THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM REPORT
Several high level responses to rising antisemitism were enacted in Europe this week. The Madrid Assembly formally adopted the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, becoming the latest European capitol to do so. The assembly called on Spain’s parliament to pass legislation denying public funds to organizations that promote antisemitic hatred as defined by the IHRA.
The European Parliament’s budget committee approved funding cuts to the Palestinian Authority over hatred and antisemitism in school textbooks, and the UK’s Labour party announced a new process to handle complaints of antisemitism in the party. Meanwhile, a diverse group of more than 300 Iraqi leaders and activists gathered in Iraqi Kurdistan and called for joining the Abraham Accords and to establish full normalization with the Jewish state, and the Iraqi Jewish diaspora.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 37 new antisemitic incidents reported by the media. The total includes 16 (43.2%) from the far-right, 11 (29.7%) from the far-left, 6 (16.2%) with Islamist motivations, and 4 (10.8%) unidentifiable in nature.
The New York Times published an article that claimed U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez changed her vote from “no” to “present” for the Iron Dome funding bill because of “still powerful pro-Israel voices in their party, such as influential lobbyists and rabbis.” The Times then retracted this age-old antisemitic trope about Jewish power, without comment. Speaking on the same issue, Osama Abuirshaid, Executive Director of American Muslims for Palestine, engaged in blood libel by saying that “Israel is a parasite that sucks the blood of America,” during a Jordanian TV interview.
A group of churches in Norway is organizing a photo exhibition which states Palestinians experience “daily crucifixions,” evoking a centuries-old Christian antisemitic trope of Jews as Christ-Killers. Meanwhile, the flag of Nazi Germany was raised over the Palestinian town of Beit Ummar, and a swastika was painted at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial in Germany.
Despite party leaders adopting a strong stance against antisemitism, UK Labour party activists managed to pass a motion that defined Israel as an apartheid state. York University’s student union has engaged a fringe pro-BDS group to teach an antisemitism training to campus leaders. This week’s incidents demonstrate how classical antisemitic tropes and conspiracies are being prominently recycled and applied to contemporary topics across the ideoloigcal spectrum.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FEATURES
CAM: ‘DON’T LET ANOTHER GROUP OF JEWS BECOME FORGOTTEN REFUGEES’
As the Jewish community celebrates the Festival of Sukkoth (Tabernacles) and as part of the #FreeLeviMahrabi campaign, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and American Sephardi Federation (ASF) hosted a special webinar aimed at promoting awareness of the plight of the Jewish community in Yemen under Houthis rule. The discussion was titled “Death to America, Curse the Jews: Who are the Houthis?” The panel brought together distinguished speakers who shed light on the little-known yet genocidal Iran-backed terrorist organization, the Houthis. They addressed the history of Yemen’s Jewish community, and the atrocities being committed daily against them.
CANADA EXPERIENCES ALARMING SPATE OF ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN SUMMER MONTHS
Canada experienced an alarming spate of antisemitism this past summer, with 35 media reports of Jew-hatred incidents tracked by the CAM from July through September. Most of the incidents took place in the Toronto area, the epicenter of Canada’s Jewish population, which is the third-largest Diaspora community. The motives behind the incidents spanned the ideological spectrum, from the far-right to the far-left, as well as the Islamist category. They included acts of physical and verbal assault, vandalism, and hate speech (both online and real-life).
UNITED STATES
NYT REMOVES LINE SAYING AOC CHANGED IRON DOME VOTE BECAUSE OF “INFLUENTIAL LOBBYISTS AND RABBIS”
By Aaron Bandler
The New York Times appeared to remove a line from an article stating that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had changed her vote from “no” to “present” on the Iron Dome funding bill because of “influential lobbyists and rabbis.” The article stated that Ocasio-Cortez “tearfully” decided to change her vote after a meeting with her fellow Squad members, which the article said “underscored how wrenching the vote was for even outspoken progressives, who have been caught between their principles and the still powerful pro-Israel voices in their party, such as influential lobbyists and rabbis.”
AMERICAN MUSLIMS FOR PALESTINE DIRECTOR: ‘ISRAEL IS A PARASITE THAT SUCKS THE BLOOD OF AMERICA’
By JNS
The executive director of American Muslims for Palestine said in an that Israel is a parasite that sucks America’s blood, and that accusations of antisemitism “are no longer influential.” Speaking with Jordan’s Yarmouk TV about the recent removal of funding for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system from U.S. budget legislation, Osama Abuirshaid said, “We are witnessing the closing of the ranks, and an emphasis on the force that supports Palestine within the Democratic Party.”
WORLD NEWS
United Kingdom
UK LABOUR PARTY PASSES MOTION THAT DEFINES ISRAEL AS ‘APARTHEID STATE’
By ARIELLA MARSDEN
The UK Labour Party passed a motion in their annual Brighton conference to define Israel as an apartheid state and impose sanctions against Israel as a result. The motion further demanded actions against “the building of settlements, reverse any annexation and ends the occupation of the West Bank and the Blockade of Gaza.”
LBC POLITICAL EDITOR ‘ASSAULTED’ BY ‘NOTORIOUS ANTISEMITE’ AT LABOUR CONFERENCE
By Adam Decker
The political editor of radio station LBC has accused notorious anti-Israel activist Tony Greenstein of “assaulting” him at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference. The incident took place during a Jewish Voice for Labour event listed in the Labour Party official guide, entitled: ‘Labour in crisis: Tackling racism in the party’. It was chaired by JVL’s Jenny Mason and attended by former shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
LABOUR MP APOLOGISES TO MEMBERS ‘PURGED OR SET UP WITH FALSE ALLEGATION’
GERMANY
DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP MEMORIAL SMEARED WITH SWASTIKA
By Eli Nahum
Unknown people smeared the Dachau concentration camp memorial in Bavaria with a swastika. The symbol used during National Socialism was affixed in blue at the entrance of the former shooting range in the Hebertshausen community belonging to the memorial.
ALLEGED NAZI-ERA WAR CRIMINAL, 96, CAUGHT IN GERMANY AFTER SKIPPING TRIAL
FRANCE
ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI AT ROMILLY-SUR-SEINE STATION
OTHER WORLD NEWS
NORWEGIAN CHURCH HOSTS PHOTO EXHIBITION SAYING PALESTINIANS ARE ‘CRUCIFIED DAILY’
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Several church groups in Norway are organizing a photo exhibition from the West Bank, to be displayed in a cathedral, whose text states that Palestinians undergo “daily crucifixions.” The exhibition is part of Church Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, an annual event that takes place in various locales in Norway. The description of the exhibition is the “most problematic” because it evokes a centuries-old form of Christian antisemitism that blames Jews for the death of Jesus.
FAR-RIGHT YOUTHS MAKE NAZI SALUTES, THROW FIREBOMBS AT PROTEST IN GREECE
By AFP
Youths making Nazi salutes and hurling Molotov cocktails clashed with left-wing protesters at a school in Greece, forcing riot police to weigh in with tear gas. Two pupils were injured and treated in hospital after the clashes at a vocational high school in the northern city of Thessaloniki. Six people were arrested and 40 others detained.
THE MIDDLE EAST
PALESTINIANS FLY NAZI FLAG IN WEST BANK VILLAGE
By Aaron Bandler
A group of Palestinians hoisted a Nazi flag in the West Bank village Beit Ummar, located near Hebron. The flag was hung on an electrical cable nearby an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) post; the IDF later shot it down. The identities of the perpetrators are not currently known. Jewish groups condemned the use of the flag.
IRANIAN CARTOONIST MASOUD TABTABAEI ON THE HOLOCAUST CARTOON CONTESTS HE ORGANIZED: THERE WERE 4.5 MILLION JEWS IN EUROPE, SO HOW COULD 6 MILLION BE KILLED?
ON CAMPUS
YORK STUDENT UNION SELECTS PRO-BDS GROUP TO SPEAK ABOUT ANTISEMITISM
By CJN
Jewish organizations at Toronto’s York University are outraged that a group which supports boycott and sanctions against Israel has been chosen to provide antisemitism training for the university’s student leaders—and on a Jewish holiday. The university’s administration has also expressed its displeasure with the situation and is urging the York Federation of Students (YFS) to postpone the program. Independent Jewish Voices of Canada (IJV), which supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, was selected to lead an education session for YFS’s board members on the holiday of Shemini Atzeret.
‘VERY DISTURBING’ ACTS OF RACISM, DISCRIMINATION AT CONNECTICUT SCHOOL
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
STUDIES & STATISTICS
NEW REPORT SAYS ANTI-FEMINISM, MISOGYNY USED BY EXTREMISTS AS PATH TO ANTISEMITISM
By Algemeiner Staff
A new report contends that hatred of women and feminism on the far-right can easily slip into antisemitism. According to the report from the UK-based organization Hope Not Hate, there is a strong correlation between antisemitism and anti-feminist and misogynist figures, groups, and publications among members of movements like the “alt-right.” In particular, the report points to conspiracy theories such as “cultural Marxism,” and “white genocide,” which holds that there is a plot to use Third World immigration to destroy the white race — both of which often lead into open antisemitism.
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
MADRID ADOPTS IHRA ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION
By JEREMY SHARON
The Madrid Assembly has formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which will come as a blow to the prominent and widespread Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign in the region and Spain at large. In the same motion adopting the IHRA definition, the assembly also called on the national parliament to pass legislation that would deny public funding to organizations that promote antisemitic hatred as defined by IHRA. The national parliament will now be required to hold a debate on the Madrid Assembly’s motion.
UK LABOUR PARTY ANNOUNCES NEW REVIEW PROCESS FOR ANTISEMITISM COMPLAINTS, AND END OF ‘A DARK CHAPTER’ FOR JEWS
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Labour members attending the British party’s annual conference passed a rule on how they will handle antisemitism complaints, leading the party’s leader to declare that they had “closed the door this evening to antisemitism in the Labour Party.” “We’ve turned our back on the dark chapter. Having closed that door, that door will never be opened again in our Labour Party to antisemitism,” Labour leader Keir Starmer said. The change passed Sunday in Brighton, England, stipulates that complaints about antisemitism will be reviewed by an independent committee.
COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM IN AUSTRIA: REPRESENTATIVES OF US JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS BRIEFED ON NEW MEASURES
HUMANITY
OVER 300 PROMINENT IRAQIS PUBLICLY CALL FOR FULL PEACE WITH ISRAEL
By LAZAR BERMAN and AARON BOXERMAN
Hundreds of Iraqi leaders and activists gathered in the country’s Kurdistan region to publicly call for full normalization with Israel. The group, which includes Sunni and Shiites, youth activists and tribal leaders, said the next step after the dramatic announcement would be to seek “face-to-face talks” with Israelis. The 312 Iraqi men and women issued their statements from a hotel in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement is a non-partisan, global grassroots movement of individuals and organizations, across all religions and faiths, united around the goal of ending antisemitism in all its forms. Since its launching in February 2019, 330 organizations and 341,000 individuals have joined the Combat Antisemitism Movement by signing the campaign’s pledge. The CAM Pledge draws upon the IHRA international definition of antisemitism and its list of specific behaviors used to discriminate against the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel.
