THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM REPORT
This week, a fire was set outside a historic synagogue in Portland, Oregon, along with yellow graffiti reading Die Juden. Neo-Nazi flyers were also found outside a synagogue in Australia’s Gold Coast, and teenagers in Hungary urinated on a synagogue after shouting Sieg Heil.
Meanwhile, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, threatened “the violation of thousands of synagogues all across the world.”
A Holocaust memorial in Lithuania was again vandalized with the pro-Kremlin symbol, the letter Z, as was a synagogue in Belarus. At the same time, Russia’s Foreign Minister outrageously claimed that “Hitler had Jewish blood”, adding that “some of the worst antisemites are Jews.” The Russian Foreign Ministry doubled down saying, Israel supports the “neo-Nazi regime” in Ukraine, and cited alleged “examples of cooperation between Jews and the Nazis.”
An outpouring of condemnations came from leaders in the United States, Israel, Ukraine, Germany, Latvia, and elsewhere.
In London, reports have emerged of three separate assaults on Jewish children, and a Orthodox Jewish man in Antwerp overpowered and tackled an attacker.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 31 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 17 (54.8%) from the far-right, 2 (6.5%) from the far-left, 6 (19.4%) with Islamist motivations, and 6 (19.4%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
HISTORIC OREGON SYNAGOGUE BECOMES TARGET OF ANTISEMITIC ATTACK
By JNS
Police and other law-enforcement officials are investigating a fire and antisemitic graffiti discovered outside a historical synagogue in Portland, Ore. Congregation Beth Israel, which was completed in 1928 and is on the National Registry of Historic Places, was not significantly damaged, though scorch marks from the fire could be seen outside the building, both on the ground and on a door. The words “Die Juden” were spraypainted outside as well. In a letter to congregants, Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana said: “ … last night our historic sanctuary was marked with a hateful antisemitic slogan. There was also minor fire damage, which is something we have seen before. However, having this Nazi referenced statement spray-painted in yellow on our building, just a few days after we commemorated Yom Hashoah pains my heart.
ANTISEMITIC FLYERS FOUND IN HIGHLAND PARK, IL, OTHER NORTH SHORE COMMUNITIES
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
JEWISH CHILDREN TARGETED IN LATEST ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN UNITED KINGDOM
By FAYGIE HOLT
According to a report from the volunteer security group Shomrim, two Jewish girls, ages 12 and 13, were on the way home from school when they were confronted by “five teenagers who held a knife to their faces.” “This abhorrent attack against religious Jewish adolescent girls is not an isolated incident but part of a trend in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Stamford Hill, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) told JNS. This incident came just days after Jewish children at a park were harassed and the peyot (side curls) of an 11-year-old boy were pulled. Police are reportedly looking for three teens in connection with that case. Two other 11-year-olds were assaulted outside a supermarket in Stamford Hill, according to Shomrim, which tweeted that the kids “were attacked by a group of teens. One victim was punched while the perpetrator laughed and his friends threatened to attack them again.”
ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI LEFT AT MARLOW SKI CLUB AS POLICE INVESTIGATE
GERMANY
DAMAGE TO THE JEWISH CEMETERY IN DACHSENHAUSEN
By ben-kurier
Several damages were found at the Jewish cemetery in the Dachsenhausen area. The cemetery is located in a wooded area in the area where the L333 joins the K72. The possible crime period extends from September 2021 to April 2022.
CANADA
ORILLIA POLICE INVESTIGATING SWASTIKAS AT DOWNTOWN CONSTRUCTION SITE
By Dave Dawson
Hate symbols have been crudely painted on some equipment at a downtown construction site. The appearance of a swastika, prominently spray-painted on the side of a large blue construction container situated on the road between Veterans’ Memorial Park and the Legion, was brought to officials’ attention by a resident. The OPP say numerous surfaces in the construction area were spray painted including two swastikas.
FRANCE
NAZI AND ANTISEMITIC INSCRIPTIONS TAGGED ON THE WALL OF A NURSERY SCHOOL IN COURBEVOIE
By Defense-92
A wall of La Marelle kindergarten in Courbevoie was covered with numerous tags, some of which glorify Nazism. A swastika was notably painted accompanied by the message “Long live Hitler” and “Long live Palestine”. But that’s not all. To these antisemitic messages were added numerous insults targeting the police, among others, with “Fuck the 17th” or “Carnot FDP”, “Kevin Delta NTM”.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
RUSSIAN FM LAVROV: SO WHAT IF ZELENSKY IS JEWISH, EVEN HITLER ‘HAD JEWISH BLOOD’
By TOI STAFF and AGENCIES
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the fact that Ukraine’s president is Jewish does not contradict Moscow’s claims that it launched the invasion to “denazify” the country, claiming that even Hitler “had Jewish blood.” In an interview, Lavrov was asked how Russian President Vladimir Putin could claim he was trying to “denazify” Ukraine when Volodymyr Zelensky, the country’s democratically elected president, was Jewish. “So what if Zelensky is Jewish. The fact does not negate the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said, adding that “some of the worst antisemites are Jews.”
BELGIUM: IN ANTWERP, HAREDI ORTHODOX JEW OVERPOWERS AND TACKLES HIS ATTACKER
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
It began like countless other antisemitic incidents in Antwerp: A man shouted insults and made threatening gestures at members of the Belgian city’s large Orthodox Jewish community. But the incident near the city’s central railway station took an unexpected turn. After the perpetrator appeared to swing his arm to hit a Jewish man in haredi Orthodox garb, the would-be victim lunged back and overpowered his attacker, holding him down on the ground until police took the suspect into custody. Police arrived at the scene while the suspect was pinned down and arrested him.
HUNGARY: THEY TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS, MADE A NAZI SALUTE AND THEN URINATED AT THE SYNAGOGUE
WIESENTHAL CENTER OUTRAGED BY NAZI WEDDING IN MEXICO
MIDDLE EAST
HAMAS LEADER WARNS OF ‘RELIGIOUS WAR,’ THREATENS JEWISH SYNAGOGUES WORLDWIDE
By CAM
The commander of the Hamas in the Gaza Strip issued an implicit threat against Jewish synagogues worldwide, amid simmering Jerusalem tensions and an ongoing wave of Palestinian terrorism across Israel that has left 15 people dead. In an hour-long speech, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said, “Our people must prepare for a great battle if the occupation does not cease its aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” “Violating Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem means a regional, religious war,” he added. Gesturing at a photo of Israeli police confronting rioters inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sinwar declared, “Whoever makes the decision to allow this photo to be repeated, the violation of Al-Aqsa — he has decided to allow the violation of thousands of synagogues all across the world.”
TWO SUSPECTS ARRESTED AFTER GUARD KILLED WHILE SHIELDING FIANCEE IN TERROR ATTACK
By JC Reporter
Two suspects were arrested by Israeli forces after a security guard was shot and killed while shielding his fiancee in a terrorist attack on the West Bank. Responsibility for the fatal shooting has been claimed by militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which described the guard at the entrance to Ariel settlement, Vyacheslav Golev, as a “Zionist officer”. The 23-year-old was hit as gunmen driving a car with an Israeli licence plate opened fire.
ON CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE STUDENT UNION PASSES ‘BLATANTLY ANTISEMITIC’ MOTION.
By AJN STAFF
A MOTION passed by the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) against Israel has been described as “blatantly antisemitic”. The motion, titled “UMSU stands with Palestine – BDS and Solidarity Policy”, accuses Israel of “massacres, forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”, calls Zionism “a racist, colonial ideology” and supports the right of Palestinians “to engage in self-defence against their occupiers”. Put forward by the People of Colour Committee, the motion passed 10-7. Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) president Natalie Gunn said the motion “egregiously misrepresents Jewish students’ beliefs, falsifies history, misconstrues Zionism and incites hate”. “It is blatantly antisemitic,” she said.
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ADOPTS IHRA’S DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM
By DAVID RULLO
On March 30, the university formally adopted the definition. The student government board voted to support the definition on April 5, and it will be included in the university’s nondiscriminatory policy. Berlin, a junior studying finance business information, said he has been working for years to get the university and student government to do more to combat antisemitism. The IHRA is one of the only organizations with a working definition of antisemitism, he said, and it provides a framework of how to handle antisemitic incidents. “Having the university accept the definition really empowers Jewish students to feel more comfortable on campus and to feel like it’s supporting them and our community,” Berlin said.
NORTHWESTERN MUST FIGHT ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS
STUDENTS RETURN BACK TO BOSTON SCHOOL AFTER 2 TROUBLING INCIDENTS
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
ISRAEL DEMANDS APOLOGY FOR RUSSIAN FM’S ‘UNFORGIVABLE’ CLAIM HITLER HAD JEWISH BLOOD
By TOI Staff
Israeli leaders demanded an apology and denounced Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for saying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that Jews are among the worst antisemites. “The aim of such lies is to blame the Jews themselves for the most terrible crimes in history that were committed against them, thus freeing from responsibility the oppressors of Israel,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. Bennett’s denunciation followed stronger condemnation from Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and other Israeli ministers. “This is an unforgivable and scandalous comment, a terrible historical error and we expect an apology,” Lapid said. “Hitler was not of Jewish origin and the Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest form of racism against Jews is blaming the Jews themselves for antisemitism.”
US ANTISEMITISM ENVOY TEARS INTO LAVROV FOR ‘CRUELLY DERANGED’ COMMENTS ON JEWS
By TOI Staff
The US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism’s office tears into Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for claiming that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that Jews are among the worst antisemites. “The Kremlin’s claim that Ukraine is a hotbed of Nazism is a blatant lie and yet another of the false pretexts for Putin’s war of choice. This isn’t the first time they’ve cynically accused its neighbors of neo-Nazism and fascism as cover for its own provocations & human rights abuses,” the office said. “Not only are the Kremlin’s accusations against Ukraine false, its disinformation detracts from real and critically-important worldwide efforts to combat antisemitism, Holocaust distortion and denial and other dangerous forms of racially- or ethnically-motivated violent extremism.”
HUMANITY
A HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY EVENT WAS CANCELED DUE TO LOW REGISTRATION. SO HUNDREDS SHOWED UP ON ZOOM TO HEAR SURVIVOR’S STORY
By Ray Sanchez, CNN
On one of the most solemn days on the Jewish calender, Holocaust survivor Arnold Fridland would not be silenced. Sydney Goldstein, 28, with a little help from others, saw to it. Fridland was supposed to speak in Boulder, Colorado, at a Yom HaShoah event. Goldstein said she tried to register for the event but later learned the program had been canceled because of low registration. She tracked down Fridland’s number and left a message to see if he could attend a last-minute event she hastily put together. Goldstein was a nanny for Gal and Maya Weinstock, who agreed to host the event. “We started rapid fire messaging everyone to really show support,” said Goldstein. She announced the event on Instagram and received about 50 messages. Goldstein set up a Zoom video conference for the talk. About 30 people showed up at the Weinstock home. Fridland began to speak and soon the Zoom reached a capacity of 300 people, Goldstein said. “I kept getting messages from people: It’s at capacity. What do we do? So I went on Instagram Live and we had over 600 interactions on that.
GERMANY: BUNDESLIGA CLUB VFL WOLFSBURG ADOPTS IHRA DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM
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