When Portugal re-conquered Brazil in 1654, all Jews were expelled. Most fled to Holland. Some settled in the Indies. Twenty-three Jews, however, continued north. In September 1654 they arrived in New Amsterdam. In 1664 the British took New Amsterdam and renamed it New York. The Jews were accorded even more civil rights. By 1706 they had organized their own congregation, Shearith Israel. The first Jews coming to North America settled in six communities: Newport, Rhode Island; New York; Philadelphia; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and Richmond, Virginia. Read Here.

Haym Salomon (1740-1785) reached New York City in 1772, and swiftly established himself as a successful merchant and dealer in foreign securities. Striking up an acquaintance with the New York Sons of Liberty, Salomon became active in the patriot cause. When war broke out in 1776, Salomon supplied American troops in central New York. In 1777, he married Rachel Franks, whose brother Isaac was a lieutenant colonel on George Washington’s staff. The French minister appointed him paymaster general of the French forces fighting for the American cause and he became one of the most effective brokers of bills of exchange to meet federal government expenses. Salomon also personally advanced funds to members of the Continental Congress and other federal officers. He risked his fortune, pledged his good name and credit on behalf of the Revolution, and stood up for religious liberty. Despite financial setbacks at the end of his life, Salomon’s name is forever linked to the idealism and success of the American Revolution, and to the contributions Jews have made to the cause of American freedom. Read Here.

The original of Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregations of Newport, Rhode Island is small in size, but its impact on American life is immense. In 340 well-chosen words, the Letter reassures those who had fled religious tyranny that life in their new nation would be different, that religious “toleration” would give way to religious liberty, and that the government would not interfere with individuals in matters of conscience and belief. Quoting the Bible’s Old Testament, Washington writes:

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.

G. Washington

Read Here.

The avowed neo-Nazi and convicted murderer, James A. Fields Jr., who rammed his car into a crowd of counter protesters in Charlottesville, apologized in court as a judge sentenced him to life in prison for 29 federal hate crimes. Read Here.

Stephen Guyer, manager of a popular restaurant in Pittsburgh, was fired for an anti-Semitic Facebook post of a meme that shows the interior of an oven and read “Jewish bunk beds for sale.” Read Here.

“Sharing this extremely powerful experience with my daughters has made it all the more impactful. They are personally disturbed about this rash of anti-Semitism and wanted to travel with me to Israel to make a statement as a sign of their love for the Jewish community. Read Here.

Ross Farca, who threatened to murder “over 30” Jews and detailed a plan to mow down “clusterf***s of Kikes” returned to court to contest a restraining order that would extend a prohibition on his possession of firearms. Farca was released on bail days after his arrest, shocking the local Jewish community. Read Here.

Four highly visible, large swastikas were painted in various locations along La Jolla Mesa Drive in San Diego. The Anti Defamation League announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible. Read Here.

Turkish state news wrote an article calling upon Turks to donate to the campaign fund of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). The article was widely reprinted in the Turkish media in English and Turkish. Read Here.

Congregations across the country are actively drilling their members on how to act if terror arrives at their doorstep. Read Here.

Whiteville Central School District in upstate New York recalled its yearbook after history teacher Jeff Acor called Hitler his favorite person in history in a yearbook interview. “Adolf Hitler, who did many great things for Germany and their youth…and faced many hardships early in life… arguably the greatest public speaker in history… and made great strides to make Germany a world super power.” Read Here.

A neo-Nazi who participated in violent attacks during the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville is in trouble again—this time for making violent comments about the lawyer suing him. “After this stupid k*ke whore loses this fraudulent lawsuit, we’re going to have a lot of f*cking fun with her.” Read Here.

The Dutch rapper who went by Anne Frank will change the name following an outcry and revelations of anti-Semitic statements. Read Here.

BDS activitis said they will stay away from this city’s World War II monument, where their supporters have staged incidents of anti-Semitic hate speech and violence. A woman named Celine Sleiman delivered a tirade against Jews there, saying “Killers, haters. Talmud calls you to f***k girls. Talmud tells you to plague humanity.” Read Here.

Canada will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, saying the decision is part of the government’s anti-racism strategy. Read Here.

Canada added two neo-Nazi organizations to its list of banned terrorist groups, becoming the first far-right extremist groups to be included on the list. Three groups linked to Iran were also added to the list. Read Here.

Rana Zaman won the NDP nomination in Dartmouth-Cole Harbour but was ousted last week after tweets surfaced in which she compared Israel’s actions to the Holocaust. “I wonder if #Israel borrowed this from the #Nazis after they saw how successful they were? At the speed Israel is killing I wonder if they’re aiming higher than 6 million #Palestinians? #Gaza is the new #Auschwitz and #Israeli the gatekeepers!” Read Here.

The Jewish Community of Malmo, Sweden may need to dissolve itself by 2029 unless its current circumstances change, partly because of indifference by authorities to the community’s security needs. Read Here.

As Jews in Europe have become afraid to wear kippot in public and U.S. synagogues are becoming targets of terror, the sense of insecurity that many Diaspora Jews are feeling is prompting them to invest in homes in Israel, whether as part of a plan to make aliyah or out of a desire for safe haven. Read Here.

Brazilian superstar Milton Nascimento issued a rebuke to the BDS movement, which sought to stop him from playing a concert in Tel Aviv, saying, “I will never abandon my public. Every artist should go where the people are, shouldn’t they? It’s my Israeli fans who brought me here, and a lot of these fans are Brazilians living in Israel.” Read Here.

Twitter suspended the account of Egyptian actor, Hesham Mansour, who tweeted, “Now lets kill some Jews” to his 800,000 followers. Previously he tweeted “All negativity in the world, caused by jews. All terrorism in the world, caused by jews. All depression, darkness, also jews.” Read Here.

Palestinian businessman Ashraf Ghanem, who participated in the “Prosperity to Peace” conference, said he’s been forced to flee his home after Palestinian Authority security officers tried to arrest him. “I’m afraid for my life,” Ghanem said. “I can’t go back to my home.” Read Here.

More anti-Semitic incidences have been reported in the first half of 2019 than in all of 2018, according to RIAL, a non-profit devoted to research and information on anti-Semitism in Luxembourg. A total of 30 incidences this year have been reported to the organization. There are some 1,200 Jews in the grand duchy. Read Here.

The ancient street is referred to as “Pilgrimage Road,” since archeologists are convinced that this is the path millions of Jews took three times a year when going up to Jerusalem to bring sacrifices to God during Judaism’s three key holidays. “This place is the heart of the Jewish people and is like the blood that courses through our veins.” Denying millennia old Jewish history in the land of Israel is in fact itself an anti-Semitic notion. Archeologists and historians continue to discover irrefutable facts on the ground that reinforce ancient Jewish history and sovereignty in the Land of Israel. To deny and delegitimize the 3,000 year historic, religious and cultural connection of the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland is becoming ever more common and is a form of anti-Semitism that must be combated vigorously. Read Here.

White supremacist propaganda on US college campuses rose 7% this year, according to an ADL report which found 313 cases of white supremacist fliers, stickers and posters on campuses in the 2018-2019 year. Read Here.

300 students and professors on Denison’s campus were given a frightful greeting via a poster on the outdoor University map that read: “CENSORSHIP ENDS IN VIOLENCE INCREASE FREE SPEECH AND INCREASE THE PEACE.” The center of the poster depicts the Christchurch shooter, armed with semi-automatic weapons. Read Here.

Our partner, the Alma Research and Education Center, sat down with Thomas Eppinger, contributor to Vienna-based MENA Watch, for a discussion of the refugee situation in Europe. Please listen to this podcast and learn more about this very important and crucial phenomenon occurring now in Europe. Some of the many points discussed include: Only 1/3 of the estimated 2 million immigrants in Europe are believed to be Syrian refugees who have fled the Assad atrocities; Unlike waves of immigrants in the past, these immigrants are not assimilating, often because they are not attempting to do so; The immigrants often find the same minority radical groups they tried to escape taking control of their communities; The European governments are facing daunting challenges stemming from the new immigrant communities and the citizens are voting for change. Listen Here.

For millennia Europe was the center of diaspora life but as Jews continue fleeing the continent, by the end of this century all that’s left will be a Jewish graveyard. With close to a majority of all Jewish children living there already, Israel in the near future will become, for the first time since early antiquity, the home to a majority of all Jews. It marks the end of an epoch of Jewish life, and the beginning of a new one. Read Here.

In an attempt to get to know the positions of the 2020 Presidential candidates, the NY Times posed a set of 18 questions…only ONE dealt directly with a foreign state. To no one’s surprise, the Times chose ISRAEL and framed the question: “Do you think Israel meets international standards of human rights?” Read Here.

Anti-Semitism, the scourge we had hoped would remain a bad memory from the past, is raising its head again and it is as ugly and as deadly as it used to be. We are witnessing alarmingly growing numbers of anti-Semitic incidents in places where legislation and education should have turned it into a residual phenomenon. If the tools of the State seem to falter, we need to rely on the courage and the commitment of each and every person of good will. It will take a wide ensemble of good willed people working in concert, each in their own circle, to push back the shadow of racism and anti-Semitism. Read Here.

This past week IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff was in Washington, DC to support the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act (H.R.2343) on Capitol Hill. In a special session with Congressman Brad Sherman hosted by our partner Hadassah, Marcus Sheff educated members of Congress and their staffers about the new radical Palestinian Authority curriculum and how it indoctrinates 1.3 million students with intolerance as well as anti-Semitism. The Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act (H.R.2343) is a bi-partisan bill co-sponsored by Congressmen Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY). Marcus Sheff sat down with CAS for an interview to talk in more detail about the issue of intolerant education in the Middle East. Watch the video below of the session on Capitol Hill and our exclusive sit-down with IMPACT-se to learn more about their important work and H.R. 2343.

Special Envoy Carr spoke about the US State Department’s work to combat anti-Semitism across the globe at the 2019 Herzliya Conference. The Herzliya Conference is Israel’s foremost annual global policy gathering, drawing together senior Israeli and international participants from government, business, and academia to address pressing national, regional, and global issues. Read Here.

Watch the Special Envoy’s remarks below:

Businessmen, reporters, rabbis and a senior White House official held rare morning prayers at the only officially declared synagogue in the Gulf. At the end of the service, which took place on the sidelines of the economic peace workshop held in Bahrain, the men, clad in prayer shawls and phylacteries, broke out in song, singing “Am Yisrael Chai” — the people of Israel live. Read Here.

Watch the video below.

At 99, Ben Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive with a far-reaching message for today’s world. Ferencz is legendary in the world of international law, and he’s still at it. He never stops pushing his message and he’s donating his life savings to a Genocide Prevention Initiative at the Holocaust Museum. He says he’s grateful for the life he’s lived in this country, and it’s his turn to give back. Read Here.

This week we ask you to take action by educating yourselves on the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act in order to help prevent the spread of anti-Semitism into another generation of impressionable young minds. Help us raise awareness about the issue by sharing the bill and IMPACT-se’s research on the topic within your community.

To learn more about the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act please view the language of the bill here.

To learn more about the issue of intolerance, anti-Semitism and radicalization in the new Palestinian Authority school curriculum read IMPACT-se’s research on the topic here.

Join us in the critically important task of preventing anti-Semitism from spreading into the next generation.