THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM REPORT
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, which was also endorsed the same day by the Montgomery County Council in Maryland.
As antisemitism rises in the Netherlands, Dutch Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius is working to ban Holocaust denial, while also planning to take stronger action against online antisemitism, and in football stadiums. A new European Union Fundamental Rights Agency Report found that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fueled online antisemitism, causing disinformation and hatred against Jews to “flourish.”
The United States, The Netherlands, Guatemala, Germany, Australia, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Marshall Islands, Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Canada, Liberia, Italy, Uruguay, Micronesia, and the European Union all spoke out against the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Israel, condemning its bias and the past “Jewish lobby” statement made by one of its members.
U.S. Congressmen Brad Sherman and Josh Gottheimer strongly condemned the recent ban of Zionists by several student groups at UC Berkley Law School, with Gottheimer calling on the Department of Education to investigate the school for allowing antisemitism.
Two traditionally dressed Jewish youths were attacked in separate incidents in New York City, and a 70-year-old Kippah-wearing man in Toronto was assaulted in an unprovoked attacked by a man yelling antisemitic slurs. In Cologne, Germany, a 22-year-old Jewish man was attacked by two Syrian men who insulted him and punched him in the face.
A truck with a message reading “Jews did 9/11” drove through Long Island, NY, and a “Mitzvah Truck” in New York City was vandalized with “Free Palestine” graffiti. Swastikas were found left on the lawn of a Jewish family’s home in Massachusetts, and a Jewish community center in Michigan received a called-in threat prompting an evacuation.
NBA star Kyrie Irving was the latest celebrity to share anti-Jewish content on social media, drawing widespread rebuke. An antisemitic projection reading “Kanye is right about the Jews!” was illuminated on the TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, following the conclusion of a high-profile game between the University of Florida and University of Georgia football teams.
On campus, an individual was arrested at the University at Albany for placing antisemitic stickers around campus, a threatening antisemitic note was left at Brown RISD Hillel, and at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, an individual dressed up as Adolf Hitler for Halloween.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 53 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 33 (62.3%) from the far-right, 4 (7.5%) from the far-left, 5 (9.4%) with Islamist motivations, and 11 (20.8%) unidentifiable in nature.separate
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
‘KANYE IS RIGHT ABOUT THE JEWS’: ANTISEMITIC MESSAGE PROJECTED OUTSIDE FLORIDA FOOTBALL STADIUM
By CAM
An antisemitic projection reading “Kanye is right about the Jews!” was illuminated on the exterior of TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday evening following the conclusion of a high-profile rivalry game between the University of Florida and University of Georgia football teams. The message was referencing a series of recent antisemitic outbursts — including a threat to go “death con 3 on Jewish people” — by the U.S. rapper Kanye West, also known as “Ye.” This hateful rhetoric has drawn widespread condemnation and prompted numerous businesses, including Adidas, to cut ties with West.
TWO JEWISH YOUTHS ATTACKED IN NYC IN SEPARATE INCIDENTS
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A group of youths attacked a 15-year-old Jewish boy in Brooklyn, New York on Monday, according to a tweet by the New York Police Department. According to the tweet, the suspects made “anti-Jewish statements” and threw eggs at the boy, who was dressed in “traditional Jewish garb.” The NYPD added that anyone with information on the suspects should contact it.
YE SUSPENDED FROM INSTAGRAM AGAIN AFTER TARGETING JEWISH PEOPLE IN POST
By KAT TENBARGE
Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, said late Sunday that he was suspended from Instagram for 30 days. Ye posted a screenshot of an Instagram notification about the suspension on Parler, the conservative “free speech” social media platform, which recently announced Ye would acquire it. A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the company deleted content from Ye’s account for violating its policies and placed a restriction on the account. Meta said it may place temporary restrictions on accounts that repeatedly violate its rules, which may restrict them from posting, commenting or sending direct messages.
WORLD NEWS
UNITED KINGDOM
EDITOR BLAMES ‘LOBBY’ AS BBC SHOW THAT HOSTED ABDEL BARI ATWAN DROPPED
By JONATHAN SACERDOTI
The BBC news programme that featured an Islamist pundit who praised terrorism has been cancelled, with its editor blaming “a particular group, government [or] lobby groups”. Dateline London, presented by Shaun Ley and formerly Gavin Esler, was produced by TV Talk, which claimed up to 15 million viewers a week for 25 years. Episodes were aired on BBC News and BBC World nine times every weekend. Controversial anti-Israel commentator Abdel Bari Atwan was a regular pundit. The JC has repeatedly exposed Mr Atwan for praising terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians as “martyrs” and describing a Palestinian gunman’s attack in Tel Aviv as a “miracle”. He also defended the 1972 Munich massacre of the Israeli Olympic team, expressed sympathy with the views of the man who stabbed Salman Rushdie, and said that if Iran attacked Israel, he would dance in Trafalgar Square.
LONDON THEATER GROUP CANCELS NAZI-JEWISH ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’ AFTER WAVE OF CRITICISM
By JACKIE HAJDENBERG/JTA
The London-based theater group behind a Romeo and Juliet-inspired Nazi-Jewish love story has canceled the play after receiving an onslaught of criticism related to the story’s premise and a botched casting call. For the role of Juliet, the Jewish counterpart to Romeo’s character in the Hitler Youth, the Icarus Theatre Collective did not include a specific request for Jewish actors to audition as part of the casting call. In an era of increased scrutiny over the casting of Jewish actors to play Jewish characters, the omission drew criticism.
GERMANY
GERMANY – ANTISEMITIC ATTACK IN COLOGNE
By SPIEGEL
A 22-year-old Jew who was wearing a kippa was attacked by two Syrian men. One of the men insulted the Jew and the other, a 25-year-old, punched him in the face. The attacker was arrested after the incident for assault but was released the next morning. The search for the Syrian, who has since been identified, is still ongoing. He is wanted for insult and incitement to hatred.
GERMANY – A GROUP OF PEOPLE SINGS ANTISEMITIC SONGS IN FRONT OF A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING IN ERFURT
MAN ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING TORONTO SENIOR, STOMPING ON KIPPAH
By ISAAC CALLAN
A man has been arrested in Toronto following a hate crime investigation, police say. Toronto police said the incident happened on Wednesday in the Wilson Avenue and Dufferin Street area. Investigators said a 70-year-old man was approached by another man and was assaulted. Police say the attack was unprovoked. Officers said the man’s kippah fell to the ground and the suspect allegedly began stomping on it, yelling racial slurs.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
BRITISH HOLOCAUST DENIER TO ADDRESS RALLY IN AMSTERDAM: JEWISH ORGANIZATION CALLS FOR PROTEST DEMONSTRATION
By YOSSI LEMPKOWICZ
A Jewish organization in the Netherlands has asked the authorities of the city of Amsterdam to forbid British conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier David Icke to address a public rally organized on November 6 on Dam Square in Amsterdam by an anti-establishlment group. The municipality of Amsterdam said that Icke’s arrival is “very undesirable,” and that it has asked the immigration office to investigate whether he can be refused entry into the country. According to the municipality, Icke has made antisemitic statements in the past that are “unacceptable and deeply hurtful.”
ARGENTINA – ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI IN SALTA
ON CAMPUS
UALBANY POLICE MAKE ARREST IN ANTISEMITIC STICKER INCIDENT
By WYNT
Police say they caught the man accused of putting antisemitic stickers on UAlbany’s campus. Alexander Wolcott, 24, of Gilboa, is now facing a felony account of aggravated harassment in the first degree. There is no known affiliation with the school, says UAlbany. Wolcott was arraigned at Albany city court. The university told us they found a sticker defacing a sign outside a dorm on Tuesday night. Several other stickers were found and removed.
ANTISEMITIC NOTE FOUND AT BROWN RISD HILLEL
By SAM LEVINE
An antisemitic note was discovered in the reception area of the Weiner Center at Brown RISD Hillel Sunday evening, Executive Director and Rabbi Josh Bolton wrote in an email to the Hillel community Monday. Hillel staff immediately alerted the Department of Public Safety, Bolton added, and the Providence Police Department has launched an investigation into the matter. The note, which included several expletives and violent threats against Jewish people, was written on a donation card and found on the front desk, according to GoLocalProv. It was first discovered by a security officer on duty at Hillel and is now in the custody of PPD.
CANADA: A DAWSON COLLEGE STUDENT WAS ACCUSED OF WEARING A NAZI UNIFORM & THERE’S A VIDEO ONLINE
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
NEW HOLOCAUST TRIVIALIZATION REPORT DETAILS 214 PUBLIC MANIFESTATIONS OF BURGEONING THREAT OVER PAST YEAR
By CAM
Between July 2021-July 2022, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) compiled a comprehensive database of 214 public manifestations of trivialization of the Holocaust — or the purposeful obfuscation of the distinctive nature and scope of the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people during World War II. The incidents span 29 countries, over six ideological motivations (Covid-19 Restrictions, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, General Political Opposition and Rhetoric, Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Sports, and Climate Change), and various mediums (In-person, Traditional and Social Media, Acts of Vandalism, and Other).
RUSSIA’S UKRAINE INVASION HAS ‘FUELED’ ONLINE ANTISEMITISM, EU REPORT FINDS
By AFP and TOI
Disinformation and hatred against Jews has “flourished” online throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, further aggravating a trend set in motion during the COVID-19 pandemic, an EU report said Thursday. “The coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine further fueled” antisemitism, which “remains a serious problem in our societies,” said Michael O’Flaherty, director of the Vienna-based Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). A working group meeting in June had already highlighted “the risks of fake narratives” and disinformation stoking antisemitism, as Russia justified its war, launched in February, by misusing “terms such as ‘Nazi’ and ‘genocide’” to describe the government in Ukraine.
AUSTRIA – ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS – JANUARY TO JUNE 2022
CITING RISING HATE CRIMES, LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTS IHRA ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION
By CAM
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday a resolution adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, which was also endorsed the same day by the Montgomery County Council in Maryland. The Los Angeles resolution — introduced by Councilmember Paul Koretz and seconded by Councilmember Bob Blumenfield — said that hate crimes in California “increased 32 percent from 2020 to 2021 and are at their highest reported level since 2001.”
NETHERLANDS: CABINET CONSIDERING BAN ON HOLOCAUST DENIAL AMID GROWING CONCERN FOR ANTISEMITISM
By NL TIMES
Amidst growing antisemitism in the Netherlands and the rest of the world, Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius is working on an explicit ban on Holocaust denial. She also plans to take stricter action against antisemitism online and antisemitic chants in football stadiums, she said in the Ronny Naftani lecture, organized by the Jewish Humanitarian Fund, Trouw reports. “We have to draw a line together,” Yeşilgöz-Zegerius said, expressing deep concern about the increase in antisemitic expressions and incidents.“
COI ON ISRAEL AND ‘JEWISH LOBBY’ COMMENT ARE ANTISEMITIC, UNGA NATIONS SAY
By TOVAH LAZAROFF
UN member states took an unusually strong stand against the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Israel, condemning both its bias and the past “Jewish lobby” statement made by one of its members when the issue was debated Thursday. “We cannot ignore the fact that a current member of the commission made antisemitic comments in late August, referring disparagingly to the ‘Jewish lobby,’” a US envoy to the UN Lisa Carty told the General Assembly’s Third Committee. She referenced a comment made over the summer by COI member Miloon Kothari charging that social media was controlled by the “Jewish lobby.”
HUMANITY
ROBERT KRAFT AIRS AD URGING FANS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM DURING SUNDAY’S PATRIOTS-JETS GAME
By CBSBOSTON.COM STAFF
With an increase in antisemitic rhetoric over the last few weeks, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism are asking everyone to step up and speak out against the hate speech. Kraft and the foundation — which is part of The Kraft Group — aired a 30 second ad early in the second quarter of Sunday’s Patriots-Jets game, urging everyone to speak out against antisemitism. “Antisemitism is hate. Hate against Jews. For being Jewish,” the ad reads against an all black backdrop. “Recently many of you have spoken up. We hear you today. We must hear you tomorrow.
FANS WEARING ‘FIGHT ANTISEMITISM’ SHIRTS HECKLE NETS’ KYRIE IRVING
By BRIAN LEWIS
Irving stirred up a controversy by sharing a link to a movie titled “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” – viewed as rampant with antisemitic disinformation. He drew criticism from Nets owner Joe Tsai and the Anti-Defamation League, and drew some heckling from a section of fans at Barclays Center. A group of Jewish fans were seated courtside against Indiana, wearing “fight antisemitism” t-shirts. They were ribbing the Nets star, who has shown in the past – like his verbal back-and-forth with Boston Celtics fans – that he thrives off that sort of interaction.
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