Britain’s main opposition Labour party elected Keir Starmer its new leader, replacing Jeremy Corbyn who resigned after its crushing December election defeat. The 57-year-old former chief state prosecutor won 56.2% of the vote of more than 500,000 Labour members, defeating Corbyn loyalist Rebecca Long-Bailey (27.6%). Read Here
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THIS WEEK’S CONTENT
WATCH THE WEEKLY CAM NEWSLETTER SUMMARY BELOW
TAKE ACTION
(1 Piece)
6 Jewish coronavirus initiatives you can support from home
By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN
As the coronavirus continues to spread, synagogues, Jewish centers and other organizations that serve as gathering places for the community around the world have closed. Even while communities cannot come together physically, some are still organizing projects to provide support to those who are suffering or at perilous risk amid the pandemic.
From phone counseling to sewing face masks to buying kosher food for Jewish doctors and nurses, there’s no shortage of ways to help.
Read Here for a List of Jewish Initiatives That You Can Support Without Having to Leave Your House.
Special Feature
(2 Pieces)
1. CAM PRESS RELEASE: CHRISTIANS & JEWS GATHERED VIRTUALLY TO LEARN ABOUT ISRAEL’S CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE WHILE UNITING TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM
The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM) and the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) held an important digital event: Israel’s Response to the Coronavirus Crisis and Rising Anti-Semitism, attracting over 35,000 Christians and Jews from around the world. Keynote speakers included Ambassador Dani Dayan, medical experts Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korac and Aviv Shoher, and leading Middle East scholars, Olga Deutsch and Alma Center CEO Sarit Zehavi.
2. Herzl Take Action Award Winner – Transforming IHRA: Words to Action
By Yifa Segal
The Combat Anti-Semitism Venture Creative Contest encouraged people of all backgrounds to create new solutions solutions towards ending “the world’s oldest hatred”. The Herzl Take Action Award asked people to submit a plan for a social venture that would help stop anti-Semitism with the winners receiving grants to activate their idea.
One of our Herzl Take Action Award winners is Yifa Segal from the International Legal Forum. Yifa’s plan is to expand the number of countries adopting IHRA’s definition of anti-Semitism and proactively facilitate a powerful implementation into domestic settings through key law makers of countries that have adopted it. By doing this, the hope is to create a shift in the way people perceive and respond to anti-Semitism through education.
UNITED STATES
(8 Articles)
1. Jewish Groups Condemn Surge of Coronavirus-Related Anti-Semitic Social Media Posts in New York’s Rockland County
By Algemeiner Staff
The Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation of Rockland County expressed concern about a sharp increase in anti-Semitic social media posts regarding the coronavirus pandemic and Orthodox Jews. Nearly 1/3 of Rockland’s population of more than 300,000 people are Jews — giving it the biggest per capita Jewish population of any US county. Read Here
2. Vandal, caught on tape, scrawls swastikas and graffiti on Maryland synagogue
By JNS
Police in Montgomery County, MD., are looking for a man who was caught on surveillance footage spray-painting the side of Tikvat Israel Congregation in Rockville, MD with swastikas and hateful epithets. Read Here
3. White supremacist disrupts webinar for Jewish teens featuring deputy anti-Semitism envoy
By JNS
A webinar on the video conferencing platform Zoom about anti-Semitism, featuring U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Ellie Cohanim, was disrupted by a white supremacist and hacker. The Greater Boston chapter of NCSY, a Jewish youth group, hosted the hour-long webinar with Cohanim. Read Here
4. Vandals paint swastikas on cars, homes, signs in El Paso
By KFox Staff
Vandals have gone around the city of El Paso, TX and painted swastikas on vehicles, homes, signs and mailboxes. They also ignited a fire and slashed people’s tires. Read Here
5. 8chan Users Coordinated Anti-Semitic Zoombombing Campaign
By Ben Makuch
As workplaces, schools, and places of worship go online due to the coronavirus pandemic, the FBI publicly warned that Zoom calls were being targeted and hijacked, a practice known as “Zoombombing.” Evidence has been found that users of the site formerly known as 8chan coordinated an online harassment campaign against a Jewish academy for children in Philadelphia. Read Here
6. Yale University Rabbi Abused and Beaten in Anti-Semitic Robbery Praises Swift Police Response
By Algemeiner Staff
A rabbi who survived a violent anti-Semitic attack in New Haven praised the swift response of the police officers who arrived to assist him. Rabbi Yehoshua Rosenstein had been making a call on his cellphone while standing outside the Yale Chabad House when he was approached by two teenage boys, one of whom told him, “Give us everything you have, you f__ Jew.” Read Here
7. Reward offered as police search for man accused of defacing Chabad Center in Brookline with anti-Semitic graffiti
By Brooke Coupal
A $1,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to the identification of the man responsible for anti-Semitic graffiti in Brookline, MA. A surveillance camera caught a man approaching the front door of the Chabad Center of Brookline before he defaced the property with anti-Semitic graffiti in Russian. Read Here
8. Anti-Semitic, Racist Graffiti Found In Bedford, MA
By Samantha Mercado
Bedford officials are investigating two incidents where anti-semitic graffiti was found in town. Swastikas and “other inappropriate and racist content,” was painted along the back of a private building at Great Road Shopping Center, and on a storage shed at Shawsheen Cemetery. Read Here
ISRAEL AND THE REST OF THE WORLD
(3 Pieces)
1. IN-DEPTH: THIS WEEK’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE UK
After Corbyn, UK Labour elects Keir Starmer, Zionist with Jewish wife, as leader
By
TOI Staff & AFP 
British Jewish Groups Express Cautious Optimism Over New Labour Party Leader’s Pledge to Stamp Out Anti-Semitism Within the Party
By Benjamin Kerstein
Jewish groups in Britain offered praise for the newly-elected Labour party leader his pledge to root out anti-Semitism within the movement, but noted that action must be taken immediately. Board of Deputies of British Jews President Marie van der Zyl congratulated the new leader and said she was “pleased” that he had agreed to the group’s “Ten Pledges” to stamp out anti-Semitism. Read Here
ONLINE BACKLASH AGAINST NEW LABOUR LEADER TAKES AIM AT THE JEWS
By CAA
Members of a Facebook group called “Jeremy Corbyn Group supports Richard Burgon for Deputy Leader”, vented their frustration regarding the results towards a traditional scapegoat. Troubling messages on the group of 23,000 members include statements like the UK is now a “one party state run by the Jews”; that “there is no anti-Semitism in Labour”; that Sir Keir Starmer is “just another Israeli lickspittle”. Read Here
Amazon apologizes for Hitler book disguised as dog-training manual
By JNS
Amazon apologized to a British customer who called on the online retail giant to “immediately” remove from sale a book disguised as a puppy-training manual that in fact contains a full reprint of a 1930s Nazi propaganda book eulogizing Adolf Hitler’s achievements, ideology and work. Read Here
3. IN DEPTH: THIS WEEK’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST
Pakistani government delays release of accomplice jailed in Daniel Pearl’s killing as it appeals murder acquittal
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
A Pakistani-British man who was acquitted of charges that he was involved in the murder of Jewish-American journalist Daniel Pearl will remain in jail for another three months. The superintendent of Karachi’s Central Prison said he received an order from the Sindh provincial government to detain Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh as it appeals to the Pakistani Supreme Court to have his murder conviction reinstated. A day earlier, the Sindh High Court in Karachi had overturned the murder conviction of Saeed Sheikh. Read Here
‘If Gazans start dying, we will make 6 million settlers unable to breathe’
By MEMRI
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar threatened that if Gazans start dying of COVID-19 due to a lack of ventilators, the terrorist group would make “6 million settlers unable to breathe.” Speaking with Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV, Sinwar addressed Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, who he said had a “Merchant of Venice mentality along with the rest of Israel. Bennett should read the prophecies contained in Chapter 17 of Ezekiel, which are “about to come true for the Zionist entity,” said the Hamas leader. Read Here
BDS founder: ‘No problem’ cooperating with Israel if it develops coronavirus vaccine
By i24News
Omar Barghouti, founder of the BDS movement, said that if Israel develops a vaccine for the COVID-19 coronavirus, boycotters are free to take it. Barghouti made the statement during a live video webinar titled “Boycott and Resistance to Normalization: The most important strategies to address the deal of the century even in the time of coronavirus. Read Here
4. IN DEPTH: OTHER WORLD NEWS
Top Australian Jewish Group Expresses Alarm About Online Spread of Anti-Semitic Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
BY Benjamin Kerstein
The Australian Anti-Defamation Commission expressed alarm at the rise of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on social media surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, calling it a modern version of the medieval blood libel. Dr. Dvir Abramovich, ADC chairman said “While we are in 2020, the old blood libel…has now been reconfigured to fit this modern global pandemic.” Read Here
Coronavirus in Australia’s Arabic Media: Conspiracies, Anti-Semitism, Defiance
By Ran Porat
Several Australian based platforms in Arabic employ their access to thousands of Arabic-speaking Australians, Muslim and Christian alike, to import, repackage and disseminate delibrate lies about the origins of the virus, while often also spreading hate towards Jews. Read Here
An unwanted symptom of the coronavirus crisis in France: Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Anti-Semitism has plagued French society for centuries, flaring up in times of crisis, especially during epidemics. Now the coronavirus is reigniting that strain of anti-Semitism in France. Anti-Semites have adopted the virus as a theme to push their message to a large, frightened and angry viewership. Read Here
ITALIAN BISHOP CONDEMNS ANTI-SEMITIC PAINTING
BY Dexter Van Zile
Ambrogio Spreafico, an influential Bishop in Italy has weighed in on the controversy surrounding a painting produced by Italian artist, Giovanni Gasparro. Spreafico denounced the painting as “a sad demonstration of how much the human mind chases old stereotypes.” Read Here
Argentine journalist said the coronavirus was created by rich Americans and Israelis
By JTA STAFF
Argentine journalist Tomás Méndez apologized after saying that the coronavirus was created by rich Americans and Israelis during a prime-time news program. Méndez said that “bats are not responsible for the coronavirus, humans are. Those humans are the richest of the world, some born in the US, others in Israel and another in Europe, who are the owners of your life, who created this virus.” He singled out the Rothschild family and Bill Gates. Read Here
Extreme graffiti attack in Papamoa, New Zealand
By Sunlive
A carpark in Papamoa has been heavily spray painted with anti-semitic symbols and racist speech. Harrison’s Cut car park in Papamoa was cordoned off following the graffiti attack. Read Here
ON CAMPUS
(2 Articles)
1. Palestinian-American Academic Seif Da’na On Hizbullah TV: Hitler Did Not Do Anything ‘Out Of The Ordinary’
By MEMRI
Seif Da’na, a Palestinian-American Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, said in an interview on Manar TV, that there is a resemblance between COVID-19 and Adolf Hitler’s actions, who he said did not do “anything out of the ordinary” since his actions had been no different than what Europeans did in colonial times. He explained that Hitler is viewed as Satan only because he did these things in Europe. Read Here
2. Outsiders ‘Zoombomb’ Yeshiva University President With Anti-Semitic Material During Speech
By Aaron Bandler
Outsiders disrupted Yeshiva University President Ari Berman’s speech to the student body on Zoom with anti-Semitic material. Screenshots on Twitter showed that some of the material that popped up included a meme stating that “the Holocaust never happened” as well as comments in the group chat that read “shut the f— up Jews.” Read Here
ANALYSIS
(3 Pieces)
1. Virus brings spike in anti-Semitic posts
By Emily Schrader
While the COVID-19 pandemic may be awakening age-old anti-Semitic tropes, that doesn’t mean we can’t take action to stop it. The most significant step social media companies can take right now to address increasing anti-Semitism on their platforms is to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. Failing to do so makes them complicit in the anti-Semitic violence we see from those radicalized online. Read Here
2. Can Liberals Confront Anti-Semitism?
By Tikvah Fund with Professor Ruth Wisse
For centuries, Jews have put their faith in liberal ideas of progress, toleration, and secular democracy. But what if this liberal faith has failed? Ruth Wisse, recently retired from Harvard, diagnoses the state of Jewish politics in the modern age. Prof. Wisse examines the extent to which anti-Jewish politics are currently gaining strength among certain political and cultural groups in the US. Watch Here
3. ISGAP-OXFORD WORKSHOP FOR GOVERNMENT CIVIL SERVANTS AND POLICY EXPERTS ON UNDERSTANDING AND COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM
By ISGAP
The workshop, originally a four-day conference hosted at Oxford University, for European civil servants and government officials in areas of policy related to matters of anti-Semitism, was the first of many as ISGAP’s important work moves online to continue bringing together an international network of concerned scholars, policymakers and government officials to confront and combat contemporary anti-Semitism wherever it may be found. Read Here
STUDIES AND STATISTICS
(3 Piece)
1. Jew-Haters Using Coronavirus Pandemic to Spread Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Hatred, New Report Says
By Algemeiner Staff
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) published a report detailing a surge of anti-Semitism tied to the coronavirus crisis. In 2020, the malevolent and hate-laced anti-Semitic conspiracies inspired by the medieval blood libel and the Black Death have infested the usual anti-Semitic bigots and venues, and even some prominent so-called “human rights” activists. Read Here
2. ADL Report Details Iran’s Coronavirus Anti-Semitism
By Aaron Bandler
The ADL released a report chronicling the Iranian government’s anti-Semitic conspiracy theories surrounding the coronavirus. The ADL wrote that these conspiracy theories are based on the idea that Israel and Jews are using the coronavirus for world domination. For instance, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has called the coronavirus a “Zionist biological terror attack.” Read Here
3. REPORT ON ANTI-SEMITISM IN RUSSIA 2019
By Russian Jewish Congress & Center For Information & Analysis
The Russian Jewish Congress distributed a report on anti-Semitism in 2019, prepared by the Sova Center. The number of manifestations of anti-Semitism in Russia recorded remains insignificant. According to the report, the most serious incident of the year was the arson of the utility room of the Torat Haim yeshiva in Moscow. Monitoring recorded slightly more acts of anti-Semitic vandalism than in 2018.
FEATURED PARTNER
Combat Anti-Semitism is proud to be a partner of The World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS), the international, pluralistic, non-partisan umbrella organization supporting national independent Jewish student associations all over the world. Learn more about the WUJS in the video below.
Jewish Student Unions Call on Israel to Bring Remaining Ethiopian Jews
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The World Union of Jewish Students called on the Israeli government to bring the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel at the Union’s annual Congress in January. The policy motion passed by the WUJS mentioned that the Israeli government passed a unanimous resolution to bring the remainder of Ethiopian Jewry to Israel, but about 7,500 Ethiopian Jews are still waiting to make aliyah in Gondar and Addis Ababa. The WUJS motion passed with an overwhelming majority and strong support by all the unions present. Read Here
The World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) is the international, pluralistic, non-partisan umbrella organization supporting national independent Jewish student associations all over the world. WUJS was Founded in 1924 with the aim of fostering the unity of Jewish students worldwide. Their mission is to ensure their participation in the fulfillment of the “aspirations of the Jewish people, its continuity, and the development of its religious, spiritual, cultural and social heritage.”
Government & Policy Update
This section highlights the work of government officials around the world that are combating anti-Semitism in their official capacities.
(4 Pieces)
1. In Unprecedented Move, US State Department Designates Russian Neo-Nazi Group as ‘Terrorist Organization’
By Ben Cohen
The State Department sanctioned a violent Russian neo-Nazi group as a terrorist organization, the first time that a white supremacist group has been designated in this manner. Secretary of State Pompeo announced the move against the Russian Imperial Movement at a virtual press briefing. As well as forbidding American citizens from interacting with RIM and freezing any assets the group has in the US, the move placed sanctions on three of the group’s leaders. Read Here
2. New York State approves hate crimes act
By OMRI NAHMIAS
New York state legislators have approved legislation to combat anti-Semitism. The legislation classifies any assault of a group based on its race or religion as a terror attack. The bill also allocated $25 million to vulnerable religious nonprofit organizations and $2 million to support the state police’s hate crime task force. Read Here
3. New UK Labour Party leader Starmer apologizes for party’s anti-Semitism
By REUTERS, TOVAH LAZAROFF
New British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer tackled anti-Semitism immediately upon election, saying “Anti-Semitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it’s brought to so many Jewish communities. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry and I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of our Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us.” Read Here
4. Starmer pledges ‘new standards’ on anti-Semitism in call with Jewish groups
By MATHILDE FROT
Labour’s new leader Keir Starmer pledged to set “new standards” on the party’s handling of anti-Semitism in a video call with Jewish groups. During the call, he vowed to start work on setting up an independent disciplinary process, cooperate with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism in the party, and order a report on all outstanding disciplinary cases. Read Here
HUMANITY
(5 Pieces)
1. Artificial intelligence project lets Holocaust survivors share their stories forever
By 60 MInutes
Millions perished in the Holocaust, but a group of survivors will now be able to live on via real-time video conversations about their experiences and perspectives, forever. In an attempt to harness the artificial intelligence technologies of the present and the future to keep alive the stories of the past, Holocaust survivors may be the first people ever to be able to continue carrying on conversations (virtually, at least) even after their deaths. Read Here
2. New Rochelle synagogue members donate blood antibodies to fight COVID-19
By JNS
Members of Young Israel in New Rochelle, N.Y., began donating blood in an effort to help researchers who are creating a way to treat COVID-19. A truck was parked outside the synagogue for blood donations so researchers can determine if synagogue members have enough antibodies to fight off COVID-19. If so, they can then donate plasma several days later that would be transferred to at-risk citizens or coronavirus patients until a vaccine and new treatments are developed. Read Here
3. Israel shares anti-pandemic know-how with global community
By TARA KAVALER/THE MEDIA LINE
Israel is burnishing its reputation as a powerhouse for technological innovation by sharing coronavirus-fighting tools with any nation that wants them, free of charge. Start-Up Nation Central , an Israeli nonprofit that seeks to bolster Israel’s hi-tech eco-system, recently released a directory with more than 100 digital platforms by over 70 companies. Read Here
4. Israeli defense companies are turning radars into coronavirus symptom detectors
By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Two major Israeli defense companies developed cutting-edge coronavirus symptom detectors that allow doctors to remotely pick up on suspicious symptoms of COVID-19. The sensors were created by adapting radar and camera technology from the defense and homeland security world. The program rapidly take radars and elecro-optic (camera) sensors and converts them into highly sensitive sensors that will enable medical teams to screen patients from another room, thereby greatly enhancing their safety. Read Here
5. Amid confusion over virus symptoms, Israeli scientist creates a sniff test tool
By NATHAN JEFFAY
There is widespread confusion about how to identify coronavirus symptoms, as several of them are similar to symptoms of flu and the common cold. But Noam Sobel says that there is one highly unusual pattern, a sudden inability to smell, and he has built a website to help people keep tabs on their odor-assessing abilities. Read Here
OVER 200,000 INDIVIDUALS AND 210 ORGANIZATIONS HAVE SIGNED OUR PLEDGE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
“Combat anti-Semitism (CAM) is a non-partisan, global grassroots movement of interfaith individuals and organizations united to combat anti-Semitism. CAM exposes anti-Semitic activity from across the ideological spectrum and highlights those working to fight against its resurgence. One of the most pernicious forms of modern anti-Semitism is the effort to deny and delegitimize the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and their profound historic, religious and cultural connection to their ancestral homeland, Israel. Humanity flourishes when religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity is respected, and we hope to encourage understanding and set an example through our work. Anti-Semitism is the oldest form of bigotry and by working to eliminate it, we hope tragedies like the holocaust or any incidents of hate inspired speech or violence perpetrated against the Jewish people, Israel, or any discriminated group are reduced significantly.”
