Last week the US Senate passed an important resolution condemning anti-Semitism and should be saluted! The resolution did not however call out anti-Zionism or BDS. Read this recent report to the UN by the president of the Louis Brandeis Center explaining “Zionism has been for thousands of years, a fundamental component of Jewish religious identity” and “Anti-Semitism today is expressed not only as a hatred of Jews, but also as opposition to the existence of a Jewish state.” Please let us know your reaction to this important issue in week two of our poll below.

After allowing it to flourish for nine months, Reddit has banned an internet community of 60,364 subscribers associated with the online neo-Nazi movement. One post featured a cartoon clown figure alongside an image of ovens used by the Nazis in the Holocaust, with commentary stating: “Silly Clown! There’s no way you can bake 6 million pies in those ovens!” Read Here.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said in Columbia, South Carolina that he would continue to meet with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a notorious anti-Semite. Read Here.

The self-avowed white supremacist who plowed his car into counterdemonstrators opposing a white nationalist rally in Virginia two years ago, killing one person and injuring dozens, has asked a judge for mercy and a sentence shorter than life in prison citing that he was raised by a paraplegic single mother and suffered “trauma” by growing up knowing that his Jewish grandfather had murdered his grandmother before committing suicide. Read Here.

The FBI convened a round table meeting of leaders of Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups to discuss means of preventing bias-based attacks on religious institutions. Read Here.

Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum, advised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to “learn about concentration camps,” after the freshman congresswoman used the term to refer to migrant detention centers. Read Here.

The St. Sabina Church drew criticism from members of the Jewish community after it invited Louis Farrakhan to speak. Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma withdrew participation in the third annual St. Sabina Concert for Peace which was then cancelled. Read Here.

Nearly four months after being nominated, Kelly Craft— President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Nikki Haley as U.S. Ambassador to the UN—vowed on Wednesday to fight the international body’s anti-Israel bias, in addition to calling out anti-Semitism. Read Here.

In Israel to emcee the bestowal of the Genesis Prize to Robert Kraft, actor, writer, and comedian Martin Short spoke about his art, comedy and the rise of anti-Semitism. “I think tragically anti-Semitism is not on the decline, especially in Europe it’s on the rise and so this must be continuously fought…” Read Here.

Marking the largest international anti-BDS conference in the world, the Annual Global Coalition 4 Israel (GC4I) Forum and the Legal Network Initiative (LNI) were held in parallel in Jerusalem from June 18-20. The conference was established to combat the BDS movement, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and ongoing attempts to delegitimize the State of Israel. Initiated by Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, the meeting hosted 350 pro-Israel and Jewish leaders and activists from 40 countries, with the goal of strengthening the global pro-Israel advocacy network. Read Here.

Graves were vandalized in a South African Jewish cemetery over the weekend, prompting calls from global Jewish organizations for authorities to increase their vigilance against anti-Semitism. Four graves were reportedly damaged at the cemetery in the town of Strand. Read Here.

Iraqi cleric Abd Al-Salam Zain Al-Abidin said in a June 16, 2019 broadcast on Al-Naeem TV (Iraq) that the Quran focuses on the Jews as much as it does because they are the “sworn enemy” of the Muslims. He explained that this always has and will always be true, and that the Quran discusses the Jews so that Muslims can understand their enemy’s mentality and so that Muslims know that the Jews are a permanent and “recalcitrant” enemy… Read Here.

Several headstones were knocked over and a dog was let loose at a Jewish cemetery in Tallinn, Estonia. Read Here.

As Europe grapples with a rising tide of anti-Semitism, the European Commission held its first-ever “working group” on the matter Thursday. The meeting, which convened almost 100 representatives of Jewish communities, EU Member States and international organizations, spent a full day discussing security, including risk assessments, building trust and physical protections. Read Here.

The US Department of Education will investigate a Middle East conference on Gaza co-sponsored by two North Carolina universities over allegations that it was biased against Israel. Rep. George Holding (R, NC), called on the department to check into the late March conference co-sponsored by Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Read Here.

Watch Ami Horowitz’s video coverage of the conference below to witness the anti-Semitism that took place:

A new project called “Brave” is bringing together veterans of the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. military with Jewish students to share stories, learn about the Jewish state, stand up against hatred and combat anti-Semitism on campus. Read Here.

The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), a New York-based non-profit organization, is supporting professors and lecturers who will offer dedicated courses in the study of anti-Semitism. Read Here.

What are the survival strategies, built up over centuries, that allowed far-flung Diaspora communities to endure? In researching her forthcoming book, Exile: Portraits of the Jewish Diaspora, Swedish-born journalist Annika Hernroth-Rothstein visited communities from Iran to Tunisia, Uzbekistan to Siberia, Cuba to Venezuela, to profile Jewish life in small communities around the world. And what she learned about the miracle of Jewish continuity is sure to fascinate and inspire you. Jewish life is not assumed or taken for granted in these countries. Is there a lesson for American Jews in her stories? Listen Here.

“…After the violent weekend [in Charlottesville] that led to one death and multiple casualties, UVA lawyers unearthed a decades-old state law still on the books that banned the burning of objects on private or public property “with the intent of intimidating any person or group of persons. The legal means to prevent this racist and anti-Semitic menace without violating the first amendment had existed. No one had remembered to look for it… Read Here.

The monsters that come to kill us and draw swastikas on our playgrounds, schools and community centers have a unified approach, but we as Jews don’t have a unified message against anti-Semitism. That needs to change. Read Here.

“After the Holocaust, it was so politically incorrect to have anti-Semitic views, so it went underground a bit, but it never went away,” she said. “But there is no difference between anti-Semitism then and now. It’s been around for thousands of years.” Read Here.

“I am just one of 850,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran who left, fled or were expelled from the countries where they had lived, in many cases, since the Babylonian period.” Read Here.

Our partner organization, The Louis D. Brandeis Center, has filed a brief of Amicus Curiae In the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit providing a legal analysis for why the court should uphold the decision of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, in which the court states that pursuant to state law, government contractors such as the Arkansas Times cannot engage in discriminatory boycotts against Israel as such a boycott would discriminate against individuals based on their national origin. Read the full brief here.

You can read more about the court case here.

Domestic issues dominate the policy priorities of the Jewish community as they determine which candidate to support in the 2020 election, as opposed to issues related to Israel, which remains the lowest policy priority of Jewish voters.

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.

“I’m pleased to announce that, here at the State Department, we’re elevating the Office of International Religious Freedom, along with the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, within our organization.

Read Here.

Watch the Secretary’s remarks below:

Elan Carr is working with European leaders to fight against anti-Semitism while also moving to change educational material in Arab countries. Addressing the ayatollah regime in Iran, Carr said he hoped to see “a united front against Iranian mischief –its violence, its destabilization and its doctrinal anti-Semitism.” Carr also spoke out against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent remarks in which she compared the detention of migrants into the US to the running of concentration camps.

Read Here.

watch his remarks below:

In 2018, Dr. Felix Klein jumped at the chance to take on Germany’s new position of Federal Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism. Contrary to what his last name and position may suggest, Klein was raised in a Protestant household in Darmstadt by a German, Romanian-born father and German-born mother. Klein recalls growing up with Jewish classmates, and his best friend in college was a Canadian Jew. Read further to learn about the actions taken by Dr. Klein in the fight to combat anti-Semitism in Germany. Read more.

“It’s important that whatever we do with regards to policy initiatives happens in close cooperation with Jewish communities; to listen to their concerns and also to their ideas.” Watch Katharina von Schnurbein’s remarks below.

The United Nations General Assembly held a session on combating anti-Semitism and other forms of racism. The meeting was organized by Israel’s envoy to the UN Danny Danon. Danon called on the UN to “declare war on anti-Semitism” and urged measures such as appointing a special UN envoy for countering anti-Semitism. Read Here.

Over the past two years, UNESCO has been washing away evidence of Jewish history in Israel, according to Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “Why would they engage in a counterproductive and deceptive process over two years to deny 3,800 years of Jewish history and 2,000 years of Christian history?” referring to the UNESCO resolution that only used the Arabic name Haram al-Sharif to refer to the Temple Mount. Hoenlein called this the ultimate act of anti-Semitism. Read Here.

The owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, accepted Israel’s prestigious Genesis Prize and pledged $20 million to establish a foundation dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel. Kraft vowed that his new foundation would seek to tackle the rising tide of anti-Semitic vitriol online. Read Here.

Two philanthropists donated $4 million to security for Jews in Malmo, Sweden. Lennart Blecher, who is Jewish, and Dan Olofsson, who is not, decided to donate the sum to “instill some hope in the Jewish population, so they feel that even if the politicians do not want to do something, there are people who are prepared to stand up for them.” The donation came amid preparations for an international conference on fighting anti-Semitism planned by the government in Malmo. 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.