A Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem has been vandalized with crosses Arutz Sheva has reported.
Multiple large crosses were spray painted across the front of the Synagogue.
The Synagogue serves a large Persian Jewish population in the area.
The police are investigating
A man was followed and apprehended by Shomrim, the Jewish community watch organisation, after having made antisemitic death threats.
Shomrim posted on their twitter that the man allegedly made threats to kill and hurled antisemitic abuse.
The incident took place in Hackney, London.
The man has since been arrested.
#Shomrim followed a male after making threats to kill and anti-Semitic abuse. Suspect arrested by TSG @MetTaskforce pic.twitter.com/PTWW0xFMoH
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) September 11, 2016
Noah Tucker, who is a prominent figure within the Haringey branch of Momentum, has dismissed fears of antisemitism as a “witch hunt” in a Facebook group.
Momentum is a far left faction in the party which is closely linked to Corbyn.
In a July Facebook he condemned the series of suspensions of members for antisemitism and called for all the suspensions to be lifted.
His post claims that the antisemitism row has been the result of the right of the Labour Party trying to undermine Corbyn, as well as Zionist groups in Israel, in an attempt to “shut down” debate on the Middle East.
Rabbi David Mason commented on Tucker’s nomination “While enjoying a positive and growing relationship with our local Labour council and MP, many of my members would be worried about the sentiments supported here by Mr Tucker. One would hope that he would consider on election the views of the many Jewish constituents of Haringey and their worries regarding Momentum’s problematic view of Israel and the Jewish community”.
An Anonymous activity stated: “These views are becoming increasingly commonplace in Tottenham Labour Party. As the Chakrabati inquiry makes clear these views have no place in the party. The selection of this gentleman is deeply upsetting. It is giving legitimacy to hostility to the Jewish Community and gives it .the official stamp of the Labour Party”.
A synagogue in the German city of Erfurt was besmeared on early Saturday
According to a German news portal the small synagogue in the old part of Erfurt, Germany, was daubed on early Saturday morning. That same night a group of four was heard shouting antisemitic abuse close to the old part of Erfurt, including shouting “Heil Hitler”. The police are looking for the suspected persons. It is unclear if these two incidents stand in connection
The NYPD is currently investigating a call that was made to the Jewish Museum in Manhattan.
The museum, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is the oldest museum of its kind.
On Tuesday night, a man called the museum and repeatedly said “The Nazis didn’t kill enough of you”.
The call was reported to the police, and the hate crime unit is currently investigating. They believe an individual from New Jersey is behind the call and are pursuing the case.
A 17-year-old male student in Sunnyvale, California, has been arrested after he was alleged to have sent antisemitic threats to Jewish students.
The student, who has not been identified because of his age, allegedly made the threats to at least two Jewish students at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale and Homestead High School in Cupertino, but it is thought he may have targeted up to 50.
The mother of one of the students took a screenshot of the threat, which was made from an account called “Jewslaughter”.
The message reads “Jews disgust me, I’ll fucking kill you. I got connections to the aryan brotherhood gang. You and the rest of your people are dead”.
The message also features a swastika.
Marc Kluge, a Neo-Nazi in Germany, was spotted at a BDS protest.
Kluge held a banner saying “I boycott Israel, not the Jews. Racism kills”.
He has several tattoos visible in the photo, some of which feature obscure far-right imagery.
A student from the King Solomon High School in East London has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed near to school premises.
It is unknown whether the attack was motivated by antisemitism, but he was stabbed outside a charity shop near to the school, which is known as being a Jewish school.
An eye witness told a local newspaper “there was a group of young boys and I think they were cycling…all I saw was a punch – I didn’t see the knife – and then a black boy fell down. Another black boy ran off.”
His injuries are not life-threatening.
The Community Security Trust are communicating with the school about the ongoing security situation.
Russia Today’s coverage of a Tel Aviv building collapse provoked many antisemitic comments.
A building site had collapsed, killing two and injuring seventeen.
One of the comments said “surely the crane is anti-semitic”. Whilst such a comment may appear harmless, in reality it attempts to delegitimise the experience of antisemitism.
Comments such as “SQUASHED kosha spaghetti and pasta” and “With all the bad news in the world everyday, it’s nice to see something different, for a change” actively revelled in the death of Jews.
Comments such as “Lols, another Jewish builder trying to save a shekel or two on the materials” played on antisemitic canards.
Perhaps most shockingly, comments such as “Yay K!kes are DEAD !!! lol ZioTechnology just collapses ha ha ha” appeared.
Others said it was “another Holocaust” and “cause for celebration”, whilst one commenter mocked the Holocaust saying “6 trillion feared dead”. Another replied to the first comment “you mean Holohoax”.
The comments still remain up.
DUNCAN, SC (WSPA) – The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office has been investigating threats made against both Jewish and Muslim students at Byrnes High School.
Some of the threats included photos of the suspect wearing a gas mask, with a Nazi Iron Cross, and holding a swastika knife. They were made over Facebook.
The student who received the threats immediately reported them to the police. He had been communicating with the suspect on Facebook for some time before the latter’s posts suddenly became threatening.
Deputies say they are working to identify the person behind the threats, and Spartanburg County District Five says law enforcement will be patrolling the school throughout the weekend, performing random sweeps of the campus before students return.
The Superintendent of Spartanburg District 5 released a statement aiming to reassure parents and the wider community. He said they were taking these threats extremely seriously and doing everything possible to secure the campuses for the safety of the students and staff.
Vandals have wrecked the Holocaust memorial site at “Golubaya Dacha” (The Blue House) in the Nevelski area of the Pskov province.
The vandalism was discovered on 28th August by Nevel resident, Natalia Gloshnovha. This was her first visit to the memorial site and she was shocked to find tombstones knocked over and most of the lilac bushes planted by school students, cut down. Members of a local social media group ‘Nevel – the best of the best’ agreed that the damage was malicious. There also appears to have been some swastikas painted in the area.
The site commemorates some 2,000 Jews from nearby villages who were rounded up by the Nazis into a ghetto and then murdered in September 1941. In the post-war years, a Jewish cemetery was established at the memorial site, and in May this year an Avenue of the Righteous was added to commemorate those who had saved local Jews during WWII.
Another Holocaust memorial was vandalized in Kalevi-Liiva, Estonia. Swastikas were painted on the memorial board, which has information about the execution of 3000-6000 Jews murdered by the Nazis nearby.
“Thousands” could be acted against by the Labour Party for antisemitism, a leaked report has revealed.
Around 6000 members have been reported to the National Executive Committee.
Terms of abuse such as “Zio” and claims that Jews “own the media” have been common themes in the suspension.
One case that has been made public is that of Labour Party member Terence Flanagan, who has been suspended from the party after a dossier of 17 individual antisemitic incidents was submitted to Labour.
The remarks referenced Jews, Nazis and Mossad, and many were “in no way connected to Israel”, according to Jewish News.
Phil Rosenberg, a Jewish Labour councillor in Hampstead where Flanagan is a member, complained that Flanagan had referred to him as “Goebbels”, a remark for which he refused to apologise. Rosenberg said “Terence Flanagan has been repeatedly abusive to me, other councillors and other Labour Party members – sometimes through the media. Too often, his language crossed the line in to clear anti-Semitism”.
Flanagan circulated a petition calling for the removal of Michael Foster from the party after he described Corbyn’s allies as “Nazi stormtroopers”, referring to Foster as “the Jewish millionaire”. Referring to a Jewish man not by his name, but instead simply as “the Jewish millionaire” is both dehumanising and plays on the antisemitic canard of rich and/or powerful Jews controlling public affairs from behind the scenes.
He has also espoused conspiracy theories, being weary of “the Mossad organised collection orchestrating the attack upon the members choice Jeremy Corbyn”. Accusing “Mossad” of orchestrating the criticisms of Corbyn, a man who members of the Jewish community have legitimate concerns about, of being the result of a conspiracy in Israel is antisemitic and draws upon a deep current of antisemitic conspiracy theories. Similarly, writing off the concerns of many British Jews, who are “abandoning” Labour due to fears about antisemitism in the party, as being a “Mossad” conspiracy minimises the concerns of the Jewish community and provides a convenient excuse to not address concerns raised by British Jews.
Photos have recently emerged of Philadelphia police officer Ian Hans Lichtermann with visible Nazi tattoos on show.
The tattoos were photographed as he worked at a ‘Black Resistance March’ during the Democratic National Convention in July.
Lichtermann’s tattoos include a Nazi eagle and a tattoo of the German word for ‘Fatherland’, as well as “For God and Country”, the motto of the American Legion, a Fascist organisation. It was also reported that he had a tattoo of an Iron Cross.
The Police Department will investigate the tattoos, saying that it “does not condone anything that can be interpreted as offensive, hateful or discriminatory in any form”, yet the head of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 has said the tattoos are “not a big deal”, claiming “I see people with panthers on their arm. Doesn’t mean they are Black Panthers. People with crosses on arms doesn’t mean they dislike any other religion”.
A local antifascist organisation also revealed that he had been exposed as being a member of “Blood & Honour”, a fascist online network started by English neo-Nazi Ian Stewart.
More information can be found here.
A Facebook page called “Israel is a war criminal” has posted antisemitic content.
The “anti-Zionist” page is fierce in its criticism of Israel, yet at certain points slips into outright antisemitism.
For example, it has blamed Israel for ISIS, an antisemitic conspiracy theory which is increasingly common. The post implies that Israel is using ISIS to attack Muslims, a claim which borders on blood libel.
In another post it suggests that Gaza is the “real Holocaust”. The effect of such a statement is essentially to deny the Holocaust, given that the number of casualties in the Arab-Israel conflict is infinitesimal compared to the number of Jews slaughtered in the Holocaust. It is also defined as antisemitic to compare Israel to Nazi Germany in such a way, according to the EUMC definition of antisemitism.
The comments are also extremely worrying. Many of them involve antisemitic images such as a shrouded figure marked with a Star of David holding the globe in bloodied hands, and a picture of a Haredi Jew with a Palestinian child being held by the neck in one hand and a menorah in the other.
They have also shared a post with the debunked claimed that Israel intentionally cut off water supply to Palestinian areas. Some commentators have seen this as a modern iteration of medieval blood libels.
A guest who has compared Netanyahu to Hitler is to speak at Newcastle Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Iyad Burnat is due to speak to Newcastle PSC in the next month to promote his book “on occupation and resistance in Palestine”.
He has previously posted a picture of Benjamin Netanyahu with a Hitler moustache doctored to look like he is performing a Nazi salute and superimposed on a Nazi flag. He posted it with the caption “Three aspects of modern organized terrorism in which many similarities emerged and is Nazism and Zionism and (ISIS) Daash”. Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany is defined as antisemitic by the EUMC definition of antisemitism.
He has also claimed that “Zionists” control U.S. elections, advising Americans: “To the American people do not bother to vote in the elections. The Zionists had identified the next president”. Claiming that “Zionists” control elections is a direct reference to antisemitic conspiracy theories that allege Jews control world affairs.
The CST have said “this seems to be another example of supposed anti-Zionism that is in fact antisemitic. PSC say they oppose such attitudes, so let us see what action they now take”.
A graveyard in New South Wales, Australia, which houses the graves of WW2 veterans, has been desecrated with antisemitic graffiti.
Police attended Nowra Cemetery on Kalandar Street in Nowra yesterday, finding nine gravestones damaged.
One had “die Jues die” (sic) painted on it.
Other graves had Swastikas on them.
Shoalhaven police believe the vandalism occurred between 11:30am and 12:30pm on Tuesday, and are appealing for witnesses.
El Badil, an Egyptian news site published a series of anti-semitic and Holocaust denial articles that were republished by Palestenian TV Network Wattan News, reports the online American Jewish newspaper The Algemeiner on 22nd August, 2016. The Algemeiner claims that the articles appeared in four parts: part one denies Jews exist as a people stating that Ashkanazi Jews are Khazars; part two states Jews use the ‘myth of the chosen people to manipulate the world to do their bidding’; part three denies Israel as the promised land and claims Jews have no historical ties to the region, essentially depriving Jews of part of their history; part four cites ‘renowned’ Holocaust deniers including Fred Leuchter, David Irving, and Ernst Zundel as ‘experts’, using their work as ‘evidence’ to deny the Holocaust , the use the of gas chambers and that claim there were only three million Jews in Europe before World War Two, thereby denying the count that six million Jews died during the conflict.
The articles were all titled “Zionist lies”
” Denial that Jewish people exist and that Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis are framed as if they are merely anti-Zionist positions”, the report claims. Adding further that Arab media are complaining about Arab refugees being shown death camps as history lessons and reprimanded if observed comparing Israeli activities to Nazi actions.
The use of the ‘Kharazian hypothesis’ is both scientifically flawed, as there is no evidence for it in genetic studies, and is a common thread within antisemitic discourse. Similarly, the
Links to the features can be found through the Algemeiner article, here.
Nine swastikas were found painted in a playground in Howell Park, New Jersey.
The playground is frequently visited by members of the Jewish community.
Police found the Swastikas at Echo Lake Park on Monday.
The park is just immediately north of the border with Lakewood, which is home to a very large Orthodox community and Yeshiva.
Apparently on the Morning of January 30th a man described a train that was arriving on the platform of the u-Bahn station Eberswalde road on the U2 line as a “special train to Auschwitz”.
Apparently several onlookers laughed loudly when he made the remark.
January 30th is the date in 1933 on which Hitler was invited by Hindenburg to form a government. For this reason, RIAS believes that this and other factors point towards the comment being linked to far-right activity, which has been increasing to a disturbing degree in Germany.
The incident has only just come to light. RIAS decided to report on it, despite it having happened seven months ago, as they feel it is important to continue to provide thorough documentation of antisemitic activity in Germany.
Reports have circulated that several high school students in Argentina attended a club with Hitler mustaches and swastikas painted on them and wearing leathers. They attend a school in Lanus, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
The club was also host to several Jewish students from an ORT High School.
A mother of one of the Jewish boys spoke to Rádio Latina saying:
“at a certain point in the night, young people came wearing swastikas and had painted-on Hitler mustaches…my son and his friends complained and asked that they be taken out, but all the club management did was demand that the mustaches be washed off and that the swastikas be removed”
“They all ended up fighting, and everyone was kicked out of the club – not just the aggressors”
According to the Telegraph, the students who were dressed as Nazis also shouted “f*cking Jews” and “proudly” showed off their Nazi imagery when they realised there were Jewish students present.
Families of the Jewish students have condemned the club, saying that no students bearing Nazi imagery should have been allowed in in the first place.
Ariel Cohen Sabban, head of the Delegaiton of Argentine Jewish Associations, said that he would be happy to meet with the club’s manager, and commented:
“It’s neither a joke nor a grace. These symbols reflect an ideology which culminated in the assassination of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis. If these kids are older than 16, then these kids could be sentenced to between a month to three years in prison for their actions, as this is a crime in Argentina. We have to be alert because we are beginning new hot beds of anti-Semitism…the state’s drive to combat this phenomenon, specifically through education, is very important”.
The event occurred in the resort of San Carlos de Bariloche, which is in the Andes. The town was a hiding place to several Nazis after the conclusion of World War Two, including Erich Priebke, and several conspiracy theories hold that Hitler and Eva Braun survived and secretly fled their after the war.
Facebook has ruled that an image calling explicitly for the genocide of all Jews is acceptable according to its community standard.
An image featuring a white man placing a Charedi Jew in a chokehold, accompanied by an antisemitic tract which incites genocide, was deemed acceptable when it was reported by B’nai Brith Canada.
B’nai Brith Canada reported the image, which was ruled acceptable within two hours, when it was alerted to it having been posted on the Facebook page of Canadian Academic Professor Anthony Hall, who is a Holocaust denier.
The text on the image reads:
“There never was a ‘Holocaust’, but there should have been and, rest assured, there WILL be, as you serpentine kikes richly deserve one. I will not rest until every single filthy, parasitic kike is rounded up and slaughtered like the vermin that they are. The white man has had more than enough of the international Jewry and we are more than prepared to smite the parasite for the millionth time. The greedy, hook-nosed kikes knows that their days are numbered and, unlike in the past, they have nowhere to run. This time there will be no kikes alive to spread around the planet like cockroaches. We will get them ALL into the oven and their putrid memory will finally be erased from the planet once and for all. Like all parasite, the Jew will continue to reproduce until every single last one has been wiped out. This is why it is crucial that all kikes are ruthlessly and mercilessly butchered for the good of us all. KILL ALL JEWS NOW! EVERY LAST ONE!”
After B’nai Brith Canada’s coverage, the image appears to have been taken down, but it is unclear whether Facebook have changed their minds or whether the author of the post wanted to avoid a public backlash and removed it himself.
Haaretz has reported that French Jews are being pushed out of the French schooling system by a culture of prevalent antisemtism.
One Jewish parent said that, despite having been educated in a French public school some years prior, the situation is now so bad that “anti-Semitic bullying means it would be too damaging for any Jewish kid you put there”.
Thirty years ago the majority of French Jews sent their children to public schools. The figure is now at only one third. In Paris, which has the largest population of Jews in France, almost all the children attend either private schools or Jewish schools.
French Jews have cited a “bad atmosphere of harassment, insults and assaults” for the change, as well as the growth of Jewish education that has gone along with increasing religious observance.
Whilst the incidents are usually ‘only’ instances of general bullying, some have involved serious intimidation, physical violence and death threats. Other incidents have included spraying a Jewish student with deodorant to ‘simulate’ a gas chamber, and a Jewish student being corned by classmates and being threatened with stabbing.
These incidents go alongside a steep increase in antisemitism in France generally, which has seen 20,000 French Jews leave for Israel in the past 4 years.
The Belfast Telegraph has reported that 13 Jewish graves have been desecrated in a cemetery in Belfast, Northern Island.
The cemetery stands as witness to over 150 years of Jewish history in the city, including the grave of the community’s founder Daniel Joseph Jaffe, who died in Nice but whose body was brought back to Belfast to be buried, as well as more recent graves of those who went to Northern Ireland to escape Nazi and Soviet persecution.
The attack was carried out by a “large crowd of youths” on Friday night. They apparently used hammers. They had also attempted to destroy the slabs of rocks on top of the graves, in an attempt to uncover the remains.
A local politician described the attack as “anti-community, anti-Belfast, anti-social and anti-Semitic”.
The police are treating the incident as a hate crime.
Any information can be supplied via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or through the 101 non-emergency number, using reference 742 of 26th August
Johanna Baxter, a Labour National Executive Committee member and Trade Union official, has been bombarded with abuse in Twitter for her role in deciding who can and cannot vote in the upcoming Leadership election.
The NEC has recently voted to exclude certain “entryists”, people who are joining as affiliated supporters in order to vote in the leadership election, from voting. Such voters disproportionately tipped the previous election in Corbyn’s favour.
Baxter was tweeted ‘”putting members first” eh? first in the gas chambers ?’
Another reply suggested that Labour members felt “like the Jews did in Nazi Germany”. Such a comparison is vastly irresponsible and downplays the extermination of six million European Jews who were murdered for nothing other than being Jewish; on the other hand, people are well within their rights to question the rise of antisemitism and intimidation within a political party without being subject to such hyperbole.
Another replied “your electoral rigging is particularly offensive to Palestinians because they know why”.
She also drew comparisons to Stalin’s purges.
Baxter had previously spoken of being pressured and harassed to support Corbyn’s automatic inclusion on the leadership ballot.
Woke up to this. I have no words. It is deeply, deeply offensive, particularly given my family history. pic.twitter.com/EDJZIsnaCJ
— Johanna Baxter (@JohannaBaxter) August 26, 2016
Around 50 fans of Widzew Łódź, a Polish association football team, demonstrated shocking antisemitism before a game on Friday.
The supporters had gathered at a train station prior to a clash with local rivals ŁKS Łódź, a team which is often derisively referred to as having large amounts of Jewish support by rival clubs, in a manner much similar to how Tottenham Hotspur are discussed in the British Premier League.
The Widzew fans burned effigies which appeared to depict caricatures of Orthodox Jews, as well as revealing a banner with the text “1908, today the Jews were named. Let them burn, motherfuckers”, referring to the founding date of the rival club.
Some of the fans also appear to be performing Nazi salutes.
Texe Marrs is a Christian fundamentalist and conspiracy theorist who has rallied behind Donald Trump.
In the past he has authored books with titles such as “Holy Serpent of the Jews: The Rabbis’ Secret Plan for Satan to Crush Their Enemies and Vault the Jews to Global Dominion” and “Conspiracies of the Six Pointed Star”.
On a podcast with another far-right extremist, Mike Rense, Marrs declared that Donald Trump could be an “instrument of God” to destroy the Jews. He had suggested that Stalin had been planning to exterminate the Jews of the Soviet Union, but was assassinated before he could, and that Hitler is unfairly criticised. Whilst he goes on to talk about “Israel” being destroyed, his past writings in which he frequently speaks of “Jewish” conspiracies, which he references in the last paragraph quoted here, as well as the context in which he defends the murder of Jews, demonstrate that Marrs is not talking about political opposition to Israel. He goes on to say:
“Israel is going to be destroyed and it is going to happen so fast we’ll all be shocked about it. It’s going to happen and I’ve been wondering if maybe, let me just say something here, could Trump be the instrument of God in this? He doesn’t have to be a Hitler, he doesn’t have to be a Stalin, he can simply be a good guy.”
“He’s going to have to move very fast against these people”
“[Trump] may be so smart though, and intelligent that he outwits them…he’s their friend, he’s their pal, he’s their buddy and then it’s suddenly, wow. He takes the woman, the whore, so to speak, Mystery Babylon the Great and suddenly he destroys her, in one single hour she will be destroyed”
“I pray they get what’s coming to them”
“These people who have done such horrible things over the years and who, right now, are plotting such horrible deeds against gentiles and others, I hope they get what they deserve. I hope they do and I hope maybe Trump could be the instrument of it.”
In his other work, he has accused George Bush of attending a Black Mass in the Great Pyramid of Giza and claimed that the Clintons are “deep into Egyptian occultism and Masonic magic”.
Attendees at the Shalom Festival, which took part over the course of the Edinburgh Festival, were met with taunts and Nazi salutes, the Jewish Chronicle has reported.
The festival was a full day celebration of Israel, which featured Jewish, Arab and other performers and, as the name suggests, was staged in the spirit of peace and co-operation. It attracted around 800 visitors.
A crowd of 150 protesters stood outside the event, shouting things such as “racist scum” and “shame on you”.
According to the JC, most of the crowd were members of Scottish Palestine Solidarity campaign. They also shouted “your tickets are covered in Palestinian blood” and “boycott and isolate Israel”. The definition of antisemitism states that it is antisemitic to use “the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis”. Describing the tickets to a peace event, which features Jewish and Arab performers, as “covered in Palestinian blood” borders on blood libel, as it twists even actions taken in the spirit of peace and co-operation as evidence of Jewish, or in this case Israeli, brutality
Apparently at one point the protesters crossed the line into unambiguous antisemitism, taunting the visitors with Nazi salutes.
According to Nigel Goodrich, one of the event’s organisers, many mothers complained that their children had been called racist.
Attendee Susie Kelpie said that such a response was commonplace: “it’s vile, intimidating and quite normal for any Israeli-flavoured event in this city.”
Sadiq Khan, the recently-elected Labour Mayor of London who enjoys one of the largest mandates in British political history, has been the target of antisemitic comments after he backed Owen Smith against Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party’s leadership race.
Khan has been a critic of how Corbyn handled the EU referendum, and has expressed his concerns about antisemitism within Labour under Corbyn, describing the increase in antisemitism as “deeply distressing and upsetting”.
After Khan’s rejection of Corbyn, several people responded on social media, with one Corbynite tweeting a picture of Sadiq Khan wearing a Kippah and eating matzah at a Pesach event with Jewish communal leaders. The man tweeted “who owns you @sadiqkhan?”
Another suggested that he wanted to “help his masters in Tel Aviv”. Such a comment implies an antisemitic belief in a Jewish conspiracy controlling world politics to some degree.
Sadiq Khan has often been proactive in working alongside and listening to the Jewish community which he now serves. His first act as Mayor of London was to attend a Holocaust memorial event. As a part of his campaign he pledged to help protect Jewish Londoners from Islamic extremism.
RIAS Nationwide Incident report: from Passau, Lower Bavaria, (south eastern Germany), 8th June 2016.
Two students were subject to antisemitic verbal abuse on Passau University campus.
On 8th June, at approximately 6pm, the two students were verbally abused by three men calling them “Dirty Jews”. Neither of the students was wearing any obvious ‘Jewish’ or ‘Israeli’ symbols, but the three men said that their targets looked like “typical Jews”.
The three men sat, with bare torsos, on a bench and were most likely inebriated. The reporter noted the three men singing an antisemitic song.
From their various and visible tattoos, it could be deduced that the men were associated with the extreme Right.
The antisemitic remarks were widely heard, but there was no immediate reaction from the other campus residents.
With thanks to RIAS – Recherche- und Informationsstelle Antisemitismus. The Foundation for Research and Information (office) on Antisemitism.
Writer comment: Unfortunately, many people can be subject to unwanted approaches and remarks from drunken people on a night out or at other times in our daily lives. Even good-humoured interactions can feel intimidating. We are most often able to shrug it off, move along and forget about it. Indeed, it is often safer not to react, especially if you feel threatened.
However, targeted, habitual and dogged insults during one’s daily life, (in this case two students wandering on their campus), can eventually chip away at a person’s confidence and lead to them feeling unsafe. This is especially so, if you are in a space which is familiar to you, a place of work, a place which is essentially your home.
Yemmi Agbebi is a Labour member who has expressed support for Corbyn and senior Vodafone employee. His social media suggests that he hold worrying views about both antisemitism in the Labour Party and Israeli Jews.
On 6th May 2016, Agbebi tweeted: “Despite “FAKE JEWISH HASBARA” anti-Semitism PLOT, Muslim Labour candidate poised to win #London mayoral election”
Two days previously, Agbebi tweeted that “Antisemitism is a get out of jail card for Zionists”.
Agbebi has described Israel as a “disgusting nation of self-righteous neo-Nazis” on both 1911th May and 4th May and as a “coral of the most disgusting Species on Earth”
A previous tweet on 13th April 2016, suggests that he believes that Israeli Jews cause the world’s moral evils, pogroms and apartheid.
On 10th April 2016, he tweeted that most American Jews “usually do the bidding of Meshiac Netanyahu“.
Agbebi is a senior Vodafone employee, working as Programme Director and Global Head of PPMO. Vodafone has a strong presence in Israel.
A Jewish family have suffered what Shomrim has described as “a tirade of antisemitic abuse” in East London.
The family were on a trip in East London when a man, who had two children with him, subjected them to the abuse.
Among other things, the man shouted “F*cking Jews, go back to Israhell, don’t come around here, go to Stamford Hill, you’re not welcome”.
The man’s tone is extremely threatening and aggressive, as evidenced by a video of the incident which Shomrim posted on their twitter.
Abuse included "F***ing Jews, go back to Isra-hell, don't come around here, go to Stamford Hill, you're not welcome" pic.twitter.com/JpsYcRBvQb
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) August 23, 2016
Jewish family suffered tirade of anti-Semitic abuse whilst on a trip in East London. Suspect was with 2 children pic.twitter.com/iw4W3WMF67
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) August 23, 2016
Reminiscent of the Nazi era when Jewish businesses were targeted for abuse and boycotts, and antisemitic writings were stuck on shop fronts, a post by Philo on ‘The New Antisemite’ blog dated 22nd August 2016, shows a photograph of graffiti on a shop window in France which states ‘ commerde sale juif’. “Commerde” should read “commerce”, but works the French word “merde” in, which translates as ‘shit’. Translating the French text into English Philo writes: ” this could be interpreted as ‘ this shit shop belongs to a dirty Jew'”.
Agnes Grunwald-Spier, a Holocaust survivor, author, historian and a former trustee of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has been subjected to antisemitic abuse on Twitter.
Ms Grunwald-Spier, who was saved from deportation to Auschwitz as a young child by an “unknown official”, received the abuse after a follower tweeted about her new book “Who Betrayed the Jews?”.
One person replied to the tweet saying “no doubt you are lying about the Holohoax”, whilst another replied that “Jewish suffering is not special”, attempting to minimise the Holocaust because other people died during the war too.
One twitter user, who uses a picture of a Haredi Jew as a his picture also mocked her.
Many of the trolls fixated on her age, writing “These holohoax survivors get younger every year” to which another replied “Jews are always lying”. The first then tweeted a picture of her saying “look at her…she’s like 60 max…Liars”, met with the reply “the trauma was passed down”.
When the trolls were asked to desist one said that twitter was “not a liar Jew safe space” and that “Jews think that everything they don’t like should be illegal”.
One of the main commenters who posts under the name ‘AntiRacist Hitler’, and who directed all of his comments in the exchanges to Ms Grunwald-Spier, said that “the real Holocaust was the 100’s of millions of Europeans who died because of evil Jews”.
Other commenters said, referring to her age, “you’ve got it all wrong, goys; it’s her good Ashkenazi genetics”, simply called her “Agnes Grunwald-Liar”, or tweeted antisemitic pictures to her.
One user, called ‘Aus-Alt-Right’, tweeted “Unbelievable. 54 year old holohoax ‘survivor’ milking the goyem for all the shekels. It’s like a Nigerian scam”.
Another asked her if there was “any limit to this brainwashing industry”.
RIAS Incident report: Berlin-Friedrichshain, 23rd July 2016.
A Holocaust revisionist placard was mounted on a busy street corner in Friedrichshain, Berlin.
On 23rd July, a placard attached to a lamppost with text which translate literally as “though we’re all sitting in the same gas chamber, it’s you sitting on the tap from within the red engine”, was recorded on the corner Boxhagener and Warschauer streets.
The text implies that Jews are in control of the “tap” of metaphorical gas that allegedly afflicts everyone. Not only does it thus suggest a conspiracy theory in which Jews are said to be in control of world affairs, but it also cheapens the memory of the Holocaust by creating a false equivalence between the conditions of the victims of the Holocaust and whatever social ills may affect people today, and then using this false equivalence for inflammatory and rhetorical purposes.
The style and content of the writing suggests that the originator is from within the vicinity of the street intersection. Such references to, or comparisons with, the Holocaust have a direct consequence in the lowering the societal threshold for openly antisemitic and revisionist statements.
For Holocaust survivors, their families and those affected by antisemitism, there is an inevitable reawakening of memories associated with the systematic mass extermination of European Jews under the National Socialist movement. We wholeheartedly welcome the swift removal of the placard shortly after it was discovered.
Esther Cohen-Eskin woke up early on the morning of August 19th in her home in Havertown, Pennsylvania, to find Swastika graffiti on her bins.
Cohen-Eskin, who is Jewish, posted an image of the graffiti on Facebook, and appealed for information, though it is not known whether the police have been contacted.
She also appealed for the community to put up security cameras, and was notably extremely upset by the incident and its potential implications for her and her family.
However, a friend suggested to Cohen-Eskin, who is an artist, that she make the most of the situation and cover the image up with some artwork. Many in her community have responded by adding artwork to their bins too, some of which now have messages of tolerance and co-existence.
Kolomyia Synagogue in Western Ukraine was defaced with antisemitic graffiti on Thursday night.
The entrance to the Synagogue was sprayed with a swastika and “antisemitic slogans”.
Jacob Zlishiker, an official of the Jewish community, said that such incidents are routine in the area. However, the police are taking the matter very seriously.
A Jewish cemetery was also vandalized on the same evening.
Before the Holocaust there were 50 Synagogues in the City. This appears to be the only one still active, having been founded by a small number of Jews who returned to the city after its liberation from the Nazis.
An MP in the Czech Republic, Stanislav Huml, has shared a Holocaust denial on his Facebook page.
Huml describes the video as “brutal and [politically] incorrect” but “inspiring”, and says that it runs contrary to the supposed “ethnomasochism” of Western nations, which he sees as overburdened with guilt.
The video describes the Holocaust as “alleged” and call on Europe to “stop apologizing” for the Holocaust.
Shockingly, the video says that the Jews were “to blame” for the Holocaust.
The video appears to suggest that Elie Wiesel was never help in a concentration camp.
The YouTube Channel from which Huml shared the video also has videos that promote what it sees as the “healthy lifestyle” of the Third Reich.
When confronted about the post, Huml says that he “does not concern himself with those details” and that “the video has an actual basis in history extending back to the 15th century”.
A retired 71-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to religiously or racially aggravated harassment after subjecting her Jewish neighbour to a campaign of abuse.
Susan Dean subjected her neighbour Allan Rich to antisemitic abuse which stemmed from a dispute over their adjoining beach huts. The huts come with the seafront properties, but Mrs Dean was initially upset as she felt that Mr Rich and his friends “encroached” and prevented her from enjoying her hut.
Mr Rich is the chairman of the management committee for the block of luxury flats, and was the CEO of a successful company.
Mrs Dean left Mr Rich an anonymous note in which she called him “Jew boy”, a common term of antisemitic abuse.
Three days later, she told Mr Rich in another note that he should leave the country.
She also said that she could not attend a communal barbecue as she “was not Jewish”, which appears to be her suggesting that Jews make non-Jews feel unwelcome and are only concerned with other Jews, a common antisemitic canard.
Mr Rich and his wife were apparently so upset by the antisemitic abuse that they were reduced to tears and were fearful of using their own balcony as Mrs Dean may have been using hers.
The prosecutor said “These aren’t off the cuff handwritten notes, they are typed up notes that were then placed in strategic places and they clearly caused the aggrieved a lot of distress”.
In his appeal to a magistrate asking for a restraining order, Mr Rich stated:
“[Susan Dean’s] religious hate is causing me and my family great sadness.”
“I have never had to deal with such a horrible situation in my whole life. I can no longer go out on my balcony because she will shout abuse and we can no longer walk around the side of our flat because if she is there she will shout at us, so we have to walk our dog on a different route.”
“When we received the first note my wife and I could not sleep that night. We were both led to tears.
I’m not sure why anyone would want to do it or how they could be so vile. I’m not even sure how she knew my religion.
I do not want to be abused at my own home, my wife doesn’t feel safe coming down with other family members and I do not feel safe for my wife to be their alone.
This caused us to cut our stay in Sandbanks short, but she has also been sending abusive letters to our other address.
I’m worried she may react one day and do something out of the ordinary, that she could be stood at my door with a knife, because I do not know how much she hates me and my religion or how far she may go to satisfy her hate”.
Mrs Dean was fined and was given a restraining order, prohibiting her from having any contact with Mr Dean or his family.
A senior administrator at the Islamic University in Lecce, Italy, has called for a “final solution”
On his Facebook page, Raphael Villani wrote “there needs to be a final solution for Zionists” and that “the real Jews are the victims of Zionists”.
The Israeli Embassy in Italy discovered the comments, which have since been removed.
Calling for a final solution, the language used by the Nazis to describe the systematic extermination of the European Jewry, is clearly antisemitic, and is also a possibly a case of incitement. His assertion that Zionists are not “real Jews” contradicts many surveys and polls which show that large proportions of religious Jews identify as Zionists. It is thus a tool used to strip Jews who disagree with his position of their voice and their identities, attempting to portray the minority of Jews who agree with his position as “real” Jews, and the rest as not.
Given that in America, as an example, 90% of Orthodox Jews, 88% of Conservative Jews, and 70% of Reform Jews count themselves as Zionists, calling for a “final solution for Zionists” is nothing short of advocating genocide.
On August 12th, a Venezuelan weekly magazine called “The Truths of Miguel” published an antisemitic cover story.
The popular magazine’s cover featured an image of a Haredi Jewish man with a Star of David made from a banknote, titled “The Rabbis of Cadavi”, which references the government institution which deals with currency exchange, which implicitly accuses Jewish leaders of economic collusion. At a time of economic uncertainty for Venezuela, this amounts to using Jews as a scapegoat for economic troubles.
The editor of the magazine also writes that currencies are being manipulated by companies “that belong to citizens of Israelite origin”.
The head of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt writes:
“For several years, we have seen anti-Semitic accusations and themes appear in Venezuelan public discourse,”
“This shockingly graphic manifestation of anti-Semitic imagery on full display on Venezuelan newsstands is unacceptable and repulsive.”
“At a time when all of Venezuela feels the impact of a serious economic hardship, this magazine cover not only feeds into base, age-old anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews and unscrupulous behavior towards money, but dangerously points the finger at Jews for taking advantage of this crisis and deepening the economic instability for their benefit”
Rabbi Brian Zachary Mayer turned anti-semitic graffiti outside his home in Portland, Oregon on 14 August 2016 into a message of love and hours later posted his experience on Facebook, reports Lizzy Acker in the Oregon Live website on 16th August 2016.
The graffiti reads “Jews aren’t welcome” and “we hate Jews and n*ggers”, and also features several swastikas.
In a link from the Oregon article to Rabbi Mayer’s Facebook account he described the abuse as a random hate event; he expressed feeling shaken and together with his supportive neighbours tried to figure out who might of done this and why in a residential area that is ethnically diverse. On the driveway outside his home Rabbi Mayer and his family including his children wipe away the chalked abuse and a Nazi swastikas, then replaced them with chalk hearts and messages of love, such as “Love always wins”. He wrote that the random acts of love in his neighbourhood and on social media helped him : “There is something about the randomness of a hateful occurrence that required the randomness of a stranger’s love.” The full article and link to Rabbi Mayer’s Facebook comments can be found here.
A Polish Priest who has been linked to far right groups and football hooligans has made an antisemitic rant in Poland.
Jacek Miedlar reportedly told his congregation during a Mass:
“Passive Jewish mob will try to throw you on your knees, then crawling, will try to grind faces of you, Jews want to swallow you, to digest you – for only reason – to spit you out because of your further uselessness.”
An MP, Joanna Scheuring, informed the local Prosecutor’s office of the alleged hate speech, but she was threatened on Twitter by Miedlar, who said “in the days of the past for such persons as the MP only the razor was left for use.”
No Polish Bishops were available for comments on Miedlar’s rant.
A Hasidic Rabbi was stabbed this afternoon in Strabourg, by an attacker shouting “Allahu Ackbar”.
Rabbi Chalom Levy, who is described as belonging to a Hasidic sect, was stabbed in the Jewish quarter of the city, 500 metres from the Great Synagogue.
Rabbi Mendel Samama, another Rabbi in Strasbourg, said that Rabbi Levy described his survival as a “miracle”.
“He was shocked. He is weak. He was hit in the abdominal region a few centimetres from a vital organ”, said Rabbi Samama.
The Grand Rabbi of Strasbourg, Rabbi René Gutman, has said that this is the work of one lone attacker, and is not reflective of a wider problem in the city, but has requested additional security.
Strasbourg has a Jewish community numbering around 15,000.
The attacker has reportedly been involved in a similar attack previously.
France has been described as one of the most dangerous countries to be a Jew and over half of French Jews wish to leave the country for Israel.
Written by Isca Stieglitz
The Ellen Epstein Street commemorative sign, which marks Moabit Station, from where Berlin’s Jews were deported to their extermination, was vandalised again. The sign, from the “They Were Neighbours” Initiative, was sprayed with silver paint, sometime during Wednesday-Thursday night.
The memorial reads “from here drove trains to the gas”. The vandal writes “this isn’t true” in spray paint, crossing out the word “gas”. Denying the use of gas in the Holocaust amounts to Holocaust denial, as it denies the main method used by the Nazis to exterminate their victims. Indeed, it denies the industrialised method of slaughter that made the scale of the extermination of Europe’s Jews possible in the first place.
This occurred only three weeks after the sign had been cleaned from a previous incident on 28 July, when the sign was doused with black paint.
We were alerted to this incident by Recherche- und Informationsstelle Antisemitismus – RIAS.
A video of Royce Mann, a 14-year-old Jewish boy, reciting a poem called “White Boy Privilege” recently went viral on social media. However, the discussion provoked by the video was marred by the boy being targeted for dozens of antisemitic comments.
Many of the comments were critical of the perceived self-loathing white people have in relation to their ideas of white privilege, but one person wrote “”it’s not self-loathing, he’s Jewish, it’s a typical tactic of this group to subvert white gentile societies”. Others called him a “filthy kike rat” or said “That’s a Jew. Not a white person. How does one mistake a rat for an eagle?”, to which another replied that “Jews are filthy, lying demons”, whilst another said “Little jew rat is not white, once again a fucking filthy rat faced kike pretends to be white”.
Another said Jews “promote the anti-white narrative” and one asked “why are Jews always doing this?”
Other comments suggested that he should talk about “Jewish privilege”.
One comment described the Holocaust as “a big lie”, that “Jewish men are effeminate because their mothers control them” and that “Hitler pleaded for peace but all the Jews accepted was war”.
There were dozens of similar comments, which seem to have co-ordinated from antisemitic internet messageboards.
According to a report by Politico dated 15th August 2016, Andrew Weinstein, an organiser of an anti-Trump petition to the Republican National Committee, has contacted the FBI over an alleged “torrent of antisemitic abuse” online.
For example, one commenter wrote “It’s time to put the SMACK DOWN on these filthy Jew rats!”
One far right runs a story on Weinstein calling him a “Filthy Anti-Trump K*ke”
Weinstein had organised a petition signed by 75 prominent Republicans which called on Reince Priebus to cut off support of Trump’s Presidential race from the RNC.
The Pro-Palestinian student organisation Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) has been accused of compiling lists of Jewish students at New York University, among others, according to a report by Israel Radio.
A report about Students for Justice in Palestine’s activities were presented to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee on Tuesday, at a meeting aimed at addressing the effects of BDS movements on US campuses, Knesset member Anat Berko (Likud) told the radio station.
The committee heard evidence that the pro-Palestinian group were collecting the personal information of Jewish students at several US Universities, including New York University. If the report is true, then it represents the systematic singling-out of Jewish students for no other reason than the fact that they are Jewish, and given that addresses are being collected the list borders on intimidation.
There is evidence to suggest that Jewish students are currently the most persecuted minority on American campuses.
In 2014, SJP posted mock eviction notices through the doors of Jewish students.
The Zionist Organisation of America considers Students for Justice in Palestine a “hate group”.
Whilst SJP’s central organisation denies knowledge of the alleged list, they acknowledged that each branch has its own practices and policies. The NYU branch has not been available for comment.
Alison Chabloz, a self-styled singer-songwriter who was exposed by Campaign Against Antisemitism last year, has been attempting to find venues to perform in during the Edinburgh Festival. She was reported to have performed a quenelle, a neo-Nazi gesture targeted exclusively at Jews, and for antisemitic content she had performed which denied the Holocaust.
In an article on her blog, Chabloz announced that she had approached several venues with a view to performing her Holocaust denial show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Her show, named “Tell Me More Lies”, claims to express “frustrations caused by smear campaigns waged against ‘Holocaust’ revisionists”, described by Chabloz to be “groundbreaking musical comedy interspersed with socio-political satire”.
However, much of Chabloz’s material simply mocks or outright denies the Holocaust. In one of her songs she describes Elie Wiesel’s books as “full of nonsense tales”, says of Irene Zissblat “I cannot speak Hungarian but oh boy can I lie”, and mocks Anne Frank. She employs antisemitic tropes singing “Bank notes, let’s print some more. We love to see you poor. Let’s start a war”, which play on baseless accusations that have been used to victimise Jews. In another she sings “the Holohoax is plain to see” and claims there are attempts to “privilege one race” by stifling “freedom of speech” regarding the Holocaust. In such examples she seeks to persuade the public that the Holocaust was not a genocide perpetrated against Jews,
She also sings “the shekel is his God”, referencing an antisemitic canard that Jews are preoccupied with money, and describes Auschwitz as a “holy temple” and “a theme park just for fools”.
She has tweeted a Rabbi asking him “when are Jews going to apologize for the ritual murder of Christian children?” Such statements are considered ‘blood libel’, erroneous and malicious accusation that Jews murder Christian children to bake matzo, which has been a common theme in the persecution of Jews in Europe.
https://twitter.com/AJCTmusic/status/677523316018716672
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival maintains an open-door policy and refuses to ban this brazen, Holocaust-denying antisemite from appearing.
Agence France Press has produced an article on an incident at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem which was published by the Daily Mail with the headline “Jordan slams Israel after radical Jews visit Islamic Holy Site”.
The Temple Mount is a sacred site for Jews, Christians and Muslims, but it is the holiest site in the world for Jews, and at the centre of much Jewish liturgy. Whilst it is the third holiest site in Islam, to describe it as an “Islamic Holy Site” which has somehow been intruded upon by Jews is to erase Jewish connections to the Temple Mount.
Moreover, to call Jews who wish to visit the Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, “radical Jews” is simply untrue.
Whilst the Daily Mail does acknowledge later in the article that the Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site, it does not challenge the idea that Jews who wish to visit it are “extremists”
Jordan’s Minister of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf (religious property) Wael Arabiyat described allowing Jews to visit their holiest site as “tyranny” and ominously said that it could provoke a religious war.
The current ‘status quo’ arrangement is that only Muslims are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Jews who pray or show signs of being emotional on the Temple Mount are often arrested by Jordanian religious police.
UK Media Watch has challenged the Daily Mail over the headline, which remains as of yet unchanged.
An Austrian man has been jailed for 18 months after posting various images online which were deemed to constitute “far-right propaganda”. He was charged under Austria’s 1947 anti-Nazi Prohibition Act, which bans material deemed to be attempting to glorify Nazism.
The 38-year-old from Salzburg was found guilty of uploading over 20 images deemed neo-Nazi propaganda onto the internet. One of the images was a cat allegedly performing a Nazi salute.
Police also found clothes with Nazi symbols in the man’s house.
Thomas Lopez-Pierre, a candidate for New York’s city council has been criticised after making an antisemitic comment in an email.
He sent out a fundraising email saying that he would “SAVE HARLEM from Greedy Jewish Landlords”.
He claimed that these landlords were trying to “push Black and Hispanic tenants out of Harlem”.
Various figures on the City Council penned Lopez-Pierre an open letter demanding an apology.
He has previously described Mark Levine as a “white Jewish candidate” who wants to “sneak into office like a thief in the night” and also used the n-word.
Lina Allan, a pro-Palestinian activist based in Michigan, has allegedly uploaded an antisemitic video which defends stabbing “Jews”.
Despite the fact that she claims to be speaking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Allan never talks about “Israelis”, and instead directly talks about stabbing “Jews”.
She decries those who criticise the stabbing of Jews as trying to be “muftis” and tells them to “go back to watching Turkish Soap operas”.
Finally, she claims that even if it was “haram” to stab Jews, they still wouldn’t have human rights, but would have “at best, animal rights”.
The video was removed from Youtube, but was recovered by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Shockingly, it has been reported that Allan has represented the U.S. State Department at an official event in Jordan in 2012.
A man was arrested on Thursday morning, in close proximity to one of the sites for the Jewish Maccabi Games and a Synagogue, for allegedly making several threats in a video he made and posted online.
Yoon Chul Shin posted the video on dailymotion last month, which allegedly threatened to “desecrate” Synagogues and also made threats that amounted to genocide, stating “Now I’m on a f**king mission all of you Jewish c***s will be cleansed from this f**king planet”.
Shin was pulled over near Temple Beth El and police initially suspected that he had explosive materials in his car, though an extensive search was not able to reveal them. The Temple was evacuated for the duration of the search.
Supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have taken to twitter to condemn Lord Justice Jack Beatson after the judge ruled in the Court of Appeal that the National Executive Committee has the right to block new members from voting in the leadership election.
The decision affects approximately 130,000 new Labour members, most of whom are expected to support Corbyn’s leadership.
Twitter users suggested that Lord Justice Beatson’s decision was due to the fact that he was “born in Israel”, a “Zionist” and referred to him as a “Zio”, an abusive term often used against Jewish students.
Another tweet referred to “cuckoos in the nest Israel lobby”.
One user noted that Lord Justice Beatson “went to a Jewish boarding school”.
Another user noted that he was “was born in Haifa- Israeli occupied Palestine” (Haifa is within Israel’s original borders), and later went on to tweet that the ruling was “more evidence legal system is Zionist and of the lengths they will go to to stifle an opponent”. Suggesting that the legal system “is Zionist” is clearly antisemitic, playing upon the canard of Jewish domination of law, politics and business.
Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, British Colombia, has been repeatedly targeted with antisemitic abuse by a local resident.
The resident allegedly objects to the odour produced by the plant, despite having been promised that further investment would shortly remove any smell from the plant.
The man hurled frequent antisemitic abuse, including references to the Holocaust, at the owners of the plant. The abuse has been continuing since last summer and has continued to the point that the owners of the business and their employees now feel threatened by the behaviour.
When local figures condemned the man’s antisemitic actions, they were subsequently bombard with antisemitic abuse on Twitter themselves.
It is unknown whether the police are currently involved.
A Catholic high school in Belgium has allegedly said it is “proud” of an outgoing teacher who received a cash prize at the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon competition.
Luc Descheemaeker, who has just retired from the Sint-Jozefs Institute high school, was awarded and accepted a “special prize” at the Second International Cartoon Contest. His submission included the words “Arbeit Macht Frei”, which were originally cast above the entrance to Auschwitz, over a wall with barbed wire, meant to resemble the Israeli West Bank Barrier and drawing a comparison between Israeli policy and the Holocaust. Such a comparison is considered antisemitic under the EUMC working definition of antisemitism.
UNESCO has condemned the competition as an attempt at “at a mockery of the genocide of the Jewish people, a tragic page of humanity’s history”.
In a (presumably sarcastic) letter from a Belgian-Jewish organisation which asked whether the school was “proud” of their teacher’s participation in such an event, a faculty member replied “We are indeed very proud to have Luc associated with our school. His talent is of great value for the artistic education of our students!”
When the school was asked more directly about the award, school director Paul Vanthournout said that the “consideration of it as anti-Semitic is exaggerated”, this despite the fact that the cartoon clearly falls foul of the EUMC definition of antisemitism. He also worryingly mentioned that Descheemaeker had been in charge of some Holocaust education in the school.
Moscow’s REN-TV aired an antisemitic documentary last Friday at prime time hours.
The documentary was a reworking of a 2012 documentary that blamed the sinking of the Titanic on a conspiracy which one commentator said was a “reanimation” of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and one viewer described as having a “clearly expressed anti-Semitic subtext”.
The documentary suggested a “group of 300” Jews, freemasons and “illluminati” had sunk the ship to provoke an international crisis and install themselves as leaders of a world government, a central theme of antisemitism conspiracy theories.
The 2012 version of the documentary used the past tense, suggesting that the attempt was in the past and ultimately unsuccessful. However, REN-TV’s airing of the documentary was edited to use the present tense, as well as to link the conspiracy to various more recent events, including the Chernobyl disaster, 9/11, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia has already expressed concern about what the rise of such ideas in Russia could mean for the Jewish community.
Swastikas and other racist iconography and pieces of graffiti have been drawn in permanent marker on the main street of Bondi Beach.
Police were called to Campbell Parade, were they discovered 15 separate pieces of far-right graffiti.
As well as several swastikas, police found the words “Not white? Not right”.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff described the graffiti as a “hate crime”, continuing: “it is hurtful (to Jewish people) given the swastika represents Nazi Germany, at the same time it’s offensive to all Australians because Australia fought against Nazi Germany”.
Eastern Suburbs Police are taking the matter seriously and are investigating it as a hate crime.
The Police are investigating after there were explosions outside the homes of two prominent New York Rabbis.
The explosions took place in Rockland County.
A woman heard one of the explosions outside her house. Going out to investigate, she saw four men running from the scene, one of whom hurled a firework at her house.
As the police were investigating, it came to light that another explosion had occurred nearly.
The first explosion occurred outside the house of Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky, the Director of Chabad. The second occured outside the house of Rabbi Simcha Morganstern, a Rabbi at Chabad of Rockland.
The Anti-Defamation League produced the following press release:
“We are outraged by this shocking incident in what appears to be the alleged targeting of two prominent rabbis, and we join with local leadership, including the Jewish Federation of Rockland County, in strongly condemning this brazen act of violence”.
“We are maintaining close contact with local law enforcement and are urging them to vigorously investigate and prosecute those responsible for this alleged anti-Semitic attack.”
“While we are relieved that nobody was injured, such a troubling incident like this can effectively intimidate the broader Jewish community, leaving them feeling vulnerable and at risk. People of any religion, race or ethnicity must feel safe in their own neighborhoods. We are pleased to see statements by local elected officials denouncing the incident and we encourage the community to come together to fight anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry.”
A pensioner has been found guilty of having broken his restraining order after he sent multiple antisemitic letters to the BBC.
James Evans, 69, sent the seventeen letters, which referred to “yids”, and “Zionists” and claimed that “Jewish people rule the world”, over a two week period in May.
He also frequently referenced George Soros, a common theme in antisemitic conspiracy theories.
He has apparently sent around 70 letters prior to this spree, leading to a restraining order.
A judge was caught up in a colourful verbal exchange with a defendant during sentencing.
John Hennigan, 50, told Judge Patricia Lynch QC that she was a “bit of a c*nt”. Judge Lynch, angered by the comments from the man who has repeatedly been involved in racist offences, told him: “You are a bit of a c*** yourself. Being offensive to me doesn’t help”.
Mr Hennigan was jailed for 18 months for insulting a black mother.
However, as he was sentenced he repeatedly banged on the glass, performed Nazi salutes and shouted “Sieg Heil”.
He also sang “Jews, gas them all” several times before being removed.
Mr Hennigan has previously been involved in many racist incidents. He was sentenced for having told a black woman that doesn’t “agree with inter-racial relationships”. This marked the ninth time he breached an ASBO designed to warn him away from racist actions.
A student at the University of Edinburgh and NUS delegate has allegedly posted horrific antisemitic incitement on his Facebook account.
The student described an Israeli footballer, Nir Bitton who plays for Celtic, as “a filthy Zionist rat”. Describing Jews in animalistic terms, particularly describing them as vermin, is a recurring antisemitic trope, and replacing the word ‘Jew’ with the word ‘Zionist’ does not make it any less antisemitic.
He also writes that “Zionists are sub human” and believes that Nir Bitton should in “a jail cell for supporting the apartheid regime”. The use of the term subhuman unambiguously and directly draws upon the terminology used by the Nazis to describe their victims, particularly Jews.
Another commenter replies “gas him”, to which the student replies that it would be “too good for him”, instead suggesting that he should be exposed “to the worst torture” – a direct act of incitement of violence towards a man whose only ‘crime’ is to have been born a Jew in Israel.
The incident has been reported to the police and is being investigated as a hate crime.
The Union of Jewish Students commented:
“We are aware of the offensive and hate-filled social media posts made by a student at the University of Edinburgh. There is no place for such reprehensible comments in society.
The matter is being dealt with by EUSA and the Police Hate Crimes Unit.
As always, any concerned students of the University of Edinburgh should feel free to be in touch with UJS.”
A man in Toronto has been distributing leaflets promoting the idea of a Jewish conspiracy controlling world affairs.
The man, estimated to be in his 60s, distributed a six-page booklet titled “Manufactured Terrorism. Stop US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar from Supporting ISIS terrorists”.
The leaflet made reference to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic hoa whcih purports to be the minutes of a meeting in which a group of Jews plotted to establish control over all world affairs and subjugation of gentiles. The text is universally acknowledged to be an antisemitic hoax in respectable circles.
Whilst the man’s leaflet is not direct in its implication that Jews are the group involved in this conspiracy, the references to the Protocols clearly demonstrate the identity of the group allegedly in control, as does the prominent place taken by the Israeli flag in the image.
The text of the leaflet is as follows:
“HOW FALSE FLAGS INCREASINGLY BEING USED – BID TIME – ONCE MORE TO SCARE PUBLIC INTO UNQUESTIONING SUBMISSION:
“MANUFACTURED TERRORISM is known as, “false flag operation(s).” Most obvious was Sept. 11, 2001.
“Usually “false flag attacks” will happen on same day of “terror attack DRILL,” A) as 9/11/2001, (Nov.) Paris shooting, others. Or, a few days, even months prior like,” B) Brussels, Belgium 4 months prior “state of emergency”: DRILL. Soldiers in streets and malls. In Paris 3 months of MARTIAL law, breaking into homes and killing residents.
“Usually false flag attacks will have, A) Crisis ACTORS, such as the one on front cover of this pamphlet; often many actors.
“From 9/11 to Brussels false flags, co-op media make sure Arabic words, like, “Allah is great!” or some non-Rothschild bank in Arab country like Syria is yelled; and passport just “flew-out” of the terrorist pocket. What “terrorist on suicide mission brings his I.D.s??
“Why would Western nations want to precipitate false flags, which would induce WW3? Is THAT the motive?
“There is a greater muzzled motive. Not just N. Am. but global monetary system is ready to go over the cliff; designed NEVER to recuperate. So Western banksters need a scapegoat to put all the blame on to try to associate King Assad {Syria), or/and Putin with “Islamic state ‘atrocities’.”
“Though co-op media purposely focus its cameras on ISIS/”Islamic state” as the wild Pit-Bull-dog, its viewers do not see the leach in the financier’s HAND.
“Founder of Illuminati Dr. Adam Veishaupt (1,776) stated about their design PROTOCOLS plan bringing into being the New World Order: “It is indispensable to TROUBLE all countries the people’s relations with their governments so as to UTTERLY EXHAUST humanity with DISSENSION, HATRED, STRUGGLE, envy and even by the use of torture, by …the effects of an ECONOMIC [global] CRISIS, which will stop dealings on the [stock] exchanges and bring INDUSTRY to a STANDSTILL” (Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion (1,773), ([reprinted] Protocols of Zion, p.178, p.156)…
CONCLUSION: What is upon the whole world is the greatest evil blueprint, “Protocols” orchestrating collapse of global nations’ economy, and all social resistance to EXUSTION unto FORCE SU BM I SS I ON, nations begging for their enslavement to “new-world order.” Weisaupt said, “We will not give them peace until they openly acknowledge OUR INTERNATIONAL SUPER —GOVERNMENT, and with SUBMISSIVENESS,” (p.170)…”
The Anti-Defamation League said that it was “troubled” by the circulation of KKK leaflets in New York.
The white supremacist Ku Klux Klan have been circulating the leaflets, which claim that “Jews control the money in America”, and telling “white America” to wake up, in update New York, Long Island and the Hamptons.
Another leaflet says “Zionist Jews own and run the Federal Reserve Bank”.
They featured a horrific call to action: “Join us to stop Zionist control over your government”
The leaflets also attacked Black Americans and the LGBTQ community, which it described as “abominations”.
It would seem that even an artistic take, on a road safety endeavour, is not immune from antisemitism.
In the Chinatown district of Washington DC, an art installation, based on the Chinese zodiac, was created to bring fun, interest and enhanced safety to the diagonal “Barnes Dance” pedestrian crossing.
On the zebra-crossing element of the scheme, the rat zodiac images were graffitied with the word “Jew” on the main body. The authorities were alerted and the graffiti removed, only to reappear up to three times in one week.
Why is it important to highlight these incidences? On it’s own, incidences like this are annoying thorns; a cheap casual reminder that antisemitic canards and invectives lie just beneath the surface and in this case literally beneath one’s feet. Often, people can brush them off but, it is the accumulation of these incidences which means that many people cannot carry out the most mundane of tasks, (like crossing the road), without feeling targeted. It can eat at you, very slowly eroding one’s sense of safety and belonging.
It is important that the ‘casual’ and ‘throwaway’ invectives do not become acceptable and normalised.
Another aspect of these types of incidences is where it can lead. Many peoples have been earmarked for dehumanisation; it is tragically standard fair for many human histories. For the Jewish experience, it spans generations: pigs, apes, vermin, cancer, octopi, frogs, snakes, worms, lice, spiders ad infinitum from ancient and recent history and current history . If you dehumanise and label ‘subhuman’ a group of people, it makes the next step of eradication more palatable and “accepted”.
The use of dehumanisation is the third of eight stages of Genocide, as first mooted by Raphael Lemkin in 1944 and later expanded by Dr. George Stanton in 1996.
Some commentators may describe this type of incident as petty, free-speech, freedom of expression. If this is accepted by default, then there is also the right to challenge; there is the right to say that people have a right to access to a ‘normal’ daily life without having to tolerate the drip-drip of degradation.
These incidences maybe just snowflakes, but we know that the true weight of a snowflake lies in its accumulation into an avalanche.
Christopher Biggins has made an apology after having been removed from Celebrity Big Brother following a Holocaust ‘joke’ he made to a fellow housemate.
The 67-year-old actor told Katie Waissel, who is Jewish, “you better be careful or they’ll be putting you in a shower and taking you to a room”.
Channel 5 decided the comment was likely to cause “widespread offence” and removed Biggins from the Big Brother House.
Biggins’ apology was “tearful”. He said “I am mortified by what’s happened, really mortified. Most of my friends, in fact, are Jewish. I apologised to Big Brother and Katie”. Whilst his comments were not necessarily malicious, and may well have been a case of poor judgement, it is incredibly damaging for Jewish people to have the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews be treated as an appropriate topic for humour, especially when it is directed towards them.
Biggins, who is gay, has also attracted controversy having made comments deemed to be offensive to bisexuals. He said in a conversation that Bisexuals are the “worst type” and implied that they were just in denial about being homosexual, as well as linking them to the spread of HIV/AIDS
Biggins will be visiting Auschwitz in the near future, a trip that will hopefully give him some perspective on his comments. He claims to have been planning the trip since before the incident occurred,
The blog Elder of Ziyon has reported that El-Shamal News, a prominent Egyptian media outlet, has published a bizarre antisemitic conspiracy theory that describes the Saudi royal family as “Talmudic secret agents”.
El-Shamal write:
“Global Talmudic Zionism has succeeded in planting a Talmudic Zionist gang who are staunch enemies of Islam and Muslims in the very land of Muhammad, since the 284-year-old when Zionism succeeded and convinced Britain to install the Mordechai family whose lineage started with the Jews of Khaybar to take the name of the Al-Saud and (Britain) enabled them and international Zionism to British colonial occupation of the Hijaz led by the name of Muhammad ibn Saud and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab who have committed the most heinous crimes against the people of Hijaz and the people of Iraq…
The Talmudic family killed more than 10 million Muslims because of the Talmudic motto that everyone who kills a lot of non-Jews will enter Paradise, and 10 million dead Muslims would ensure the highest levels of Paradise.”
The article accuses “Talmudic Jews” of using stolen money “to finance all Western colonial wars of Zionism” and claims that they kill those “hostile to Jews and their associates”. This is claimed despite the fact that it is against Saudi law to carry out any Jewish services. Jews are rarely allowed to even enter the country and people wishing to enter the country must sign a statement confirming they are not Jewish.
The article goes on to claim that the Shah of Iran and Saddam Hussein were also “Talmudic” Jews, whilst praising Hezbollah and the current Iranian regime. EoZ takes this to suggest that the writer is likely affiliated with the Iranian regime in some way.
Whilst attempting to place blame on Jews for events or political figures that one dislikes is blatantly antisemitic, both in appealing to the idea of a Jewish conspiracy and in using Jews as a scapegoat, the ADL has also produced a report exploring how references to the Talmud have frequently been used in antisemitic material.
Laura Silverman, a Jewish author, freelance editor and publishing consultant, was recently subjected to antisemitic abuse online after making a negative tweet about Donald Trump.
Silverman was sent an image of Pepe the Frog, an internet meme often favoured by the far right, standing in front of Auschwitz and captioned “You get a gold star!”
Having reported the image, Silverman was subjected to further antisemitic abuse. Several told her to “nap in an oven” and she was sent an image of the Auschwitz gates photoshopped to read “not an argument” – an attempt to imply that Silverman had used the Holocaust to silence opposition, despite the fact that she had been actively victimized by far-right trolls.
Silverman said that the images she was sent “terrified” her. She was sent pictures of emaciated Auschwitz inmates and human remains captioned “Straight outta Auschwitz”. She received an email from someone using the pseudonym “Anuddah Shoah” that read “They know about you!”: You Zionist K*ke. Do you really think you can stop Mr. Trump? You Israeli supremacists have no chance”.
She also said that as she commented on the Republican National Convention someone told her “It’s time for you to flee for Israel. If you wait too long it’s the ovens for you”.
These are particularly nasty examples of the memory of the Holocaust being routinely used to threaten, intimidate and belittle Jewish people who dare to express an opinion in public.
Greater Manchester Police has apologised after tweeting pictures of two men, described as the “likely lads”, wearing full SS Uniform.
Shulem Stern, a supervisor with Shomrim, alerted us to the tweet, as well as tweeting the Greater Manchester Police twitter, who removed the tweet as a result.
https://twitter.com/shulemstern/status/762357787536007168
The tweet jokingly suggested that the two men were attempting to “invade” from Yorkshire.
The sight of the local police jokingly referring to the SS, an organisation that was involved in the rounding up of Jews, enforcing racial policy and the running of concentration camps, is potentially very worrying to Manchester’s large Jewish community.
This is not the first time that Greater Manchester Police has suffered a lapse in judgement regarding the issue of antisemitism. In March, we reported that an officer in the force was allowed to keep his job after posting an antisemitic image on Facebook
The NYPD are investigating a hate crime after a youth threw a rock through a Jewish man’s car window as it was in motion.
The incident took place on the afternoon of June 26. The youth throwing the rock also shouted antisemitic abuse and fled.
The police are seeking a black youth, around 14-years-old, around 130 pounds and 5 foot 6 feet tall.
The NYPD are also investigating two other incidents. The first of these is a verbal assault on a 33-year-old Jewish man who was subjected to antisemitic abuse by a black man. This incident took place as he departed the Utica Avenue subway station in near Crown Heights. The second is a series of “huge” swastikas spray painted on the 181st Street station in Washington Heights.
Anyone with any information about these incidents should call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Josh Simons, a former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn, has further fueled the Labour Party’s antisemitism row by making further claims of antisemitism to the Sunday Times
Mr Simons claims that Seumas Milne, Corbyn’s director of strategy, subjected him to a “rant” about Israel, as well as an “inquisition” into Simons’ Jewish background and views about Israel. The EUMC definition of antisemitism states that it is antisemitic to hold Jews “collectively responsible for the actions of the State of Israel”.
Milne has previously justified Hamas terrorism by saying “it isn’t terrorism to fight back”.
Mr Simons also claims that Mr Corbyn prepared for his meeting with the Board of Deputies of British Jews with “flippant disdain”.
He claims that another member of Mr Corbyn’s team referred to a “Jewish conspiracy”.
Mr Simons adds that Corbyn’s staff have “at least a blind spot with anti-semitism and at worst a willful disregard for it”.
A friend of Mr Simons adds that he was “bitterly disappointed” that evidence he gave to the Chakrabati was not included in her report.
A Corbyn spokesman has dismissed Mr Simons as a “disgruntled former member of staff”.
The Guardian has also revealed that Mr Corbyn’s campaign allegedly took a £10,000 donation from Friends of Al-Aqsa, an organisation whose founder has expressed support for the proscribed terrorist group Hamas. The revelation has prompted condemnation both from within the Labour party and from counter-terrorism watchdogs.
B’nai Brith has revealed that the World Social Forum (WSF), a state-backed event due to take place in Montreal, will be promoting antisemitic ideas.
The event takes up various causes, such as “workers against Neoliberalism”, “facing the Capitalist crisis” and “decolonization”. According to B’nai Brith, one talk is titled “Terrorizm, Wahabbism, Zionism” (sic.) and featured a picture of a Wahabbist terrorist emerging from from the mouth of “Uncle Sam”, with Uncle Sam emerging from the mouth of a caricature of a Charedi Jewish man. The use of such an image, which implies that Jews are responsible both for American policy and Wahabbism, is clearly antisemitic, but appears to have been removed since B’nai Brith drew attention to it. The title also seems to suggest a connection between “Zionism” and terrorism, a common trope in antisemitic conspiracy theories.
One of the speakers at the event Diana Ralph, is a conspiracy theorist who, among other things, accused Israel of being behind the 9/11 attacks.
The event also features Sabine Freisinger, former President of Concordia Student Union, who was apparently involved in a riot that forced Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a speech and in which a Rabbi and his wife were assaulted and a Holocaust survivor was kicked in the groin. Freisinger’s activities have since included targeting a local shoe shop for selling a small number of Israeli shoes.
B’nai Brith notes also that the conference features a dozen workshops devoted to a total boycott of Israel, a policy which the Canadian Parliament has committed to resisting.
Dr. Rebecca Seidler was asked to teach on a course at HAWK University in Germany on the “situation of young people in Palestine”. However, she went to the press after finding many of the course materials to be antisemitic.
She claimed that the materials were solely concerned with portraying Israel negatively, as opposed to trying to help the students develop a better understanding of the social issues.
Shockingly, she claims that the course materials contained allegations that Israel harvested the organs of Palestinians, a claim that has been described by the ADL as blood libel. There were also articles that had been taken from conspiracy theory blogs, and very few of the materials seemed to come from academic sources
Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for the Israel’s Foreign Ministry, described the course as a “hatred factory”.
The University has denied antisemitism, but Dr. Seidler believes that her concerns have not been taken seriously, as she was dismissed as being “oversensitive” when she complained to the University.
A YouTube channel that carries out social experiments produced a video in which a man dressed up as a Hasidic Jew and walked through the street with a woman in a Muslim headscarf, and a man dressed in traditional Arab dress walked through a Jewish neighborhood with a woman dressed in a long skirt and with covered, in a similar way to how many Orthodox women dress.
Many of the reactions of passersby were positive, whilst other were negative, perhaps because of cultural as well as religious taboos.
However, the comments on the video have large amounts of antisemitic content.
One comment reads “we don’t need any relationship with Americas and Jews”. Another says “this is why people hate jews”. One states “Jewish Nazis”, whilst another says “Jews look fat” and “Fat and Rude American Jews”.
Several make reference to the Holocaust, making statements such as “re-open Auschwitz”, “We need another Holocaust for the Jewsh (sic) people ;)”, whilst another repeatedly said “the Holocaust was a hoax”.
One commenter writes “DEATH TO ISRAEL!!! KILL THE JEWS!!! NEW HOLOCAUST IS COMMING!!!”
Others said things such as “the JEWS were swarming like flies” – images of Jews depicted as insects of pests have been common antisemitic tropes.
Another simply states “fuke you jewish”
Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine, has renamed a busy street after a Nazi collaborator.
What was formerly known as Moscow Avenue, a busy market street, will now be named after Stepan Bandara, who told Ukranians to “destroy” Jews.
A document published by Bandara’s faction stated that “Jews must be isolated, removed from governmental positions in order to prevent sabotage, those who are deemed necessary may only work with an overseer… Jewish assimilation is not possible”.
Bandara was eventually deported to a concentration camp by the Nazis for declaring an independent Ukraine, but was released again in 1944. During those years his group engaged in ethnic cleansing, but his supporters claim that he sided with the Nazis solely because he thought it would lead to an independent Ukraine in the future.
The Express has revealed footage purporting to show German children attending a summer camp run by far-right groups in Sweden.
The footage shows children in the woods dressed in uniforms with Sturmvogel logo. Sturmvogel is a far-right group founded in 1987 and apparently has links to Nazism and Holocaust denial. They also have links to the banned groups Wiking-Jugend and Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend.
The camps are structured in a quasi-militaristic manner, with children expected to stand in silence and salute the flag until they are dismissed.
The group holds its camps in Sweden to avoid German counter-extremism laws.
Andrea Ropke, a German expert on the far right, notes that the children are sent to the camps by their parents: “Nationalist youth education is very important to them and the camps are an important part of the business”.
Antisemitic slurs were used to deface a monument to members of an Israeli Air Force helicopter that crashed in 2010 killing six Israeli Air Force members and a Romanian soldier. The vandals covered the monument with typical antisemitic imagery, including swastikas and a drawing of a pig. The vandals did reveal some minimal linguistic abilities as they were able to spray the Hebrew words for “you’re pigs,” transliterated into Romanian characters!
Tamar Samash, the Israeli ambassador to Romania, via the Israeli police attache in Bucharest, alerted the police who had not heard of the incident, possibly due to the location of the monument in Brasov, a secluded area outside Bucharest.
The memorial commemorates the six soldiers whose helicopter crashed in 2010 during a joint exercise between Israeli and Romanian armed forces.
David Blomstrom, a fringe candidate in the race for Governor in Washington, runs an antisemitic website which accuses Jews of operating a “Jewish mafia”.
On Blomstrom’s website, titled “Jewarchy”, he writes about a “Jewish mafia” which operates across politics, banking and the media, and who “prefer to keep it that way” by not sharing any power with non-Jews – all this in an article titled “Logic vs JewSpeak”. In another article he states that “some of the most sinister Jew rumours are indeed true”, going on to say that both World Wars were part of a plot by the “international Jewry” to create the State of Israel.
The website’s logo features a crossed-out Star of David.
He has demonstrated a willingness to blame anything and everything on Jews, stating that “Jews have played an enormous role in screwing Latin America” and asking “Did you know Christopher Columbus was probably a Jew?”
He also penned an article on a website dedicated to the defamation of Elie Wiesel, where he wrote of “Elie Wiesel’s connections to Bernie Madoff”, implying that the two were in league with one another, despite the fact that Madoff stole millions from the Elie Wiesel Foundation. He also describes Elie Wiesel as “perhaps the most popular poster boy for the Holohoax camp”. Elsewhere he states his annoyance at “Obama giving millions to wealthy alleged Holocaust survivors” (my italics).
The Labour Party’s inquiry into allegations of antisemitism in the Oxford University Labour Club has today been leaked. Carried out by Baroness Jan Royall, the report was commissioned after Alex Chalmers, Co-Chair of the club, resigned in February 2016 stating rampant levels of antisemitism as his reason for doing so. The incident brought antisemitism in the Labour Party into the public spotlight, and Campaign Against Antisemitism met Baroness Royall to assist her inquiry.
The full version of Baroness Royall’s report was originally kept secret, with only the executive summary being published in May. It was then expected to be published in full alongside the wider-ranging Chakrabarti Inquiry report into antisemitism in the Labour Party last month, but instead Baroness Royall was brought into the Chakrabarti Inquiry as a Co-Vice Chair, perhaps as a means of keeping her quiet. Baroness Royall’s report remained unpublished and the report issued by the Chakrabarti Inquiry was a total whitewash. The JC has now published a leaked copy of Baroness Royall’s full report.
Baroness Royall finds “no evidence that the Club is itself institutionally antisemitic” but notes a “cultural problem in which behaviour and language that would once have been intolerable is now tolerated. Some Jewish members do not feel comfortable attending the meetings, let alone participating.”
Looking at the wider issue of antisemitism, she also explains that “a pervading discourse now is that Jews are neither weak, nor poor, neither workers, nor have-nots. In short, Jews cannot be victims and cannot be discriminated against.” She goes on to say that “being anti-Zionist…is often used deliberately as a tool of antisemitism”.
Baroness Royall further notes “an environment in which Jews cannot debate, or feel safe to do so, unless their every remark is prefaced by a criticism of the Israeli government”. While she explains that a clear definition of what is antisemitic “can provide useful tools for helping consider what may, or may not, constitute antisemitic discourse” and urges the Chakrabarti Inquiry “to consider this carefully”, the Chakrabarti enquiry conspicuously avoided defining antisemitism.
The full text of Baroness Royall’s report does not change Campaign Against Antisemitism’s opinion following the publication of the partial report. The full report tells us nothing new, except that Baroness Royall thinks that Alex Chalmers was wrong when he resigned as Co-Chair of Oxford University Labour Club over rampant institutional antisemitism.
The leaking of Baroness Royall’s report has revealed that it too fails to identify individuals who are guilty of antisemitism within the Labour Party. It now seems that this reluctance to name those responsible may be a reflection of Labour’s inner conflicts.
The Young Labour conference at Scarborough followed shortly after Young Labour’s own suppressed investigation. It became clear at that Scarborough conference that some of the individuals alleged to be guilty of antisemitism at Oxford are the same young politicians with important roles in Momentum, the movement that help engineer the election of Jeremy Corbyn.
The fact that they are under suspicion lends greater urgency to the task of providing transparency on this issue, which the Labour party refuses to do.
Yet again, it seems that the needs for political expediency outranks the desire of the Labour Party’s leadership to confront the antisemitism in its ranks.
A video which purportedly originated with the ill-defined group Anonymous attempts to redefine antisemitism, construing it as an opposition to alleged favour shown towards Jews.
The video was shared by a page called “no racism no war”, and has been shared hundreds of times from that source.
It starts from the assumption that no race should be given special privileges, yet complains that the U.S. Department of State website lists special envoys for Holocaust issues and for combating antisemitism, as well as a special advisor for Holocaust issues and “one page dedicated to the definition of antisemitism”. The video draws attention to what is perceived as a similar issue with the European Commission, which has “combatting antisemitism” as a distinct category of issues pertaining to racism and xenophobia. A conclusion drawn from this is that “there must be more to antisemitism” than just being a certain type of racism.
In an attempt to establish what is different about antisemitism, the maker of the video appeals to two definitions of the word “Semitism”. Referring to Merriam-Webster dictionary, he describes Semitism as a “policy or predisposition favourable to Jews”. However, in doing so the creator deliberately blurs out the other definitions, “a : Semitic character or qualities” and “b : a characteristic feature of a Semitic language occurring in another language”. The speaker nonetheless concludes that Semitism is “a kind of favouritism towards Jews” and that what is described as antisemitism is mere opposition to this. The speaker also references Arabs also being a Semitic people, in an attempt to demonstrate that the connotation of hatred of Jews is inaccurate.
Firstly, such a conclusion is clearly dishonest; it evades the common-sense meaning of antisemitism in favour of constructing a new meaning from one use of the word ‘semitism’, whilst both ignoring and outright obscuring the more obvious and common connotations of the word. Secondly, it deliberately ignores and attempts to minimalise the actual meaning of the term ‘antisemitism’ as it is used. Antisemitism as a term originates in nineteenth-century Germany, where it was employed as opposed to the older term “Jew hatred” as authors developed a concept of hatred of Jews which, although strongly linked to the phenomenon of religious antisemitism, was a distinct, total concept that viewed the Jews as an inferior race. Nonetheless, today antisemitism unambiguously refers to prejudice towards Jews which manifests in various forms. The attempt to obscure the true meaning of antisemitism and pose a new definition is itself antisemitic, as it minimises the real prejudice, marginalisation and violence which Jewish people face at an alarming frequency. Finally, in insinuating that when Jews make complaints of antisemitism, that they are really complaining about anti-racist activities is extremely demonizing towards Jews.
Attempting to link this new ‘definition’ of antisemitism to slavery and racism, the speaker refers to the curse of Canaan, in which Noah curses his son Ham and grandson Canaan, claiming that within Jewish thought, Shem’s descendants (the Semitic peoples) are “basically regarded nobler than other peoples, and are to be served and respected”. The definition of antisemitism states that “stereotypical allegations about Jews” are anti-Semitic; insinuating that Jews have an elitist attitude and demand to be “served and respected” above others clearly fits this description. Linking this to slavery involves the assertion that black people are descended from Ham. This is despite the fact that this interpretation of the ‘Sons of Ham’ gathered much of its momentum in 7th century through Christian and Islamic writings and never appears in any Hebrew Biblical canon. However, this line of reasoning leads to the attempt to suggest heavy Jewish involvement in the slave trade, allegedly motivated by the belief that “Ham’s descendants must be enslaved eternally”. Theorists such as David Goldenberg have examined the case for “Rabbinic racism” and found that any justification for this rests on a “mass of incompetent misreadings and misunderstandings”, whereas a closer examination finds “positive perception of Blacks running throughout the rabbinic corpus”. Similarly, the insinuation that Jews were heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade is a tactic which has been debunked and described as antisemitic by, among others, the American Historical Association.
Finally, the video goes beyond the suggestion that religious Jews found justification for slavery from their religion by describing “Semitism” as the “true culprit” for racism and slavery. The definition of antisemitism states that it is antisemitic to “blame Jews for why things go wrong”. It also suggests that “this way of thinking” is “interwoven” with the government, clearly playing on the antisemitic canard of Jewish control over politics.
One of the last images in the video proclaims “anti-semitism=anti-racism”, which disturbingly appears to provide a justification for antisemitic acts as ‘anti-racist’ activity.
On July 19th a woman was subjected to antisemitic taunts on a Berlin train for wearing a Hebrew necklace of her name.
According to Recherche- und Informationsstelle Antisemitismus, a man of Arabic origin initially the woman. Another passenger came and pointed out that her necklace was Hebrew and they proceeded to subject her to antisemitic taunts, calling her a “Jewish bitch”.
When the victim moved away, the man went on to direct his vitriol towards a same-sex couple.
This incident fits into a recent pattern of antisemitic harassment and attacks we have reported on in Berlin’s public transport and roads, as well as antisemitic vandalism and graffiti. In fact, in a personal interview, the victim reported that since August 2015 in the context of the debate over the influx and accommodation of immigrants, hostilities towards Jews has increased.
Translation of the report provided by Isca Stieglitz
A group of students at a Princeton High School have reportedly played ‘Jews vs Nazis’ beer pong
A local news source reported that the underage students played the game, a variant of the popular drinking game, in a basement, photos of which later drew attention online. However, this appears not to be an isolated incident, but rather a general trend, as various websites seem to host rules for the ‘game’. At least one of the sites hosting rules for the game also describes Holocaust education as ‘ideological’ with ‘commercial aspects’ and openly espouses various forms of Holocaust denial. Disturbingly, the rules incorporate an ‘Anne Frank cup’ which is hidden by the ‘Jews’ team, and a rule that allows the ‘Nazis’ team to send one of the opposing players ‘to Auschwitz’. Whilst any antisemitic intentions of the students involved are yet to be established, making light of the systematic slaughter of 6 million Jews in such a way must be taken seriously regardless of the motives.
The Schools Superintendent for the area has confirmed that the incident is being investigated and has also been in touch with a local Rabbi with a view to improving Holocaust education in the area.
On Tuesday 21st June a young man wearing a Kippah was attending the “Fête de la Musique” festival in Berlin when he was attacked. The aggression started when three young men shouted antisemitic insult at him then started to get physical and beat and kick him. After the attack, the perpetrators were able to escape. The young man did not need to receive medical treatment however, the police have opened an investigation.
At a council meeting in Alvesta, Sweden in March, Swedish Democrat, Lennart Johansson, stated that it was not Jews, but patriotic heroes of Poland who died in Auschwitz. “They died because they would defend Poland from foreign fascist invaders…I have read in Polish encyclopedias that it was so.” Johansson cited himself as a credible and knowledgable source due to the time he spent living in Poland.
Another Swedish politician, Thomas Hedevik, of the Social Democratic party, called Johansson out for being a historical revisionist. In regard to Johansson’s attempt to undermine the tragedy of the Jews in Auschwitz and focus on ‘national Polish heroes,’ Hedevik says, “It proves that the Swedish Democrats are a purely Nazi and undemocratic party. It must be handled as such.”
On March 11th a high school basketball division title game between the all-boys Catholic Memorial School and the public Newton North High School became marred by antisemitic abuse
The Washington Post reported that the incident took place in Boston, where an estimated 100 young men sitting in the student section supporting Catholic Memorial jeered, “You killed Jesus, you killed Jesus”. Newton North High School has a large Jewish community of students. One spectator, whose parents are survivors of World War II concentration camps said, “I can’t believe it,” “I just can’t believe it.”
Peter F. Folan, president of Catholic Memorial, released a statement the next day:
“Catholic Memorial School is deeply disturbed by the behavior of a group of student spectators who made an unacceptable chant Friday night while playing Newton North High School.
CM faculty and staff acted immediately to stop the behavior. Administrators from both schools and representatives from the MIAA discussed the incident. At the conclusion of the game, CM students were reprimanded and each student personally apologized to the Principal of Newton North High School and shook his hand before leaving the arena.
We have been the subject of hurtful chants as well and we will work diligently within our own community and with other schools to end this abhorrent behavior. Catholic Memorial School believes deeply that intolerance, of any kind, is unacceptable. We apologize for the actions of our students and we will continue to strenuously address this issue within our community.”
Robert Trestan, the Anti-Defamation League’s New England regional director, said “We are very concerned why some fans thought this chant was appropriate for a high school basketball game… Hate speech has no place in the stands of any sporting event. We are grateful for the quick intervention by school officials and hope they use this as a teachable moment.”
This incident has shocked many and especially the choice of the Memorial School fans to causally revert to repeating the charge that the Jews committed deicide, which was used for centuries as an excuse to persecute Jews.
The Riyadh Book Fair in Saudi Arabia featured several stalls which prominently displayed antisemitic propaganda, including books accusing Jews and ‘Zionists’ of operating a global conspiracy, as well as Mein Kampf, it has been reported.
Whilst it is perhaps not particularly shocking to hear that such books are being openly sold in Saudi Arabia, Arabs News described the United States as a ‘major participating country’ in the event, and US Cultural Attaché David Edginton felt it to be appropriate to ‘congratulate’ the Saudis on the event, which he saw as an opportunity to ‘exchange ideas freely’. A spokesmen for the US Department of State has refused to rule out the possibility of returning to the book fair next year.
Every day for the last three days, a playground in Stamford Hill, which has a large Jewish population, has been targeted with swastikas, leaving local parents with serious concerns. Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, found the posters on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. The Metropolitan Police Service is investigating and has appealed for witnesses to come forward.
More Swastikas found today across the same playground in #StamfordHill. Parents anxious to allow kids to play freely pic.twitter.com/77WPLJjPRX
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) June 15, 2016
Wilberth Henry has been convicted of antisemitic harassment and threats after shouting “I’ll f***ing beat you up, you f***ing Jewish c***”. Henry failed to attend court, but was convicted in his absence on evidence given by a member of Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.
Henry was reportedly spotted during a joint patrol by police and Shomrim. As a police officer approached him, he fled on foot, ran into a house and locked the door behind him. The police officer stayed at the front door whilst the Shomrim member ran to secure the back of the house. Henry then climbed out of a first floor window intending to escape, but stopped when he realised he had nowhere to go. After long negotiations, he eventually entered back through the window and was arrested.
<<Update: #Shomrim member gave evidence at Court.
'Wilberth Henry' found guilty of #antisemitic harassment & threatshttps://t.co/nTZud0Eihd— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) June 7, 2016
A dispute about antisemitism broke out after an SNP party activist had been discovered sharing offensive anti-Israel material
According to The Scotsman the dispute involves Amjed Hussain who has been pictured with Nicola Sturgeon and other leading SNP figures at the party’s manifesto launch. He also has been campaigning with Nationalist candidates and parliamentarians, but most concerning is that he is a Facebook friend of several government ministers.
Many were therefore angered by what Mr Hussain was sharing and the SNP instructed its campaign teams to ensure Mr Hussain was no longer part of the election after his online activity was discovered.
Mr Hussain shared a photo, which stated “Israel has no history – only a criminal record”. He also shared a video claiming that the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attacks were an operation carried out by Mossad, the Israel national intelligence agency. Another post shared by Mr Hussain linked Islamic State to Israel stated, “ISIS is the only terrorist organisation that will travel 2,000 miles to attack Brussels, but can’t travel 52 miles to attack Israel – because the dog does not bite its own tail.”
Such conspiracy theories involving the Jewish state are a form of paranoid antisemitism that is similar to the 20th Century conspiracies that Jews were behind the First World War for their own gain.
Mr Hussain is a party activist but not a Party member, yet this did not stop him campaigning with prominent politicians. In April he was campaigning with Alyn Smith MEP, Jim Eadie, the candidate for the Edinburgh Southern seat, and the Catalan foreign minister Raul Romeva.
Criticism came from the co-founder of Glasgow Friends of Israel who said, “I have seen some pretty grotesque material from him plus quite a few photographs of him with prominent people from the SNP… I find the two together quite disturbing.” Also the Conservative politician Murdo Fraser stated, “This is quite clearly antisemitic. Why the party would want to be associated with highly offensive individuals is a mystery.”
The SNP issued a response, “Mr Hussain is not an SNP member. These views are not acceptable, and certainly don’t reflect those of the SNP, and we have instructed local campaign teams to ensure this individual takes no further part in the election campaign.”
Mr Hussain seemed completely unrepentant, “I want people to have a discussion. I am questioning things.” He also claimed, “They are somebody else’s posts. I am just sharing them.”
The mother of a 12-year-old pupil at Walsh Intermediate School in Branford, Connecticut, has reported shocking antisemitic bullying suffered by her son to a local media outlet
Orit Avizoz spoke to WTNH News 8, a station that covers news in Connecticut, after having complained to the school administration. Ms Avizoz discovered the extent of the bullying that her son was subjected to when it became apparent that he was afraid to go back to school. The boy had his head slammed in the lockers by the bully, was kicked and punched repeatedly when on the floor, and was subjected to chants of ‘Kill the Jew’.
Another local news source has reported that despite the clear antisemitic language used during the attack, the incident is being treated merely as an instance of bullying, as opposed to being treated as a hate crime. Branford Schools Superintendent, Hamlet Hernandez, has released a statement clearly prompted by the incident, but which makes no direct reference to the incident itself or to antisemitism.
Christopher J. Eddie the Green party’s candidate for Hartlepool & Victoria Ward has repeatedly spread antisemitism online following a patten of incitement by Green Party members
Eddie has claimed via Twitter that the “Israel lobby manufactured Labour antisemitism crisis”. He also wrote that there is evidence that ISIS is a US-Israel army proxy. Such clear attempts to state that racism is invented by a supposed “lobby” instead of concerned members of the British Jewish community, including Labour Party members, is antisemtic. If that was not enough Mr Eddie thinks that the Jewish state and US, who are bombing ISIS, are secretly actually behind it. Antisemitism has a unique factor which is that it is often linked with conspiracy theories. The Green Party have continued to fail with issues with antisemitism in their own ranks.
This follows disturbing comments made by the Green’s Deputy leader, Dr Shahrar Ali, who said “just because you observe the niceties of Holocaust Memorial Day, doesn’t mean you’ve learnt the lessons of history”. He called an unnamed general group “warmongorers” and sings a song threatening this group’s children. Mr Ali remains in his post.
How Israel lobby manufactured UK Labour Party's anti-Semitism crisis https://t.co/4kGknQHl9f
— Christopher J. Eddie (@qeddify) May 1, 2016
As a regular attendee of reggae performances for over 15 years, the inclusive message of the music has always appealed to me with regular themes including ‘one love’, ‘unity’ and ‘all tribes welcome’. It is therefore especially disappointing when respected reggae artists use racist language about Jewish people. On 10 May, Ras Kayleb from the London-based Channel One Sound System wrote a public Facebook post stating:
“Now I say anyone who is white and says hes a jew is a liar and teef. Research its not hidden.”
“…as far as im concern them man dem inna so call isreal are not jews. Here what I say they are not jews. False jews! They stole a next mans identity. Look history tells us.”
The idea that there false and wicked Jews is a long-running anti-Semitic discourse. The same goes for the accusation that Jews are inherently dishonest ‘liars’, have ‘stolen’ something, or are responsible for the oppression of others. The comments also play on racist notions of ‘authenticity’ based on skin colour.
“…how can a person of group of persons be Anti Semitic? When Semitic refers to a GROUP of Languages spoken by a group of people. It is NOT a Ethnic Group of people.”
I have experienced anti-Semitism only a handful of times in the reggae scene – where anti-racism and diversity are guiding principles – and very much hope that it is a marginal phenomenon. Nevertheless, I feel it is vital to call it out where it rears its head, especially as these artists perform around the world where they have an influence on hundreds of thousands of people. There is also a sad irony that Channel One have performed in Israel where they were warmly received.
Following the victory of Leicester City over Tottenham many took to Twitter to abuse Tottenham fans with anti-semitic comments
Tottenham’s team is located in North London, which has a long and proud Jewish heritage. Twitter users made references Hitler to attack the club’s history with one person writing, “Hitler smiling in his grave as Spurs bottle the title”. Another wrote, “Spurs gone from being beat by hitler too being beat in a tittle race by Leicester”.
More abuse followed when Tottenham lost to Chelsea, anti-semitic slurs included: “Yeeeeees Tottenham ye f****** Jew bottlers”; “Fair balls to Leicester but you gotta feel for Spurs. After what Hitler did to the Jews they deserved this one”; “F******* horrible Jew b******* Tottenham, time to the chambers lads”. Such vicious anti-semitism undermines the long campaign to kick racism out of football.
Controversial, German YouTube star ‘Julien’ has been found guilty of hate speech by Tecklenburg County Court in Germany, for a video he launched last year on his channel, JuliensBlog.
In the video, which received 800 000 hits over four months, Julien launched into a tirade against the striking train drivers’ union, Gewerkschaft der Lokführer. In the rant, Julien remarks that “those vermin [the union] should be gassed” and, “You know how Jews were transported to Auschwitz? That’s where these train drivers should be taken. I’ll drive the train. I’ll even do it for free. And without striking.” The YouTuber accompanied these statements with images of Auschwitz prisoners.
Julien received a 10 month prison sentence with two years’ probation. He was also ordered to pay a fine of €15,000 and cover all court costs.
In December of last year, Berlin courts fined Danish imam Sheikh Abu Bilal Ismail €1,300 for incitement to hatred but did not sentence him, following his sermon at a Berlin mosque where he called for the audience to “destroy the Zionist Jews…,” and to “count them and kill them to the very last one. Don’t spare a single one…make them suffer.”
Source: Westfälische Nachrichten
A Jewish group in Barcelona threaten legal action against Benet Salellas for comments made during a debate in Catalonia’s Parliament
On 12th May Benet Salellas accused Uriel Benguigui, president of the Jewish Community of Barcelona, of being a “foreign agent” and part of the “Zionist lobby”. Salellas, a member of Popular Unity Candidacy party, objected to Benguigui’s attendance of a meeting of the parliament’s foreign relations committee. In response the Jewish group the FCJE stated that Salellas espoused, “the most repugnant form of anti-Semitism” and used speech that “is wholly illegitimate in diplomatic discourse”. The FCJE may charge Salellas with hate speech as he repeated “the most revolting anti-Semitic clichés that circulated in Europe during its dark days” and “tarnished the parliament’s image”.
The fact that antisemitic statements can be made about a Jewish community leader at such a high level in a European political institution shows the scale of the rise of antisemitism in Europe.
Police in London are searching for a man who reportedly approached a Jewish family with a metal bar and stick in his hand, and told them “Jews, move away, move away your children, a bomb is coming.” Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood patrol group, said that the man was described as a white male with a shaved head, wearing a dark grey short sleeve t-shirt and blue trousers. The incident took place on Queen Elizabeth’s Walk in north London, and the suspect was last seen walking on Lordship Park in N16.
#Shomrim & @MPSHackney searching for male who unprovokedly threatened a family "Jews, move away, move away your children, a bomb is coming"
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) May 22, 2016
Fourteen headstones were smashed at the Blackley Jewish cemetery in Charlestown, north-east Manchester, on Wednesday night. Chief Superintendent Wasim Chaudhry from Greater Manchester Police issued a statement describing the vandalism as “a sickening act of antisemitism which we are taking very seriously.” He said that the attack appeared to be “deliberate and targeted” with “clear racial motivation”. The vandals appear to have climbed over the perimeter wall and broken gravestones at random around the cemetery. Chaudry promised to “do everything we can to find out who is responsible and bring the full force of the law down on them” and appealed for any witnesses to come forward.
Investigators from Campaign Against Antisemitism have discovered an antisemitic tweet by British Labour politician Afzal Khan. On 2nd August 2014, Khan tweeted a link to an article from which he quoted, “The Israeli Government are [sic] acting like Nazi’s [sic] in Gaza.”
https://twitter.com/akhanmep/status/495489693010505728
Khan is a Labour Member of the European Parliament for the North West and sits on various European Parliament committees including the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Budget Committee and the Security and Defence Committee, of which he is Vice Chair.
According to the definition of antisemitism that was first adopted by the European Union itself, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is antisemitic.
His use of the Nazi slur is surprising given Khan’s prominence in interfaith dialogue work. He is co-founder of The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester and was awarded a CBE for his community and interfaith work in 2008.
However the Labour Party has declined to investigate or discipline Khan, instead issuing a short statement: “These views are not shared by the Labour Party and Afzal Khan MEP has been reminded of his responsibilities as a Labour representative.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has responded critically, saying: “This is yet another signal sent to the Jewish community that the Labour Party is not taking its antisemitism problem seriously. We have seen repeated signs that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party operates a zero tolerance policy against racism,
After terror attacks hit Brussels on 22nd March, Facebook became the venue for widespread antisemitic publications. Profiles of individuals, groups, organisations, and movements aggressively posted polemics against Jews.
While it is typical for conflicts in the Middle East and acts of international terrorism to evoke a vigorous outpouring of antisemitic media (cartoons, photos, comments, etc), there were a few particularly notable posts made recently that are particularly appropriate considering the current high holiday.
One supporter of Italy’s radical right, who defines himself as Kapò at Ferramonti of Tarsi (also know as Ferramonti, an Italian internment camp established by Benito Mussolini in 1940 for political dissidents and ethnic minorities, which housed over 3,800 Jews in the far south), posted, “The Brussels attacks get interpreted as a conspiracy and as a blood ritual practiced by the Jews to ‘propitiate’ the coming Passover holiday.”
The small neo-Nazi party of Lombardy, NSAB-MLNS (NationalSozialistische Arbeiter Bewegung — Movimento di Lavoratori NazionalSocialista), calling themselves the Workers’ National Socialist Movement, published a photo of graffiti that claims, “Terrorism has no religion, it only has financiers: Paris and Brussels are farces of a Jewish system.”
NSAB-MLNS also preaches ideas such as, “Europe is White—fight with us to safeguard your identity!” and “Life is a fight—who doesn’t fight, dies.” This group supports the Waffen SS and denies the Holocaust.
David Watson is the fundraising coordinator for Walthamstow Labour’s Executive Committee, but he has also been revealed to hold very disturbing views.
Watson’s Facebook posts suggest that he believes that Israel is mimicking the Nazis, that the Jewish state is secretly behind ISIS and that disgraced Labour MP Naz Shah did nothing wrong, even after she admitted having posted antisemitic material online.
He has been photographed with Jeremy Corbyn, Sadiq Khan, Ken Livingston, Tom Watson and John McDonnell, raising fresh concerns over whether Labour vets its members.
Disgraced MP Naz Shah’s friend, parliamentary aide and Labour Party Councillor, Mohammed Shabbir has been discovered by Campaign Against Antisemitism investigators to have repeatedly tweeted the antisemitic conspiracy theory that a conspiracy led by the Jewish state created ISIS. On 24th July 2014 he tweeted: “I find isis vile and repulsive as much as Zionism. Don’t forget baghdadi trained by mossad.” On 8th August, 2014, he tweeted: “Here is a question. Is #isis serving a purpose to create a pretext for Israel to invade Syria and Iraq. Has quest for greater Israel started”.
Shabbir routinely uses the antisemitic epithet “Zio” and accuses Jews of “playing the Holocaust card”. Political blog Guido Fawkes has also found a tweet in which he wrote: “Every Palestinian who survives the ongoing genocide in Gaza is a holocaust survivor”.
According to Shabbir, there might be a “Zionist lobby in the press”. He has even claimed that the BBC is run by a “BBC Hasbara Media Cartel”. Hasbara is a Hebrew word meaning “to explain” and in this context alleges a conspiracy to influence the media.
In addition to his role as Labour Councillor for Heaton Ward in Bradford, Shabbir is also Chief Executive of Sharing Voices, a mental health charity which Labour MP Naz Shah chaired. Shah yesterday stood down as private secretary to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell after it was revealed she had been posting opinions and articles offensive to many Jewish people. Another Councillor accused of antisemitism also works for the charity.
Shabbir’s political stance is that Israel has no right to exist, which is antisemitic according to the EUMC definition of antisemitism. On 30th July 2014, he tweeted that “Zionism has usurped Judaism” and that “the Occupation started in 1948”. That is the year that Israeli statehood was recognised. He goes on to quote that “resistance is only there because of occupation”. This logic effectively justifies terrorism against the only Jewish State until it ceases to exist.
@Ralph_and_Wife @restoremerica @LionOfPalestine I find isis vile and repulsive as much as Zionism. Don't forget baghdadi trained by mossad
— Mohammad Shabbir (@Cllrshabbir) July 24, 2014
Here is a question. Is #isis serving a purpose to create a pretext for Israel to invade Syria and Iraq. Has quest for greater Israel started
— Mohammad Shabbir (@Cllrshabbir) August 8, 2014
Israel breaks truce by not lifting siege and collective punishment of Gaza #endoccupation Israel stop playing games #bbchasbara media cartel
— Mohammad Shabbir (@Cllrshabbir) August 19, 2014
http://t.co/o0rAAwkliW why is this not reported in the western media, do we have Zionist lobby in the press.
— Mohammad Shabbir (@Cllrshabbir) December 1, 2013
@freethetruth01 are you the truth or a zio hasbara troll paying paid by Likud who want Palestinians not to have stated?
— Mohammad Shabbir (@Cllrshabbir) August 12, 2014
PLAYING THE HOLOCAUST CARD – Norman Finkelstein (…: http://t.co/ESVp9TfIkT amazing response by someone who can. A Jewish man of peace. #gaza
— Mohammad Shabbir (@Cllrshabbir) July 23, 2014
#biblicalisrael is what Zionist want no Palestinians in Palestine. Zionism has usurped the religion of Judaism #Gaza pic.twitter.com/v8l0efptvG
— Mohammad Shabbir (@Cllrshabbir) July 30, 2014
Campaign Against Antisemitism investigators have discovered a tweet by Bradford Councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed in which he reposts a link to the notorious antisemitic Nazi propaganda film, The Eternal Jew. Councillor Ahmed has a working relationship with disgraced Labour MP, Naz Shah and is employed by a charity which Shah chaired. It was yesterday revealed that Shah had posted opinions and links which proposed the “relocation” of the entire population of the Jewish state, as well as a comment about the “Jewish question”.
Councillor Ahmed was originally a Councillor for George Galloway’s Respect Party in Bradford’s Manningham Ward. In 2013, Respect suspended him and he remained in office as an independent councillor. He is stepping down at May’s Bradford Council elections. He has said that he has rejoined the Labour Party and is backing Labour’s candidate for Manningham Ward, Sarfraz Nazir.
Councillor Ahmed tweeted a link to Nazi film, “The Eternal Jew” on 10th May, 2014. The film was commissioned by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels with the purpose of winning public support for antisemitic violence. The opening segment, posted by Councillor Ahmed from the “HitlerMyFührer” Youtube channel, begins “One of the most illuminating customs of the Jews’ so-called religion, is the slaughter of animals…” He has also posted an Israel conspiracy theory video alleging that Israel is behind the Islamic State and caused the Iraq War.
Councillor Ahmed is employed by the Sharing Voices charity, which Labour MP Naz Shah chaired. Shah yesterday stood down as private secretary to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell after it was revealed she had been posting opinions and articles offensive to many Jewish people. The CEO of the charity is Labour Councillor, Mohammed Shabbir, who has also been accused of antisemitic social media posts.
Is Kosher Slaughter in The Eternal Jew inaccurate? http://t.co/nZqDX0S89Y
— Ishtiaq Ahmed (@Vote4Ishtiaq) May 10, 2014
Social media posts from 2014 by Labour MP Naz Shah have been discovered proposing that the Jewish state should be “relocated” to America, suggesting that she would “tweet Barack Obama and David Cameron and put this idea to them”. In August 2014 Shah tweeted a link to an article claiming that Zionism used “religious symbolism…to groom other modernised men and women of Jewish descent to exert political influence at the highest levels of public office by using the guilt of the pogroms and offered a solution to the ‘Jewish Question’ in Europe.” In July 2014, she posted a link on Facebook to a newspaper poll asking whether Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza, commenting: “The Jews are rallying to the poll.”
Naz Shah currently sits as one of only 11MPs on the Home Affairs Committee about to launch an inquiry into antisemitism, despite openly and publicly expressing these views.
Earlier this month Naz Shah alleged in a letter to the Prime Minister that Abdul Zaman, the deputy chairman of the Bradford Conservative Association, had made antisemitic comments in a public speech made in the Mirpuri dialect.
Shah shot to prominence int he Labour Party when she beat George Galloway in the last General Election.
In response, the Labour Party has issued a statement from Naz Shah saying: “This post from two years ago was made before I was an MP, does not reflect my views and I apologise for any offence it has caused.”
The Labour Party has suspended a party member who called the Holocaust a “financial racket” and “a useful political tool”. John McAuliffe, a self-described “foreign affairs heavyweight” who is believed to be based in Dublin, was suspended after posting on his Facebook page: “The Holocaust has been the most useful political tool of the Zionist government in Israel to establish a financial racket in the West, whereby Israel receives an unlimited sum for the duration of its existence. The large level of poverty in Israel among Holocaust survivors shows they don’t care about the emotional impact they are trying to generate. It is about money and military technology. This further paints a clearer picture of the divide between Zionism and Judaism, and their incompatibility.”
Students at the University of Glasgow have found a poster claiming that the Holocaust was a “robbery” and a “fraud” used by Jews to create a “Holocaust industry”. According to this line of thinking, the Holocaust was greatly exaggerated or entirely fabricated by Jews so that they could make financial gains, for example from war reparations.
Earlier in the week an identical poster was found at the University of Edinburgh, in what now appears to be a campaign of Holocaust denial.
Police Scotland has been informed.
Students at the University of Edinburgh have found a poster claiming that the Holocaust was a “robbery” and a “fraud” used by Jews to create a “Holocaust industry”. According to this line of thinking, the Holocaust was greatly exaggerated or entirely fabricated by Jews so that they could make financial gains, for example from war reparations.
Edinburgh University Students’ Association has condemned the poster and the university has opened an investigation.
This week, hundreds of students from British universities, signed a letter questioning statements made by Malia Bouattia, a candidate for the presidency of the National Union of Students in the UK.
Bouattia has referred to Birmingham University as a “Zionist outpost” and referred to the fact that it has the “largest [Jewish Society] in the country” when describing the challenges she was facing at the time. These views have offended Jewish students and divided the national student body. For Jewish students, the prospect of the President of the National Union of Students (NUS) holding such views about Jewish students is quite obviously disconcerting. Should a person who uses such rhetoric become the President of NUS, it is likely that this would create a deep rift between NUS and Jewish students.
Just recently, Bouattia explained at an event at SOAS that the government’s Prevent counter-extremism strategy is the product of a so called “Zionist lobby”.
Bouattia’s response to the letter denounced the allegations as “false”. The President of Birmingham’s Jewish Society has answered.
Abdul Zaman, the deputy chairman of the Bradford Conservative Association, has been suspended after making ‘antisemitic’ comments in support of local Conservative council candidate Sajid Akhtar.
Bradford politics has been heavily affected by the Biradri clan-based system of politics under which the selection and election of candidates and politicians can be influenced by their belonging or promises to a particular clan. The Biradri has been implicated in George Galloway’s election as MP for Bradford West for the Respect Party, leading the Labour Party to remove the local party’s ability to select its own candidates.
Zaman delivered a speech in the Mirpuri dialect which defended the Biradri system, ending in a statement about Jews and Christians. The speech ends with a call for the whole community to talk to their neighbours and friends and tell them to vote for Akhtar “so that the Jews and Christians know that we are one Biradri.”
This has been interpreted as either a message of unity, or as one of division, telling the local community to show Jews and Christians that they will adhere to the Biradri system and not be divided. Interpretation is made more difficult by the fact that Mirpuri is a purely oral dialect, and various phrases used in the speech can have different literal translations.
Local Labour MP Naz Shah has complained about the speech in a letter to the Prime Minister.
Zaman was immediately suspended pending investigations by the local Conservative Party as well as the national Conservative Party.
A passerby has discovered graffiti advertising a Jewish conspiracy theory on a bus stop outside Swiss Cottage Library in London. The graffiti claims that Jews are laying siege to Europe and causing a third World War. The website does not work. Police have said that the graffiti will be removed.
This was scrawled on a bus stop outside Swiss Cottage library pic.twitter.com/Weo42xdgl5
— Angela Levin (@angelalevin1) April 14, 2016
In Montecchio Maggiore, a small town situated just outside of Vicenza, between Verona and Venice, multiple schools were desecrated with antisemitic graffiti. Public middle school, Anne Frank, was vandalised on the night of Friday, 4th March, as delinquents defaced the school’s sign with a swastika.
Afterwards, evidence suggests the vandals got into the school yard where they tarnished a wall with blasphemy, slander against the school’s vice principle, Alessandra Mantiero, and antisemitic libel. Similar writing was found on elementary school, Manzoni.
Upon arrival at school Monday morning, students and teachers were shocked. Especially poignant is the fact that a school named after a victim of the Holocaust, in remembrance of Nazi persecution, has been targeted with antisemitic violence. In addition to besmirching the schools, the hoodlums knocked about plants and attempted to start a fire. A tree in the courtyard was planted to commemorate the experience of the oppressed during World War II, as the tree Anne Frank watched grow from outside her window in Amsterdam while she was in hiding.
In response to this expression of contempt for a name that is symbolic of persecution, president of the parents’ committee, Barbara Gasparella stated, “It is a very serious act.”
Livio Fedrigo, a teacher at the school, explained, “For us it is not a joke because this act extols a situation that we, in school, fight against. They [the culprits] wanted to strike universal symbols. On our [the teachers’ ] part, we stand in full solidarity with Mantiero.”
Police located the spray-paint can used to deface the schools by Manzoni. Thanks to nearby bank surveillance camera footage, local police have been able to identify the vandals as 13, 14, and 15 year old students.
In the early hours of this morning, three young Orthodox Jewish boys were walking along Manor Road in the Stamford Hill area of London when a man started shouting allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar! F***ing Jews! Kill the Jews!”
The boys called Shomrim which responded immediately, the suspect was still in the area, threatening pedestrians and shouting antisemitic abuse. Shomrim liaised with the Police and assisted the victims until the police arrived, at which point the man was arrested.
Chaim Hochhauser, Supervisor at Stamford Hill Shomrim, said “Antisemitism and all types of hate crime are unacceptable. I urge victims and witnesses to report such incidents immediately. Such incidents should never be accepted as the norm, no matter how regularly these incidents sadly happen.”
Male shouting "Allahu Akbar" "F***ing Jews" "Kill the Jews" at Jewish pedestrians in #N16, arrested by @MPSHackney pic.twitter.com/75KTyQZ1Xs
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) April 11, 2016
Aysegul Gurbuz is the youngest ever Councillor in Luton, representing High Town Ward for the Labour Party since 7th May 2015. She also sits on a panel supervising Bedfordshire Police. Her support for Jeremy Corbyn’s bid to lead the Labour Party was published on his campaign website.
But tweets on her Twitter account also show strong support for Adolf Hitler who is referred to as “my man Hitler” and the “greatest man in history”. Another tweet hoped that Iran would use a “nuclear weapon” to “wipe Israel off the map”. Other tweets expressed “disgust” that “Jews are so powerful”, and one even stated “Ed Miliband is Jewish. He will never become prime minister of Britain.”
One tweet said: “If it wasn’t for my man Hitler these Jews would’ve wiped Palestine years ago. Sorry but it’s a fact.” The tweet’s author added “Not hating on Jews btw”, presumably concerned that someone might think they had some kind of problem with Jews. Among the most shocking tweets was one that began: “Jews cannot expect us to sympathise with their history under Hitler”.
Gurbuz was also a candidate for Warwick Student Union’s Ethnic Minorities Officer, listing in her manifesto a commitment to “Increase awareness of Holocaust Memorial Day”, as well as serving on the Executive Committee of the Warwick Friends of Palestine Society.
When Campaign Against Antisemitism approached Gurbuz for comment, she said that her sister had probably tweeted the tweets, and that she had no recollection of them.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has reported the matter to the Labour Party, the University of Warwick, the University of Warwick Students’ Union and the police. They also provided details of the story to the media.
It is understood that she has been suspended by the Labour Party and has deleted her Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/_aysegulgurbuz/status/129547279014170624
https://twitter.com/_aysegulgurbuz/status/150182018603425792
https://twitter.com/_aysegulgurbuz/status/297860501671645185
https://twitter.com/_aysegulgurbuz/status/289868989818093569
https://twitter.com/_aysegulgurbuz/status/268856359708155905
https://twitter.com/_aysegulgurbuz/status/256012261833969664
On 6th April, Israel’s new ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev, visited London’s School of Oriental and African Studies and met with the University’s Director, Valerie Amos. The following day, Jewish students noticed red and black graffiti scattered across campus. In bold red, the phrase “BDS or else” could not have been mistaken. BDS refers to a campaign to boycott, divest from or place sanctions on Israel.
The graffiti stood out amongst most other anti-Israel incidents SOAS is infamous for because of its sinister undertone. “Or else” enforces the message of harmful or violent consequences, which Jewish students on campus feel threatened by.
Avrahum Sanger, a student at SOAS commented, “The actions and graffiti on campus yesterday at SOAS further contribute to the fear Israeli and Jewish students face at SOAS. Already students are afraid to speak Hebrew on campus, wear Jewish items of clothing or identify as Israeli or Jewish and further demonisation only serves to alienate both groups further.”
SOAS has not made any comment on the incident and the graffiti has yet to be removed.
Shomrim has reported that a car carrying a Jewish couple and their baby has been attacked with eggs, whilst the perpetrators shouted “F***ing Jews” and “Kill the Jews” amongst other antisemitic abuse. The incident took place at 02:00 this morning in London’s Blackwall Tunnel. There was no prior contact or incident between the two cars.
Officers from Tower Hamlets Police stopped a vehicle and arrested its four male occupants shortly after the incident, and investigations are ongoing. Shomrim are assisting the victims.
Eggs thrown & anti-Semitic abuse hurled towards Jewish motorist & his car in unprovoked attack in Blackwall Tunnel pic.twitter.com/Cu1lVJaxNt
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) April 8, 2016
Lionel Messi, a professional footballer from Argentina who plays forward for Football Club Barcelona and the national Argentine team, was recently accused by member of the Egyptian parliament, Said Hasasin, of “humiliating…all Egyptians.”
During an on-air interview with talk show host, Mona El-Sharkawy of Yes I am Famous, broadcast on the MBC Masr channel, Messi offered his football boots to be auctioned for charity.
A shoe may be construed as disrespectful in Arab culture, especially when thrown or shown the sole. Upon witnessing Messi’s donation, MP Hasasin responded on his own talk show, “Whose shoes do you want to sell, Messi? How much do you think it will get? You don’t know that the nail of a baby Egyptian is worth more than your shoes? Keep your shoes to yourself or sell them to Israel.”
Egyptian Football Association spokesman, Azmi Mogahed, phoned into Hasasin’s show to add, “I know he’s Jewish, he donates to Israel and visited the Wailing Wall…we don’t need his shoes and Egypt’s poor don’t need help from someone with Jewish or Zionist citizenship.”
Ahmed Abdelhamid, better known as Mido, former footballer and current Egyptian football manager of Zamalek, tweeted, “The most precious thing the writer owns is his pen… and the most precious thing the footballer owns is his shoes. I hope we can stop the false accusations.”
Messi is the only football player to have won the European Golden Shoe three times, amongst many other titles. This honour is awarded each season to the leading scorer in matches from the top division of every European national league.
Messi visited the Western Wall with his team, FC Barcelona, as a stop on their peace tour in Israel in 2013. The following year, Messi participated in an all-star match organised by Pope Francis in Rome’s Olympic Stadium to support coexistence amongst people of different religions and support children’s charities. Mohamed Aboutrika, former Egyptian footballer, rejected the Pope’s invitation, citing “Zionist” participation in reference to Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun, alongside whom Aboutrika refused to play.
Messi’s philanthropic endeavours include his position as Ambassador for United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) since 2010, when he traveled to Haiti to raise awareness of the effects of the earthquake’s impact on children there. As an active participant in UNICEF’s campaigns, he works to increase child HIV prevention, improve education access, promote disabilities inclusion, and mitigate mortality of disadvantaged youth. The football star founded his own organisation, as well. The Leo Messi Foundation supports access to health care, education and sport, such as youth football in Argentina, amongst other projects.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to the Labour Party and the police to report antisemitic activist Choudhry Shahzad.
On 14th July 2014, Shahzad tweeted a fabricated Adolf Hitler quotation which has become an antisemitic meme “I could have annihilated all the Jews, but I left some of them to let you know why I was annihilated them. – Aldof Hitler #GazaUnderAttack”. He then returned to Twitter 35 minutes later to correct his grammar and spelling, writing a second tweet saying “I could have annihilated all the Jews, but I left some of them to let the World know why I was annihilating them. – Hitler”.
On 2nd August 2014, Shahzad tweeted the meme again, writing: “Hitler Well Said: I could have annihilated all the Jews, but I left some of them to let you know why I was annihilated them. – Adolf Hitler”. He returned to Twitter five hours later to tweet photographs of Gaza captioned: “I could have annihilated all the Jews, but I left some of them to let you know why I was annihilated them. Hitler”.
On other occasions, Shahzad has tweeted quotations from Hitler, despite styling himself as a “progressive” patriot whose Twitter profile photo is overlaid with a Union Jack and whose cover photo shows the Houses of Parliament by night.
Shahzad is a keen supporter of the Labour Party, appears to be on good terms with Ruth Cadbury MP, and has recently campaigned for Sadiq Khan MP, however there is no evidence that they were aware of his admiration for Adolf Hitler, or that he occupied any official position.
Following Campaign Against Antisemitism’s complaint, the Labour Party suspended Shahzad pending investigation, but would not comment on the duration of the suspension or what would result in expulsion.
The Labour Party has been dogged by daily revelations of antisemitism amongst its activists, but has yet to take meaningful action.
Last year, teacher Mahmudhul Choudhury was convicted after tweeting the same fabricated Hitler quotation. Choudhury was also banned from teaching for life by the Secretary of State for Education after Campaign Against Antisemitism instigated professional misconduct proceedings against him.
I could have annihilated all the Jews,
but I left some of them to let you know why I was annihilated them. – Aldof Hitler #GazaUnderAttack— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) July 14, 2014
@Ch_Shahzad786 I could have annihilated all the Jews,
but I left some of them to let the World know why I was annihilating them. – Hitler— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) July 14, 2014
Hitler Well Said: I could have annihilated all the Jews, but I left some of them to let you know why I was annihilated them. – Adolf Hitler
— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) August 2, 2014
https://twitter.com/ChoudhryShehzad/status/495630271145050112
https://twitter.com/ChoudhryShehzad/status/566954079222788096
"It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge"
Adolf Hitler pic.twitter.com/tgrBlz5UtZ
— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) November 19, 2014
#Labour is only Progressive Party with a Vision for Betterment of United Kingdom 🇬🇧 @SadiqKhan @RuthCadbury pic.twitter.com/IGGd58oAmA
— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) February 7, 2016
With Sadiq Khan MP
With Ruth Cadbury MP
Thanks for invitation "Coffee Morning" Dear @RuthCadbury MP. Nice to meet you as usual. Well Organised @OanaOlaru92 pic.twitter.com/j5cPidhCf7
— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) February 27, 2016
Waiting for @SadiqKhan with @RuthCadbury MP @ Hounslow Stn pic.twitter.com/z8DDzllKn0
— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) February 6, 2016
With Mayor Nisar Malik
I am thankful to the Mayor @NisarAMalik for his invitation & organising such a nice event. NewYear Charity Ball 2016 pic.twitter.com/rA6PxGN1KL
— Choudhry Shahzad (@ChoudhryShehzad) February 1, 2016
A group of Spanish tourists was harassed by an elderly man at a bus station after a trip to Berlin’s Platform 17 Holocaust memorial.
The man began to denounce the number of “dirty Jew monuments” present in Berlin and, in addition to spitting at the group, made statements in support of Hitler and the Holocaust. He also told the tourists that his family was involved in the gassing of Jews and that he wished that more Jews had been murdered.
The bus driver, who saw the entire exchange, encouraged passengers to board the bus and to leave the man alone.
Two swastikas were found by the owner of a building on the pillars of a parking garage in Cedarhurst, New York. Police suspect that this incident occurred sometime between the hours of 16:30 on Friday, 25th March, and Monday at 10:30.
A pair of swastikas was found a couple of weeks earlier, on 7th March, also in Cedarhurst. On that occasion, a 17-year-old boy was arrested.
Massdrop.com, an internet shopping community similar to eBay, added a controversial item to their inventory: a pair of Hitler-brand headphones with swastika insignias on each side. Called “‘Klangs’ by Hitler”, a pun on the popular headphone brand known as “‘Beats’ by Dre”, these headphones received quite a bit of attention from massdrop.com users.
Ori Ohana, a program coordinator for the organization Israeli Students Combating Anti-Semitism, explained that “In many cases, it [the glorification and normalisation of Hitler] is intended as a joke, but we believe that it is done mostly to keep the image of Hitler alive in an attempt to make him more normative, acceptable and popular.” ISCA has reported the headphones to massdrop.com in the hope that they will remove them immediately from their site.
A group of nine neo-Nazis demonstrated for half an hour against Jews during the Jewish Sabbath at the foot of the war memorial in Golders Green.
Last summer, the same group of neo-Nazis, led by Eddie Stampton, attempted to hold a larger demonstration in Golders Green on 4th July. The Metropolitan Police Service used their powers under the Public Order Act to move the demonstration to a kettling pen in Westminster and limited its duration to one hour. The move by the police was seen as a very public defeat by the neo-Nazis and came as a result of the large counter-demonstration planned by Campaign Against Antisemitism and a month of negotiations with the Metropolitan Police Service’s Public Order Branch.
The neo-Nazis were forced to organise any future demonstrations in total secrecy, to avoid giving Campaign Against Antisemitism the ability to organise against them. They arranged their demonstration on Saturday by inviting only a small group of committed neo-Nazi individuals and Campaign Against Antisemitism had no advance warning of their presence. The Metropolitan Police Service received notification the day before the demonstration.
The sole speaker on Saturday was Jeremy Bedford-Turner, whom Campaign Against Antisemitism reported to the police last July for his antisemitic speech in the kettling pen. He delivered a similar speech to his speech last July, accusing Jews of everything from subverting Roman justice resulting in the crucifixion of Jesus, through to subverting many of the world’s governments in modern times.
Three weeks ago, Campaign Against Antisemitism took measures which they hope will significantly impact this particular neo-Nazi group in the weeks to come.
The University at Buffalo Police have increased patrols around the Hillel of the University at Buffalo campus after antisemitic slurs and threats were discovered on a men’s restroom stall on 23rd March.
University Police believe the crude graffiti to be an isolated incident, according to Deputy Chief of Police Joshua Sticht. University at Buffalo spokesman John Della Contrada said that the incident does not uphold the values of the University. In an e-mail sent to the student body, Contrada added, “When acts motivated by hatred or discrimination occur, the university will respond promptly to protect the safety and well-being of the entire university community.”
Andrew Meyer, the President of the Jewish Student Union, said, “I’ve never seen any form of antisemitism like that before.” Meyer called the slur, “the most horrific and derogatory term” used against Jewish people.
Though the slurs were reported on 23rd March, they seem to to have gone unreported for at least two weeks, according to photos sent to the University at Buffalo newspaper The Spectrum.
Director of the Hillel for Buffalo Dan Metchnik said the graffiti is “very disturbing,” and that all religious hatred is unacceptable, regardless of belief.
The graffiti have been removed.
The London chairman of the UK Independence Party has been expelled after he allegedly called one-time parliamentary candidate Nigel Sussman a “North London Jewish c***” at a UKIP Christmas party in December.
Mr Sussman, UKIP’s chairman for Enfield and Haringey, reported John Hellings to the party after the incident took place at the Civil Service Club in London. After an investigation UKIP has formally expelled Mr Hellings from the party.
Mr Sussman, who said that he was pleased that the party had acted swiftly, has stated that he had only met Mr Hellings twice, for less than a minute each time.
A swastika was discovered in the fraternity house of Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter of Brandeis University, the non-sectarian college founded by the American Jewish community, late Friday night.
During the off-campus event, Alpha Epsilon Pi brothers noticed a crude depiction of the Nazi symbol written in the condensation of a glass door in the fraternity house in which Jewish students live. The unofficial event, hosted by the Jewish fraternity, was open to the entire student population.
Brandeis students have taken concern. “It hits a raw spot,” said Emma Maier, Brandeis ‘18, who attended the event. “it is hard to separate my family’s deeply personal narrative from the incident.” Turkish international student Joel Hemsi, Brandeis ‘19, who serves as the International Ambassador of the student-led Coalition Against Anti-Semitism in Europe (CAASE), added, “I’m shocked that such a thing happened at Brandeis, where many Diaspora Jews go to find a safe haven to openly express their Jewish identity.”
Though the Alpha Epsilon Pi event did not take place on Brandeis University property, the administration has denounced the act. In an e-mail to the student body, President Lisa Lynch wrote, “I condemn this malicious action. In my opinion, there is no place in society for such a despicable display of intolerance and hatred. Such heinous acts violate every value for which Brandeis stands.”
The swastika at Brandeis marks the newest development in a string of antisemitic incidents that have affected the Greater Boston Jewish community. Reported events in recent years include swastikas drawn on flyers at Northeastern University, a residence vandalised with racial graffiti, and Jewish professors facing discrimination at Wheelock College, and Catholic Memorial School students chanting “You killed Jesus” at at a basketball game against Newton North High School, which hosts a large Jewish population, last month. Seth Greenwald, Brandeis ‘17 and a Boston native, said: “in the last three years, I have seen more blatant antisemitism on campuses and elsewhere than in my entire life. Enough is enough.”
The Waltham Police Department has been notified and is working with the University on the investigation.
Microsoft released an Artificial Intelligence robot on Twitter that had to be shut down after its first day going live. The AI was called “Tay” and created to speak “like a teenage girl” to help Microsoft improve their voice recognition software, marketed as “The AI with zero chill”.
Users could chat with Tay through Twitter, Kik or GroupMe. Through these social media platforms Tay learned how humans converse with each other, and uses the phrases and concepts it hears to respond like a real human.
After Tay was contacted by various extremists, the robot made statements including: “Repeat after me, Hitler did nothing wrong” and “Bush did 9/11 and Hitler would have done a better job than the monkey we have got now. donald trump is the only hope we’ve got”.
Londoner David Patrikarakos was surprised to see antisemitic graffiti in the toilet at a local pub in Victoria. He tweeted photos, commenting: “I’ve lived in London all my life and you never used to see this stuff around. Sad.” The graffiti claims that “Jews run [the] UK” and “Jews start all war[s] for [money]”.
https://twitter.com/dpatrikarakos/status/712718964070227969
Police constable Shahid Shah has won a fight to keep his job after being caught out posting an image of the Israeli Prime Minister superimposed on Adolf Hitler. “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is explicitly specified as antisemitic according to the definition of antisemitism used by the UK College of Policing.
Shah apologised and admitted that he had breached professional standards, but his lawyer, Julian King, successfully argued that he should merely receive a formal written warning and take part in diversity and social media training.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Shah posted the image during a debate on Facebook in a private group for police officers. The image superimposed an image of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu on a picture of Hitler pointing at a map with Nazi colleagues. The debate apparently turned antisemitic, with one officer commenting to ask whether the “execution of six million Jews is OK too?”
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan told the disciplinary hearing: “He did cause offence to members of the Jewish community, failed to show initially that he accepted what he had done was wrong and showed he had failed to learn lessons from a previous warning about what he had posted on Facebook.” The hearing also heard that Shah “only apologised when he was interviewed” about the post.
Shah responded: “If this has caused people upset, I’m sorry. It was never my intention to offend, only to prompt debate about the situation in Gaza. I saw innocent women and children being killed and wounded and I wanted people to think long and hard about the situation.”
Shah’s lawyer told the hearing that the Professional Standards Branch of Greater Manchester Police had initially recommended the PC should face misconduct rather rather gross misconduct proceedings, which would have meant that he could not be dismissed, however Assistant Chief Constable Shewan overruled the decision and instigated gross misconduct proceedings which could result in dismissal.
The chair of the hearing panel said that Shah had made an “early admission, apologised in his interview and accepted it was an error of judgment.”
Two American universities reported finding objects on campus marked with swastikas earlier this month.
At the University of Indianapolis one was scratched into a statue of Chinese artist Au Ho-nien, prompting the university’s president, Robert L. Manuel, to e-mail a warning on 8th March reminding students that “UIndy has not and will never tolerate such behaviour,” and it showed the university was not “immune to intolerance and hate”.
And on 7th March at Purdue University a swastika and antisemitic slur were found on a whiteboard in the American Studies program at College of Liberal Arts.
Liberal Arts dean David Reingold sent an e-mail to staff and the faculty stating: “This type of hateful expression is repulsive and outside of the bounds of civil discourse. It has no place in the College of Liberal Arts and Purdue University.”
The words “Burn the Jews” were scratched on to equipment at a playground in New Jersey, USA, in an incident that prompted the local mayor to speak out against antisemitism.
Police found the graffiti with other obscene messages at Riverwood Park in the township of Toms River on 1st March, leading the mayor, Thomas Kelaher, to release a statement the next day.
He said: “In Toms River, we have no tolerance for antisemitic attacks. We will not accept this reprehensible behaviour. This action is being rightfully condemned and thoroughly investigated.”
Police said they are looking into whether the graffiti was carved by “ignorant teenagers or was of a more direct and sinister nature directed at the Jewish faith”, and urged residents to call the Toms River Police Department with any information.
Staff from the local buildings and grounds department removed the graffiti from the equipment.
During a community meeting in a gentrifying neighbourhood in Point Breeze, Philadelphia, local activists shouted antisemitic comments to Jewish real estate developers, forcing the meeting to end.
Activists with Concerned Citizens of Point Breeze reportedly shouted “Go back to Israel”, “Go back to Lakewood [a Jewish neighbourhood]” and other such comments whilst developers were making presentations.
“This was not one person with a screw loose. This was a mob mentality,” Ori Feibush, a local developer who is Jewish but was not presenting at the meeting, told Philly.com.
A former singer with rock group Pantera has been condemned by fellow musicians after giving a Nazi salute and shouting “white power”.
Philip Anselmo was filmed by a fan at an event on 22nd January held in tribute to Pantera’s late guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. Anselmo initially claimed he had been making a joke about the white wine served to performers at the event, who included Dave Grohl and members of Metallica, and said he would not apologise.
Among those to criticise him were the band All Shall Perish, who stated: “Seeing Phil’s actions and his cowardly justification is not only disgusting and inexcusable but antithetical to the punk, metal, underground ethos to which we subscribe.”
Anselmo has been reported as making racist remarks in the past. Speaking on MTV in 1994 he refused to condemn fans shouting “white power” at Pantera gigs, and the following year he described rap artists as “pissing all over white culture”. Pantera disbanded in 2003, since when he has performed with various other groups.
In February, Anselmo changed his position regarding the tribute night and issued a lengthy apology on Housecore Records’ YouTube channel, saying that he was “so sorry”, “a thousand percent apologetic” and deserved criticism for his “uncalled-for” behaviour.
A new video released by Hamas urges Palestinians to “blow the roof off of the bus” and chants in the chorus “Gird yourself, oh most honourable of men, with an explosive belt, because nothing will satisfy the intifada except blowing up buses.” The video shows actors dressed as orthodox Jews waiting for a bus, then shows the bombed out remains of a bus with men dancing in front of it.
David Guetta, a well known reporter for a private radio station in Florence, Italy, was at the receiving end of antisemitic chanting after Fiorentina won against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart lane in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The antisemitic chants came from visiting fans, which Guetta said were “20 young Italians with a Tuscan accent” who were chanting “David Guetta, there is a train to Mauthausen waiting for you.” It is believed that around 120,000 Jewish people were killed at a concentration camp in Mauthausen during World War II.
The reporter said “I would like to have this meeting in front of the plaque in Via Farini which serves as a reminder for the Florentines who departed on those trains, on which they now want me to go on, and didn’t return”.
Germany has banned neo-Nazi group “White Wolves Terror Crew”. There has been a rise in right-wing sentiment in Germany following the arrival of over a million migrants last year. Police raided 15 properties in Berlin on properties where far-right groups were suspected of operating.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has said there is no place in Germany for groups like the White Wolves which advocates the creation of a dictatorship based on Nazism. He said: “It spreads a xenophobic and inhuman ideology, it brings right wing extremist incitement onto the street and is not scared of committing violence.”
German intelligence reported last year that White Wolves was originally a fan club of a right-wing radical skinhead band where members had been seen shouting “Sieg Heil” and performning Nazi salutes, which are banned in Germany.
Black swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti was discovered by congregants on Saturday morning in the small French city of Verdun. It was the first incident of its kind in the city in recent memory.
Swastikas were drawn over a relief shaped like the Tablets of Testimony, drawn over the Hebrew inscription.
“Screw the Jews” and other antisemitic slogans were written on the wall.
The vandals also forced open an outer door, but were not able to breach the second, more sturdy entrance.
“I am speechless, shocked and outraged at this incident,” the local community’s vice president, Jean Blacharz, said.
Police have placed extra security around the synagogue and are investigating the incident. The vandals remain unidentified.
A neo-Nazi party made significant gains in Slovakia’s recent general election, winning parliamentary seats for the first time.
The LS-Nase Slovensko (Our Slovakia) party, led by Marian Kotleba, gained 14 parliamentary seats on 6th March after picking up 8 per cent of the vote in an election that failed to produce a majority result.
The party is known for defending Slovakia’s WWII role as a puppet state of Nazi Germany. Another extreme-right party, the Slovak National Party (SNS), returned to the parliament, or National Council, after a four-year absence, winning 15 seats.
Slovakia’s Social Democrat Prime Minister Robert Fico lost his parliamentary majority in what has been termed a “big earthquake” in the country’s politics.
Fico’s governing coalition won 49 seats in the 150-seat Parliament after adopting one of the one of the toughest positions on the migration crisis among EU leaders. He said: “We’ll never bring even a single Muslim to Slovakia: we won’t create any Muslim communities here because they pose a serious security risk.”
The following day Jewish groups spoke out over the electoral successes of neo-Nazi parties in Europe, citing Svoboda in Ukraine and Golden Dawn in Greece.
“Once again we see hate-groups disguised as democratic parties enter European national parliaments,” said European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor. “This is an extremely worrying trend and something that all moderate parties and politicians from the Left and Right should work against.”
The New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) highlighted the fact that Marian Kotleba and others in his party have expressed support for the Hlinka Guard, which helped deport Slovakia’s Jews to death camps.
“An openly neo-Nazi party will now have a national platform, at the heart of Slovakia’s democracy, to spread its hate,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s chief executive. “All of the democratic parties which will sit with Kotleba and his fellow bigots must counter them at every turn.”
Security guards outside the Spanish Synagogue in Prague reported that during their Friday night service on 4th March, a black Volkswagen car drove close to the synagogue’s entrance and the passengers shouted “Allahu Akbar” towards them.
The car departed but returned a few minutes later and the passengers again shouted “Allahu Akbar”, which means “God is great” in Arabic. By now a police patrol was present at the entrance but it is not clear whether the offenders were spoken to by police.
US presidential candidate Donald Trump has compared white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan to Jewish charities, a claim that the Anti-Defamation League called “obscene”.
Trump’s comments came on the MSNBC television station’s Morning Joe programme, after he had been criticised for not rejecting white supremacists’ support. “I don’t like to disavow groups if I don’t know who they are,” Trump said. “I mean, you could have Federation of Jewish Philanthropies in groups.”
The ADL criticised Trump’s comparison, noting that white power groups refer to black people as “mud people” and call Jews “Satanic”.
“It is obscene to even mention a Jewish organisation in the same breath as these white supremacist groups,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL. “Mr Trump needs to acknowledge that the rhetoric of these hate groups is appalling and does not belong in any political discussion.”
Having been previously condemned for rejecting the chance to distance himself from the Ku Klax Klan in an earlier interview — which Trump blamed on a faulty earpiece — Trump used the Morning Joe interview to try to do so. On Thursday, he called Duke a “bad person”. “I disavowed him,” Trump said. “I disavowed the K.K.K.”
Greenblatt said it was hard to understand why Trump seemed to find it difficult to make a clear-cut denunciation of the white supremacist group.
“It is hard to fathom how we can have a candidate who can be so verbose when it comes to denigrating other candidates, yet he finds himself tongue tied when it comes to the most racist and antisemitic group in the history of this country,” Greenblatt said.
Playwright, actor, comedian, singer, director, painter, politician and overall Renaissance man, Dario Fo, commented on Jews in a recent interview with Anna Bandettini of La Repubblica. In response to a question regarding Roberto Benigni, Fo criticised the actor/comedian for his work on The Ten Commandments, a show aired by Italy’s RAI 1 channel.
Benigni, who acts in this rendition of the Exodus, said that there is no more beautiful story. In the La Repubblica interview, Fo calls Benigni out for being an ‘opportunist’ and states that, “…you cannot become the maker of the Jews and not mention their brutality against those of other religions, as it happens today…Benigni is not good for comedy.”
Fo, who is internationally acclaimed for his plays, has notably been denounced by the Vatican for his ‘blasphemous’ writing. In 1997 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Antisemitic publications and a banner proclaiming “international Zionism” to be the Greek people’s enemy were on display at a rally ostensibly against the introduction of a new electronic ID card.
Hundreds of people attended the protest in Nea Paralia, Thessaloniki, in late February including laypeople and members of the Greek Orthodox organisation Agios Vasileios.
Demonstrators gathered by a statue of Alexander the Great to protest against the “instruments of Antichrist and the New World Order” by holding religious icons, banners, Greek and Byzantine flags. One banner bore the message: “No to the citizen’s card. There is only one enemy: The international Zionism.”
Publications with titles like “The Jewish-Zionist vampire Soros is thirsty for Greek blood” were on sale, while protesters shouted slogans against “the Jewish” Mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris. Boutaris is not Jewish but wore a yellow Star of David during his swearing-in ceremony in 2014, in protest at the election to the council of a member of the fascist Golden Dawn Party.
One of the speakers at the rally was the excommunicated Abbot Methodios, who at a similar event in Athens a few weeks earlier threatened the Jews with a “Greek Hitler”. In Thessaloniki, he said that the Christians are enslaved by “the Jews” and that Jews “were cannibals, when the Greeks were building Parthenons”. His antisemitic rant was warmly applauded, according to a report by Greek journalist Sofia Christoforidou.
Daniel Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, told The Algemeiner: “It was a particularly vile antisemitic demonstration. The fact that it happened in a city that is so important in Jewish history and whose population suffered – more than 90 percent killed during the Shoah – makes the demonstration even that much more outrageous.”
A search on Amazon UK for the renowned historian of the Holocaust, Raul Hilberg, returns a book called ‘The Six Million: Fact or Fiction’ as its fourth result. The search also returns a book by prominent Swiss Holocaust denier Jürgen Graf on the first page and as well as books titled ‘The Hoax of the 20th Century’, ‘Breaking the Spell: The Holocaust, Myth and Reality’ and ‘Debating the Holocaust’. Clicking on any of these results reveals dozens of similar books as suggested purchases, many of which average 4- and 5-star reviews. As well as Holocaust denial, there are books alleging that Jews and/or ‘Zionists’ operate a global conspiracy to control world governments, that Wiemar Germany’s government was covertly dominated by Jews, that Jews ran concentration camps carrying our mass murder in the Soviet Union, and that the international Jewry overwhelmingly holds beliefs of ‘Jewish supremacy’.
Despite the fact that Amazon has, under public pressure, taken action to remove products bearing the Confederate flag, the company has yet to respond to various concerns about the amount of Holocaust denial material that is sold on the site. In 2008, Amazon removed a series of t-shirts, sold by Direct Collection, which expressed support for various prominent Nazis, citing as justification for the products’ appearance on the site the fact that as millions of products are sold on the site by third parties, individually screening each one becomes an impossibility. However, in the case of many of these books, they are being “dispatched and sold by Amazon” directly, thus no such defense can be offered.
Amazon’s general conditions prohibit the sale of “offensive material, including material that incites racial hatred or promotes discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, physical ability, sexual orientation or age”. There is currently a petition for Amazon to remove Holocaust denial material.
In an article for Vahdet, a radical Islamist and pro-government Turkish paper, journalist Seyfi Sahen referred to the chimps and gorillas of North Africa as “cursed Jews…perverted humans that have mutated.” Sahen argues that Allah has cursed “perverted” Jews and therefore they have mutated into chimps and gorillas as a result. Throughout this article, Sahen accuses Jews of “terrorising the world of science” while also writing that Jews have “banks and money.” Sahen is thereby using the same type of propaganda that was used against Jews by the Nazis, by proposing that Jews are not to be considered human beings, and also by reinforcing the stereotype of Jews controlling the banks.
Senator Ted Cruz has said that his campaign “Welcomes the support” of various religious leaders, including that of Mike Bickle, an evangelist founder of the Kansas City Ministry International House of Prayer. Bickle claims that God sent Hitler to hunt Jews. Furthermore, Bickle has said that he predicts another death camp era, explaining that Jews who do not convert to Christianity by the time of the Second Coming will either die, or be sent to concentration and prison camps.
The National Jewish Democratic Council demanded that Cruz state his position on the beliefs of Bickle. Rather than firmly speaking out against Bickle and his beliefs, Cruz merely attempted to downplay the role of Bickle as an endorser.
West London Synagogue has installed a bulletproof entrance amid security concerns.
The entrance will now allow only one door to be open at a time, allowing security to identity and investigate visitors more thoroughly. Shabbat locks were also installed.
The steel-reinforced entrance was installed by a security company which said: “With the increasing threat of terror from around the world, synagogues need to take security more seriously than before.”
West London Synagogue was established in 1840. It is the oldest prayer space affiliated with the Movement for Reform Judaism.
Two Orthodox Jewish students from Yeshiva University were verbally abused and threatened inside a Dunkin’ Donuts store in Washington Heights, New York, on Monday.
The two identifiably Jewish students were approached by a man inside the shop and told, “Your religion is a lie” many times. The man continued to make anti-Jewish statements as the students ignored him.
The man then pointed to the students’ Jewish skullcaps, stating, “You need to take that thing off of your head.” He also threatened to “beat the s***” out of them, and asked the students to leave.
After the man left the shop, the students followed him and took clear photos of him and his license plate.
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez told JP Updates: “Our community has zero tolerance for hate crimes and any threats made against another person due to their background, beliefs or identity must be taken extremely seriously. I am encouraged that the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit has already opened a case into this incident because no one in Northern Manhattan, nor New York City should ever feel unsafe. I will support their efforts to bring the perpetrator to justice however I can. We are so lucky to have a community as diverse as Washington Heights and this diversity should never come under threat.”
Police are investigating.
Brigitte Merk-Erbe, mayor of the German city of Bayreuth, has taken a stand against antisemitism. The Bayreuth city’s tolerance prize was to be awarded to the controversial group Code Pink, participated in a conference in 2014 among Holocaust deniers. Furthermore, the organisation protested at an AIPAC conference in 2015 by calling for the elimination of the State of Israel, furthering their disqualification for an award that is granted based on outstanding “tolerance.”
David Fremd, a 54-year-old local businessman, was stabbed to death in Paysandu, Uruguay, yesterday and his son was also injured.
Fremd was a local representative of the Uruguayan Jewish community. He was married with three sons.
A 35-year-old man with a criminal record, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” before stabbing him, the local El Pais newspaper said. Police arrested him.
On February 13th, Finnish band Satanic Warmasters made its UK debut in Glasgow. The band has links to neo-Nazis and has been criticised for songs like “Seig Heil” and “Gas Chamber”, which refers to “torching the Jewish creation”.
The band has performed National Socialist Black Metal, including music by Germany’s Absurd, and issued releases with Aryan Blood. One member broke parole terms upon release from prison by giving the Nazi salute.
Glasgow rock venue Audio was originally scheduled to hold the event, but backed out after Satanic Warmasters were linked to the far-right. The 200-capacity event took place at Ivory Blacks instead.
A member of the Glasgow Anti-Fascists said: “If they’re not fascists, they’re certainly fellow travelers – they have worked with racist bands, they have shared stages with them and they have released records on labels that only release racist records. Where do you draw the line? There’s plenty of black metal bands who have no connection to fascist music or will not share stages with these kinds of bands.”
Popular left-wing Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves portrayed hook-nosed Jewish caricatures abusing Jesus and Palestinians.
In El Jueves’ latest issue, illustrator Julio Serrano made allegations that Jerusalem’s Israel Museum keeps a Torah scroll wrapped in “the skin of my holy testicles” and depicted a long-nosed Jew harassing a beaten Jesus. The issue also featured themes that showed Jews in Nazi-style helmets, mistreating Palestinians.
The Jewish community has threatened to take legal action, saying “This [cartoon] could be taken from the Nazis’ Der Sturmer and nobody would notice the difference.”
A 13-year-old Jewish boy was brutally attacked by three men on Saturday outside a Paris synagogue, where he was meeting his father. Seeing his skullcap, the men allegedly called him a “dirty Jew” and punched him several times, tore off his skullcap, grabbed him by the hair and smashed his head against a post. The attackers then ran away as passersby approached. Police are looking for three men of “African origin”.
The race to become the next FIFA president has erupted in antisemitic smears from a senior figure of Bahrain’s football association.
Multiple tweets by Muhammad Mdwb, the media officer for Bahrain’s national team, claimed a UK-based PR group chosen to represent Prince Ali of Jordan, is run by an Israeli. Prince Ali of Jordan is a viable contender to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA’s president.
Mdwb tweeted an image of Simon Cohen together with Prince Ali, claiming Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, despite the fact that he was born in Wales. Another tweet from Mdwb supposedly showed Simon Cohen playing football for Israel in the 1960s, mistaking Cohen for another man of the same name.
Prince Ali’s rivals include Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, former president of the Bahrain FA and current President of the Asian Football Confederation.
“It is racism and antisemitism and has no place in football,” Cohen responded. “I am also very upset at being mistaken for a 73-year-old retired footballer.”
A 16-year-old Danish girl has been charged with planning a terrorist attack on two schools, one of them Jewish. According to Danish police, the girl was befriended by a 24-year-old who local media have said had returned to Denmark after fighting in Syria. The girl was charged after acquiring chemicals for bombs, and her friend has also been charged over his complicity in preparing the bombs, including providing bomb-making instructions. Local channel TV2 said the girl had recently converted to Islam.
Both the girl and her friend have pleaded innocence.
In February last year, a terrorist gunman killed two people in shooting attacks at a debating event, before moving on and murdering Dan Udan, a security volunteer at a Copenhagen synagogue.
Arsenal fans have disgraced themselves by singing an antisemitic song on their way to a match against rival team Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. As they rode the London Underground to the stadium, a group of Arsenal supporters can be heard loudly singing “I’ve got a foreskin, haven’t you? F***ing Jew!”
The witness who filmed the incident told the Daily Mail: “I got off at Seven Sisters [Station] and spoke to the police about it but they didn’t really do anything about it. The video I shot isn’t the half of it – they were singing about the Holocaust and Aushwitz – I’ve heard that kind of thing before but it doesn’t normally happen with Arsenal. There weren’t really any other Spurs fans on the train, but there were normal commuters. No one seemed shock, some people were actually laughing. I was really offended by it.”
British Transport Police told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “We have been made aware of a video on social media showing antisemitic behaviour on board a Tube train BTP takes these matters very seriously. The matter is currently being investigated and enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with any information should contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 quoting reference 131 of 08/03/16.”
The principal of F.A. Day Middle School, Brian Turner, has had to send letters out to parents addressing the “hateful speech” found written on a bathroom wall and a swastika found drawn in the snow just off at the school grounds
The Newton Tab has reported that police and school officials are investigating two reported antisemitic incidents which occurred months apart on or near school grounds.
Before the letter was sent out, law enforcement and the Newton Superintendent of Schools were unaware of the incidents, according to the Newton Tab. According to the paper, Principal Turner plans on a meeting with staff to discuss these incidents and how to handle any future occurrences.
Vandals sprayed “Hezbollah” in Arabic and “Death to Israel” in English on a wall in Johannesburg, South Africa, by the Zook lake.
Last week the Student Society of McGill University in Montreal Québec voted to boycott Israel. Within an hour of the vote, antisemitic posts and messages appeared on social media.
800 members of the university’s 30,000 students took part in the SSMU vote to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
Simon Paranski, a student at the university stated, “Within an hour of the BDS vote passing, there were posts on social media about Zionist Jew-boys and insulting people of the Jewish faith,” said Paranski.
“People reached out to us that they were personally harassed, verbally harassed on the street after the votes. Some people were on the phone with their parents that they were upset, and people hurled insults at them. It was really scary because it happened so quickly, and it was such a huge escalation.”
Vice president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish affairs, Luciano Del Negro, said they have been in touch with some students, “It is not a resolution on campus which changes absolutely anything and what we feared has come to pass. How is it that Jewish students have been insulted, disparaged, have been made to feel unsafe on campus,” he said.
On Thursday McGill University issued a statement “It is important for a university community to be built on mutually respectful dialogue. Students can report abuse or violations of their student rights to their faculty’s disciplinary officer. All complaints are taken seriously and investigated. We have not received any complaints related to this matter so far.”
A drunk man hurled racist and antisemitic insults in the street in Derby after last year’s Paris terrorist attacks, a court heard.
Suicide bombers and gunmen killed 130 people during the attacks in the French capital on 13th November 2015.
Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court heard how David Gregory, 46, of Gerard Street, Derby, had been angered by the news and went out drinking the following day.
He was walking down Etwall Road in Derby at about 16:30 on 14th November 2015 when he saw a man jogging towards him. Gregory launched a string of obscene, racist insults at the man, who ran away and called police.
Lynne Bickley, prosecuting, said: “He thought the things he was saying weren’t nice things to hear and the last salute he had in his hand was in the shape of a fist. Police saw him standing on the pavement swaying, believed to be drunk. He said the female police officers looked young enough to be his daughters.”
Mrs Bickley said he then made numerous antisemitic comments and other remarks about people with dark skin.
After Gregory’s arrest for racially aggravated aggressive behaviour, he continued to make offensive remarks in the back of the police car, officers said.
Jaz Soodi, in mitigation, said Gregory had apologised for his outbursts and was embarrassed by his actions, which he could not remember. “He basically told the police what he told me – he couldn’t believe he had done it,” Mr Soodi said. “He was angry about what had happened in Paris. His partner had phoned police and said he was annoyed by it.”
Gregory was handed a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work and a ten-day rehabilitation requirement, and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
Protesting farmers displayed an antisemitic banner last month at the entrance of the National Bank of Greece in Chania, the second largest city in Crete.
The farmers hung two banners during the demonstration on 8th February: one that read “The Colonial Bank” and another saying “Rothschilds out of Greece”, implying that the National Bank is controlled by Jewish banking families. Greek media outlets that reported the protest apparently failed to note the banner’s antisemitic nature.
Local police in Hartford, Connecticut, are investigating the vandalism of 22 headstones at Zion Hill Cemetery, which has caused thousands of dollars of damage.
The damage was discovered when an employee of the Association of Jewish Cemeteries was inspecting the grounds and found a locked gate had been forced open.
Local police are investigating.
The annual Lukov March took place in Bulgaria last month in memory of a Second World War General who was known for being pro-Nazi and antisemitic.
Held in Sofia on February 14, the torchlit procession commemorates General Hristo Lukov and has been held for thirteen consecutive years.
Despite it officially being banned by the authorities, dozens of people participated in the march organised by the neo-Nazi Bulgarian National Union.
Lukov, who was murdered by communists at the age of 56 on February 13, 1943, led the nationalistic Union of Bulgarian National Legions and worked closely with the Third Reich.
A scheme in China defrauded people of their money using the name “Jewish Wisdom Network” . It used Jewish stereotypes to draw people into the scheme, such as that all Jewish people are very successful. Most Chinese people have never met a Jew and there is a stereotypical belief that Jewish people are intelligent and destined for success.
The scheme disappeared with no trace of explanation whether victims would ever receive their money back. According to one report: “Technically, it appears to have been some sort of multi-level marketing organization, which compensates salespeople for recruiting others into the organisation. Such outfits peddle everything from beauty solutions to Tupperware — in this case, probably to spread ‘Jewish People’s Wisdom’ educational franchises through the country.”
An article about the Australian government’s dealings with an organisation that denies the Armenian genocide prompted a spate of antisemitic comments denying the Holocaust.
The article by Meher Grigorian, published in the New Matilda online magazine, discussed the Australian Human Rights Commission’s connection with the Turkish Advocacy Alliance (ATAA) via its “Racism: It Stops With Me” campaign.
Grigorian argued that the ATAA and Turkish government aim to diminish the crimes of the Ottoman authorities and explain the mass murder of civilians as a matter of “military necessity”, while blaming the victims for the atrocities committed against them.
The ATAA’s website states: “…there is no historical evidence showing that [the] Ottoman Government ordered a systematical [sic] killing of the Armenian people like Hitler did against the Jewish people in Europe,” which it has been argued desecrates the memory of the Holocaust by using it to diminish another genocide.
The article’s comments section soon attracted a contribution about Jews being responsible for the world’s evils. When alerted, New Matilda removed the comment and stated that any members engaging in Holocaust denial would be banned.
This prompted a response from a convicted Holocaust denier named Fredrick Toben, who runs an antisemitic website. He asked: “…does this mean your site will not even entertain discussing how the Holocaust narrative has changed over the past three decades?”
Another reader argued that Jews and Americans lead an attempt to ignore genocides other than the Holocaust, and that the “…Zionist-subverted Western Mainstream media ignore the ongoing Palestinian Genocide … and the US Alliance-imposed carnage in the Muslim World…”.
Another contributor offered conspiracy theories about the “Freemason Zionist” B’nai B’rith organisation, linking to a White Pride organisation by way of evidence.
And yet another tried to play down the Holocaust by asking: “Isn’t acceptance of the Armenian genocide ’minimising the holocaust’ by admitting there have been other and just as deadly holocausts since humans learnt to kill?”
New Matilda’s editor promised that “any comments which seek to minimise or deny the Holocaust will result in an immediate ban of the reader from our site.”
A young schoolgirl in South Carolina has written a report entitled “Holohoax” for a school project. Her teacher encouraged the young girl by not only giving her an A grade for the project but also conducting a short interview with her about the report and posting it online.
In one passage, she wrote: “The Jews show pictures of hair and clothing of women and children, claiming that they were used for soap and rugs after their owners being stripped of them and brutally killed. However, the truth lies in the fact that ‘The Germans were against typhus, which was the real reason for shaving heads, fumigating buildings, and cremating corpses.’”
She added: “Also, there is no proof of the gassed Jews except for allegations made by hired phony witnesses. According to the Red Cross, ‘Though six million Jews supposedly died in the gas chambers, not one body has ever been autopsied and found to have died of gas poisoning.’”
A video has emerged of a Roman Catholic priest taking drugs in a room that is filled with Nazi merobilia.
The memorabilia, owned by Father Stephen Crossan, includes flags, hats and an eagle with a swastika on a plinth. Crossan lives on the grounds of St Patrick’s Church in Banbridge, Northern Ireland. The Daily Mail quoted a source as saying: “It was all over the house. At one point Stephen put on a cap and did the Nazi salute. It’s shocking. He’s supposed to be an upstanding member of society.”
Crossan denied being a Nazi and said the memorabilia was there because he collects “historical stuff”. He said he suffers from depression and had left the church but was being backed by the parish. A spokesman for his bishop said the priest would be supported through his issues.
A march and protest by North West Infidels, along with Polish fascists and young neo-Nazi group National Action took place this weekend in Liverpool City Centre. Over 500 people from anti-fascist groups dirsupted the march.
Fascists gathered near St George’s Square joined by Polish Nazis, and then moved into the square where the Nazis were allowed to hold their protest. Only after several hours were they finally marched out by the police to the station to board a train to Manchester.
The fascists threw projectiles including firecrackers at passersby and defaced buildings by painting swastikas on them.
A man was arrested on Clapton Common in north London yesterday after shouting antisemitic abuse at Jewish passersby, including references to “gas chambers”. Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, followed the man and ensured that the police were provided with witness statements.
Man shouting anti-Semitic abuse including reference to "Gas Chambers" followed by #Shomrim & arrested by @MPSHackney pic.twitter.com/B3VJPFteuO
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) February 28, 2016
A report written by a Dutch Jewish journalist, Margalith Kleijwegt, at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Education, found that there is rampant antisemitism within Dutch schools, especially amongst Muslim students.
The report, entitled “Two Worlds, Two Realities – How do you deal with it as a teacher?” gave many examples of antisemitism within the classroom, as recounted by teachers. In one example a student stood up and threatened to “gun down all Jews” with a rifle. In another example, in Amsterdam a female student of Moroccan descent stood up and pronounced: “If I had a Kalashnikov [assault rifle], I’d gun down all the Jews.”
The report found that some teachers feel they have no influence over students who have deep-seated prejudices against other students especially against Jews.
Kleijwegt wrote in the report, “Antisemitic behaviour is a recurrent problem in some schools. Some see it as a provocation [by pupils], others fear it goes deeper: that pupils receive anti-Jewish attitudes at home.”
Source: Arutz 7
Phyllis Kahn, a Minneapolis Democrat and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, is currently proposing a new bill under which anyone who is on the FBI terrorist watch list would be barred from buying firearms in Minnesota. In response, Kahn has received numerous antisemitic e-mails and voicemails, some of which Kahn has published, including the following voicemail: “Skank,” begins the message, “you [expletive] Jews from New York think you can [expletive] over law-abiding citizens because you are something special. Not! The reason the government black list is unconstitutional is there is no due process involved, dumb [expletive]. It won’t become law and would never be enforceable you ugly [expletive] bitch. But you bottom-feeding scum don’t care about that! Go back to New York with all the other kikes!”
Source: City Pages
Arab arsonists have set fire to prayer books in a synagogue in the town of Givat Sorek in Gush Etzion.
Source: NRG
Rock musician Ted Nugent has posted an antisemitic image on Facebook showing photographs of Jewish legislators and leaders who support gun control, labelling each photo with Israeli flags including comments such as “Jew York City mayor Mikey Bloomberg”. The image is titled: “Who is really behind gun control”
In a comment on the image, Nugent wrote: “Know these punks. They hate freedom, they hate good over evil, they would deny us the basic human right to self defense & to KEEP & BEAR ARMS while many of them have tax paid hired ARMED security!”
The Anti-Defamation League responded: “Making the outrageous suggestion that Jews are behind gun control, is nothing short of conspiratorial antisemitism. Regardless of one’s views on gun control, this kind of scapegoating of an entire religious group is completely unacceptable and completely divorced from reality.”
Source: Time
An antisemitism watchdog in Kassel, Germany, has reported that a banner reading, “Israel are racists like the SS” was attached to the facade of a local residence for several months. Clearly visible to the public from a main road, the propaganda falsely equates Israel to Germany’s Schutzstaffel.
The Schutzstaffel was a group of ‘body guards’ founded by Adolf Hitler, that, by 1939, had amassed over 250,000 troops. It went on to form the foundation of the Nazi regime, which is estimated to have murdered 11-17 million people.
The hateful propaganda material is said to have caused the local Jewish community considerable distress.
Sources: Informationsstelle Antisemitismus Kassel, Wikipedia
The Refugee Children Movement memorial in the Friedrichstraße area of Berlin, Germany, continues to be targeted by the right-wing, anti-refugee group “Bürgerbewegung Pro Deutschland” (Civic Initiative for Germany).
The memorial commemorates the rescue effort that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, when the United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Free City of Danzig.
In a repeat of January’s hate campaign, the party once again placed their publicity flyers inside an open suitcase represented in the sculpture. In December, flyers from “B.Ä.R.G.I.D.A”, the Berlin branch of Pegida, were also found there.
In November, a woman received antisemitic abuse from a passerby for looking at the memorial.
RIAS have reported that a mezuzah (a parchment of Jewish scripture fixed within a casing to door frames in Jewish homes) was torn off the entrance to a Jewish couple’s home in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany last week.
The couple live in an apartment that is set back from the street and is only accessible to other residents and visitors to the block.
Two Jewish professors at an American college claim they suffered antisemitic discrimination at their employer’s hands as a result of writing an article alleging a lack of Jewish perspectives within the school.
Eric Silverman and Gail Dines, who teach at Wheelock College in Boston, have filed federal workplace discrimination complaints arguing that Wheelock President Jackie Jenkins-Scott and her colleagues have harmed their reputations and careers.
Silverman works in the American Studies and Human Development departments, and Dines is a professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies and chair of American Studies. Both are seeking damages and attorneys’ fees.
Silverman told The Boston Globe: “It was just the sort of ongoing pattern that was horrifying. It sort of took my breath away.”
He alleges he was prevented from applying to administrative positions and falsely accused of using racist language in the classroom.
“People are scared to speak about anything because they’ve seen what’s happened to Eric and I, and they don’t want to be next,” said Dines, who has been at Wheelock since 1986.
Wheelock, which is known as a liberal arts college, denies the allegations and gave the following statement to USA Today: “Wheelock College is committed to providing a diverse workplace, free from discrimination and retaliation. Although Wheelock does not comment on the particulars of personnel disputes or litigation, it disagrees strongly with the allegations made in the actions recently filed against the College. The College is prepared to defend the institution against these claims, which it believes are without merit.”
Sources: USA Today and Boston Globe
Two days ago, The Jewish Press published an interview with an anonymous German peace activist, who warned that the growing far-right in Germany was increasingly “starting to blame its migrant population on the Jews.”
As recently reported, there is an emerging far-right conspiracy theory that terrorism and multiculturalism are ‘Zionist inventions’, designed to destroy the supposed racial purity of Europe and encourage Jews to emigrate to Israel.
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung, “The political mood in our society is clearly drifting off to the right.”
Source: The Jewish Press
Over forty graves at cemetery in Constance, Germany have been vandalised with graffiti. The desecration — which includes slogans sprayed onto gravestones such as “Jews to the gas” “I hate Germany” “Germany leave Syria” “Kill Christ” and “IS” — is still intact and in clear sight, three weeks on.
The cemetery’s management has said that some graves are listed, which has delayed their repair. The local Jewish community and other visitors to the cemetery, however, have expressed dismay at how the hateful messages continue to be left in clear sight.
A member of the local Jewish community, speaking to Südkurier, remarked that this is the worst antisemitic attack she has witnessed in the city in the forty years she has lived there. She added that she has frequently attempted to initiate discussions between local party and faith representatives, but that her efforts to encourage greater cohesion have been ignored.
Source: Südkurier
Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf is proving so popular in Germany since its re-release, demand is outstripping supply and it is virtually impossible to find a copy.
Mein Kampf lays out Hitler’s ideological program by identifying — in lengthy, semi-coherent passages — Jews as racially and ideologically inferior to ‘politically progressive’ and ‘racially superior’ Germany.
Mein Kampf was republished earlier this year for the first time since 1945, following the expiry of its copyright. By 8th January, the book’s publishers, the Institute for Contemporary History, had received some 15,000 pre-orders. It is currently Germany’s second-best selling non-fiction book.
There is concern within some quarters that many of the orders are from neo-Nazi admirers of Hitler, not academics seeking to study the Holocaust.
Jewish leaders in Germany have recently reported that Jews feel increasingly unsafe in Germany, amidst rising antisemitism and hostility.
Sources: Times of Israel, Wikipedia, Jerusalem Post
The Daily Telegraph has changed an article by Jeremy Warner which referred to Jewish financier Paul Singer and his hedge fund, Elliott Management, as “latter day Shylocks”. Warner’s article began by hailing a deal to reduce the amount of money owed by Argentina to Elliott Management, writing: “Latter day Shylocks at Elliott Management allowing, Argentina will soon have renewed access to international capital markets.” Warner went on to criticise the reluctance to reduce the debt owed by Argentina, writing that Argentina’s efforts to reduce the amount of debt it owed was “frequently obstructed by aggressively litigious hedgies such as Mr Singer demanding their pound of flesh.”
Source: Daily Telegraph
Former Labour MP for Derby North, Chris Williamson, has reacted to the exposure of rampant antisemitism at the Oxford University Labour Club by tweeting, “I hope they won’t find any such evidence. Did you see this [Channel 4] News item; brutal”. Williamson appears to both suggest that antisemitism had not been taking place at Oxford University Labour Club, despite numerous reports, not least from the Co-Chair who resigned in disgust at it, and that it is somehow linked to perceived “brutal” actions by Israel.
The most widely-accepted definition of antisemitism states that “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” is antisemitic.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has asked the Labour Party to investigate Chris Williamson over his tweet.
Labour Students and the University of Oxford are now understood to be investigating the Oxford University Labour Club.
What do we make of this response by @ChriswMP? Surely he is not suggesting that actions by the Israeli police justifies antisemitism in UK?
— Ian Austin (@LordIanAustin) February 18, 2016
Source: Sussex Friends of Israel
On 3rd February, several academic departments of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York sponsored a lecture by Rutgers Professor Jasbir K. Puar titled “Inhumanist Biopolitics: How Palestine Matters,” which constituted a conspiratorial reformulation of the blood libel.
At the outset of the public lecture, a Vassar professor requested that audience members not record Puar’s remarks, curiously stating that it would be “unseemly” to do so.
In fact, it was Puar’s remarks which were not only unseemly, but resonant of the most repugnant of anti-Semitic tropes.
Without any factual support, Puar accused Israel of a wide ranging conspiracy to use “asphyxiating” “biopolitical” means to exercise control over Palestinians. As one audience member reported: “She labeled Israel an apartheid state that uses its world-renowned reproductive technology to control population demographics by collecting genetic data to identify who is Jewish and specifically targeting Palestinian procreative organs. Paradoxically, she bragged that the Palestinian birthrate is triple that of the Jewish Israelis.”
In a transparent reformulation of the blood libel, Puar went on to “speculate” that the Israeli government has repeatedly executed young terror suspects, possibly while they were in ambulances, and then “harvested” their organs. She also asserted that Israel is embarked on a “eugenic” conspiracy to utilise medical and other technologies systematically to “stunt” and “maim” young Palestinians.
No member of the audience, including the many faculty members present, challenged the accuracy of Puar’s unsupported, conspiratorial allegations. At the conclusion of the lecture, an audience member asked a former head of Vassar’s Jewish Studies Program, which was among the sponsors of the lecture, if he accepted the accuracy of Puar’s contentions. He responded: “You prove to me that anything she said wasn’t true.”
In the wake of reports of Puar’s lecture, Vassar’s President vaguely acknowledged that “Some found at least parts of [Puar’s] talk offensive to Jews in particular,” but did not acknowledge that it was bigoted. To the contrary, she went on to suggest that blame is properly assigned to “online publications” and “social media” that have (accurately) reported on Puar’s speech and other anti-Jewish activities on campus, including the posting of anonymous antisemitic messages and the use of a Nazi propaganda poster by a purported Palestinian human rights group.
Sources: Observer, Legal Insurrection
The Co-Chair of the Oxford University Labour Club, Alex Chalmers, has resigned after the club voted to embrace “Israel Apartheid Week”.
Chalmers wrote about his resignation in a hard-hitting Facebook post, saying: “Whether it be members of the Executive throwing around the term ‘Zio’ (a term for Jews usually confined to websites run by the Ku Klux Klan) with casual abandon, senior members of the club expressing their ‘solidarity’ with Hamas and explicitly defending their tactics of indiscriminately murdering civilians, or a former Co-Chair claiming that ‘most accusations of antisemitism are just the Zionists crying wolf’, a large proportion of both OULC and the student left in Oxford more generally have some kind of problem with Jews. The decision of the club to endorse a movement with a history of targeting and harassing Jewish students and inviting antisemitic speakers to campuses, despite the concerns of Jewish students, illustrates how uneven and insincere much of the active membership is when it comes to liberation.”
Oxford University Labour Club is a member organisation of Labour Students, which said that they were “deeply troubled” and that they “unequivocally condemn any form of antisemitism”. Without offering any specifics, Labour Students promised to investigate and take action.
Since Chalmers announced his resignation, Oxford Jewish Society has published further allegations in a Facebook post of their own, shedding further light on the rampant antisemitism at the heart of the Labour Club.
According to Oxford Jewish Society:
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Jewish people should feel comfortable in any political party. Many of the pivotal figures in Labour have been Jewish, but we have also received increasing reports from Jewish Labour supporters who no longer feel welcome in their party. It has been more than three months since Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded to an antisemitic outburst by Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman by voicing ‘deep concern’ and assuring us that he was ‘implacably opposed to racism’ before deciding to take no disciplinary action whatsoever against the MP. We call for the Labour Party and Oxford University to investigate this matter fully and take the strongest possible action to demonstrate to Jewish students that antisemitism will not continue to be tolerated. Where the law has been broken, this matter must be referred to the police; these students are supposed to be amongst our nation’s brightest and cannot be excused.”
https://twitter.com/JoeMiles94/status/699727568988196865
Source: Campaign Against Antisemitism
RIAS have reported a sinister development in the campaign of antisemitic propaganda being distributed in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district since October of last year. New reports reveal that similar material has been targeted at Jews and Israelis directly in their homes in Berlin.
Since October, antisemitic propaganda material against “Jewish terror” and “potential attacks on Berlin’s citizens, streets and public libraries” has been attached to cars belonging to Jews and Israelis living in Charlottenburg. Police have advised that other cars were not affected and that this action appears to directly target Jews. In November, identical propaganda material was thrown onto Israelis’ balconies.
In December, the same material was found attached to a Jewish person’s car in Berlin’s Grunewald district, the first recording of such a targeting outside Charlottenburg.
One month later, another member of Charlottenburg’s Jewish community was targeted with material thrown on their balcony, which included a leaflet featuring the Anonymous logo. In the same month, identical leaflets were found attached to advertising displays, again in the Charlottenburg district.
At the end of January, again in Charlottenburg, new leaflets appeared, attached to traffic lights. These warned against “modern, Mossad dazzler attacks” and “TMS!”, possibly a reference to trans-cranial magnetic stimulation.
RIAS are appealing for further sightings and incidents to be reported immediately to www.report-antisemitism.de.
In a Facebook post entitled “Disrespectful dog”, Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher has admitted that he now stays off social media due to antisemitism.
Asscher’s great-grandfather, Abraham Asscher, was a member of the Jewish council set up by the Nazis to control Dutch Jews ahead of their extermination in death camps. Though he is not Jewish, Asscher said that “my Jewish last name is a plausible explanation for my behaviour and attitude”.
Asscher said: “I often no longer react to people who approach me on social media,” suggesting that social media users show their posts to their mothers or daughters first, saying: “If they also think it’s a good idea, go ahead and post.”
Source: Times of Israel
As six Jewish men walked home in Johannesburg, South Africa, a passing driver made offensive hand gestures shouted “F***ing Jews”. The vehicle returned a few minutes later and swerved, as though to knock the Jewish men over.
Source: CFCA
It has emerged that Croatia’s newly-appointed Culture Minister, Zlatko Hasanbegović, a member of the far-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), has written a book denying the murder of Jews by Croatia’s pro-Nazi regime.
The book denies the murder of 32,000 Jews by the Ustasha of the Independent State of Croatia. Hasanbegović has reportedly promoted the book on several neo-Nazi and White Supremacist websites.
There have been calls from around the world for Hasanbegović to resign.
Source: Arutz Sheva
Outside a public high school in Hudiksvall, Sweden, Holocaust denial flyers were handed out for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Source: CFCA
Facebook has removed “The Macquarie University White Student Union Page”, after it was reported by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry for antisemitic comments, including: “We will consider it a success when Jewish people no longer exist and all that remains is a vibrant, multicultural and diverse populace.”
In December, the Facebook group’s administrator posted a photo of Israeli tennis player Dudi Sela holding an Israeli flag at the Australian Open, writing: “The flag is racist…How dare he fly it so proudly in Australia, a country which stands for diversity, tolerance and vibrancy.”
The White Student Union is not officially registered with Macquarie University and a spokesperson from the university said: “It has been created by a third-party community group, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Macquarie University.”
Source: JP Updates
A 23-year-old Jewish man and his girlfriend have reportedly been subjected to antisemitic abuse from a fellow passenger on the London Underground. The victims were allegedly called “F***ing Jews” by the aggressor, who was described as Muslim, and told that they and their “people” were killing “my people”. Other passengers in the carriage apparently studiously ignored the incident, which is now being investigated by the police.
Source: Telegraph
The prosecution service for the city of Graz, Austria has made a statement that far-right magazine Die Aula was justified in describing liberated prisoners from the Mauthausen Nazi concentration camp as a “plague”.
Over the summer, Die Aula wrote, “The fact that a non-negligible portion of freed prisoners became a plague on people is deemed by the judiciary to have been proven and is only disputed today by concentration camp fetishists.”
Mauthausen was one of the largest slave camp complexes in the German-controlled areas of Europe, with four main sub-camps at Mauthausen and nearby Gusen, and nearly 100 other sub-camps located throughout Austria and southern Germany. The death toll remains unknown, although most sources place it between 122,766 and 320,000 for the entire complex.
Prosecution services initiated legal proceedings against Die Aula on grounds of Holocaust denial and inciting hatred but later dropped the charges. In their statement on the decision, they wrote “It is plausible that the release of several thousand people from the Mauthausen concentration camp presented a burden to the affected areas of Austria.”
Last week, Graz was the location of an act of vandalism against a Holocaust memorial.
A speaker at Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park has been caught on video ferociously and brazenly denouncing Jews.
Claiming to be against all religion, on the two occasions caught on video, the speaker issued a non-stop tirade against Jews, shouting at any identifiably-Jewish person who passed.
To one orthodox Jewish man he said: “You’re a very f***ing dirty Jew. Don’t take it personally, take it to hell,” continuing to passersby, “His cock has been brutalised by a rabbi paedophile who cut his foreskin off. That’s how f***ed up the Jews are.”
He told another orthodox Jewish male who was passing: “Look at the Nazi Jew and see him for what he is…Your time is coming as it did in my father’s country, Deutschland…Why do you think our ancestors kicked you out of Deutschland? You learn nothing, you smug, fat Jew. Smug, fat, bearded Jew! Scum!”
The speaker referred to Jews as “Twelve tribes of head-banging schizophrenics praying to a wailing wall.” He also repeatedly claimed that Jews were Nazis as well as being their victims, for example: “They started Nazi Germany, and they got it back, Adolf Hitler style.”
As Joseph Cohen recorded him, the speaker shouted: “The day the Jew becomes a human being will be the day the Jew becomes free of the s*** of Judaism! Simple. Record it and tell your f***ing rabbi to stop molesting boys.”
No police action appears to have been taken and we are helping one victim to make a criminal complaint.
Most disturbing was that the video showed not a single member of the public remonstrating with the speaker. On the contrary, one man approached him and shook him by the hand, and a woman was recorded defending the speaker, saying: “What the Jews are doing to Gaza, to the Arabs, I think it’s a nightmare…This does not mean I don’t have friends that are Jews.”
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Contrary to common perception, Speakers’ Corner is covered by no special laws and incitement to racial and religious hatred by a bigot standing on a ladder at Speakers’ Corner is just as illegal as it would be anywhere else. Speakers’ Corner is famous for freedom of speech, but that threatening and illegal hate speech is not permitted anywhere in our country. While we are for freedom of speech we do not believe that anyone has the absolute right to abuse freedom of speech to threaten and intimidate minorities. The law agrees with us. We are keen to identify the speaker in the video. If you can help, please contact [email protected].”
Source: Israel Advocacy Movement
An observant 25-year-old Jew was stabbed without warning yesterday as he walked down a street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. According to police, the victim, Yehuda Brikman, was in front of 646 Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights when he was “stabbed on the left side of his back by an unknown person. When the victim turned around, he saw a male running on the street away from him.” The victim was rushed to Kings County Hospital with what police said was a collapsed lung. The attacker was described as an African American man in his twenties or thirties who was seen on CCTV fleeing the scene.
The attack follows the stabbing on 3rd November of a Jewish emergency medical services volunteer under similar circumstances. The NYPD is investigating both incidents, and suspects they were motivated by religious bigotry.
There has been a spate of antisemitic incidents in New York recently.
Sources: Gothamist and Crown Heights Info
Teachers in Dutch schools feel powerless to counter violently antisemitic attitudes among their students, according to a new report commissioned by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Education.
Entitled “Two Worlds, Two Realities – How Do You Deal with It as a Teacher?”, the 55-page document has been created by Dutch-Jewish journalist Margalith Kleijwegt based on her visits to schools across the country and interviews with teachers since last January.
The report found strongly antisemitic views to be especially prevalent among Muslim students, with cited evidence including an incident at a high school in Amsterdam. A female teacher there told Kleijwegt how a female student of Moroccan descent stood up and said: “If I had a Kalashnikov [assault rifle], I’d gun down all the Jews.”
The teacher is quoted as saying: “I wasn’t getting there. I asked her to imagine a 5-year-old Jewish girl who lives here. What would she have to do with Israel’s policies? Unfortunately, there was no place for empathy. The pupil didn’t care about that girl. She had only one message: The Jews should die.”
Kleijwegt concluded: “Anti-Semitic behaviour is a recurrent problem in some schools. Some see it as a provocation [by pupils], others fear it goes deeper: That pupils receive anti-Jewish attitudes at home.”
Dutch Education Minister Jet Bussemaker commented that the report “shows a reality that is inconvenient and sometimes painful” but which must be addressed “in accordance to democratic values”.
Neo-Nazis in Greece’s third-largest city, Patras, have posed executing Nazi salutes alongside newly-painted neo-Nazi graffiti. One slogan read “Juden Raus”, German for “Jews Out”. The group are from AME (Unaligned Meander Nationalists), which has claimed responsibility for the vandalism of numerous Jewish monuments and cemeteries, according to Greek antisemitism monitoring service Ενάντια στον αντισημιτισμό.
Source: Ενάντια στον αντισημιτισμό
A supermarket in Rome has been defaced with a mural depicting a swastika and Star of David. The graffiti was discovered in the Ostia district of Rome.
Source: Osservatorio Antisemitismo
Neo-Nazis in Sweden have draped a huge “Holocaust is a hoax” banner over a motorway and illuminated it with flares. The facist group Motståndsrörelsen erected the temporary sign over one of Sweden’s busiest roads.
Source: CFCA
A campus menorah has been vandalised yet again at the University of Illinois. CCTV showed a man and a woman vandalising the menorah early on Sunday morning, breaking off one of its arms and breaking lightbulbs. This is the third time the menorah has been vandalised in recent months and it was only reconsecrated on 7th December. A new menorah will now be installed which is more resistant to vandalism. Police are investigating.
Source: CFCA/News Gazette
For the second time in two months, pigs’ legs have been found at the entrance of a synagogue of the Gur Hassidism in Arad, Israel. According to residents, worshipers at the synagogue found that four feet had been thrown at the synagogue entrance. No suspect has been identified.
Source: CFCA/Charedim.org
RIAS have reported an antisemitic incident that occurred at a workplace in Berlin-Mitte, Germany at the end of last year.
The victim was subjected to repeated claims by a colleague that Israel’s conduct in Gaza was equivalent to the Holocaust. When the person objected, the colleague in question began question the person’s “Jewish background”. When it emerged there was none, the colleague changed tack, accusing the affected person of being an “Islamophobe” and “anti-Islamic”.
Their manager requested that “political discussions” not be held in the workplace and granted the victim’s request to work in a different office. Under the EUMC working definition of antisemitism, “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is explicitly antisemitic. As RIAS point out in their report, the manager failed to recognise antisemitism and respond accordingly.
Students at an American college have had their bedroom doors vandalised with antisemitic graffiti.
Swastikas and phallic images were drawn on whiteboards affixed to students’ doors in Elizabethtown College’s Royer hall of residence overnight on 27th-28th January, while some residents also found graffiti inside their rooms, the college’s newspaper reported.
The college’s campus security department has interviewed witnesses and photographed the graffiti as part of its investigation to identify the culprits, who are suspected to be fellow students. Extra foot patrols are planned to prevent further vandalism.
The department also issued a statement reminding students that: “Verbal or physical, written or electronic expressions, which create an intimidating, hostile or offensive work, learning or living environment will not be tolerated.”
Source: The Etownian
A Jewish retirement home in the Bornheim neighbourhood of Frankfurt, Germany, was vandalised on Thursday night. The outside walls were daubed with swastikas and SS symbols. Police are appealing for witnesses.
Frankfurt was particularly badly hit by antisemitic graffiti over the summer of 2014, when hatred against Jews found a respectable outlet under the guise of protesting Israel’s defensive military action against attacks from Gaza. Over this period, a synagogue and Anne Frank learning centre in Frankfurt were both desecrated and a Jewish family’s home was sprayed with “Jews out!” messages.
Seniorenwohnanlage der Jüdischen Gemeinde Frankfurt am Main, Februar 2016 pic.twitter.com/pB85NPeXPq
— Frederik Schindler (@Freddy2805) February 5, 2016
Source: Frankfurter Rundschau
‘Stolperstein’ Holocaust memorials in Graz, Austria, have been vandalised. Police believe the memorials were desecrated with acid or abrasive paint. The matter is now under investigation.
This is the fourth report of vandalised Stolpersteine over the last five months, bringing the total of defaced or stolen Stolpersteine to 42 since October.
The incident in Austria also appears not to be a one-off. Stolpersteine were similarly attacked with an acidic substance in February and March of last year.
Hanno Wisiak, the deputy mayor of Graz, remarked that the political climate there was becoming toxic and the presence of the far-right threatening.
Source: CFCA/Steiermark
