THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
As the Hamas terrorist organization continues to rain thousands of rockets at Israeli population centers – targeting Jews and Arabs alike – we unequivocally stand with the Jewish state and support its right to defend its citizens. We applaud the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria and others, for recognizing Israel’s right to self-defense and for condemning attacks on local Jewish communities.
Indeed, the conflict between Gaza and Israel is fueling an explosion in antisemitic incidents, targeting Jewish communities around the world. In Germany, at least five Jewish sites, including four synagogues and a Holocaust memorial have been targeted by pro-Hamas protesters. Jews in the UK have witnessed a 250% increase in antisemitic incidents this week, primarily by anti-Zionists scapegoating the local Jewish community. In Spain, a synagogue was spray painted with “Free Palestine” and “Allahu Akbar.”
These, and dozens of other incidents, illustrate how anti-Zionism is a particularly pernicious form of contemporary antisemtism. We will be monitoring developments over the coming days and weeks to track the impact of this latest surge in antisemitism.
CAM’s weekly global anti-Semitism report highlights 58 new media reports of anti-Semitic incidents: 23 incidents (39.7%) with Islamist motivations, 17 incidents (29.3%) from the far-right, 9 incidents (15.5%) from the far-left, and 9 unidentifiable incidents (15.5%).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURE
TELL ME AGAIN HOW ANTIZIONISM IS NOT ANTISEMITISM?
By CAM
In recent days Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israeli civilians. Now, Jews across the globe are being targeted in a wave of hate crimes fueled by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
UNITED STATES
ACTOR LAKEITH STANFIELD APOLOGIZES FOR MODERATING CHAT ROOM FULL OF ANTISEMITISM
By JTA
Oscar-nominated actor Lakeith Stanfield has apologized for moderating a room on the audio app Clubhouse in which participants made a slew of antisemitic remarks. The Daily Beast first reported about the antisemitic tropes, which included themes that Farrakhan has peddled, among them conspiracy theories about Jews controlling the media and the slave trade, and comparisons between Jews and termites. Read Here
MAITLAND, FLORIDA HOLOCAUST CENTER TARGETED BY ANTISEMITIC PROTESTORS
By MONIVETTE CORDEIRO
A group known for its “vitriolic antisemitism” held a protest across the street from Maitland’s Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center. Demonstrators with the Goyim Defense League targeted the Holocaust Center and nearby Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando. A van painted with anti-Jewish messages and the phrase “stop white genocide” tried to drive on to the Holocaust Center’s property but were denied entry by security. Read Here
IN LA PROTESTERS CHANTING “FREE PALESTINE” GAVE HEIL HITLER SALUTES TO PASSERSBY ON THE HIGHWAY
IN NEW YORK, A JEWISH MAN WAS ATTACKED AND BLOODIED ON THE STREET BY PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTORS
TLAIB CRITICIZED FOR TWEETING RETRACTED STORY OF ISRAELI SETTLERS “BURNING” PALESTINIAN LAND
‘FUN FOR THE FAMILY:’ TRIPADVISOR APOLOGIZES, REMOVES HATEFUL AUSCHWITZ REVIEW
TIKTOK STAR, ANNA SHUMATE, ADDRESSES ANTI-SEMITIC COMMENTS
“HITLER IS COMING” FOUND SCRAWLED ON SIDEWALK ON MAPLE AVE. IN MONSEY, NY
BELLA HADID IS SLAMMED FOR POSTING ANTISEMITIC ‘EXPLANATION’ TO HER 42M FOLLOWERS
GAL GADOT GETS BACKLASH FOR COMMENTS ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE VIOLENCE
AOC SLAMS NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE YANG FOR STATEMENT ‘STANDING WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL’
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
PROTESTERS COMPARE ISRAEL TO NAZIS IN BREACH OF INTERNATIONAL DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM AT RALLY OUTSIDE DOWNING STREET
By Campaign Against Antisemitism
A rally was held outside Downing Street that protested the ongoing events in the Middle East and featured several antisemitic themes. Around 1,500 people attended the “Emergency Rally for Palestine – Save Sheikh Jarrah.” There were several disturbing banners comparing Israel to the Nazis. One sign read: “Holocaust 1941 (with a swastika), Holocaust 2021 (with a Star of David).” Read Here
250 PERCENT RISE IN UK ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS AMID ISRAEL-PALESTINE VIOLENCE
By Jewish News
There has been a 250 percent increase in antisemitic incidents reported since the start of the recent confrontations between Israel and the Palestinians. Altercations outside shuls, verbal abuse directed at Jewish people on the street and hateful social media posts, are among the reported incidents since the start of the violence. Read Here
GERMANY
ISRAELI WOMAN IN GERMANY SAYS HER NEIGHBOR TRIED TO BREAK IN AFTER HEARING HER SPEAK HEBREW
By JTA
An Israeli woman living in Germany said her neighbor, a former parliamentary worker for a left-wing party, tried to break into her home after hearing her speak Hebrew. The Israeli, 26-year-old Coral Guter, told police that the incident happened after Katrin Wengler overheard Guter speaking Hebrew on the phone. According to Guter, Wengler shouted at her: “Leave this country already, you don’t belong here, you are a foreigner!” and threatened to have Guter “deported.” Wengler blocked Guter from entering the building, hit her in the chest and threatened her with a knife, Guter wrote. Read Here
ISRAELI FLAGS BURNED OUTSIDE TWO SYNAGOGUES IN GERMANY, AS EUROPEAN JEWS FEAR NEW VIOLENCE FUELED BY PRO-PALESTINIAN DEMONSTRATIONS
By Ben Cohen
In the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, Israeli flags were burned by unidentified individuals outside synagogues in the cities of Bonn and Munster, while a memorial stone to a synagogue in Dusseldorf destroyed during the Nazi era was vandalized. Local authorities said they were stepping up security outside Jewish institutions. Read Here
CANADA
‘IT IS EXTREMELY DISTURBING’: NAZI FLAG SEEN FLYING ON SECOND RURAL ALBERTA PROPERTY IN A WEEK
By Jonny Wakefield
A Hitler Youth flag has been spotted flying over a second rural Alberta property in the span of a week. The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) said they contacted police after learning Nazi and Confederate flags were on display at a property near Breton. The FSWC said the property owner refused to remove the flags after being approached by Breton police. Read Here
ONTARIO SHEIKH USES ANTISEMITIC CANARD TO ATTACK CANADIAN POLITICIANS
By B’nai Brith Canada
An Ontario Muslim cleric with a history of controversial remarks has accused Canadian elected officials of serving Israel rather than Canada. Sheikh Shafiq Hudda made the remarks amidst a weekend of rising tensions and political unrest in Jerusalem. Hudda, of the Islamic Humanitarian Service in Kitchener, Ont., delivered a lengthy tirade against supposed “Zionist lobby” influence in Western countries. Hudda also suggested that Germany should stop paying reparations to Holocaust survivors on account of Israel’s alleged misdeeds. Read Here
OTHER WORLD NEWS
THE NETHERLANDS: POLICE INVESTIGATE ATTACK ON PSV PLAYER’S FAMILY, ANTI-SEMITISM MAY BE MOTIVE
By Dutch News
Police released descriptions of two men who attacked the family of PSV striker Eran Zahavi. Zahavi received a telephone call from police telling him of the attack when he was on his way to a game. The attackers, who were armed, tied up the player’s wife and children, taped their mouths shut and left, having taken money and objects from the house. The VVD in Amsterdam asked police to follow up the possible antisemitic motives. Read Here
SPAIN: FREE PALESTINE SPRAY-PAINTED ON SYNAGOGUE
By JTA
The words “Free Palestine” were spray-painted on a Spanish synagogue in the North-African enclave of Ceuta. In addition to the slogan about Palestine, the perpetrators write AUAH, which stands for “Allah hu akbar,” “Allah is the greatest” in Arabic. Read Here
THE MIDDLE EAST
HAMAS OFFICIAL URGES PEOPLE TO “CUT OFF THE HEADS OF JEWS”
By Aaron Bandler
A senior Hamas -official called on people to “cut off the heads of Jews” in a video. The video features Hamas Political Bureau Member and former Minister of the Interior Fathi Hammad saying in Arabic on Al-Aqsa TV, “People of Jerusalem, we want you to cut off the heads of the Jews with knives… A knife costs five shekels. Buy a knife, sharpen it, put it there, and just cut off [their heads]. With those five shekels, you will humiliate the Jewish state.” Read Here
AMID GAZA FIGHTING, PAKISTANI ACTRESS QUOTES HITLER ABOUT KILLING JEWS
By JTA
Veena Malik, an actress who has starred in over a dozen Pakistani and Bollywood films and shows, tweeted a series of incendiary remarks about the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, including a quote she attributed to Adolf Hitler about killing Jews. “I would have killed all the Jews of the world … but I kept some to show the world why I killed them,” Malik tweeted Tuesday. Read Here
ON CAMPUS
‘HITLER GANG’ TIKTOK VIDEO FILMED IN SCHOOL AND SENT TO JEWISH PUPIL IN IOWA
By Tom Williams
Students at a school in Iowa filmed themselves ‘goose stepping’ around the corridors while doing Nazi-style salutes. The video – titled ‘Hitler Gang’ – was posted on social media with antisemitic hashtags and sent directly to a Jewish classmate. Police are investigating the incident after the video was reported to them by a concerned local resident in Grinnell. The Des Moines Register reported that Ori Zaret, 14, was one of those to have been sent the clip and may have been targeted due to his Jewish faith. Read Here
ANTISEMITISM TASK FORCE RECOVERS STOLEN CHABAD ITEMS AT SAN DIEGO STATE
By Jerusalem Post
After sentimental valuables were stolen from a Chabad House in the San Diego State University, a SDSU task force successfully returned the items to their owner. “Those items were not necessarily valuable but hold great sentimental and religious value to us and the students at Chabad house,” wrote Rabbi Chalom Boudjnah, head of SDSU’s Chabad House in a Facebook post. In April, SDSU assembled an Antisemitism Task Force. The group will take charge of making sure the investigation proceeds properly. Read Here
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
PEW SURVEY OF AMERICAN JEWS SHOWS WORRIES ABOUT ANTISEMITISM ARE WIDESPREAD
By David Crary
A new survey of Jewish Americans finds them increasingly worried about antisemitism, proud of their cultural heritage and sharply divided about the importance of religious observance in their lives. The survey, released by the Pew Research Center, shows concerns about antisemitism rose amid the deadly attacks in 2018 and 2019 in Pittsburgh, Poway, and Jersey City. Three-quarters of Jewish Americans say there is more antisemitism in the US than five years ago, and 53% say they feel less safe. Read Here
2020 U.S. REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
By U.S. Department of State Office of International Religious Freedom
The annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom – the International Religious Freedom Report – describes the status of religious freedom in every country. The report covers government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations and individuals, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world. The U.S. Department of State submits the reports in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Read Here
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
READOUT OF U.S. PRESIDENT JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR. CALL WITH PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU OF ISRAEL
By The White House
President Biden spoke today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups, including against Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He conveyed his unwavering support for Israel’s security and for Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself and its people, while protecting civilians. Read Here
GERMANY VOWS ‘NO TOLERANCE’ AFTER ISRAEL-FLAG BURNING OUTSIDE SYNAGOGUES
By AFP and TOI
Germany vowed “unwavering” protection of its synagogues after scattered demonstrations over the escalating military conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terror groups saw protesters shout anti-Israeli slogans and burn Israeli flags. “There must be no tolerance for attacks against synagogues in our country,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Funke media group, pledging “unwavering security” for Jewish temples in Germany. Read Here
US AGAIN BLOCKS ‘UNHELPFUL’ SECURITY COUNCIL STATEMENT ON ISRAEL, GAZA VIOLENCE
By JACOB MAGID
The US once again blocked the release of a UN Security Council joint statement on the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza, telling member states at the second emergency meeting on the matter in three days that such a public measure would be “unhelpful” in de-escalating the situation. Consensus was needed from all 15 members to publish a joint statement and the US mission was the only one that refused to back it. Read Here
WITH ISRAEL UNDER FIRE, INT’L LAWMAKERS DISCUSS WAYS TO FIGHT ANTISEMITISM
By Jerusalem Post
HUMANITY
JEWS AND ARABS START TO PUSH BACK AGAINST VIOLENCE, RALLYING NATIONWIDE
By SUE SURKES
Shocked by the unprecedented scenes of violence between Jews and Arabs over recent days, Israelis took to the streets to push back and call for calm and peaceful coexistence. In Jerusalem, hundreds rallied with the Yad be Yad (Hand in Hand) organization. Other rallies took place across the country Read Here
RELIGIOUS WOMAN USES HER HEAD COVERING TO SAVE CHILD’S LIFE IN HOLON ROCKET ATTACK
By Benjamin Kerstei
A three-year-old child’s life was saved in a rocket strike on Holon, Israel by a religious woman who used her traditional head covering to stop the bleeding from the child’s shrapnel wound. A mother was in traffic with her three-year-old twins when a nearby bus took a direct hit, and the child was struck in the neck by shrapnel. Galia used her head covering as a makeshift bandage to stop the child’s bleeding. Doctors later said this saved the child’s life. Read Here
19 CITIES ACROSS THE US RALLY IN FAVOR OF ISRAEL AMID ESCALATIONS
By Jerusalem Post
Rallies took place across the US from coast to coast in solidarity with Israel amid the recent escalations and rocket attacks entering the country from the Gaza Strip. Organized by a number of Jewish American groups alongside the Israeli-American Council (IAC), the events took place in a handful of major cities, from New York City to Washington, DC. The goal of the events was to “stand up against terror.” 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.
