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 July 2023 are as follows:
1. BBC Apologizes After Anchorwoman Claims Israeli Soldiers Are ‘Happy to Kill Children’
Amid an Israeli military operation against terrorist groups in the Palestinian city of Jenin in early July, BBC anchorwoman Anjana Gadgil claimed that IDF soldiers were “happy to kill children” — remarks that were quickly condemned and refuted by her interviewee, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Also in the United Kingdom, Conservative MP Paul Bristow asserted that Israel had killed “dozens of Palestinian children” in 2023.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib accused the IDF of thwarting medical treatment of wounded Palestinians during the fighting in Jenin.
The Ann Arbor Police Department launched an investigation into “hate-motivated vandalism” incidents that took place at two off-campus University of Michigan fraternity houses.
The vandalism, believed to have occurred between 5 PM on July 17 and 6 AM on July 18, included “homophobic and antisemitic symbols, including a swastika at one of the locations,” a police tweet said.
We are aware of recent vandalism that has been reported to @A2police at two off-campus fraternity houses where @UMich students will live this fall. The university condemns these acts of vandalism.
Full statement: https://t.co/eVej6KngnE
— President Santa J. Ono (@UMichPrezOno) July 21, 2023
3. Jewish Man Assaulted on Shabbat Morning in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights Neighborhood
A Hasidic Jewish man was assaulted on July 22 in an unprovoked attack in Crown Heights.
The incident occurred at around 7:30 AM, as Menachem Zirkind was walking to Rayim Ahuvim Mikvah, on the corner of Schenectady Avenue and Carroll Street, when he was struck in the face by a passerby.
On July 7, also in Crown Heights, an Israeli student was stabbed in the arm with a screwdriver after two male suspects approached him and asked if he was Jewish, to which he replied in the affirmative.
Police are looking for a man in connection with an attack on a Chassidic Jewish man who was slapped in the face in an unprovoked attack on Shabbos. Full Story https://t.co/tWFX0mkHwe
— COLlive News (@COLLiveNews) July 23, 2023
Israeli student stabbed in Crown Heights in suspected hate crime https://t.co/Pahvj5TRY7
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) July 9, 2023
A brick covered with antisemitic messages was hurled through the window of a Chabad center in the Florida Panhandle city of Pensacola on July 17.
Nazi swastikas, as well as the words “No Jews” and “WLM” (standing for “White Lives Matter”), were drawn on the brick, which was thrown toward two visiting rabbis who were making dinner in the building’s kitchen.
5. Russia Declares Former Moscow Chief Rabbi a ‘Foreign Agent’
Russia has designated Pinchas Goldschmidt, the former chief rabbi of Moscow, as a “foreign agent,” according to the Russia Ministry of Justice department website.
The ministry’s statement accuses Goldschmidt of disseminating “false information about the decisions made by public authorities of the Russian Federation and their policies
The Russian government’s labeling of former Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt as a “foreign agent” is an abominable contemporary manifestation of age-old antisemitic tropes used across Europe over the centuries to delegitimize and demonize Jews as the “other.”
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) July 3, 2023
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) announced on July 24 hat its members had approved a pro-BDS resolution prohibiting collaboration with Israeli academic institutions.
The measure passed by a 2,016-835 (71%-29%) vote, with 37% of eligible AAA members casting a ballot.
In recent months, CAM had signed two different joint calls — one organized by the AMCHA Initiative and the other by the Alliance for Academic Freedom and Academic Engagement Network — urging the rejection of the new resolution.
@AMCHAInitiative statement on @AmericanAnthro vote to endorse academic BDS:
“[After] AAA reprehensible action & called for substitution of hateful political advocacy/activism for scholarship, [now] university leaders [need] to protect students & academy.”https://t.co/P9tReJHwDy pic.twitter.com/gZJfk9N9Ya— The AMCHA Initiative (@AMCHAInitiative) July 24, 2023
@TheAENetwork has released a statement expressing deep opposition to the decision of @AmericanAnthro members to vote in favor of a resolution to boycott #Israeli academic institutions https://t.co/l04gvs7gxP
— Academic Engagement Network (@TheAENetwork) July 24, 2023
7. Germany: Antisemitic Attack at Holocaust Memorial in Frankfurt
Frankfurt police said a young man shouted “Allahu akbar” and threw a filled plastic bottle at a Jewish female visitor to the memorial located in the Großmarkthalle in the city’s Ostend neighborhood, narrowly missing her head. The perpetrator later apologized to the woman and walked away.
8. Jewish San Diego Man Targeted in Antisemitic Attack in College Area
Members of the San Diego Jewish community are on alert after an antisemitic assault that occurred near the Chabad House at San Diego State University on the morning of July 24.
The victim, a 65-year-old Jewish man, had his tzitzit ripped, and antisemitic and anti-Israel slurs were directed at him.
Lt. Adam Sharki, public information officer at the San Diego Police Department, told JNS that the SDPD was actively investigating the “disturbing incident” as a hate crime.
“SDPD stands united with our community against bigotry and aggressively investigates these types of incidents,” he said.
ANTISEMITISM | A 65-year-old Jewish man was attacked in “broad daylight” on July 24 at a 7-Eleven just blocks away from the Chabad center at San Diego State University.https://t.co/UJPqqyfY0e
— Jewish News Syndicate (@JNS_org) July 27, 2023
9. US White Supremacist and Holocaust Denier Nick Fuentes Calls for ‘Holy War’ Against Jews
U.S. white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes called for a “holy war” against Jews in remarks at an “America First” rally on July 16 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“We’re in a holy war,” Fuentes declared, “and I will tell you this: Because we’re willing to die in the holy war, we will make them die in the holy war. And they will go down. We have God on our side, and they will go down with their Satanic master. They have no future in America. The enemies of Christ have no future in this world.”
On Sunday, U.S. white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes called for a “holy war” against Jews in remarks at an “America First” rally in West Palm Beach, Florida.
More details 👉 https://t.co/8MkeHVE9aV pic.twitter.com/mWEJJvzyga
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) July 19, 2023
The Oxford Street branch of Marks and Spencer in London was picketed by anti-Israel protesters bearing incendiary signs and calling for another intifada on July 15.
Video footage from the demonstration — organized by the Revolutionary Communist Group — shows a woman delivering a speech in which she shouts, “Victory to the intifada.”
“M&S is a symbol on our high streets of British collaboration with the racist, settler State of Israel.”
“Victory to the intifada.”
CAA volunteers captured this footage from a demonstration earlier today on Oxford Street, organised by the Revolutionary Communist Group. pic.twitter.com/UnCiKrPtgN
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) July 15, 2023
For more information on CAM’s antisemitism incidents data, please visit: combatantisemitism.org/research
