THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM REPORT
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) was honored to present Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guatemala Mario Búcaro with the first-ever Diplomatic Advocate for Israel Award at the second annual Central America-Israel Forum in Panama.
Fourteen countries in the region took part in this year’s forum,which brought together Jewish and Christian leaders alongside dignitaries to strengthen ties and shared values between Christians and Jews, and between Latin America and Israel.
The city of Toronto launched a new public awareness campaign to address rising antisemitism in Canada’s largest city.
Members of the EU Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee held United Nations Relief and Works Agency Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini to account over the promotion of antisemitism, terrorism, and martyrdom in textbooks used by UNRWA schools.
Reiterating his country’s commitment to combating antisemitism, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Germany “cannot be indifferent whenever antisemitism resurges…There can be only one response: “We cannot tolerate any form of antisemitism.”
Meanwhile, a group of Neo-Nazis gathered to perform a ‘Heil Hitler” salute outside the Adelaide Holocaust Museum in Australia. Polish police arrested leaders of the U.S.-based Goyim Defense League, which has been responsible for dozens of antisemitic flyering campaigns, after they held disturbing signs outside the gates of the Auschwitz extermination camp, reading “Shoah the ADL,” and “Greenblatt suck 6 million d**ks.”
Fans of two Italian soccer teams are being investigated for antisemitic chants, Jewish cemeteries were vandalized in Germany and South Africa, and antisemitic grafitti was found at two California universities, as students return to campus.
A Pro-Palestinian YouTuber accosted Haredi Jews in New York City, and the government of Kuwait closed a store, and is taking legal action against its proprietor for selling two items that featured a Jewish star.
This week’s global antisemitism report highlights 26 new media reports of antisemitic incidents. The total includes 17 (65.4%) from the far-right, 0 (0.0%) from the far-left, 5 (19.2%) with Islamist motivations, and 4 (15.4%) unidentifiable in nature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNITED STATES
‘FRINGE’ OAKLAND MAYORAL CANDIDATE GOES AFTER JEWS IN WIDELY DISTRIBUTED EMAIL
By EMMA GOSS
Oakland mayoral candidate Peter Y. Liu sent an email calling Jews “evil,” “hateful” and “corrupt” to dozens of Bay Area journalists, news organizations, Jewish community contacts and fellow candidates. Liu wrote that he and other candidates have been excluded from an upcoming mayoral candidate forum that will focus on Jewish issues. It is co-hosted by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council and Temple Sinai in Oakland. “These same hateful Jews posted security guards with instructions to not let me into their s**tty forum in 2014,” Liu wrote. “These s**tty Jews are once against [sic] trying to disrespect the voters of Oakland in rigging the election process by promoting a few candidates they’ve handpicked to be in front of Jews controlled media,” he wrote. “I am sick of these corrupt Jews and their media allies deceiving the public.”
PRO-PALESTINIAN YOUTUBER CALLED ANTISEMITIC FOR VIDEO BAITING HAREDI JEWS ON ISRAEL
By JACOB HENRY
A video of a self-described comedian approaching Hasidic Jews on the streets of Brooklyn and asking them their thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gone viral on Orthodox Jewish twitter. That’s not because observant Jews are happy about the video, which has had more than 250,000 views on YouTube since it was posted by Abdullah Almasmari, also known as Dulla Mulla. Rather, it’s because many have deemed the video — in which Almasmari asks Orthodox passersby to, among other things, “justify Israel’s actions toward Palestine” — deeply offensive.
‘EVIL’: ANTISEMITIC FLIERS TOSSED INTO SECOND NORTH RALEIGH, NC NEIGHBORHOOD
WORLD NEWS
UNITED KINGDOM
PEER ATTACKS BBC FOR ‘GLORIFYING TERRORISM’
By JONATHAN SACERDOTI
The BBC has refused to back down after a former Governor of the corporation said its coverage of the Salman Rushdie attack “could amount to glorifying terrorism.”. Baroness Ruth Deech wrote to Director General Tim Davie after a British-Palestinian commentator appeared to express sympathy for the Rushdie assailant’s extremism on the BBC News Channel. On the same day as Atwan made these remarks, he wrote in an online article: “I support [Mahmoud Abbas’s] refusal to apologise for the killing of 11 Israeli participants at the 1974 (sic) Munich Olympics, and his use of the term ‘holocausts’ to describe the many massacres to which Palestinians have been subjected by Israeli forces.”
GERMANY
AMID FEARS OF ‘ISRAEL APARTHEID’ RESOLUTION, GERMAN PRESIDENT WARNS WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES DELEGATES AGAINST ANTISEMITISM
By Ben Cohen
Amid concerns that the World Council of Churches (WCC) general assembly in Germany will feature antisemitic rhetoric accompanying draft resolutions that are harshly critical of Israel, the German president has issued a warning to delegates regarding the dangers of Jew-hatred. “It is one of the major current tasks of the Christian churches around the world to fight back against antisemitism,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the opening session of the WCC’s 11th assembly in the city of Karlsruhe. The group represents hundreds of Protestant and Orthodox church bodies across the world. “We must be aware that antisemitism can take many forms,” Steinmeier said. “But it always remains a hate ideology with a history of extermination.”
TOMBSTONES TORN OUT AND OVERTURNED AT THE JEWISH CEMETERY IN HEILIGENSTADT
FRANCE
FRENCH POLICE TO PROBE WHETHER BRUTAL KILLING WAS ANTISEMITIC
By GEORGIA L GILHOLY
French authorities are set to investigate whether the brutal killing of a Jewish man earlier this month was motivated by antisemitism, despite the assailant confessing that he targeted the victim because he was Jewish. 34-year-old Eyal Haddad, a Jewish man living near Paris was killed by his neighbour Mohammed Dridi on 19 August. After the news of the killing was made public, a slew of organisations and individuals moved to condemn the killing and demanded that speculations that it may have had an antisemitic motive be investigated.
OTHER WORLD NEWS
NEO-NAZIS PERFORM ‘HEIL HITLER’ SALUTE OUTSIDE ADELAIDE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM IN AUSTRALIA
By CAM
A photo has emerged of several neo-Nazis performing a “Heil Hitler” salute outside the Adelaide Holocaust Museum in Australia. A group calling itself the National Socialist Network has been circulating on the Telegram messaging platform. Text accompanying the photo says: “Why a holocaust museum exists in Adelaide is anyone’s guess.” Museum Director Kathy Baykitch called the incident “unthinkable.” “Extremist groups are active and organizing in online spaces,” she said. “These disgusting acts of racist vandalism bring to the fore the critical importance of supporting the education of young people through our programs. Our museum and education programs stand as a counterpoint to hateful ideologies.” A South Australia Police spokesperson said the incident was being investigated.
FANS FOR TWO ITALIAN SOCCER TEAMS INVESTIGATED OVER ANTISEMITIC CHANTS
By AP and TOI STAFF
Alleged antisemitic chants by fans of the Juventus and Inter Milan soccer clubs are being investigated by Italian soccer authorities. The chants, which included references to Jews, occurred during Juventus’ 1-1 draw at Fiorentina and Inter’s 3-2 loss to AC Milan in the Milan derby. According to video circulating on social media, some Inter fans chanted: “The Italian Champions [Milan] are Jewish.” Juventus fans reportedly were heard shouting that their rivals were “not Italian, but a bunch of Jews,” a chant for which they have been punished in the past.
POLISH POLICE ARREST MINADEO DURING WHITE SUPREMACIST TOUR OF EUROPE
By GABE STUTMAN
Polish authorities arrested American tourist Jon Minadeo Jr. for violating the country’s hate speech laws after the Holocaust denier demonstrated in front of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination and concentration camp. He was released shortly after. His arrest represents the first time the antisemitic influencer has publicly faced legal repercussions for spreading antisemitic propaganda. According to the Auschwitz Memorial, two suspects identified as Minadeo and Robert Wilson “illegally bursted” into the site and “escaped immediately after taking out the hidden messages & taking the pictures.” Wearing sunglasses, shorts and athletic shoes, Minadeo held up a sign reading: “Greenblatt suck 6 million dicks,” a reference to Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. Standing next to him was Wilson. He held a sign that said “Shoah the ADL.”.
ITALY – ROMEO NERI STADIUM IN RIMINI SMEARED WITH ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI
MIDDLE EAST
KUWAITI GOVERNMENT FORCES SHOP TO CLOSE FOR SELLING STAR OF DAVID NECKLACES
By Shiryn Ghermezian
Kuwait’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has ordered a shop in the city of Salmiya to close for selling Star of David necklaces that are illegal by law. The ministry said that an arrest had been made due to the “sale of slogans in violation of the public order of the state.” Included in the tweet was a photo of the two accessories featuring the Jewish symbol. The ministry also said that legal action was being taken against the seller.
ON CAMPUS
‘JEWS INFILTRATED POLITICS:’ MAN WITH MEGAPHONE SPOUTS ANTISEMITISM AT CUNY
By HALEY COHEN
“This is life for Jewish college kids in America 2022,” nonprofit watchdog group StopAntisemitism, accompanied by a video showing Jews and other college students being harassed by a virulent antisemitic man at New York City’s Queens College. The man can be seen yelling loudly into a megaphone, spewing hateful words as students pass by. In the recordings, which span two days, the man can be heard saying: “They infiltrated law and politics to overturn Roe v. Wade, they have infiltrated clinical psychology…” He continued: “They have their own banks, their own grocery stores, they were siphoning the wealth of Germany…this campus is named after a **** Jew and all these retarded colored folks walk in here.”
RETURN TO CAMPUS MARRED BY ANTISEMITIC VANDALISM AT S.F. STATE AND SAC STATE
By J. STAFF
Two California State University campuses are dealing with incidents of antisemitic and racist graffiti shortly after the start of the fall semester. “Disturbing antisemitic, racist and homophobic messages” were found in a dormitory at San Francisco State University, according to a message from San Francisco Hillel. Two days later at Sacramento State, a swastika was discovered on a classroom wall, and another was found the following day on J Street near the entrance of campus, according to a message from university president Robert S. Nelsen.
ANALYSIS & OP-EDS
KEN BURNS’ PBS DOCUMENTARY ‘THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST’ ASKS HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW AMERICANS TREATED JEWS AND IMMIGRANTS DURING WARTIME
By ANDREW LAPIN
STUDIES & STATISTICS
POLL: 1 IN 3 GERMANS SAY ISRAEL TREATING PALESTINIANS LIKE NAZIS DID JEWS
By TOI STAFF
A new survey by an independent German foundation has found that over a third of Germans believe Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is essentially the same as the Nazi genocide of the Jews during the Holocaust. The wide-ranging survey of thousands of Israelis and Germans conducted by Bertelsmann Stiftung mostly looked at relations between the countries, but also checked antisemitic and prejudiced views in the German public. Asked to voice their position on the statement “What the State of Israel is doing to the Palestinians today is in principle no different than what the Nazis in the Third Reich did to the Jews,” a full 36 percent of respondents said they agreed or strongly agreed, while another 25% said they did not know. Only 40% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
AUSTRIA: 269 RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST CRIMES IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2022
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
EUROPEAN UNION LAWMAKERS CRITICIZE UNRWA CHIEF OVER PALESTINIAN TEXTBOOKS
By JNS
Members of the European Union’s Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee criticized United Nations Relief and Works Agency Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini over the content of textbooks used by UNRWA schools. During a hearing, the Committee’s members cited findings from the latest report by Israeli NGO IMPACT-se. The report examined UNRWA’s self-produced educational materials, and found that they promoted hatred, antisemitism and the celebration of terrorism, bloodshed and martyrdom. E.U. Parliament representatives from across a range of political parties criticized UNRWA in light of the findings.
COMBATING ANTISEMITISM VITAL SAYS GERMANY
By J-Wire
“I am infuriated and ashamed that Jews still cannot feel safe – in our country, of all places,” Steinmeier said at a banquet in honour of Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Berlin. “We Germans profess our unwavering support of Israel’s security and right to exist. We stand on your side,” Steinmeier emphasised. “My country carries a responsibility for the crime against humanity of the Shoah that will not go away. The remembrance of what happened and of what can occur must be a warning for us for the present and the future so that it does not happen again,” he said. Part of the historical responsibility is that Germany “cannot be indifferent whenever antisemitism resurges,” Steinmeier said. There can be only one response: “We cannot tolerate any form of antisemitism.”
CLEVELAND OVERHAULS POLICE TRAINING AFTER ANTISEMITIC POSTS
HUMANITY
ACTRESS SHARON STONE MAKES ‘PERSONAL PLEA’ AGAINST ANTISEMITISM ON SOCIAL MEDIA
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Actress Sharon Stone posted a video to her 3.3 million Instagram followers, telling them of a recent video she watched of an antisemitic incident in which an Orthodox Jewish rabbi was knocked unconscious by a young man. “I rarely put up a personal plea of any kind, but I just watched a video of a young man taunting an Orthodox rabbi – who had his hands down. And this boy punched this rabbi. Just punched him and knocked him out for absolutely no reason other than the fact that he was being hateful,” said Stone, who is not Jewish herself. “Love, kindness, humanity, decency, dignity – these are the things that are in our better interests and in the better interests of our children. We’re called the United States of America for a reason.”
The Combat Antisemitism Movement is a global coalition engaging more than 360,000 people and 450 organizations from a diverse array of religious, political, and cultural backgrounds in the common mission of fighting the world’s oldest hatred. We act collaboratively to build a better future, free of bigotry, for Jews and all humanity.
