THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
Unfortunately, incidents of antisemitic rhetoric, vandalism, and violence increased again this week.
A Neo-Nazi group demonstrated outside of Boston’s Holocaust Memorial, and two Holocaust Museums in Florida and Pennsylvania were vandalized. Several American synagogues were targeted, and violence against Jews in New York, continued. A Jewish tourist was physically assaulted on the Las Vegas strip by a Pro-Palestinian man who said, ‘the Jews are not going to exist.’ In just the past month, antisemitic incidents have risen 80% in the U.S.
Jews were physically attacked in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere as this surge in antisemitism continues. Jewish students have been increasingly targeted on campuses, including a Glasgow University Jewish student who was told to ‘gas herself,’ by her classmates.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Biden, and Vice President Harris, along with leaders in the Republican and Democratic parties, condemned the surge in antisemitic incidents in the United States and around the world. A growing number of celebrities, sports teams and businesses have also spoken out against this hate.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement is proud to have endorsed a bipartisan resolution in the U.S. Senate sponsored by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) that recommits the Senate to combating antisemitism in all its forms. CAM calls for further legislative action to ensure that the United States can effectively combat all forms of antisemitism. As antisemitism continues to move from the fringe into the mainstream of our society, this moment calls for strong action that unequivocally addresses this wave of hate targeting Jewish communities.
CAM’s weekly global anti-Semitism report highlights 84 new media reports of anti-Semitic incidents, more than double the median weekly incidents so far this year: 36 incidents (43%) with Islamist motivations, 16 incidents (19%) from the far-left, 14 incidents (17%) from the far-right, and 18 unidentifiable incidents (21%).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURE
ANTISEMITIC CRIMES ARE ‘POISON WHICH UNDERMINES ENTIRE REPUBLIC,’ PARIS MAYOR ANNE HIDALGO DECLARES AT SARAH HALIMI EVENT
Violent antisemitic hate crimes are a “poison which undermines the entire republic,” the mayor of the French capital of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, declared on Monday. Mayor Hidalgo 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 CAM. This global show of solidarity in the fight against antisemitism featured a distinguished lineup of leaders from the cultural, legal, political, and religious realms, united behind the #JusticeForSarah message. Read Here
“WE ARE SEEING A RISE IN RELATIVIZATION OF THE HOLOCAUST” – GERMAN MAYOR SPEAKS OUT
Peter Kurz, the Lord Mayor of Mannheim, has made a point to support the city’s Jewish community at a time when antisemitism is on the rise around the globe. In response to recent events in the Middle East, German Jews are facing an increase in both violent and verbal antisemitic attacks. CAM spoke to Lord Mayor Kurz for his perspective on Jewish history in Germany, the importance of protecting the Jewish community and fighting Holocaust denial, and the responsibilities mayors have to promote religious freedom and tolerance. Read Here
JEWISH DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS MEMBERS, LED BY GOTTHEIMER, URGE US AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE APPOINTMENT TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM SPIKE
A group of four Jewish Democratic Congress members — led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ) – penned a letter to President Joe Biden on Tuesday expressing concern over rising antisemitism in the US and calling for a “united, all-of-government effort” to combat it. Furthermore, the legislators called out colleagues on both sides of the aisle in Congress for using “reckless, irresponsible antisemitic rhetoric.” Read Here
SHARANSKY, US LEADERS SAY SOVIET JEWRY STRUGGLE CAN INSPIRE TODAY’S FIGHT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM
Human rights icon and former Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, Malcolm Hoenlein and Prof. Susannah Heschel, daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, were among the leading figures who participated in a special online symposium marking Jewish American Heritage Month. Speakers emphasized that the Free Soviet Jewry campaign’s successful blending of grassroots activism and political advocacy can be a model in today’s fight against the dangerous growth of antisemitism. Read Here
UNITED STATES
NEO-NAZI GROUP DEMONSTRATES IN FRONT OF BOSTON HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
By Amanda Woods
A neo-Nazi group descended on Boston’s New England Holocaust Memorial — after they had already defaced a New Hampshire town with hateful graffiti, including “Death to Israel.” Several members of the Nationalist Social Club, a white supremacist group, gathered in front of the memorial across from City Hall Plaza, posting a photo to the social media site Telegram. Read Here
JEWISH TOURIST ASSAULTED ON LAS VEGAS STRIP IN ALLEGED HATE CRIME ATTACK
By DREW ANDRE
A tourist from New York was knocked to the ground along the Las Vegas Strip in broad daylight. Paul Lebowitz said he was clearly targeted for being Jewish. Lebowitz said what started as a calm conversation at a coffee shop with a stranger, turned to a nasty gash on the back of his head. “We talked about Israel-Palestine until he said, ‘the Jews are not going to exist’ and I said, ‘I’m a proud Jew.’ That’s when it got violent,” Lebowitz said. Read Here
JEWISH-OWNED PIZZERIA TARGET OF HIALEAH MAN’S ANTISEMITIC RANTS, POLICE SAY
NYPD HATE CRIMES TASK FORCE INVESTIGATING GRAFFITI SCRAWLED ON CHABAD OF STATEN ISLAND
TLAIB ALLY, FORMER SANDERS SURROGATE SAYS, ‘STOP CONDEMNING ANTISEMITISM’
VIOLENT ANTISEMITE ARRESTED AFTER TRYING TO ENTER SYNAGOGUE AND ASSAULTING PEOPLE IN FLATBUSH
ORTHODOX JEWISH MAN VICIOUSLY ASSAULTED IN BORO PARK
JEWISH MAN WAS THREATENED WITH ANTISEMITIC WORDS IN MANHATTAN
HUNDREDS PROTEST NEW YORK’S MUSEUM OF MODERN ART BOARD’S ISRAEL TIES
‘I WOULD DO IT AGAIN’: SUSPECT ACCUSED OF PUMMELING NYC JEWISH MAN SHOWS NO REMORSE
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE DOUBLES DOWN ON COMPARING MASK MANDATES TO HOLOCAUST
NASHUA LAWMAKER TARGETED IN ONLINE ATTACK FROM WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUP
ACTS OF ANTISEMITISM SHOW UP IN METRO ATLANTA NEIGHBORHOOD
SWASTIKA PROMPTS INVESTIGATION IN SALEM, MA
‘ZOOM BOMBING’: TROLLS TARGET VIRTUAL EVENTS IN COLORADO TO SPEW ANTISEMITIC HATE SPEECH
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS IN LONDON BURN ISRAELI FLAG, LIKEN ISRAEL TO NAZIS
By Stuart Winer
Tens of thousands of people attended pro-Palestinian rallies on Saturday in Britain, France and elsewhere, during which they condemned Israel over its recent fighting with the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip and likened the Jewish state to Nazi Germany. Video shared on social media showed a car driving past the London demonstration as the occupants waved Palestinian flags and dragged an Israeli flag along the road behind the vehicle, drawing cheers from the crowds. Photos also showed demonstrators setting an Israeli flag on fire. Read Here
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WISHES TIKTOK SHABBAT SHALOM, GETS HIT WITH ANTISEMITIC HATE
Lily Ebert, Auschwitz survivor, is 97. Her great-grandson, Dov Forman, helped her create a TikTok account. On May 14, instead of one of her pithy recollections, Ebert had a simple message for 90,000 followers, delivered from her London home: “Wishing you a lovely, peaceful weekend,” she said, and repeated a similar wish in Hungarian, her native language. She added “Shabbat Shalom.” Her account was flooded with hateful messages, many of them holding her responsible for the military conflict between Israel and Hamas. Read Here
GERMANY
JEWISH MAN PUNCHED ON BERLIN STREET, ONE OF 3 ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS REPORTED IN GERMAN CAPITAL
In one of three antisemitic incidents in Berlin, a Jewish man wearing a kippah was punched in the face while antisemitic slurs were hurled at him. In Ukraine, meanwhile, a swastika was spray-painted on a synagogue, while in Spain, white supremacist and anti-Israel symbols were spray-painted on the gate of a Jewish cemetery. Read Here
GERMAN POLICE DOWNPLAYING ANTISEMITISM FROM MUSLIM COMMUNITY, SAY EXPERTS, FOLLOWING LATEST OUTBURST OF JEW HATRED
Antisemitic acts committed by Muslims or left-wing activists are under-represented in the records of the German police, Germany’s top antisemitism official has admitted, amid continuing antisemitic demonstrations in German cities sparked by the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas. “Israel-related antisemitism has penetrated into the middle of society,” Felix Klein — the German federal government’s commissioner tasked with combating antisemitism — said. Read Here
CANADA
TORONTO FAILS TO ACT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM YET AGAIN
For the third week in a row, antisemitism and support for terrorism were on display Saturday at a massive protest in downtown Toronto. Over a thousand anti-Israel demonstrators marched from Yonge-Dundas Square to the Israeli consulate at Yonge and Bloor, shouting repeatedly for an “intifada.” At least one protester carried the flag of Hamas. Others carried signs with antisemitic imagery, such as one depicting Israeli Jews as pigs, and another equating the IDF with the Nazi SS. Read Here
ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE HAS NOT ENDED MONTREAL JEWISH COMMUNITY’S SECURITY CONCERNS
Montreal police assure the Jewish community they are taking its concerns seriously after numerous online threats and hateful posts on social media have been recorded. The police department said it is “well aware of the threats now circulating against the Jewish community” and has stepped up patrols in such areas as Côte des Neiges and Outremont, as well as Côte St. Luc. Read Here
FRANCE
MEMORIAL TO VICTIM OF 2015 MASSACRE AT KOSHER MARKET IN PARIS VANDALIZED, POLICE ALLEGEDLY ‘DIDN’T MOVE’ AFTER BEING TOLD
By Algemeiner
A monument to one of the four Jewish victims of the Islamist terror attack against a kosher market in eastern Paris in January 2015 has been vandalized. The wrecked memorial stone dedicated to Yohan Cohen, a 20-year-old worker at the market who was shot dead by gunman Amedy Coulibaly at the beginning of a day-long siege, was discovered on Wednesday morning. Read Here
OTHER WORLD NEWS
SWEDEN: FORMER PM COMPARES ISRAEL POLICE TO NAZIS OVER TEMPLE MOUNT CLASHES
One of Sweden’s most respected senior statesmen compared Israeli security forces to Nazis during a television appearance, sparking harsh criticism from the local Jewish community, with one of its leaders describing the comments as antisemitic. “What triggered [the current round of fighting] was what happened with the police operation at Al-Aqsa Mosque. It’s like sending Nazis into the Vatican,” former Prime Minister Carl Bildt said on public broadcaster SVT1. Read Here
BELGIUM: ‘I’D RATHER DIE THAN BE A … JEW’: SOCCER STAR IN SHOCKING CHANT AFTER TEAM WINS NATIONAL TITLE
Belgium was roiled in a controversy over antisemitism after video of a top soccer player leading supporters in singing an antisemitic song went viral. Noa Lange, who plays for Club Brugge, was filmed in raucous scenes that followed his team winning the Belgian national title this season. Lange led overjoyed fans in chants of “I’d Rather Die Than Be a Sporting Jew” — a derogatory reference to Brugge’s rivals Anderlecht, who are often derided by hostile supporters as a “Jewish” club. Read Here
AUSTRALIA: POSTERS FEATURING BENJAMIN NETANYAHU AS ADOLF HITLER HAVE APPEARED THROUGHOUT MELBOURNE
UKRAINE: A SWASTIKA SPRAY-PAINTED ON THE GATE OF A SYNAGOGUE IN NIKOLAEV
AUSTRALIA: BUSINESS MARRED BY ‘JEW’ VANDALISM
SWITZERLAND: W.H.O. MEETING DEVIATES FROM COVID-19 TO SINGLE OUT ISRAEL AS VIOLATOR OF HEALTH RIGHT
THE MIDDLE EAST
PAKISTANI POLITICIAN PRAISES HITLER FOR KILLING JEWS
A parliamentary representative of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has praised Hitler for killing Jews and a colleague of the same party has called for Jihad against Israel as the only solution. Discussing the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Pakistan National Assembly member Kanwal Shauzab said that Hitler was right to kill Jews and called for the use of nuclear weapons against Israel. Read Here
IRANIAN TV: ZIONISTS EXPLOITED HOLOCAUST ‘MYTH’ TO ESTABLISH THE STATE OF ISRAEL
A video aired on Iranian television claims that the Zionists exploited the “myth of the Holocaust” to establish the State of Israel, the first phase of their plan for world domination. The video, called “The Big Lie,” aired on Aftab TV on May 7, when Iran commemorates “Quds [Jerusalem] Day” to express its opposition to Israel and Zionism. In the video, the narrator claims that the goal of Israel’s establishment was to create a “safe zone” for the West in the heart of the Muslim world. Read Here
ON CAMPUS
JEWISH STUDENT TOLD TO ‘GAS HERSELF’ AS ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS RISE
A Jewish student in Scotland was told to “go and gas yourself” amid a rise in antisemitism linked to the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestine. Lucinda Bathie, 22, former president of the Glasgow University Jewish Society, said the increased profile of the conflict in the news was fuelling antisemitic sentiment in Scotland, particularly in universities where politically active students often conflated Israel with Judaism in general. Bathie, originally from London, said she had experienced antisemitic attacks since moving to Scotland, including one incident where she was pelted with avocados and called a “dirty Jew” when she wore her Star of David necklace. Read Here
SAN FRANCISCO’S TEACHERS UNION BECOMES FIRST K-12 UNION TO ENDORSE BDS MOVEMENT
In an historic endorsement, San Francisco’s teachers union passed a resolution in support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. The United Educators of San Francisco, which has 6,200 members, is the first American K-12 union of public school teachers to officially support BDS, although other education and trade unions have done so. Ten educators working at several K-12 public schools in San Francisco submitted the BDS measure to their union as one sentence in a broader “Resolution in Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” Read Here
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
THE INTELLIGENTSIA’S CRAVEN SILENCE IN THE FACE OF ANTISEMITISM IS UNFORGIVABLE
By Steven Cook
STUDIES & STATISTICS
267 ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS REPORTED IN LAST 17 DAYS IN UK , A 568 PERCENT RISE
At least 267 incidents of antisemitism have been reported over the last 17 days – a near 570-percent rise. Between 8-25 May, the sharp spike in reported hate crime comes amid tensions between Israel and Gaza, with the overwhelming majority of incidents related to the conflict. Of 267 incidents, more than 243 involved imagery or behaviour that linked them to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. Read Here
ANTISEMITIC ACTS IN US SOARED 80% IN A MONTH, JEWISH SECURITY GROUP REPORTS
The organization that advises US Jewish communities on security matters said it recorded an 80% spike in antisemitic acts in the last month amid Israel’s 11-day war with Hamas. One of the causes, according to the Secure Community Network, was disinformation spread on social media during and since the exchange of rocket fire. “There may be foreign actors spreading information and disinformation, often tied to antisemitic tropes,” Michael Masters, its CEO, said. Read Here
IN PAST FIVE YEARS, 450-PLUS ENTITIES ADOPTED IHRA DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM
By JNS
A new study from the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University has revealed that more than 450 leading organizations, including 28 countries, have adopted and/or endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IRHA) Working Definition of Antisemitism in the past five years. Read Here
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
BIDEN, HARRIS CONDEMN SURGE IN ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS
President Biden and Vice President Harris on condemned attacks on the Jewish community amid a rise in antisemitic incidents this month. “The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop. I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad — it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor,” Biden tweeted. Harris followed with a tweet of her own, which similarly called the surge in antisemitic attacks “despicable.” “As a country, we must stand united against hate of any kind,” Harris tweeted. Read Here
VISITING ISRAEL, BLINKEN CONDEMNS ‘SHOCKING ERUPTION’ OF ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS IN US
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the recent uptick in antisemitic attacks in the US, as he began a regional visit in Jerusalem following the recent hostilities between Israel and Hamas. “In our own country, in the United States, we’ve witnessed a shocking eruption of antisemitic attacks,” Blinken said. “As President Biden said, they are despicable and they must stop. There’s a lot of hard work ahead to restore hope, respect, and some trust across communities…” he continued. Read Here
FOR PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS, THE CONDEMNATION OF ANTISEMITISM IS LUMPED IN WITH OTHER FORMS OF HATE
NEW YORK GOVERNOR CONDEMNS SPATE OF VIOLENT ATTACKS AGAINST NYC JEWS
UN RIGHTS COUNCIL ORDERS UNPRECEDENTED OPEN-ENDED PROBE OF ISRAEL
GERMAN LAWMAKERS HOST ‘SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL’ RALLY
US SENATOR MARK KELLY CONDEMNS VANDALISM AT GABBY GIFFORDS’S SYNAGOGUE
STATE PARLIAMENT OF NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA: “WE WILL STEP UP THE FIGHT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM”
GERMANY MUST PROTECT ITS JEWS, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR SAYS
NYC MAYOR SAYS ANTISEMITIC ATTACKERS ‘WILL BE PROSECUTED’
SUSAN RICE: WE MUST CONDEMN ‘HORRIFIC’ ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., REJECTS BDS RESOLUTION AFTER CONTENTIOUS COUNCIL MEETING
‘I SUPPORT ZIONISM’ SAYS UK CULTURE SECRETARY AS HE CALLS FOR FACEBOOK TO ADOPT IHRA
CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE TO VOTE ON STERN’S GENOCIDE AND HOLOCAUST EDUCATION BILL
NEW YORK STATE SENATOR GRIFFO PROPOSES LEGISLATION TO PROTECT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM IN NEW YORK
HUMANITY
HOLLYWOOD STANDS UP AGAINST ANTISEMITISM AS JEWISH HATE CRIMES SPREAD ACROSS LOS ANGELES AND NYC
By Elizabeth Wagmeister, Malina Saval
After an attack at a Los Angeles restaurant that is under investigation by the LAPD as a hate crime, Hollywood is speaking out against antisemitism. Debra Messing, Mayim Bialik, Meghan McCain, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner and Kim Kardashian are among the celebrities who have taken to social media, urging for peace and calm. Read Here
WATCH: THOUSANDS PARTICIPATE IN US VIRTUAL RALLY AGAINST ANTISEMITISM
By TOI Staff
Thousands of Americans were participating Thursday in a virtual rally to protest a surge in antisemitic attacks that came amid renewed violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip in recent weeks. The rally, called Day of Action Against Antisemitism, was organized by a number of major Jewish organizations in the US and includes policymakers, congressional leaders from both parties, celebrities, community leaders, and guest speakers. Read Here
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY CONDEMNS ANTISEMITIC CONVOY WHERE DRIVERS SHOUTED “F*** THE JEWS…
NON-JEWISH VICTIM IN LA RESTAURANT ATTACK: ‘I DO EVERYTHING FOR MY FRIENDS’
JEWS AND MUSLIMS FIND COMMON GROUND IN GERMAN CITY
JEWISH ACTOR JOSH GAD SAYS HE WISHES MORE PEOPLE WOULD STAND AGAINST ANTISEMITISM
SACHA BARON COHEN SLAMS TWITTER AND CEO JACK DORSEY FOR ENABLING ANTISEMITISM ONLINE
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, 320 organizations and 320,000 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.