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The Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) by CAM 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 August 2024 are as follows:
France: Man Arrested Over Suspected Terror Attack Explosion At French Synagogue
Police arrested a man suspected of setting fires and causing an explosion at a synagogue in southern France in what officials suspect was a terror attack, the country’s interior minister said. “The suspected perpetrator of the criminal fires at the synagogue has been detained,” minister Gerald Darmanin said on X, adding that officers who made the arrest came under fire. Police had said they were hunting for a man who, draped in a Palestinian flag, was believed to have set fires at a synagogue and triggered an explosion that injured an officer in the seaside resort of La Grande-Motte.
🚩Aug. 24 — Man wrapped in Palestinian flag firebombs synagogue in France.
A man seen carrying gas canisters in CCTV footage set off fires at the Beth Yaacov synagogue of La Grande Motte, causing an explosion that injured a police officer.
This was an attempt to MURDER JEWS. pic.twitter.com/K3Jvu2MvbZ
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) August 25, 2024
New York: Young Jewish Man Stabbed In NYC By Attacker Yelling ‘Free Palestine’
An antisemitic thug allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” and stabbed a Jewish man in a hateful attack near the Chabad Headquarters in Crown Heights on Aug. 10, according to eyewitnesses. The suspect allegedly approached Yechiel Dabrowskin around 2 a.m. near the Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue and shouted “Free Palestine” and “Do you want to die?” before knifing the victim, according to Yaacov Behrman, a spokesperson for Chabad-Lubavitch. “It’s very, very painful,” Dabrowskin told Kan 11 News in Israel. “I had internal bleeding but thank God I had a miracle.”
🚩Saturday, Aug. 10 — Man shouting “FREE PALESTINE” stabs Jew in New York near Chabad HQ.
“Do you want to die?” shouted the perpetrator at the victim, before stabbing him.
Local residents were able to detain the attacker until the police arrived and arrested the assailant. pic.twitter.com/iygj4ZefpY
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) August 11, 2024
Swiss Police Arrest ‘Mentally Disturbed’ Man For Pouring Gasoline On Synagogue
A 32-year-old man with mental health issues was arrested for allegedly dousing a synagogue in the city of Zurich with gasoline, Swiss police said. According to the Zurich municipal police’s initial investigations, the Swiss national “acted alone and no extremist motives have been put forward” for the attack. The suspect spilled gasoline at the synagogue’s entrance on Aug. 10, before being surprised by a member of the Jewish place of worship’s security services.
Swiss police have arrested a man for allegedly dousing a synagogue in Zurich with petrol.https://t.co/giJm8oCO8h
— DW News (@dwnews) August 11, 2024
Mass Bomb Threat Sent to Jewish Institutions Across Canada
A threatening email was sent to dozens of Jewish institutions across Canada, including several in Montreal, prompting investigations by police in multiple cities and the RCMP. The email was sent to more than 100 synagogues, Jewish community centers and other institutions across the country.
🚩This morning, a mass email threatened 100+ Jewish institutions, including synagogues and schools, across Canada.
A synagogue has been evacuated, with police anti-terror and hate crimes units consulted.
The intimidation of Canadian Jewry continues.https://t.co/kIv81oj8ms
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) August 21, 2024
Police in Argentina Arrest 7 Accused of Plotting Terror Attacks on Jewish Targets
Police in Argentina arrested seven people during raids against what they said was an Islamic terrorist organization planning an attack on Jewish targets, including synagogues. Argentina’s Jewish political umbrella organization, DAIA, said the raids had followed its own complaint to Argentina’s Federal Police after a Jewish journalist in Mendoza faced a threat that it did not detail. The group said in a statement that the group had “spread anti-Christian and anti-Jewish language via Telegram and WhatsApp” and also suggested that the group had ties to ISIS and the Taliban.
Police in Argentina arrest 7 accused of plotting terror attacks on Jewish targets https://t.co/XVMo5UIOkS
— JTA | Jewish news (@JTAnews) August 19, 2024
Anne Frank Statue in Amsterdam Park Vandalized Again With Pro-Palestinian Graffiti
A statue of Anne Frank, a Holocaust victim famous for her diary account of hiding from the Nazis during World War II, has been covered with pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel graffiti. According to images published on X, the base of the statue was spray-painted with the slogan “Free Gaza,” while the girl’s hands were painted with the same blood-red color. Police have opened an investigation into the most recent defacement.
🚩 ANNE FRANK STATUE IN AMSTERDAM DEFACED AGAIN 🚩
On the exact day marking 80 years since the Nazis arrested and deported Anne Frank and her family, the hands of her statue in Amsterdam are smeared with paint “blood”, and the plinth defaced with the words, “Free Gaza”. pic.twitter.com/DKWFcgnDED
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) August 4, 2024
The Victoria University of Wellington campus was found painted in slogans including “Divest from genocide,” “Apartheid is lame,” and “Free Gaza.” The graffiti has since been removed by the university.
Canadian Imam Says During Sermon ‘May Allah Curse The Jews’
Canadian imam Adan Abyat said in a Friday sermon on Aug. 2 in Port Coquitlam, in the Vancouver, British Columbia area, that Jihad was the “pinnacle of Islam” and that Allah had awakened the desire for Jihad. He said that the “Jews – may Allah curse them” killed Hamas leader “the martyr” Ismail Haniyeh, whom he called a “mujahid leader,” and the same people had tried to poison Prophet Muhammad in the past. Abyat also prayed that Allah may curse the “Zionist war machine” and its Christian and atheist supporters, including the United States.
Anti-Israel Activists Protest Event Welcoming New Columbia University Students
Anti-Israel activists gathered outside Columbia University to protest an event welcoming new students and the continued operation of the academic institution without adopting their policies against Israel, according to Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition. Activists in keffiyehs shouted and banged drums and pots outside the gate of the university in an attempt to cause noise that would disrupt the convocation and encourage new students to join their movement. “Until Columbia divests, there will be no business as usual during a genocide,” Columbia SJP.
CUAD attempts to disrupt @Columbia undergraduate convocation in their latest effort to indoctrinate the incoming class pic.twitter.com/njQrh5pIa0
— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) August 25, 2024
Nearly 8 in 10 Jewish Students Avoid Places on Campus Over Safety Concerns, New Study Finds
A newly-released Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF) poll of Jewish students and recent graduates revealed the troubling extent of antisemitism at American colleges and universities across the United States ahead of the start of the new school year, amid the ongoing global surge of Jew-hatred triggered by the October 7th attack in Israel.
Key findings included:
- 83% of respondents considered antisemitism a “very serious problem.”
- 81% of respondents said they or their friends had received threatening or antisemitic messages from people associated with their university.
- Nearly eight in ten respondents said they had avoided places on campus out of concern for their safety as Jews.
- 60% of respondents said a faculty member had made an offensive antisemitic remark to them or someone they knew.
- 58% of Jewish students reported that they or someone they knew was physically threatened on campus for being Jewish.
- 44% of current students said they “never” or “rarely” felt safe identifying as Jewish on campus.
Massive number of college students are afraid to admit they’re Jewish as antisemitism soars on campuses: survey https://t.co/Ssft1R09YI pic.twitter.com/GJLmYQARjn
— New York Post (@nypost) August 26, 2024
For more information on CAM’s antisemitism incidents data, please visit: combatantisemitism.org/research