As International Holocaust Remembrance Day was commemorated this week, a disturbing global uptick in instances of Holocaust distortion and minimization was monitored. In San Francisco, California, a protester disrupted a Holocaust memorial service, shouting about Israel and holding a sign equating the Nazi swastika with the Star of David. In another incident, a disruptor at a city council Holocaust commemoration event in Jersey City, New Jersey, yelled “Long live the Intifada.”. 

In the United Kingdom, a Sky News reporter compared the Holocaust with the current war in the Gaza Strip. Also, British Labour MP was suspended after sending out a Holocaust Remembrance Day email that listed “Gaza” as an ongoing genocide. Furthermore, protesters chanted “There’s another Holocaust happening in Gaza” as Lambeth Council leader Claire Holland discussed the London borough’s Holocaust Memorial Day events.

In Milan, Italy, a mural at a Holocaust memorial was vandalized with the words “F*ck Israel.” In Vienna, Austria, a Holocaust Remembrance Day event faced protesters who equated Israel with Nazi Germany. In Leipzig, Germany, portraits of Holocaust survivors were desecrated. A Swedish Holocaust Remembrance Day event was interrupted by more than a dozen protesters who screamed “Label Israel a terror state” and “Israel murderer.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. state of Georgia adopted the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, one of the most effective tools to identify contemporary manifestations of Jew-hatred. Additionally, the governments of the United States, the European Commission, Netherlands, Japan, Austria, and Estonia suspended funding for the UNRWA after it was revealed that organization employees were involved in the October 7th massacre perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel.

This week’s Global Antisemitism Report highlights 89 new incidents, categorized as follows: 8 (9.0%) as Holocaust minimization and distortion, 10 (11.24%) as classical antisemitism, 60 (67.41%) as Israel-related, 5 (5.62%) as Islamist, and 6 (6.74%) as unattributable.