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THIS WEEK’S CONTENT
SPECIAL FEATURE
CAS partner Zachor Shoah presented the CAS Movement to Holocaust History Students at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida. The students made personal signs of support and took the CAS pledge against anti-Semitism. You are invited to join them by signing the pledge.
UNITED STATES
(11 Articles)
1. Three Jewish schools in LA spray-painted with anti-Semitic graffiti
By Sam Sokol
Three Los Angeles Jewish schools were tagged with anti-Semitic graffiti days after a synagogue in Beverly Hills was found vandalized. A swastika and hateful messages including the phrase “time to pay” were found spray-painted at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, the Westwood Charter School, and Milken Community High School. Read Here
2. Police investigating anti-Semitic flyers found in South Orange, New Jersey
By Jenna Wise
Authorities are investigating the source of anti-Semitic recruitment flyers and stickers for a New Jersey-based white supremacist group recently found in South Orange. South Orange Police Chief Kyle Kroll said NJ Transit is investigating the incident because it occurred on their property. Village President Sheena Collum said, “The Village will continue to monitor and remove any unauthorized materials that violate our Village Code. We appreciate our community’s ongoing assistance in cleaning up the trash.” Read Here
3. ‘Call Out anti-Semitism Early and Aggressively,’ Urges Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop
By Ben Cohen
After the furious gun battle in Jersey City that claimed the lives of a police officer along with three people at a kosher supermarket, the city’s mayor Steven Fulop stressed the importance to local officials and law enforcement agencies to recognize the rise in anti-Semitism and the importance,” to call this out early, even the small things, when you see them.” Read Here
4. Civil Rights Group Leader Defends Jersey City Education Board Member Who Blamed Kosher Market Attack on Jews
By Algemeiner Staff
Carolyn Oliver Fair, an official from North Jersey Chapter of the National Action Network, has leaped to the defense of the Jersey City Board of Education member who justified the gun attack at the Jersey City kosher market. Read Here
5. Olean, NY Police Department seeking a suspect who accused of painting Nazi symbols
By WGRZ Staff
Police in Olean, NY, is looking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect seen in videos spray painting Nazi symbols and vandalizing the U.S. military recruiter’s office in Olean and the Olean Public Library. Read Here
6. Pennsylvania man arrested in Hawaii in connection with Nessah Synagogue vandalism
By Sarah Parvini, Jaclyn Cosgrove
Anton Nathaniel Redding has been arrested in Hawaii in connection with the vandalism of Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills. Anton Nathaniel Redding of Millersville, Pa., has been charged with vandalism of a religious property and commercial burglary, charges that include a penalty enhancement for a hate crime, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department. Read Here
7. Elite New York private school rocked by anti-Semitism allegations
By Tamar Lapin
Jewish parents of students at an elite New York private school are fuming over what they say is growing anti-Semitism on campus and a failure on the part of the administration to call it out. The outraged parents at the Fieldston School in Riverdale have experienced growing bias since 2015, and that none of the incidents were properly addressed by school leadership. Read Here
8. Swastika discovered in restroom of D.C. area Woodrow Wilson High School
By Perry Stein
D.C. police are investigating a possible hate crime at a public high school after students discovered a swastika in a boys’ restroom. The hate symbol was found at Woodrow Wilson High School in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Northwest Washington and was immediately reported to law enforcement. Police officials said they have not made arrests in the incident. Read Here
9. Suspect at Batavia High School in Illinois researched Columbine shooting, building blueprints, and nazi material
By Harry Hitzeman
A 15-year-old student at Batavia High School in Illinois was arrested shortly before Thanksgiving after bomb-making materials and other explosive compounds were found in his bedroom. The teen, who is identified only by his initials in court records, researched the 1999 Columbine school shooting and was searching the building blueprints of Batavia High School, according to the search warrant. Read Here
10. Needham, Massachusetts principal addresses anti-Semitic incident at elementary school
By WCVB
A fifth-grader at a Needham, Massachusetts elementary school, was involved in an anti-Semitic incident, according to the school’s principal. Mitchell School Principal Greg Bayse said the incident happened during fifth-grade recess while several students were discussing religion and their families’ faith practices. One student initiated an interaction that Bayse said is “entirely unacceptable.” He said other students involved sought him out right away, and was able to meet with them and their parents. Read Here
11. ‘Jihad Is the Way to Go’: Connecticut Man Charged With Trying to Fight for ISIS
By Seamus Hughes and Pilar Melendez
Authorities arrested Kevin Imam McCormick of Connecticut for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization after months-long FBI investigation and allegedly pledging his allegiance to ISIS and its leader in a video. McCormick “expressed a desire to travel to Syria to ‘fight for Allah,’” the affidavit states. The 26-year-old attempted to justify his extremist ideologies, the individual told authorities, by quoting and citing various religious doctrines. McCormick also posted anti-Semitic conspiracy memes about the Rothchilds controlling all the world’s banks and a news story about an Israeli strike against Syria with the comment, “damn jews.” Read Here
ISRAEL AND THE REST OF THE WORLD
(4 Pieces)
1. IN-DEPTH: THIS WEEK’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE UK
TEENAGERS THROW BAG OF FECES ON THE DOORSTEP OF A JEWISH HOME IN STAMFORD HILL
By Campaign Against Anti-Semitism
A group of teenagers threw a bag of feces onto the doorstep of a Jewish home in Stamford Hill. The incident occurred on Springfield Road and was reported by Shomrim Stamford Hill, the Jewish volunteer neighborhood watch patrol. Read Here
Board of Deputies calls for action against new MPs accused of anti-Semitism
By JC Reporter
Several MPs accused of anti-Semitism have been returned to Parliament after the Board of Deputies has urged political parties to take action against newly-elected MPs. New Tory MP Sally-Ann Hart has been accused of liking a comment left underneath the video which read “Ein Reich” – a Nazi slogan. Amanda Bowman, a vice president for the Board, said: “We view with great concern the past conduct of several newly elected members of the House of Commons. Read Here
Anti-semitic graffiti found in Exmouth
By Anita Merritt
A spate of anti-semitic graffiti has been removed in Exmouth after being spotted around the town. One of the acts of vandalism included the word Jews in a circle with a line going through it. The offensive graffiti which has appeared in the town has since been removed, and anyone who witnesses further incidents is urged to contact the police. Read Here
Teenagers charged over anti-Semitic attack on a rabbi in London
By PA Meida
Two teenagers have been charged after an anti-Semitic attack on a senior rabbi. Two attackers shouted anti-Semitic abuse as the man walked on Amhurst Park in Clapton, north London. The Metropolitan police, who released CCTV images of the two suspects, said the boys, aged 14 and 15, handed themselves in. The two boys are due to appear at Stratford youth court. Read Here
Whoever leads Labour next must prioritize tackling anti-Semitism
By The JC Leader
The next leader of Labour will surely go out of their way to demonstrate that they are serious about tackling the party’s anti-Semitism. But if this is to be more than superficial gestures, they will need to tackle the culture of the party itself. As the election showed, Labour anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish issue; it is an issue of concern to mainstream voters of many faiths and none, who see it as an example of the party’s more general toxicity. Read Here
Anti-Semitism campaigner confronts Labour MP Afzal Khan at Chanukah event over anti-Semitic rhetoric
By Aleks Phillips
Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, confronted a Labour MP Afzal Khan at a Chanukah event over why he shared a post that referred to “MASS MURDERING ROTHSCHILDS ISRAELI MAFIA CRIMINAL LIARS.” “I went up to him, and he put his hand out, and I said, ‘I don’t shake hands with Jew-haters.’ Mr. Falter then showed him a screenshot of the post as well as a tweet from Mr. Khan in 2014, in which he shared a link to an article, whose headline, Mr. Falter pointed out, was: “The Israeli Government are [sic] acting like Nazi’s [sic] in Gaza.”
Read Here
2. IN-DEPTH: THIS WEEK’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM IN GERMANY
German parliament passes resolution aimed to outlaw Hezbollah activities
BY JNS
The German parliament passed a resolution calling on the federal government to outlaw activities by the terrorist organization Hezbollah. The resolution calls on the government to “decree an activity ban against Hezbollah in order not to tolerate any activity in Germany by representatives of the organization, which opposes the principle of international understanding.” Read Here
Following the October attack in Halle, the German government decided to add extra agents to fight far-right extremism
BY AP
Germany is adding hundreds of new federal police officers and domestic intelligence agents as it steps up its fight against far-right extremism in the wake of several high-profile incidents in the past year. There are some 12,000 people in Germany with far-right views who are considered to be potentially violent. Read Here
Merkel defends German UN voting record on Israel
BY AP
Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Germany’s voting record on Israel at the United Nations, arguing that supporting the country doesn’t mean backing all of its actions. The Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized Germany’s ambassador to the UN, Christoph Heusgen, for casting “anti-Israel votes,” among other things. The German government strongly backed Heusgen, who previously served for years as Merkel’s foreign policy adviser. Read Here
Three students strangle fellow pupil in an anti-Semitic attack in Berlin
By Benjamin Weinthal
Berlin police announced that three teenage students assaulted a fellow 14-year-old pupil and taunted him in anti-Semitic terms while they strangled him. The student survived the assault. According to a police press statement, the three assailants “are said to have tied him up and choked him while expressing anti-semitic abuse.” Read Here
3. IN DEPTH: THIS WEEK’S NEWS ON ANTI-SEMITISM ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST
Likud MK Nir Barkat asked US Ambassador to sanction Turkey after report of Hamas assassination plot
By TOI Staff
Likud MK Nir Barkat asked US Ambassador David Friedman for Washington to apply strict sanctions on Turkey in light of a newspaper report that said Turkish authorities are allowing Hamas terrorists to plan attacks on Israel from their territory, including a past plot to assassinate him. “Once again, we have confirmation for the fact that Turkey supports terror and provides a warm home for Hamas and anyone who wants to harm Israel,” Barkat said. Read Here
Israel’s arrests Khalida Jarrar, of Palestinian terrorist leader highlights ‘extensive overlaps’ between BDS and terror groups
By Sean Savage
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency that it has arrested some 50 members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) capped off a months-long targeting of the terror group for its role in the deadly terror attack on Aug. 23 that killed an Israeli teenager hiking with her father and brother. The arrests coincidently provide evidence of further links between the PFLP and the BDS movement. Among those arrested by the Shin Bet include Khalida Jarrar, 56, who the Israeli security service noted was the head of the terror group’s operations in the West Bank. Read Here
Turkey, Qatar, Iran meet with Malaysia’s anti-Semitic Leader
By Seth J. Frantzman
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gathered at a forum in Malaysia to listen to Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad. Malaysia’s leader has justified anti-Semitism on the grounds of “free speech,” and accused Jews of having “hooked noses” and “running the world by proxy. Read Here
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas claims Israel supplies young Palestinians with “cannabis and drugs” because “it doesn’t want us to have a future.”
By Nan Jacques Zilberdik and Itamar Marcus
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed at a recent P.A. anti-corruption conference that Israel “plants corruption” in Palestinian society, including by supplying young Palestinians with drugs. Abbas tells participants at a Palestinian Authority anti-corruption conference that Israel supplies young Palestinians with “cannabis and drugs” because “it doesn’t want us to have a future.” Read Here
Jewish cemetery in Sidon, Lebanon destroyed for the second time
By Hagay Hacohen
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay was presented with a letter in which the Wiesenthal Center’s director for international relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, complained that a Jewish cemetery in Sidon had been destroyed. Samuels asked UNESCO to protect the heritage site. The Jewish burial site had already been damaged in 1992 when a road was paved near it; a Jewish donor had the graveyard restored in 2005 since his own ancestors were buried there. Read Here
4. IN DEPTH: OTHER WORLD NEWS
Dozens of Jewish graves vandalized in Namestovo, Slovakia
By AP
Fifty-nine tombstones at a cemetery in Namestovo, Slovakia have been knocked down and damaged; police launch investigation. The cemetery that dates to the second half of the 18th century had been badly neglected for decades before the organization started its renovation in 2010. Read Here
Ukrainian court reinstates diplomat who blamed Jews for World War II
By Sam Sokol
A Ukrainian court ruling called for the reinstatement of Vasyl Marushchynets, a diplomat who was fired for making anti-Semitic remarks. Vasyl Marushchynets was dismissed last year after his social media posts came to light. Writing on Facebook, he blamed Jews for World War II and called for “death to the anti-fascists.” He also posed for photographs with a cake baked in the shape of Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf.” Read Here
Paris appeals court confirmed Kobili Traoré, who admits the killing Jewish teacher was not responsible for his actions
By Shirli Sitbon
Kobili Traoré, who threw Jewish kindergarten teacher Sarah Halimi off her third-floor balcony after smoking cannabis, will walk free within weeks after a court ruled he was not responsible for his actions. Experts assessing his psychiatric condition agreed he had suffered a psychotic episode but were divided over whether he was still responsible for his actions. A Paris appeals court confirmed Kobili Traoré, who admits the killing, was not accountable for his actions. Read Here
Anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism is increasing in France
By Jeremy Sharon
Ambassador to France Aliza Bin-Noun has expressed concern with rising levels of anti-Semitism in France she has witnessed during her time as Israel’s senior diplomat in the country. Bin-Noun said that “in the four years, I have seen how anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have only increased.” Bin-Noun noted that in 2018 there was an increase of 74%, but argued such figures were probably soft since French Jews, and she said, “have become accustomed to being harassed in the street” and having anti-Semitic slurs aimed at them and therefore do not report such incidents. Read Here
Court Annuls Municipal BDS Campaign in Spain Over ‘Violation of Fundamental Rights’
By Algemeiner Staff
A Spanish court has found that a decision by the city hall of Camargo in Cantabria, northern Spain, to boycott companies over their ties to Israel was illegal, a Madrid-based pro-Israel group announced. The Contentious Administrative Court number 1 of Santander, called the city hall’s support of the boycott campaign “a clear violation of the fundamental rights to equality” and “to transmit freely ideas and opinions, which are restricted by the threat of a certain damage derived from the hiring or institutional relationship of the city in relation with companies or products of Israeli origin,” said ACOM. Read Here
Greek fans burn Israeli flag at a basketball game against Israelis
By AP
Fans of a Greek basketball team waved Palestinian and Hezbollah flags and burned an Israeli flag during a game with an Israeli team in Athens. The incident happened when AEK Athens hosted Hapoel Jerusalem for the Gameday 9 match in Basketball Champions League. The Greek fans also put up pictures of Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian terrorist currently in jail in Israel for deadly terror activity. Read Here
Former NDP candidate stripped of human rights award after comparing Israel to Nazi Germany
By Jesse Snyder
The Nova Scotia, Human Rights Commission, has stripped a former NDP candidate of an annual human rights award after comments she made that compared Israel to Nazi Germany. Rana Zaman stepped down as a candidate for the party in June, roughly a year after posting a string of tweets that suggested Israeli forces were “aiming higher than 6 million” in their bid to wipe out the Palestinian people. Read Here
French Jewish students encouraged to head to Israel due to anti-Semitism
BY ILANIT CHERNICK
As anti-Semitism continues to rise in France, the emphasis is now being put on encouraging Jewish students to study in Israel after school. Despite representing less than 1% of the population, Jews suffer from half of all hate-crimes. Yoav Z, who is a student at a Jewish school in Strasbourg, said that when the cemetery in the nearby village of Westhoffen was desecrated a few weeks ago, he realized that “there are neighborhoods that I can’t enter with a kippah on my head.” Read Here
ON CAMPUS
(2 Articles)
1. Duke University Agrees to Address anti-Semitism Concerns Following Education Dept. Complaint
By Algemeiner Staff
The US Department of Education resolved a complaint this month against Duke University, which has agreed to take several steps to address concerns over anti-Semitism stemming from a conference on Gaza, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) announced For the next two academic years, Duke is required to include its policies on prohibited harassment, including anti-Semitism, in each training or orientation session offered to the campus community, and to host at least one annual meeting providing students, faculty, and staff the chance to discuss concerns over harassment with administrators. Read Here
2. Columbia University Faces Second Recent Complaint Alleging Anti-semitic Discrimination
by Algemeiner Staff
An alumna of Columbia University in New York submitted a complaint to the US Education Department on Tuesday alleging a hostile environment for Jewish students. Jamie Kreitman lodged her complaint against Columbia’s Middle East Institute (MEI) with the Office for Civil Rights, which last week also received a separate complaint alleging discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students and faculty at Columbia. The complaint is not based on her personal experience at the school, “but as a Jewish alumna with the concern that the hostile environment toward Jewish students has intensified exponentially,” she wrote. Read Here
ANALYSIS
(9 Pieces)
1. The executive order that defines and combats anti-Semitism without stifling speech
By Alyza Lewin
It is not unlawful in the United States to make racist or anti-Jewish comments. In America, the First Amendment protects your right to express yourself as a bigot. Nothing in the Executive Order changes that fact. But the First Amendment does not insulate and prevent those who make racist or anti-Semitic comments from being labeled as racists and anti-Semites. By incorporating the IHRA definition, the Executive Order delineates what constitutes anti-Semitism so that it can be recognized, labeled, and condemned. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities that receive federal funding. Read Here
2. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Promotes anti-Semitism
By Sheldon Kirshner
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the viciously anti-Israel supreme leader of Iran, has once again aligned himself with Holocaust denial, which is widely recognized as a form of anti-Semitism. In spite of his forays into Holocaust denial, Khamenei claims he is not an antisemite. Recently he told the International Islamic Unity Conference he is not antagonistic to Jews. “We are not anti-Semitic,” he said. “Jews are living in utmost security in our country.” In a reference to his regime’s lust to destroy Israel, he went on to say that “the disappearance of Israel does not mean the disappearance of the Jewish people, because we have nothing against Jews.” Read Here
3. We Can’t Let anti-Semites Determine Our Judaism
By Joel Mosbacher
His desire to show his identity and not cower in fear, she said that her heart broke a little because he had allowed anti-Semites to determine when he felt Jewish: “They were controlling his Jewish identity…he was motivated by the ‘Oy’ of being Jewish, not by the joy of Jewish life. That’s not my Judaism, and I don’t want it to be his.” Being a Jew is about so much more than being a victim. Our identity as Jews must not be rooted in ‘Jew as an object,’ what is done to Jews, but ‘Jew as a subject,’ what Jews do,” how Jews live and learn and pray and act in the world. Read Here
4. Simon Wiesenthal Center names Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Jeremy Corbyn worst anti-Semites of the year
By Benjamin Weinthal
Simon Wiesenthal Center disclosed its annual top ten list of the worst outbreaks of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents, including lethal Jew-hatred in the US and Germany. The Center listed the lethal anti-Semitic attacks in Jersey City and in Halle, Germany, as the next worst outbreaks of Jew-hatred. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Jeremy Corbyn were also listed as the top anti-Semites of 2019. Read Here
5. The origins of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and its application explained
By JI Staff
The major purpose [of drafting the definition] was because there were anti-Semitic attacks in Europe, and there needed to be a common frame of reference for data collectors. There was never a discussion about ‘let’s somehow regulate speech on campus through this. Read Here
6. 2019’s achievements against anti-Semitism
By Manfred Gerstenfeld
By the end of 2019, more than half of America’s 50 states had accepted various types of anti-boycott legislation; the German parliament adopted a motion against Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the French parliament accepted a resolution that said anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Many valiant organizations and individuals, both Jewish and non-Jewish, continue to fight against the ongoing outbreak of anti-Semitism. Read Here
7. Law enforcement the unsung heroes keeping American synagogues safe
By Jason Greenblatt
My purpose in writing is instead to express deep appreciation. Thank you to the men and women of our law enforcement, who each day put their lives at risk to protect us in our homes, our schools, our communities, and, as has been the case in Europe for many years, our synagogues. And of course, we must all express our deep gratitude to our friends and neighbors who volunteer for the Community Security Service and Secure Community Network, organizations that train and watch over us in our synagogues so that we can pray safely and connect with God.
Last Shabbat, when I arrived at my synagogue, I greeted our CSS volunteers, and one of them pointed out that in the wake of the horrific attack in Jersey City days earlier, they were now wearing bulletproof vests. Read Here
8. Anti-Semitism Is Everyone’s Problem — Including Arabs’
By Ahmed Charai
The global interconnectedness of contemporary anti-Semitism means that the effort to confront and roll it back must also be global. Arabs who recognize the damage anti-Semitism has done to their own societies should also recognize that on the right-wing fringes of American racism, Arabs and Muslims fare little better than Jews in the pantheon of those most vigorously despised and demonized. Americans, for their part, should see that Arab anti-Semitism is also their problem and bear up to the responsibilities of fighting it. Fighting anti-Semitism, as well as anti-Islamic and anti-Arab bigotry, is truly one ultimately seamless fight that must involve people of goodwill everywhere. Arabs and Jews simply must stop hating each other, so that together we can face the truly dangerous people who hate us both. Read Here
9. An Arab-Israeli alliance is taking shape in the Middle East
By Ed Husain
A new narrative is emerging in the Middle East. New maps of the Muslim mind are being drawn, and old hatreds are on the run. The anti-Semitic craze to destroy Israel was powerful in the 1960s, uniting Egypt’s President Nasser with his fellow Arabs. But now, Sunni Arab neighbors are changing course. Islamist leaders are losing their appeal — at a time when Iran, with its brand of theological fascism, poses a threat to Israel and the Arab world alike. The Arabs and Jews have a shared interest in building a lasting alliance with each other. This may yet be a decade of peace. Read Here
STUDIES AND STATISTICS
(1 Pieces)
1. Greece: Acts of Violence Against Jewish Institutions Doubled in 2018
By Ministry of Culture and Religious Affair’s
Authorities in Greece recorded 591 acts of violence against spaces of religious significance in 2018, an increase of 6 percent compared with the year before that, though incidents against Jewish spaces almost doubled. Attacks targeting the Jewish faith shot up by 81 percent in 2018, with 20 incidents against 11 the previous year. Read Here
FEATURED PARTNER
Combat Anti-Semitism is proud to be a partner of The Jewish Agency For Israel. The Jewish Agency For Israel is an organization that plants the seeds of friendship between Jewish communities separated by distance, since 1929, they have been securing a vibrant Jewish future for generations. The Jewish Agency For Israel works towards building living bridges to a shared homeland, one heart at a time, by bringing Israeli emissaries to communities throughout the U.S. and fostering partnerships between cities.
1. The Jewish Agency For Israel urges greater effort to recover lost Jewish property in Arab countries
By Ministry of Culture and Religious Affair’s
The Jewish Agency For Israel Chairman Isaac Herzog said that his organization – the largest Jewish nonprofit in the world – plans to convene a special session to discuss the issue of lost Jewish property in Arab countries and Iran. The statement was made following an exclusive report in Israel Hayom on a special government report that has found that said lost assets could amount to $150 billion. Read Here
SPECIAL ENVOY TO MONITOR & COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM UPDATE
This section also highlights the work of government officials around the world that are combating anti-Semitism in their official capacities.
(9 Pieces)
1.Cyprus adopts the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism
By TOI Staff
Cyprus has adopted a broad definition of anti-Semitism that takes aim at some expressions of anti-Israel sentiment, the Mediterranean island country announced. The decision made Cyprus the 17th country to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism.“The decision reaffirms the commitment of the Republic of Cyprus to promoting and fostering respect and diversity and to combating all forms of discrimination, racism, and xenophobia, including anti-Semitism,” the Cypriot foreign ministry said in a statement. Read Here
2. Prince Charles to visit Jerusalem to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau
By Raphael Ahren
Prince Charles is planning to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories the trip, will be only the second official visit to Israel by a member of the royal family since the State of Israel was founded in 1948. The Prince of Wales, is scheduled to attend the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp on January 23, 2020. Read Here
3. New York awards $10 million to protect against hate crimes
By JNS
New York is providing $10 million to protect “religious-based institutions and non-public schools from hate crimes,” announced Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The funds would support more than 200 projects, said the governor’s office in a statement. Eligible recipients will each get $50,000 for cameras, security training, door-hardening, and other security enhancements. Read Here
4. Elan Carr visits a community in pain
By Yossi Lempkowicz
As a delegation that included Elan Carr, the Trump administration’s Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism, made its way down the streets of Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood, visitors and local residents paused to express their condolences to one another. An entire community is hurting. After the meeting, the delegation headed several blocks away to the site of the deadly shooting inspecting the damage to the bullet-ridden store. Read Here
5. ‘Harassment Is Not Free Speech’: Elan Carr Rejects Criticism Over Executive Order
By Allison Kaplan Sommer
‘Every time you try to label something anti-Semitic, the people who traffic in anti-Semitism yell about free speech and censorship,’ Elan Carr says in Tel Aviv. “Harassment and intimidation is not protected speech. All the executive order says is that the same kind of racism that is prohibited as a civil rights violation when applied to blacks and Hispanics is equally a civil rights violation when it’s applied to Jews.” Read Here
6. New British government to outlaw public bodies from boycotting IsraEL
By Jewish News Reporter
The new Conservative government will make it illegal for public bodies to boycott Israel. Speaking in the Commons, Johnson said: “One innovation that this Queen’s Speech introduces, is that we will stop public bodies from taking it upon themselves to boycott goods from other countries, to develop their own pseudo foreign policy against countries, which with nauseating frequency turns out to be Israel.” Read Here
7. Toronto city voted unanimously to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day
By Ron Csillag
Toronto will join other jurisdictions in marking each Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. City council voted unanimously on Dec. 18 to set the day aside to commemorate and teach about the Holocaust. Jan. 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in 1945 and was designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day by the United Nations in 2005. Read Here
8. ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER calls ICC war crimes probe anti-Semitic
BY JOHN BOWDEN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Sunday that efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces in Palestinian-controlled areas were rooted in anti-Semitism. The Israeli leader made the accusation at a Hannukah ceremony in Jerusalem in front of the Western Wall, a holy site for Judaism, and claimed that the ICC was opposing the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. Read Here
9. ‘Every decent person in this country’ fighting antisemitism, says Boris Johnson in Chanukah message
BY JC Reporter
In a video released on Sunday, the British Prime Minister said: “In the media, on the streets and particularly online, antisemites have, in alarming numbers, been emboldened to crawl out from under their rocks and begin once again to spread their brand of noxious hatred far and wide.”
“Today, as Britain’s Jews seek to drive back the darkness of resurgent antisemitism, you have every decent person in this country fighting by your side. Because Britain would not be Britain without its Jewish community.” Read Here
HUMANITY
(4 Pieces)
1. Guardians of memory’ keep watch over France’s Jewish cemeteries after attacks
By Béatrice Roman-Amat
After a spate of vandalism shocked the nation, civic-minded non-Jewish volunteers take to patrolling cemeteries, call to ‘Leave the dead in peace!’ A growing number of individuals in France’s Alsace region who have taken it upon themselves to patrol Jewish cemeteries after a spate of attacks on such sites that have horrified the country. Read Here
2. British Hindus are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with British Jews
By Lord Popat
“We have to be clear that anti-Semitism goes right to the heart of our British values, raising serious questions about who we are as a country and a society at a time of immense uncertainty. I was heartened to witness many non-Jews speak out against anti-Semitism in the House of Lords, but more voices need to rise to the fore.” Read Here
3. Jewish group to repair earthquake-struck home of Albanian Muslim who saved Jews
By i24News
An Albanian Muslim man whose house was destroyed in an earthquake will have it rebuilt by a Holocaust commemoration group in honor of his father’s rescue of Jews. The home of Muhamet Bicaku, 83, was devastated during the November 26 calamity that claimed the lives of at least 55 people in the Balkan nation. During the Holocaust, Bicaku’s father, Mefail, and older brother, Njazi, sheltered about 20 Jewish families from the Italian and German occupation forces in Qarrishte, a town located about 50 miles east of the capital Tirana. Read Here
4. Maccabeats’ Hanukkah song fights anti-Semitism
By Benjy Singer
With the horrific anti-Semitic attacks, the US has seen in Pittsburgh, Poway, and Jersey City, and the lyrics refer to the importance of celebrating Hanukkah in public, having the Hanukkiah facing the outside for the public to see. As the lyrics, “We ain’t gonna stop for nothin!” clearly hint at – despite anti-Semitism and hate, the Jew is still proud to celebrate their religion in public without fear. Read Here
OVER 150,000 INDIVIDUALS AND 170 ORGANIZATIONS HAVE SIGNED OUR PLEDGE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
“Combat anti-Semitism (CAS) is a non-partisan, global grassroots movement of interfaith individuals and organizations united to combat anti-Semitism. CAS 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.”
