This past week, CAM hosted the Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in Beverly Hills, California, and Actions Matter: The Antisemitism Summit in Vienna, Austria.

The mayoral forum convened more than 200 North American municipal leaders to share best practices and develop action plans for addressing rising hate in their communities. During the summit, the Municipal Antisemitism Action Index was unveiled, a first-of-its-kind tool designed to measure and rank cities’ effectiveness in combating antisemitism.

The Vienna gathering – organized with the European Leadership Network (ELNET) – convened around 170 decisionmakers, including from ten countries in Europe. Attendees discussed antisemitism in education, culture, sports, and digital spaces, among other topics.

Our team’s initiatives with law enforcement and at the legislative level continue. On December 10, CAM sponsored a law enforcement training that focused on combating antisemitism effectively in Blacksburg, Virginia, and on December 5, CAM hosted and cosponsored a reception at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) conference in Washington, D.C. The reception brought together more than 100 American state lawmakers to discuss fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel. 

Such efforts are vital, as chilling antisemitism worldwide over the past two weeks underscored. On Wednesday night, arsonists targeted a Montreal synagogue, marking the second attack on Congregation Beth Tikvah since the October 7th massacre in Israel.

In Oroville, California, a man shot and wounded two kindergartners at a school, claiming he was responding to “genocide and oppression of Palestinians.”

In Melbourne, Australia, attackers set a synagogue ablaze, inflicting extensive damage but fortunately causing no major injuries.

Antisemitic incidents in the Middle East and North Africa regions documented during the past two weeks were roughly 571% higher than the previous two weeks – 94 vs. 14 – largely due to a slew of antisemitic demonstrations in Yemen.