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 May 2023 are as follows:
1. CUNY Faces Backlash Over Antisemitic Remarks by Law School Commencement Speaker
In a May 12 speech at the City University of New York (CUNY) Law School graduation ceremony, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) activist Fatima Mousa Mohammed said, “I want to celebrate CUNY Law as one of the few, if not the only, law school to make a public statement defending the right of its students to organize and speak out against Israeli settler colonialism. That this is the law school that passed and endorsed BDS on a student and faculty level, recognizing that absent a critical imperialism settler colonialism lens, our work and this school’s mission statement is void of value. That as Israel continues to indiscriminately rain bullets and bombs on worshippers, murdering the old, the young, attacking even funerals and graveyards, as it encourages lynch mobs to target Palestinian homes and businesses, as it imprisons its children, as it continues its project of settler colonialism, expelling Palestinians from their homes, carrying [out] the ongoing Nakba, that our silence is no longer acceptable.”
Mohammed further urged graduates to join “the fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism, and Zionism around the world.”
Here in its entirety is the vitriolic, evil, antisemitic @CUNYLaw commencement address from Jew hater Fatima Mohammed. Unimaginably, it is even worse than last year’s hate spewed by Nerdeen Kiswani. No wonder CUNY Law, under state investigation, tried to hide this video. pic.twitter.com/nKCe1Kx2sc
— SAFE CUNY (@SAFECUNY) May 28, 2023
At a concert in the German capital of Berlin, ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters wore Nazi-style attire and compared Holocaust victim Anne Frank to a Palestinian journalist killed in the crossfire of a battle between Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Palestinian terrorists.
Good morning to every one but Roger Waters who spent the evening in Berlin (Yes Berlin) desecrating the memory of Anne Frank and the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. pic.twitter.com/lS1YzpUZzM
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 24, 2023
3. Two Jewish Worshippers Killed in Shooting at Tunisia Synagogue During Lag Ba’Omer Pilgrimage
Two Jewish pilgrims and three Tunisian police guards were killed in a shooting attack at the El Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba during an annual Lag Ba’Omer celebration that drew hundreds of visitors.
The dead worshippers were identified as cousins Aviel Haddad, a 30-year-old dual Israeli-Tunisian citizen, and Benjamin Haddad, a 42-year-old French national.
The attacker — an officer affiliated with the National Guard naval center in the town of Aghir on Djerba — was shot dead in an exchange of fire with security personnel outside the synagogue.
Tunisia: Shots fired at El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, where hundreds of Israelis and Jews were at the time pic.twitter.com/4DlYvkQfpf
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 9, 2023
4. Police Investigate Explosive Device Thrown in Heavily Jewish New Jersey Town
Police in the New Jersey town of Lakewood opened an investigation after an explosive device was thrown in a heavily Jewish area.
Video showed several Lakewood residents walking on the sidewalk when the two trucks slowed and stopped next to them. The pedestrians can then be seen crossing the street behind the trucks as they drive off. Second later, an explosion is observed and smoke begins to rise from a nearby wooded area.
5. ‘Black Hebrew’ Wields Knife at Group of Jews in Brooklyn Bridge Park
A group of four Chabad bochurim were victims of an antisemitic incident by a knife-wielding man evening in Brooklyn Bridge Park in downtown Brooklyn.
The bochurim, Israeli students who learn in 770 Chabad Yeshiva, were in the park at approximately midnight, when they were approached by a black male, who proceeded to shout antisemitic slurs and insults at them. The man shouted rhetoric commonly heard from Black Hebrew Israelites, claiming that he is “the real Jew, and they are not.”
The bochurim called Shmira of Williamsburg, who arrived and called the police, who arrested the man.
6. Likening Israel To Nazis, Palestinian Leader Abbas Says Country Lies ‘Like Goebbels’
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas likened Israel to Nazi Germany by saying the country lied like the Third Reich’s chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
“Israeli and Zionist claims continue by saying that Israel made the desert bloom. As if Palestine was a desert and they made the desert bloom,” Abbas told a UN event commemorating the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe,” which is how Palestinians refer to the events surrounding Israel’s founding in 1948.
“These are lies,” he continued. “They continue to lie, like Goebbels, and they continue to lie until people believe their lies and they continue therefore their false claims by saying that Israel made the desert bloom. Palestine was never a desert.”
PA President Mahmoud Abbas in U.N. General Assembly Speech: America, Britain Planted Israel in Order to Get Rid of Their Jews; The Israelis Lie Like Goebbels #Palestinians #Nakba pic.twitter.com/f1ylnPapxm
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 16, 2023
At the UN’s “Nakba Day” event, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of lying in a manner similar to chief Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
While Holocaust trivialization is nothing new for Abbas, it is still a heinous form of antisemitism that must be condemned!…
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) May 15, 2023
7. Berlin Rally Turns Antisemitic Despite Police Ban
Activists of the Samidoun NGO chanted antisemitic and anti-Israeli slogans at the far-left “revolutionary May 1st demonstration,” according to a video taken at the rally published on Twitter by the German Jewish organization Jüdisches Forum (JFDA). In the video, the Samidoun activists can be heard shouting “Boycott Israel!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
This occurred despite a number of bans and limitations announced by the Berlin police before the rally.
“Boycott Israel!” & “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
Bei der “Revolutionären 1. Mai Demonstration” in #Berlin Neukölln skandiert der Block der Gruppierung Samidoun unwidersprochen antisemitische Parolen. #b0105 pic.twitter.com/UsViASOtI9
— Jüdisches Forum (JFDA e.V.) (@JFDA_eV) May 1, 2023
8. More Than 150 Dutch Soccer Fans Arrested Over Antisemitic Songs Ahead of Game in Amsterdam
Dutch police arrested 154 soccer fans after they chanted antisemitic slogans on a subway train while on their way to a match in Amsterdam on May 6.
Police did not identify the supporters’ club, but Ajax, third in the Eredivisie standings behind Feyenoord and PSV, was hosting fourth-place AZ Alkmaar at the Johan Cruyff Arena later that day.
De politie heeft vanavond 154 voetbalsupporters aangehouden die antisemitische liederen zongen in een metro. De metro is stilgezet en de supporters zijn aangehouden voor groepsbelediging: https://t.co/gq8gcibKzh
— Politie Eenheid Amsterdam (@POL_Amsterdam) May 6, 2023
9. ‘We’re Hizbullahi’: Jewish Children Harassed Near Day School in UK
Two men filmed themselves harassing a group of Jewish children near a day school in north London, according to footage shared by StandWithUs UK.
“Drove past the Zionist school on full blast,” a caption to the video reads, as they loudly play an Arabic song with lyrics extolling Hezbollah: “We’re Hizbullahi [members of Hezbollah] and I bear witness.”
This video was taken near a Jewish school in North London. The fact that this video was uploaded to social media platforms highlights the increasing visibility of antisemitic bullying. pic.twitter.com/HMteBBxjSL
— StandWithUsUK (@StandWithUsUK) May 3, 2023
10. The Guardian Takes Down and Apologizes for Cartoon Widely Panned for Promoting Antisemitic Tropes
The UK-based newspaper The Guardian took down and apologized for a cartoon that was widely condemned for perpetuating antisemitic tropes, saying it “did not meet our editorial standards.”
The caricature in question, drawn by Martin Rowson, depicted outgoing BBC Chairman Richard Sharp — who is Jewish — with imagery that the Board of Deputies of British Jews described as “shocking.”
The depiction of Richard Sharp in today’s @guardian cartoon falls squarely into an antisemitic tradition of depicting Jews with outsized, grotesque features, often in conjunction with money and power. It’s appalling. Here’s why 🧵 pic.twitter.com/RI46VmL6z8
— Dave Rich (@daverich1) April 29, 2023
For more information on CAM’s antisemitism incidents data, please visit: combatantisemitism.org/research
