The CAM Antisemitism Research Center collects comprehensive antisemitism data from around the world on a constant basis, and publishes a regular feature on the top ten antisemitic incidents that shook Jewish communities globally during the preceding month.
The ten most shocking antisemitic incidents of April 2023 are as follows:
The FBI opened an investigation into an incident in which a 17-year-old autistic and visibly Jewish boy from Las Vegas, Nevada, returned home from public school with a swastika carved into his back. The teen, who is nonverbal and wears a kippah daily, attends regular classes at his local public school, accompanied by his service dog and an assistant. On March 9, the teen returned home from school with his service dog’s equipment bag torn up, and a swastika carved into the skin of his back.
“The carving of a swastika on the back of an autistic Jewish boy at his Las Vegas high school is further proof that antisemitic hatred has no bounds.
School should not be a place of fear for Jewish students.
We urge the @ClarkCountySch and the relevant law enforcement agencies…
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) April 20, 2023
Lucy Dee, 48, died on April 10, three days after she and two of her daughters, Maia, 20, and Rina, 16, were shot 22 times by Palestinian terrorists while driving near the Hamra junction in the Jordan Valley on their way to a vacation in northern Israel.
Maia and Rina passed away at the scene of the attack. All three were laid to rest in Gush Etzion, where they lived.
3. Two Men Arrested After Attacking Jewish Driver With Bat in New York Crown Heights Neighborhood
Two men were arrested after attacking a Jewish man, shouting antisemitic slurs, and violently smashing the victim’s car with a baseball bat in Crown Heights. The incident occurred on April 21 on Troy Avenue near Sterling Place when the men drove up behind the visibly Jewish driver, who was stuck behind a double-parked FedEx truck that was blocking traffic. The men behind the Jewish driver’s car then got out of their car, one brandishing a baseball bat, and approached the Jewish victim. They began shouting antisemitic slurs at him and then attacked the Jewish man’s car with the baseball bat, causing extensive damage.
4. German Protesters Call for ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to Jews’ in Berlin
The demonstrations took place on April 8 in two Berlin neighborhoods with large Muslim presences, Kreuzberg and Neukölln, and centered on tensions surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor tweeted, “These idiots abuse Germany’s freedoms and unreservedly call for the annihilation of Israel and the Jews. They flout democratic values in [Germany], not only crossing every possible red line, but also ‘spitting in the brown [fascist] well from which they drink.'”
Diese Schwachköpfe missbrauchen Deutschlands Freiheiten und rufen ohne Hemung zur Vernichtung Israels und der Juden auf.
Sie missachten die demokratischen Werte in 🇩🇪 und überschreiten nicht nur jede mögliche rote Linie, sondern “spucken auch in den Brunnen, aus dem sie trinken.” https://t.co/3StGBLPM3q— Ambassador Ron Prosor (@Ron_Prosor) April 9, 2023
Lebanese runner Mazen Chreim, a Hezbollah supporter, pulled out of a race in an international competition taking place in Poland after he discovered that an athlete from Israel would also be participating. The runner told Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television channel that he considered his withdrawal from the championship “a victory.”
View this post on Instagram
6. Seattle Synagogue Targeted by Vandals Ahead of Yom HaShoah
Temple De Hirsh Sinai in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood was vandalized with antisemitic and anti-Israel graffiti on the night of April 16. “My first reaction was shock, disgust, and sadness,” Rabbi Daniel Weiner said. “I’m heartsick to say so, but this unfortunately is the current state of where we are as a society.” The synagogue was also targeted in a similar incident back in 2017.
Yale University hosted a speaker on April 6 who is known to promote antisemitic views, including justifying the murders of Jews and Israelis. Houria Bouteldja, who has expressed hatred towards Jews, Israel, and white people, was invited to speak and endorsed by Yale’s flagship DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) program known as “Belonging at Yale.” Bouteldja’s 2017 book, Whites, Jews, and Us, calls for the dismantling of Israel and expresses outright antisemitism.
Yale’s decision to host anti-Semitic bigot Houria Bouteldja as part of its “Belonging at @Yale” program is unacceptable and again shows how universities are alienating their Jewish students.
Bouteldja absurdly blames Jews for the Holocaust – if that isn’t disqualifying, what is? https://t.co/Tkk7xiCJ43
— B’nai B’rith Intl. (@BnaiBrith) April 17, 2023
8. Muslim Who Converted to Judaism Attacked in London After Waving Israeli Flag
Timor-David Aklin, who was born a Muslim in Jaffa, traveled to London ahead of Yom HaShoah with the aim of making pro-Israel videos for his YouTube channel. He visited Speakers’ Corner, London’s landmark soapbox, to fight “stereotypes against the Jewish religion and antisemitism,” he said. While there, Aklin, who is visibly Orthodox with a yarmulke on his head, was confronted by a group of young British Muslim men, who began an argument with him that turned violent.
9. Man Steals, Burns Israeli Flags Outside Jewish Day School in Montreal
A man filmed himself stealing and setting fire to Israeli flags hung outside a Jewish day school in Montreal, Canada, according to a video posted to social media. In the short 34-second clip, the keffiyeh-wearing man is seen tearing down at least five flags from the school fence in Dollard Des Ormeaux before stacking them up and setting them on fire.
Theft and destruction of property alert – a man films himself earlier today stealing and then setting on fire Israeli flags hung outside a Jewish Day School in Dollard Des Ormeaux, Montreal @SPVM
The school was celebrating Israel’s 75th Independence Day pic.twitter.com/P0Es91G7si
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) April 27, 2023
10. Bronx Woman Says Man Threw Concrete Slab Through Her Window Because She Displayed Israeli Flag
The NYPD’s hate crimes task force is investigating after an unidentified man hurled concrete through a Jewish woman’s apartment second-story window in the Bronx. The heavy slab of concrete missed the woman, named Rochelle, by inches. Rochelle believes the man targeted her window for the Israeli flag and pro-Israeli sticker she displays.
For more information on CAM’s antisemitism incidents data, please visit: combatantisemitism.org/newsletters
