone Didn’t Get the Memo.”. The firms condemned the “demonization of Jews pervading the press, social media, and the streets of this country.” The letter is the first of its kind on behalf of a group of major American companies. Read Here
BLINDFOLDED JEWISH MAN OFFERS FREE HUGS ON STREETS OF NEW YORK TO FIGHT ANTISEMITISM
By CAM
With antisemitism surging across the globe, a Jewish man in New York City engaged in a unique social initiative to push back against hate and promote interfaith harmony. In a gesture of reconciliation, Meir Kay stood blindfolded on the streets of the city with a sign reading, “My name is Meir. I am a Jew. I stand for peace, how about you? Let’s share a hug between us two. And show the world what love can do.” Multiple people approached Kay and warmly embraced him. Read Here
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.
