Middle East Archives - Campaign Against Antisemitism

Mahmoud Abbas claims Holocaust was not about antisemitism

Mahmoud Abbas, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mazen, made a slew of antisemitic comments in a recent speech.

In the speech, which was delivered on 24th August to the Revolutionary Council of Fatah, Mr Abbas claimed that Jews were not “Semites” and were actually descendants of the Khazars. The Khazar myth is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims that Jews are descended from a Central Asian people and have no connection to the Land of Israel. He did, however, make the distinction that, in his view, Sephardi Jews are Semites “because they originated in the Arabian Peninsula”.

Mr Abbas also said in his speech: “They say that Hitler killed the Jews for being Jews and that Europe hated the Jews because they were Jews.”

He added, “It was clearly explained that [the Europeans] fought [the Jews] because of their social role, and not their religion. Several authors wrote about this. Even Karl Marx said this was not true. He said that the enmity was not directed at Judaism as a religion, but to Judaism for its social role.”

Referring to Hitler, Mr Abbas continued: “He said he fought the Jews because they were dealing with usury and money. In his view, they were engaged in sabotage, and this is why he hated them. We just want to make this point clear. This was not about semitism and antisemitism.”

Following Mr Abbas’ speech, Paris revoked his Medal of the City of Paris. The medal was awarded to Mr Abbas in 2015 in “recognition of his actions towards finding peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis”.

In an open letter to Mr Abbas, Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, said: “I condemn your comments in the strongest possible terms; no cause can justify revisionism and negationism. As you know, the Holocaust is part of the history of Paris…In our city, during World War Two, tens of thousands of children, women and men of the Jewish faith were rounded up, deported and then exterminated in death camps.”

Steffen Seibert, the German Ambassador to Israel, said: “The recent statement of President Abbas on Jews and the Holocaust is an insult to the memory of millions of murdered men, women and children.” He added, “The Palestinians deserve to hear the historical truth from their leader, not such distortions.”Decades ago, Mr Abbas argued in his faux doctoral dissertation in the Soviet Union that the Zionist movement and its leaders were “fundamental partners” of the Nazis and shared equal responsibility for the Holocaust.

Earlier this year, Mr Abbas caused controversy after he accused Israel of “lying like Goebbels”.

Last year, the German Chancellor condemned remarks by Mr Abbas in Berlin that Israel had committed “50 Holocausts”. Chancellor Olaf Schultz later said that the comment disgusted him, and Mr Abbas partially walked the comment back.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

Image credit: MEMRI

11/09/2023

Middle East, Politics, United States of America Website

Israeli model Shay Zanco allegedly asked to leave Egyptian hotel when staff discovered she was Jewish

An Israeli model was allegedly asked to leave an Egyptian hotel after its staff discovered her background.

Shay Zanco, who was in Egypt to accompany the American rapper Travis Scott on his tour, was reportedly asked to leave the hotel once staff discovered that she was an Israeli Jew, one day after her arrival.

Of the incident, Ms Zanco said: “I was very stressed and felt really humiliated. In the four years I’ve been [in the spotlight], I’ve never felt antisemitism or faced any problems because I’m Jewish and Israeli…this time it was something different. I left the hotel straight to the airport and caught the only flight there was to Paris, even though I had a photo shoot in Barcelona.”

According to Egyptian media, an official from the Chamber of Hotel Establishments of the Tourism Ministry in Egypt confirmed that the hotel was found to be unlicensed for tourism following an investigation.

He also said that hotels are not permitted by the Ministry to bar tourists from their premises based on nationality and confirmed that action will be taken against the business under Egypt’s Hotel Establishments Law.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

08/08/2023

Democrats lobby Egyptian Government to release cleric who advocated for murder of “any Zionist”

Democratic members of the United States Senate are pressuring the Egyptian Government for the release of Salah Soltan, a Muslim cleric who has a history of making inflammatory statements about Jews.

An amendment to the 2024 State Department appropriations bill, which proposes that Mr Soltan’s release must be considered as a condition for providing foreign aid to Egypt, has been approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The amendment was proposed by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons.

Mr Soltan’s children, who have publicly campaigned for his release for years, are understood to have contributed ten of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party. According to campaign finance records, his daughter, Hanaa Soltan, gave $47,000 to President Joe Biden’s campaign and his son, Mohamed Soltan, gave at least $10,000 to the campaign.

The Committee’s chairman, Sen. Robert Menendez, also reportedly received $5,800 last year from Mr Soltan’s son.

In an interview that was broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV in 2010, Mr Soltan reportedly said: “I want our brothers, and the whole world, to know what’s going on these days, during Passover. Read Dr. Naghuib Al-Kilani’s book, ‘Blood for the Matzos of Zion[sic]’. Every year, at this time, the Zionists kidnap several non-Muslims – Christians and others…They do this every year.”

The blood libel dates back to 1290 and was the pretext for the confiscation of all Jewish property and the complete expulsion of Jews from England.

Mr Soltan is also understood to have made controversial statements in an interview with Al Jazeera in 2011. In one, he said: “As someone who has studied Islamic law, specialising in Islamic jurisprudence, I am calling to kill the [Israeli] ambassador, not just expel him. Our sons were killed in our country, on our land, and our sons are being killed in Gaza by an occupying enemy. Brothers and sisters, the genuine rulings of Islamic law can no longer be silenced.”

He added: “Once I said: Any Zionist – tourist or other – who enters Egypt must be killed. We will not kill tourists from any [other] country. We stress that this fatwa is directed only toward those Zionists, who destroyed our country, killed our people, and shed our blood on our land.”

In a sermon that was broadcast by Al-Aqsa TV in 2012, Mr Soltan is seen saying: “I travel all over the world, and I met supporters of Al-Aqsa, of the prisoners, of Jerusalem, and of Palestine – people who thirst for the blood of the Jews, and who are eager for the promised war against the sons of Zion, until Palestine is liberated in its entirety.”

Mr Soltan was arrested by the Egyptian authorities in 2013 during President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

In 2015, the British Government published a report which found that the Muslim Brotherhood is linked to Hamas and conducted terrorist attacks against “both British and Jewish interests”, and “selectively used violence and sometimes terror in pursuit of their institutional goals.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout the United States.

Image credit: MEMRI

29/07/2023

International, Middle East, Politics, United Kingdom Website

UN finally issues mild condemnation of antisemitism

77 years since it was established, the United Nations has finally passed a resolution that includes a condemnatory reference to antisemitism.

The joint UK-United Arab Emirates resolution – Security Council resolution 2686 on Tolerance and International Peace and Security – expressed “deep concern” at discrimination, including antisemitism.

The four-page resolution made a solitary reference to antisemitism in one paragraph, which read: “Expressing deep concern at instances of discrimination, intolerance and extremism, manifesting in the form of hate speech or violence based on race, sex, ethnicity or religion or belief, such as but not limited to persons belonging to religious communities, in particular cases motivated by Islamophobia, antisemitism or Christianophobia, and other forms of intolerance which may occur in the lead up to, during, and in the aftermath of armed conflict, and in that regard, recognising the efforts of the United Nations system to address hate speech at the national and global level.”

The resolution was passed by the fifteen-member Security Council on 14th June.

The UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador James Kariuki said: “Freedom of religion or belief, including the freedom not to have a religion, is a fundamental human right. And yet religious minorities have time and time again been specifically targeted.”

A spokesperson for the UAE said: “Among a number of other firsts, resolution 2686 is the first UN Security Council resolution to directly refer to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Christianophobia, and also the first resolution to acknowledge that hate speech, racism, and extremism have the potential to stoke tensions, fuel grievances, and descend into conflict. The resolution acknowledges these phenomena as threat-multipliers and really is an unprecedented step forward for the Council.”

While the inclusion of a condemnation of antisemitism in a UN resolution for the first time in over three-quarters of a century is momentous, the resolution cannot reasonably be said to represent a recognition of the scale of the rise in anti-Jewish racism in recent years, let alone decades, nor of the UN’s role and that of many of its members in enabling it.

The resolution comes after the UN delayed a conference on combating antisemitism amid concerns from groups around the world, including Campaign Against Antisemitism, that the UN might fail to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism and thereby undermine the fight against the world’s oldest hatred.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

21/06/2023

Conspiracy theories, Media, Middle East Website

Report reveals disturbing antisemitic rhetoric espoused in Palestinian Authority media

A report by a non-profit has revealed numerous disturbing antisemitic comments being espoused in the Palestinian Authority media.

According to Palestinian Media Watch, researcher Muhammad Al-Yahya is said to have stated on Talk of the Hour, an official Palestinian Authority television channel, that “Jews are arrogant by nature” and “Jewish thinking is based on racist ideology.”

Jordan Muhammad Al-Burin, a journalist repeatedly invited to speak on the channel, reportedly opined that the Holocaust was “truly fabricated” and that “the Zionists cooperated with Hitler to advance their state.”

Palestinian Media Watch has previously exposed abundant expressions of antisemitic tropes in official PA media outlets, such as the claim that “Jews control American institutions” and that Israel is “reenacting the Nazi Holocaust.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

Image credit: Palestinian Media Watch

19/06/2023

Arts and entertainment, Europe, Middle East, Politics, Social media Website

Antisemitism on Twitter flares up over Israeli Eurovision finalist

Antisemitic content has reportedly increased dramatically after the Israeli Eurovision contestant finished in third place.

Cyberwell, an NGO that uses artificial intelligence to track online antisemitism, released a report analysing Eurovision-related antisemitism, revealing that over ninety percent of anti-Jewish rhetoric was found on Twitter.

Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, founder and Executive Director of Cyberwell, said that its monitory technology “noticed a specific uptick in antisemitic narratives criticising the Eurovision as being rigged by the Jews or specifically picking on Noa Kirel.”

Ms Kirel, Israel’s contestant, also faced online backlash due to comments made regarding Poland’s role in the Holocaust. Ms Kirel told Israeli media: “Receiving twelve points from Poland after what our people and my family have been through in the Holocaust, it’s a true victory.”

Pawel Jablonski, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister, denounced the comment and denied the implication of Poles’ complicity in the Holocaust, an accusation that was made a criminal offence in Poland in 2018.

While Poles fought the Nazis and many helped to save Jews, much of the population either actively collaborated with the genocide of the Jewish people or stood by as it took place predominantly on Polish soil during the Nazi occupation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout Europe.

02/06/2023

International, Middle East Website

Report claims Saudi Arabia has removed “practically all antisemitic material” from Islamic Studies textbooks

Education authorities in Saudi Arabia have reportedly removed a substantial amount of antisemitic rhetoric from the Kingdom’s Islamic Studies textbooks.

The research group IMPACT-se has been tracking the progress of the expungement of this material, and has reported that “practically all antisemitism” has been removed from Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Studies educational resources, which represents a significant improvement since the organisation’s 2020 report on the issue.

Impact-se CEO Marcus Sheff stated: “This follows the previous removal of significant amounts of antisemitism in other subjects over the last four years. While all textbook reform is important, Islamic Studies textbooks are particularly consequential.”

“Highly inflammatory hadiths and texts” have been removed from textbooks, such as statements accusing Jews of being apostates who have “sold their souls,” according to the report.

However, while many derogatory remarks were removed, the report has found that problems still remain. Zionism, for example, is described as a “Jewish racist political movement” that “aims to expel the Palestinian people and establish a Jewish state by force.”

The International Definition of Antisemitism lists “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” as an example of antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

24/05/2023

Mahmoud Abbas accuses Israel of “lying like Goebbels” in his latest equation of Jewish state to Nazis

Mahmoud Abbas, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mazen, has accused Israel of “lying like Goebbels” in his latest equation of the Jewish state to Nazis.

The autocratic President of the Palestinian Authority made the claim in a speech to the United Nations this week to mark “Nakba Day” (“Catastrophe Day”), which bewails the establishment of the Jewish state.

In an hour-long speech – double his allotted time – Mr Abbas said: “Israeli and Zionist claims continue by saying that Israel made the desert bloom. As if Palestine was a desert and they made the desert bloom. These are lies. They continue to lie, like Goebbels, and they continue to lie until people believe their lies.”

Joseph Goebbels was the Nazi Propaganda Minister. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

Mr Abbas also denied the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, despite it being the holiest site in Judaism for millenia and the site of the two ancient Jewish temples. He claimed that the Israelis have “been digging for 30 years to find any evidence or proof of the existence” of a Jewish connection to the area. “They haven’t found anything,” he falsely said, in the face of abundant evidence to the contrary. “Al-Sharif belongs exclusively to the Muslims,” he said, referring to the Temple Mount by an Arabic appellation.

Mr Abbas also called for the suspension of the Jewish state from the United Nations.

Numerous countries refused to attend the propagandist event altogether, including the UK, United States and Canada, with several others lowering their level of representation.

Decades ago, Mr Abbas argued in his faux doctoral dissertation in the Soviet Union that the Zionist movement and its leaders were “fundamental partners” of the Nazis and shared equal responsibility for the Holocaust.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

17/05/2023

Europe, Middle East, Politics, Schools Website

European Parliament calls for suspension of educational support to Palestinian Authority due to antisemitism in textbooks

The European Parliament has passed a resolution demanding the suspension of aid to the Palestinian Authority for educational purposes until antisemitic rhetoric is removed from its textbooks.

The vote took place on 10th May, with 421 votes in favour of calling on the European Commission to apply a suspension, out of the 577 votes cast by participating Parliamentarians.

According to Impact-se, an NGO which monitors educational resources used by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the PA distributes study cards accusing Jews of being “in control of global events through financial power,” and sets assignments instructing children to describe Israeli soldiers as “Satan’s aides”.

A similar resolution was passed by the European Parliament in May 2021, resulting in aid to the Palestinian Authority being frozen for thirteen months. However, aid recommenced in January 2022, after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated “all the difficulties are gone.”

In 2020, Norway cut its funding to the PA over similar concerns, and the UK has done so as well, reportedly for other reasons.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

11/05/2023

Hamas denounces UAE’s inclusion of Holocaust education in curriculum

The genocidal antisemitic terrorist group Hamas has denounced the United Arab Emirates after the UAE decided to include education about the Holocaust in its curriculum.

A spokesperson for Hamas said: “We condemn and denounce the UAE embassy’s announcement in Washington that its country has included materials on the ‘Holocaust’ in its educational curricula, and we consider that support for the Zionist narrative and a form of cultural normalization.” The word “Holocaust” was written in scare quotes, indicating scepticism about its veracity.

The statement came shortly after the UAE said that “memorialising victims of the Holocaust is crucial,” and that “public figures and scholars should be encouraged to discuss the Holocaust and protect common human values while leaving political differences.”

Hamas has long opposed the teaching of the Holocaust in schools operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is itself no stranger to controversy relating to antisemitism. Thirteen years ago, in an open letter to UNRWA, Hamas described the Holocaust as “a lie invented by the Zionists”, adding: “Regardless of the controversy, we oppose forcing the issue of the so-called Holocaust onto the syllabus, because it aims to reinforce acceptance of the occupation of Palestinian land.”

In 2011, a Hamas official called the Holocaust “a lie that has crumbled.”

In 2021, the UK banned Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist group following calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

11/01/2023

Middle East, Sports Website

Qatar reportedly bans public Jewish prayer and refuses to serve cooked kosher food, despite earlier promises

Qatar has banned public Jewish prayer and refused to serve cooked kosher food, it has been reported.

This news, which was announced as the FIFA World Cup begins in Qatar, arrives despite earlier promises that both public Jewish prayer and cooked kosher food would be available, according to The Jerusalem Post.

A representative of a Jewish organisation said: “We were promised to be allowed to create prayer spaces in order for religious Jews who came to see the games to have a place of worship. We were recently told that they banned places of worship for Jews because they cannot secure them.

“They were promised to be able to cook kosher food including kosher meat, but at the moment have only been allowed to sell cold bagel sandwiches.”

A large group of American Jews has also reportedly cancelled their plans to attend games in Qatar following its refusal to sell cooked kosher foods, referencing fears that there would not be enough to eat. One member of the group questioned why Qatar “doesn’t know how to secure Jewish worshipers?”

It was understood that those who wanted to keep kosher would have access to cooked meals, with Rabbi Marc Schneier stating that an agreement was made in which Qatar’s first kosher kitchen would be established in time for the beginning of the World Cup.

Rabbi Schneier works extensively in promoting interfaith relations between Jews and Muslims. Last year, following a meeting between Rabbi Schneier and the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, it was announced that for the first time, Azerbaijan would commemorate International Holocaust Memorial Day.

Father and son Rabbi Mendy Chitrik and Rabbi Eliyahu Chitrik were selected to head up Qatar’s kosher kitchen, which will reportedly serve challah for Shabbat, bagel sandwiches with spreads such as hummus, vegetables and smoked salmon.

Rabbi Chitrik declined to comment on reports of Qatar refusing to sell cooked kosher food.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

21/11/2022

Holocaust-denial, Middle East, Politics Website

Iranian President questions Holocaust, calling for it to be “investigated by researchers”

The President of Iran has appeared to question the veracity of the Holocaust and delegitimise the existence of the state of Israel.

In a CBS “60 minutes” interview, Ebrahim Raisi was asked by host Lesley Stahl whether he believed that six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. He replied: “Historical events should be investigated by researchers and historians. There are some signs that it happened. If so, they should allow it to be investigated and researched.”

Asked about Israel’s right to exist, Mr Raisi said: “You see, the people of Palestine are the reality. This is the right of the people of Palestine who were forced to leave their houses and motherland. The Americans are supporting this false regime there to take root and to be established there.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, denying the Holocaust and “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” are both examples of antisemitism.

Mr Raisi also condemned any Arab states that recognise Israel by establishing diplomatic relations, commenting: “If a state shakes hands with the Zionist regime, then they are also an accomplice to their crimes.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of antisemitism. Just last month, for example, the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed that “The western powers are a mafia. The reality of this power is a mafia. At the top of this mafia stand the prominent Zionist merchants, and the politicians obey them. The US is their showcase, and they’re spread out everywhere.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

19/09/2022

Middle East, Sports Website

Popular Iranian Olympic wrestler announces “Hitler is my hero”

A popular Iranian wrestler has reportedly announced that “Hitler is my hero.”

Greco-Roman wrestler Mohammad Ali Geraei, who came in fifth place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, cited Hitler as an inspiration, along with boxer Muhammad Ali and footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in an interview with an Iranian publication over the weekend.

Mr Geraei won bronze at the World Championships in 2017, 2019 and 2021, and gold at the 2018 Asian Games, and is a revered figure in Iranian sports.

Sardar Pashaei, a former Greco-Roman wrestling champion and head coach of Iran’s team, now turned activist, told The Jerusalem Post that he was “very sad” to see how Iranian athletes “have become government puppets and have to learn the lesson of hate instead of friendship.”

Mr Pashaei, who is now an American citizen, added: “Geraei’s words are like rubbing salt on the wounds of millions of people whose families were victims of hatred. The International Olympic Committee should end appeasement with Iran, and ban the presence of officials and athletes who are part of the Iranian government’s repression and hatred apparatus. We will soon send a letter to the World Wrestling Federation and demand the suspension of Ali Geraei for his antisemitic comments.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

06/09/2022

Conspiracy theories, Middle East Website

Palestinian Authority President partially retracts “50 Holocausts” comment but faces investigation

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has partially revised comments that he made in which he accused Israel of committing “50 Holocausts”.

In a new statement released by the official Palestinian Authority news agency, Wafa, in which he walked back his earlier remarks, Mr Abbas, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mazen, said that the Holocaust was “the most heinous crime in modern human history”.

However, this has apparently not prevented Mr Abbas from facing an investigation for possible incitement to hatred in relation to his comments. This is because it is a criminal offence to minimise the Holocaust in Germany.

This does not mean that Mr Abbas will face a full investigation, because he would be immune from prosecution because he was visiting Germany in an official capacity.

Speaking on stage alongside the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, while on a visit to Berlin, Mr Abbas refused to condemn the horrific attack by Arab terrorists at the Munich Olympics in 1972, when they murdered eleven Israeli athletes. The fiftieth anniversary of the attack is due to be commemorated this year.

Instead of condemning the terrorist atrocity, Mr Abbas accused Israel of committing “50 Holocausts”. He said: “From 1947 to the present day, Israel has committed 50 massacres in Palestinian villages and cities, in Deir Yassin, Tantura, Kafr Qasim and many others, 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was standing next to Mr Abbas when he made his remark, later condemned it on Twitter, writing: “For us Germans in particular, any relativisation of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I am disgusted by the outrageous remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

23/08/2022

Europe, Middle East, Politics Website

German Chancellor “disgusted” by Palestinian Authority President’s remarks diminishing the Holocaust in his visit to Berlin

The German Chancellor has condemned remarks by the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) made while on a visit to Berlin.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, also known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mazen, refused to condemn the horrific attack by Arab terrorists at the Munich Olympics in 1972, when they murdered eleven Israeli athletes. The fiftieth anniversary of the attack is due to be commemorated this year.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

The Israeli Prime Minister also condemned the comments, writing on Twitter: “Mahmoud Abbas accusing Israel of having committed ‘50 Holocausts’ while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie. History will never forgive him.”

The official Palestinian Authority news agency, Wafa, did not include the Holocaust comments in its report of the meeting between Mr Abbas and Mr Scholz, and the Palestinian Authority dismissed the condemnations and issued no apology.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

17/08/2022

UAE Princess who campaigns against online hate accuses Jews of leveraging Holocaust for sympathy and compares Israel to Nazis

An Emirati Princess has accused Jews of leveraging the Holocaust for sympathy.

Princess Hend bint Faisal Al-Qasimi recently tweeted: “6,636,235 Jews were killed in WW2, killed in Europe. At least 12.5M Muslims died in wars in past 25 years. You never hear a Muslim writing books, movies, starts a law that if you don’t sympathise with our plight you are less of a human. We forgive & move on.”

The Princess, a royal from the Al-Qasimi family that rules Sharjah, the third-largest city in the United Arab Emirates, has over half a million followers on Twitter.

She has also tweeted that “the media that is controlled by you know you”, and elsewhere: “We’ve all cried at what the Nazis have done to the Jews in Germany. Yet, it’s funny how the very same Jewish Zionists don’t cry at the EXACT SAME thing that they are doing to the Palestinians. Take their homes if they don’t leave, terrorize them & bomb it. The dead don’t speak.”

In yet another tweet, she asked “Are Zionists making Jews look like the new Nazis?”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

The Princess serves as the editor of a lifestyle magazine and became prominent campaigning against anti-Muslim hatred online.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

08/08/2022

US condemns Iranian Supreme Leader’s “Zionist merchants” tweet

The United States has condemned claims made by the Supreme Leader of Iran, who said that the West is a mafia-like organisation under the control of “prominent Zionist merchants”.

The US Antisemitism Envoy, Deborah Lipstadt, responded to tweets issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said that “The western powers are a mafia. The reality of this power is a mafia. At the top of this mafia stand the prominent Zionist merchants, and the politicians obey them. The US is their showcase, and they’re spread out everywhere.”

Ms Lipstadt tweeted: “We denounce this continued, egregious antisemitism. This rhetoric is unacceptable – not to mention dangerous – especially from a head of state. It must cease.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran says that its interest is in the destruction of Israel and Zionism, claiming that “Eliminating the Zionist regime doesn’t mean eliminating Jews”. Despite this, commentators have frequently pointed out that the regime’s rhetoric, especially under the administration of the former President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which has been adopted by many of its political allies, merely replaces the word “Jew” with the word “Zionist” when circulating antisemitic conspiracy theories.

According to the US-based group, Secure Community Network (SCN), the massive rise in antisemitic hate crimes during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and the genocidal antisemitic terror group Hamas is partially explained by the “explosion of disinformation” on social media, which SCN attributes to Iran.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

We denounce this continued, egregious antisemitism.

This rhetoric is unacceptable – not to mention dangerous – especially from a head of state. It must cease. https://t.co/m2JmxRMUrz
— Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt (@StateSEAS) July 28, 2022

04/08/2022

Arts and entertainment, Middle East, Retailers Website

Imam preaches reconciliation between Jews and Muslims in Hajj speech

An imam who is known for his attempts to encourage reconciliation between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity has delivered the main address during the Hajj held in one of the most significant mosques in Mecca.

Sheikh Dr. Mohammad al-Issa has vocally condemned the “unconscionable crimes” that were committed against Jewish people during the Holocaust, visited the death camp at Auschwitz with a group of fellow Muslims, and publicly expressed his outrage about antisemitism.

Although the Sheikh did not say anything specific about antisemitism during this address, he did say that truly following Islam involved “avoiding all that leads to dissent, animosity, or division; and instead, ensuring that our interactions are dominated by harmony and compassion.”

The sermon follows the Sheikh’s invitation to speak to students from the Orthodox Jewish higher education institution Yeshiva University in 2020, where he said that he is “proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish and Christian brothers and sisters to build understanding, respect, love and inter-religious harmony.”

On another occasion, he said that “We may have differences, but we must have love for one another and come together.”

Sheikh al-Issa has proved controversial in Saudi Arabia, as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan, because some clerics disapprove of his attitude towards Jews, which they claim makes him “impure”.

Saudis from the younger generation, however, apparently applauded the move on Twitter, saying that this was “the right path” to take.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.

12/07/2022

Arab airlines to screen film about Portuguese Inquisition’s persecution of Jews

Airlines from a number of Arabic-speaking countries have acquired the rights to show a film about the Portuguese Inquisition in Porto.

Qatar Airways, Iraqi Airways, Kuwait Airways, Egyptair, Middle East Airlines from Lebanon, Syrian Airlines and others now have the rights to show 1618, a film about the Portuguese Inquisition in the city of Porto, which took place 120 years after Portuguese Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity or coerced into exile.

The film was produced by the Jewish community of Porto and sold to the air carriers as part of a program to combat antisemitism by telling the story of the city’s Jewish community.

1618 is about the lives of Porto’s so-called “New Christians” who were severed from the Judaism of their ancestors. In particular, it follows the story of 100 so-called “New Christians” who were imprisoned by the representatives of the Inquisition, which frightened the rest of the community into fleeing.

The film will be released in September 2022 with a premiere to be held in Porto.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout the Middle East.

12/07/2022

Arts and entertainment, Middle East Website

Israeli Charedi woman creates immersive virtual reality film about Auschwitz

A Charedi woman from Israel has created an immersive virtual reality film that shows the viewer the horrors of Auschwitz.

Miriam Cohen was unable to go on a trip to Poland to see the death camp in person aged seventeen, and developed the film to document it for people who are not able to visit it.

A Triumph of Spirit offers 360-degree views of what Auschwitz looks like from the inside while the viewer is guided by a historian and researcher, Yisrael Goldwasser.

Now that large Charedi audiences in Israel have seen the film, there are plans to bring the film to the UK.

Ms Cohen said: “If we’re talking about religious girls, none of them watch movies. They don’t watch Holocaust movies, or stuff like this. They only read about the Holocaust and they imagine. And when they see this movie, suddenly their imagination and all they read about – it gets a form.”

With antisemitism increasing worldwide, Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news relating to antisemitism globally.

Image credit: Jewish News

06/07/2022

Europe, Middle East UK-only e-mail list (not for international stories), Website

Adolf Eichmann admits devising Final Solution in newly unearthed audio

The Nazi Adolf Eichmann can be heard in newly-unearthed audio admitting having helped to devise the Final Solution.

Eichmann, a leading SS officer in the Third Reich, made the admissions in a secret interview in his adopted home of Buenos Aires, to which he fled after the war.

The interview was conducted by the Dutch Nazi sympathiser and journalist Willem Sassen in 1957, a few years before Eichmann was captured by Israeli intelligence agents in 1960 and flown to Israel, where he stood trial and, after being found guilty, was executed.

In the audio, Eichmann is heard saying: “If we had killed 10.3 million Jews, I would say with satisfaction, ‘Good, we destroyed an enemy.’ Then we would have fulfilled our mission.” In another clip, he says: “Jews who are fit to work should be sent to work. Jews who are not fit to work must be sent to the Final Solution, period.” He added that he “did not care” whether those sent to Auschwitz lived or died.

The audio recordings, which are part of a $3 million new documentary called The Devil’s Confession, also capture Eichmann swatting a fly during the interview and describing it as having “a Jewish nature”.

Although in his trial, Eichmann claimed that he was merely a low-ranking functionary and proclaimed his innocence of the charges, in the interview audio he is open about his role, saying: “It’s a difficult thing that I am telling you and I know I will be judged for it. But I cannot tell you otherwise. It’s the truth. Why should I deny it? Nothing annoys me more than a person who later denies the things he has done.”

Part of the transcript of the interview was sold to Life magazine following Eichmann’s capture, but the quoted material was believed to be highly selective and sanitised.

Although the Israeli court had 700 pages of transcript, including corrections made by Eichmann’s own hand, he claimed that the record distorted his words and Israel’s Supreme Court did not permit the documents to be submitted in evidence. Nevertheless, during the trial Eichmann taunted the prosecutor, Gideon Hausner, to produce the original tapes, safe in the knowledge that they were protected by Nazi sympathisers. Although Hausner was offered the tapes for an exorbitant sum, the seller reportedly insisted that they not be brought to Israel until after the trial had concluded. Eventually, the tapes came into the hands of the German federal archives Koblenz, with instructions that they should be used only for academic research.

The audio was unearthed by the documentary makers after access was finally granted to the material by the German authorities.

06/07/2022

Report shows “improvement” in levels of antisemitic material in Saudi textbooks, but “a few examples of antisemitism remain”

Education authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun to remove antisemitic material from school textbooks.

The research group, IMPACT-se, has been tracking the progress of this project and the report they have produced has reached mixed conclusions.

The report says that there is “a continuing overall trend of improvement” in what Saudi children will learn about Jews in the present. This includes the removal of references to Jews being “disobedient” and Qur’anic verses about Jews being turned into monkeys, as well as the repetition of the idea that one of the goals of Zionism is to bring about a “global Jewish government”.

Also removed were lessons that involved students writing down attempts by “the Jews” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, and denials of the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount.

However, the report notes that “a few examples of antisemitism remain. Jews and Christians in pre-Islamic times are presented as wrongdoers. Israel remains omitted from maps; and Zionism still described as racist”.

With antisemitism increasing worldwide, Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on antisemitic incidents globally.

01/07/2022

Teachers from United Nations Relief and Works Agency make inflammatory comments about Jews despite public commitment not to

According to a report by a non-government organisation (NGO), teachers working with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) have continued to publish posts on social media containing inflammatory remarks about Jews, despite making a commitment not to do so.

One prominent example is Hana’a Daoud, a teacher based in Jordan, who wrote a post which quoted an inflammatory passage from the Koran quoted in the Hamas Charter, which says: “‘The Last Hour will not come until the Muslims fight against the Jews, until a Jew will hide himself behind a stone or a tree, and the stone or the tree will say: O Muslim, there is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him’. This is what Allah has promised us, and victory is ours, and Jerusalem is ours, and Gaza is ours.”

Another example is the computer teacher, Nihaya Awad, who at one point posted an image of an armed member of the genocidal antisemitic terror group, Hamas, standing next to a child. This was accompanied by a text praising Hamas, which said: “We testify by Allah that you have demonstrated your faithfulness…and conveyed the message…and have won for your Al-Aqsa…and have broken your enemy’s nose…and have rekindled hope in your faith…may Allah accept your obedience…and raise your matter.”

The Director of the NGO, United Nations Watch, the UN watchdog that authored the report, said: “Around the world, educators who incite hate and violence are removed. Yet UNRWA, despite proclaiming ‘zero tolerance’ for incitement, systematically employs preachers of anti-Jewish hate and terrorism. We call on the governments that fund UNRWA, as they gather at the United Nations to announce new pledges, to declare that they will stop enabling a system that teaches new generations of Palestinians to hate and murder Jews.”

With antisemitism increasing worldwide, Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on antisemitic incidents globally.

24/06/2022

Israeli Knesset adopts the International Definition of Antisemitism

The Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Though Israel became the second country in the world to adopt the Definition, after the United Kingdom, in 2017, it had been adopted by the Government by not yet formally endorsed by the Knesset as well.

The motion was passed by a majority of 33 against five opponents, mostly from one of the Arab coalitions. It is disappointing that some opposed this act of solidarity against racism.

Knesset Member for the New Hope Party, Zvi Hauser, who proposed the adoption of the Definition said: “I am proud and excited that the Knesset approved my proposal and thus joined over a thousand parliaments, organisations, local and federal governments that have adopted this Definition and adopted examples of modern antisemitism, including opposition of the right of self-determination of the Jewish people. This is an important step in the battle on combating antisemitism.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has consistently backed efforts by the Government to encourage widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities, universities, public bodies and other institutions. The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street.

24/06/2022

“Zionists are responsible for the Holocaust” graffiti found at Mount Zion Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem

Graffiti associating Zionists and Nazis has been found at the Mount Zion Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.

The graffiti, which was written with a metal marker on a garbage can, wall, water fountain, tombstone, and baby-nappy-changing station, included the phrases “Zionists = Nazis”, “Zionists are responsible for the Holocaust”, and “Cursed Zionists, your end is near”.

The phrase “Zionists are responsible for the Holocaust” was seen scrawled on a tombstone commemorating the 50,000 Jewish Holocaust victims at the Bergen-Belsen death camp.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Image credit: Israel Police

12/06/2022

Media, Middle East, Websites Website

Iran’s “Jewish Studies Centre” publishes over 1,000 inflammatory articles about “bloodthirsty” and “deviant” Jews since 2016

Reports have surfaced that a “Jewish Studies Centre” backed by the Iranian regime has published over 1,000 inflammatory articles about Jews since its establishment in 2016.

The Centre has apparently published articles, reports, comment pieces, books, and videos. Much of the output is arranged into ten categories with names like “Jews and the Media”, “Jewish Methods”, and “Jewish Corruption”.

One such category bears the name “Jewish Plots”. Containing about 50 articles, this section of the website exists to accuse Jews of taking part in a conspiracy to undermine Iran and the rest of the Islamic world.

Other examples of the output include claims that Jews are “bloodthirsty” and a “deviant” people who are guilty of “infanticide”, and that Jews are “promoters of corruption, drug trafficking, superstition, racism and homosexuality around the world”. This includes the claim that Jewish fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger is part of a wider Jewish conspiracy to promote sexual permissiveness.

Some of the material includes Holocaust denial, which is described as a “myth” and “a new religion in the West” promoted by Jews in order to extract money from the United States and establish the State of Israel.

The Jewish Studies Centre, which some critics have said is a deliberately misleading name, is supported by the Revolutionary Guards, the Foreign Ministry, the Religious Endowments Organisation, and a number of other bodies directly associated with the Iranian state.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

08/06/2022

Jordanian media outlet repeats classic antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and greed

It has been reported that the state-backed Jordanian daily newspaper, Al-Rai, has published a number of articles with inflammatory content, including Holocaust denial.

The articles reportedly purport to “corroborate” the recent false claims by Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, that Adolf Hitler was of Jewish origin, with one article claiming to provide concrete historical evidence that Hitler was Jewish. One of the articles also claims that the fact that Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish suggests that Jews are willing to become Nazis.

The articles also state that Israel exaggerates the scope of the Holocaust, using it to extort Western governments for money, that Zionists collaborated with the Nazis, and that there is a sinister “global Zionist” conspiracy, led by the Rothschild banking family, to export terrorism around the world.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

16/05/2022

Charities, Middle East Website

“Never in my life has anything like this happened to me”: Israeli tourists on a trip to Jordan prevented from entering the country after border officials disrespect their tefillin

It has been reported that a group of Israeli tourists attempting to visit Jordan were prevented from entering the country because the border guards found Jewish religious items in their baggage.

During a security check at the border, the group of seven men, part of a larger group of approximately forty insurance agents on a two-day trip to Jordan, were apparently asked to open their suitcases. When they did so, officials found their tefillin (phylacteries) before taking their passports and taking them into another room.

The border guards reportedly said that the group were not allowed to take their tefillin sets into Jordan because they were religious signs and the Jews could be victimised for wearing them.

Tense negotiations followed for two hours, in which the border guards allegedly refused to grasp the significance of the items.

After this, the tourists decided not to join the rest of the larger group and returned to Israel.

Amit, one of the group, said: “Never in my life has anything like this happened to me anywhere I have travelled around the world. It’s bizarre to do something like that to you because of your beliefs. I have been putting on tefillin since by bar mitzvah, for 28 years every morning. If they were doing it to a Christian or a Muslim person, then I’m sure there would have been a whole story and a mess over it.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

13/05/2022

Poll data shows nearly half of Israelis fear another Holocaust, as another study shows global antisemitism at record high

A survey has shown that nearly half the Israeli public is concerned about another Holocaust taking place.

The poll, organised by the Pnima group, aimed to probe particularly sensitive questions about public memory of the Holocaust, as well as fears about Iran’s nuclear project and repeated threats to destroy the Jewish state.

The results showed that 47 percent of Israelis feared another Holocaust, though the results varied across different demographics: women came out as more fearful than men, the young more than older citizens, and the religious community more than secular Jews.

The data also showed that most Israelis think the way that Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) is commemorated will undergo significant changes as the generation that survived the Holocaust eventually disappears.

The poll came as another study, conducted by the Centre for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, showed that global antisemitism had reached record highs. The UK, United States, Canada, France and Germany were among the countries highlighted in the report.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

28/04/2022

Palestinian Authority TV station broadcasts Ramadan sermon calling for “extermination” of the “evil Jews”

The official television station of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has broadcast an imam’s exhortation to “exterminate” the Jews, according to an Israeli media watchdog.

According to Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch, the imam appealed to “Grant us victory over the infidels. Allah, delight us with the conquest and liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Allah, make us among the first to enter, the conquerors, the worshippers, and those calling out ‘Allahu Akbar’ inside [the mosque] to You, Master of the Universe. Allah, delight us with the extermination of the evil Jews, O Master of the Universe, and [the extermination] of their hypocritical supporters who have evil in their hearts.”

The prayer was broadcast on PA Television on 17th April as part of Ramadan coverage at the Al-Ain Mosque in El-Bireh, near Ramallah.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

28/04/2022

Israeli Knesset member’s virtual meeting zoombombed with antisemitic abuse

A member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, is reported to have tried to hold a Zoom meeting about the relationship between Israel and Jews in the diaspora, only for him to become a target for references to Hitler and the Nazis.

Zoombombing is when people join a Zoom video call with the intention of derailing it. This usually involves spewing antisemitic, racist, or otherwise hateful rhetoric.

Alon Tal, a member of the Blue and White party, organised the open-access online event, entitled “How Israel can better represent Jews around the world?” for the evening of Sunday 20th March.

Soon after the gathering began, however, several people joined in and began filling the screen with offensive language. They also wrote “Hitler was right” and plaudits for other Nazi leaders in Zoom’s chat function. Mr Tal was then forced to cancel the call, which has been rescheduled for the evening of Sunday 27th March.

Quoting the Hasidic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Mr Tal is reported to have said: “We will continue to strengthen our partnerships with our friends around the world. And most importantly, we will have no fear at all.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

24/03/2022

European Union halts aid to Palestinian Authority over antisemitism in school textbooks

The European Union has reportedly put a stop to €214million of annual aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) following concerns about antisemitic materials in PA textbooks.

Oliver Varhelyi, Hungary’s EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, suggested that any aid received by the PA come on the condition that “antisemitism and incitement” are removed from educational material used by PA schools. Mr Varhelyi has a record of concern on this issue.

It has been reported that the blocking of the funds was spurred by the publication of a 200-page report by the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in 2021, which cited numerous examples of exhortation to violence against, and demonisation of, Jews and Israelis.

One religious studies textbook reportedly requires students to inquire into “repeated attempts by the Jews to kill the prophet [Muhammad].” Another textbook makes a connection between Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib, aunt and companion of the Prophet Muhammad – who, according to both Quranic and biographical sources, beat a Jew to death with a club during the Battle of the Trench in 627AD – to a question about how relentlessly brave women are when confronted with “Jewish Zionistic occupation.” Beirut-born Dalal Mughrabi, who belonged to the Fatah faction of the PLO, also features in these teaching materials. Ms Mughrabi was involved in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in which she and her associates murdered 38 Israelis, including thirteen children, before being killed by security forces. PA textbooks often refer to her as a feminist icon. Similar examples of incitement are reportedly evident across the curriculum, including in science and mathematics books as well as humanities texts.

The European Parliament has previously raised concerns about antisemitic incitement in PA textbooks as well.

Haaretz reports that the issue is now in the hands of the European Commission, which will make a decision on the future of the funding, since neither Mr Varhelyi’s initial proposal passed nor could a the fourteen-country majority be mustered to overrule.

In 2020, Norway cut its funding to the PA over similar concerns, and the UK has done so as well, reportedly for other reasons.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

17/03/2022

Iranian news agency linked to Revolutionary Guard reportedly publishes antisemitic hit piece on Ukrainian President

Ukranian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has been the target of an article by an Iranian pro-government media outlet that reportedly relies on antisemitic tropes.

The long article, circulated by the Fars News Agency, uses what The Jerusalem Post calls a “word salad” of typical antisemitic notions. Mr Zelenskyy is accused of Jewish “immorality”, including hedonism, greed, corruption and malign political influence through the control of Ukrainian oligarchs, Donald Trump, and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who is described as “one of Zelensky’s most influential role models.”

Mr Zelenskyy is accused in the article of being not only a “hedonistic Jew” but an amoral “follower of the school of hedonism, which legitimises the attainment of pleasure in any way possible, and this school has spread to all aspects of his existence.”

The article also emphasises Mr Zelenskyy’s Jewish heritage and brands him a “Zionist”, an epithet of abuse in official Iranian outlets. Mr Zelenskyy is said to have “thanked the Zionist regime for its support of his country.”

Mr Zelenskyy’s is accused of having “deep ties to Jewish officials and the rich, such as George Soros.” Mr Soros is a Jewish financier who is often the target of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

From there, the Fars News Agency article makes a bizarre leap into the realms of conspiracy theory by connecting Zelensky and Ukraine’s need for financial and military aid not only to the former American president and George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, but to Jeffrey Epstein. The article describes how Epstein was “one of Zelensky’s most influential role models. The abuse of women and illicit sexual relations is a powerful tool in the hands of managers who try to achieve their goal by any means possible.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

14/03/2022

UN panel reports only seven Jews remain in Yemen due to persecution from Houthi rebels and Government

A United Nations (UN) panel has stated that persecution from Houthi rebels, the Iranian proxy whose organisation is known as Ansar Allah, and a previous Government have forced Yemeni Jews out.

The findings were included as a part of the UN’s report on how civil war has affected Yemen, and stated that a Jewish population of 50,000 has now been dwindled down to just seven, one of whom is imprisoned.

The report said: “The panel documented the systematic persecution of Jews in Houthi-controlled areas.

“Most of [the] Jewish population left Yemen after several years of persecution, which started under former President Ali Abdullah Saleh but intensified under the Houthis. The panel knows of seven Jewish individuals still in Yemen, including one who remains detained despite an order to release him issued in July 2019.”

The report also detailed the ongoings on a Houthi summer camp where children were expected to “regularly shout the Houthi slogan ‘Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam’.”

Earlier this month, we reported that the Health Minister for the areas of Yemen controlled by the rebel Houthis embarked on a rant about Jewish people in which, among other statements, he accused Jews of controlling the global economy.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

07/02/2022

Middle East, Uncategorised Website

“The Jews always work in the shadows”: Houthi Health Minister claims Jews control global economy in televised rant about “Jewish hatefulness”

The Health Minister for the areas of Yemen controlled by the rebel Houthis, the Iranian proxy whose organisation is known as Ansar Allah, embarked on a rant about Jewish people in which, among other statements, he accused Jews of controlling the global economy.

Taha Al-Motawakel’s rant was made on 21st January in Sanaa, the largest city in Yemen, and was televised on Al-Eman TV.

During the four-minute-long excerpt uploaded to YouTube, Mr Al-Motawakel can be seen saying that Jewish people “control the global economy” and invested their money in the United Arab Emirates because they were too “cowardly and miserly” to invest in Tel Aviv, owing to the supposed fact that Jewish people know that Tel Aviv is “in the midst of a conflict with the Arabs and the Muslims.”

He then went on to say that “Jewish billionaires” began to “conspire against the Islamic nation from Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” before going on to call the two cities “Jewish colonies” that are “managed, controlled and supervised by the Jews.”

He continued, stating: “As you know, the Jews always work in the shadows.”

“It is America and Israel who are killing us today,” he added. “The horrific massacres committed today are not designed by human minds. They are the result of Jewish hatefulness.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is an example of antisemitism.

The video concludes with Mr Al-Motawakel emphatically stating: “We are in a real confrontation with the Jews.”

Also in January, a Houthi scholar stated that the “Jewish regime” of the Saud clan must be “uprooted”.

In April, explicitly hostile attitudes to Jewish people and Israel, including repeated use of the slogan “curse on the Jews”, were found in educational materials in Yemen.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

02/02/2022

Media, Middle East, Uncategorised Website

Turkish media tries to link Jews with Armenian genocide

Turkish pro-government media published an article that appears to try to link Jews with the Armenian genocide which took place in 1915, during WWI, under the Ottoman regime.

The article, alleging that “Jewish influence behind the scenes” had been involved in the “Armenian deportation,” was a long and rambling conspiracy theory, stretching from fourteenth-century Venice to 1970s London, referencing WWI and Nazi ideology. Its thesis supports the position of the Government of Turkey, which denies responsibility for the Armenian genocide.

The pro-Government media which supports the ruling AK Party has frequently published articles containing antisemitic content. This latest essay, headlined “Young Turks, Jews, Freemasons and the Armenian deportation,” was published by Daily Sabah. The outlet is known for its pro-Government line, undermining claims that the Turkish Government has instructed Turkish media to reduce the inclusion of antisemitic tropes in output as the country seeks reconciliation with Israel.

The article was tweeted by the newspaper with the claims of “Jewish influence” highlighted.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

02/02/2022

Disappointment as UN acknowledges but fails to adopt International Definition of Antisemitism

A speech by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has disappointed mainstream Jewish groups for merely “acknowledging” the International Definition of Antisemitism but failing to adopt it.

However, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has welcomed the Secretary-General’s commitment to combatting antisemitism.

Speaking at a UN event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mr Guterres said that “a shared understanding” of antisemitism could serve the work of the UN, as well as “all global efforts to uphold human rights.”

Mr Guterres then read aloud the Definition, but without mentioning all of the examples, which are integral to the Definition and its application. The Secretary-General also acknowledged “the efforts of countries that have agreed on the common definition of antisemitism.”

Mr Erdan had raised expectations over the speech when he told a news outlet that Mr Guterres would use his remarks to announce the UN’s adoption of the Definition along with its application at all UN bodies, hence there was some disappointment that the Secretary-General fell short of these expectations. The UN has thus not gone as far in signalling its readiness to combat antisemitism as numerous countries which have adopted the Definition.

Nevertheless, Mr Erdan interpreted the speech as effectively “adopting” the Definition and “applying it in the UN bodies,” adding that he had raised the issue in several meetings over the past year with Mr Guterres, who had now “effectively recognised” the Definition. In a statement, the Israeli Mission to the UN said that the speech meant that the Definition could be used to “fight antisemitism within various UN bodies.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

31/01/2022

Middle East, Retailers, United States of America Website

Israeli resolution combatting Holocaust denial gets overwhelming support at United Nations

For only the second time ever, an Israeli resolution has been passed by the United Nations’ General Assembly, in this instance about preserving the memory of the Holocaust and combatting denial.

The resolution, which passed last week, called for a clear definition of Holocaust denial and concrete steps to fight it.

With 114 countries listed as co-sponsors – including many that joined minutes before it was carried – the resolution was passed by consensus.

The resolution also calls for the adoption of the International Definition of Holocaust, some of the examples of which deal with Holocaust denial, and resolves for UN member states and agencies to promote Holocaust education and awareness.

The only country that publicly opposed the resolution was Iran, whose ambassador claimed that Israel exploits “the suffering of Jewish people in the past as cover for the crimes it has perpetrated over the past seven decades against regional countries.” Iran is unable to vote at the UN, however, because it has not paid its due for the past two years, therefore it could not request a full roll-call vote.

Israel’s previous successful UN resolution, passed by the UN General Assembly in 2005, established 27th January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

26/01/2022

Europe, Media, Middle East Website

German broadcaster suspends relationship with Jordanian TV channel over “disgusting” antisemitic images

A German news broadcaster has suspended cooperation with a Jordanian television station following the discovery of antisemitic comments and caricatures posted on the channel’s social media network.

Deutsche Welle announced the suspension following reports in Vice magazine about the Jordanian TV channel, Roya TV.

Deutsche Welle’s Guido Baumhauer apologised for their failure to “notice these disgusting images” and said that the broadcaster would now have to “re-evaluate the cooperation” with Roya TV.

He added that some content disseminated on the station’s social media channels was not compatible with Deutsche Welle’s values and they would now “review our selection of partners even more critically,” particularly with regard to antisemitism.

Deutsche Welle said it had originally selected Roya TV for partnership because of the Jordanian station’s promotion of gender equality, the rights of minorities in Jordan and media literacy among young people.

Deutsche Welle has a “legal mandate to bring German and European perspectives into the international discourse,” a spokesperson added, and had “established an active dialogue with media partners in many countries.”

Deutsche Welle is also currently investigating allegations of antisemitism against several employees in its own Arabic editorial department as well as freelance journalists abroad.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

08/12/2021

“A tremendous degree of antisemitism exists here,” wrote Albert Einstein about American academia in rare letter being put up for auction

A rare letter being put up for auction reveals Albert Einstein’s concerns over antisemitism in American academia.

The 1936 missive, sent to Einstein’s friend Bruno Eisner, the Austrian Jewish pianist, when Eisner was staying in New York and considering a position in academia in the United States, is being put up for auction by the Jerusalem-based Kedem Auction House.

Einstein wrote in the handwritten letter: “A tremendous degree of antisemitism exists here, especially in academia (though also in industry and banking).”

The Nobel laureate elaborated: “Mind you, it never takes the form of brutal speech or action, but simmers all the more intensely under the surface. It is, so to speak, an omnipresent enemy, one that is impossible to see, and whose presence you only perceive.”

Einstein observed that “the assignment of positions is completely disorganized, so you find out about vacancies at any given location only through personal connections,” and revealed that his assistant was driven from the country by antisemitism and took a position in Russia instead.

Eisner went on to a career as a concert pianist and professor of music with positions at universities and music academies across the United States until his death in 1978.

The letter will reportedly be auctioned this week with a suggested price of NIS 40,000 (£9,600). Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Image credit: Kedem Auction House

22/11/2021

Arts and entertainment, Middle East, Social media Website

Saudi children’s cartoon animates story where Allah turns Jews into apes due to their “trickery and deception”

A Saudi YouTube channel has reportedly uploaded a cartoon aimed at children where Allah turns Jews into apes due to their “trickery and deception”.

The story is reportedly from the Quran and seemingly depicts three groups of Jewish people; a group who sinned, a righteous group, and a group opposing the righteous group.

The video uploaded to the Ibtikar Media channel says that in a test of the Jews’ faith, Allah would send a surplus of fish on the Sabbath, but would forbid them from fishing so that they can focus on prayer.

The story goes on to say that the group of Jewish “sinners” then “employed a trick” where they would cast their fishing nets on Friday so that the fish would get caught in the net on Saturday, to then be collected on Sunday. According to the video, this group would fish on the Sabbath by “employing trickery and deception”.

The righteous Jews “would warn the people about Allah’s wrath and His punishment, and would forbid them from doing what they were doing,” and the third group would “oppose the people who forbade these acts.”

The narrator of the animation continues: “When the sinners did not heed the words of advice, Allah’s punishment came upon them at night. The group that commanded good were spared the punishment. The fate of the third group was not mentioned. The punishment of the sinners was that they were transformed into apes.”

The video concludes by saying that the Jews who were transformed into apes were able to recognise their relatives, however, their relatives were not able to recognise them. The narrator states that shortly after that, the Jews who were turned into apes died, “leaving no descendants”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues its robust engagement with social media companies over the content that they enable to be published, and we continue to make representations to the Government in this connection.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

18/10/2021

Middle East Website

Afghanistan is now ‘Judenrein’ after last Jew flees country to escape Taliban and ISIS affiliate

Afghanistan is believed to have lost its last Jew after Zebulon Simantov fled the country out of fear of persecution by the Taliban and the local ISIS affiliate.

The 62-year-old has served as the keeper of the lone remaining synagogue in the country’s capital, Kabul, but left the Central Asian country last week with other fleeing exiles following the American and NATO retreat.

Two American Jewish philanthropists were reportedly involved in his extraction from the war-torn country following the fall of Kabul to the Islamist Taliban and the recent terrorist attack by ISIS-K, the local affiliate of the terror group, on refugees seeking passage from Kabul airport.

Mr Simantov was reportedly reluctant to leave Afghanistan both because he wished to stay and keep the synagogue, and also because it would likely mean granting a divorce to his wife, who lives in Israel (where authorities can pressure recalcitrant spouses to grant religious divorces when appropriate).

The danger from Islamist antisemitism in his native Afghanistan was, however, apparently severe enough to overcome his reluctance, which saw him decline earlier invitations to leave.

Mr Simantov’s flight represents the latest exile of a Jewish community from an entire country due to antisemitism, a trend with a history spanning millennia.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

13/09/2021

Middle East Website

Antisemitic terrorist group Hamas congratulates Taliban on conquest of Afghanistan, which many fear will embolden Islamists across the world

The antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, Hamas, has reportedly congratulated the Taliban on its conquest of Afghanistan.

Following the fall of Kabul in recent days to the Taliban, infamous for its Islamist ideology and barbaric practices, the Hamas terror organisation issued a statement of support.

“We congratulate the Muslim Afghan people for the defeat of the American occupation on all Afghan lands, and we congratulate the Taliban movement and its brave leadership on this victory, which culminated its long struggle over the past twenty years,” Hamas said in a statement.

A member of Hamas’ political bureau also tweeted earlier this week: “Today Taliban is victorious after it used to be accused of backwardness and terrorism. Now, the Taliban is more clever and more realistic. It has faced America and its agents, refusing half-solutions with them. The Taliban was not deceived by the slogans of democracy and elections and fake promises. This is a lesson for all oppressed people.”

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh recently met with a Taliban delegation in Qatar, where he currently resides, and received the Taliban’s congratulations on Hamas’s “victory” against Israel in its recent conflict with the Jewish state. Antisemitism surged across the world, including in Britain, over the course of that conflict.

There are concerns that the two groups may increase their cooperation following the Taliban’s takeover of the Central Asian country, and that Islamists around the world – in the Middle East, Europe, Britain and elsewhere – will be emboldened by the Taliban’s success.

Last month, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Home Secretary urging her to proscribe Hamas in its entirety in the UK, as our allies do. This week, we wrote to all MPs encouraging them to write to Priti Patel as well with the same request.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2020 showed that over eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.

20/08/2021

Europe, Incidents, Middle East Website

Repatriation for French Jew who claimed he received antisemitic abuse in Turkish prison

A French Jewish man serving a sixteen-year prison sentence in Turkey who claimed that he was receiving antisemitic abuse in prison has been repatriated to France.

As reported by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Fabien Azoulay, 43, was convicted for buying a small amount of the drug GBL. He claimed that he did not know the drug was illegal in Turkey as GBL had been legal there until six months prior to Mr Azoulay purchasing it with his credit card. Earlier this year, his family said that he was being harassed and repeatedly assaulted in prison because he was Jewish and gay.

In April, shortly after their statement, a petition demanding his release received thousands of signatures. There was also a resolution by the City Council of Paris calling on Turkey to release him, saying his sentence was “excessive”. According to French radio, President Emmanuel Macron intervened with Turkish authorities on behalf of Mr Azoulay.

Although Mr Azoulay was transferred to France as a prisoner to supposedly serve the remainder of his sentence, it is understood that he will not go to prison as his actions do not violate French law.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Image credit: Change.org

20/08/2021

Central and South America, Incidents, Middle East Website

Argentina condemns Iran over promotion of man allegedly to linked to fatal Jewish community centre attack

Argentina has strongly condemned the nomination by Iran of Ahmad Vahidi to be the new interior minister.

Mr Vahidi is a former head of Quds, the paramilitary wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard. In that role, Mr Vahidi is a leading suspect in the planning of the 1994 terrorist attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 died and hundreds more were seriously wounded.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry described the news as “an affront to Argentine justice and to the victims of the brutal terrorist attack.” The Foreign Ministry also reiterated that Mr Vahidi was wanted by the Argentine courts which considered him to be “a key participant in the decision-making and planning” of the AMIA attack.

Mr Vahidi is one of four Iranians who – since 2007 – have been the subject of an Interpol Red Alert for their alleged role in the 1994 bombing. Iran denies any involvement in the attack and refuses to allow its officials to be investigated.

If Mr Vahidi’s nomination by Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi is confirmed by parliament, this will be his second Cabinet post. He was Defence Minister from 2009 to 2013 and he has also served as chancellor of the Supreme University of National Defence.

The Foreign Ministry statement added: “The Argentine government once more requires the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to co-operate fully with the Argentine courts, permitting the persons accused of participating in the attack against AMIA to be tried.”

America’s Simon Wiesenthal Centre also expressed criticism of the appointment, describing it as “an insult to Argentina” and “a blow to the families” of the victims.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

17/08/2021

Protestors near Nablus build and set alight swastika inside Star of David in ceremony reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan

A video uploaded to Twitter on Saturday showed protesters in the town of Beita, a town under the Palestinian Authority control near Nablus, holding flaming sticks and watching on as a handmade structure depicting a Star of David with a swastika in the centre burned.

The act, reminiscent of a Ku Klux Klan ceremony, was reportedly a part of the ongoing protests toward the nearby Jewish town of Evyatar.

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Ghassan Alian, said: “In using these symbols of hate, the demonstrators crossed a line. Any comparison between Nazi and Zionist ideas indicates just how ignorant the person who does such a thing really is, both historically and morally.”

“This type of act does not represent the values of any society, particularly not the Palestinian one…Anyone who took part in this dreadful event should be ashamed of himself,” said Major General Alian. He added: “We strongly condemn this shameful act and call upon the Palestinian people to do the same.”

Mohammed Zain, a local activist from the Nablus area, defended the actions as a means of “peaceful protest”. He said: “The young men demonstrating against the illegal settlements are heroes. We will continue the peaceful protests until we foil the Israeli Government’s plan to seize our lands. What happened on Saturday is not because we are against the Jewish religion, or because we support Hitler. We just wanted to send a message that there isn’t much of a difference between Israel and the Nazis.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

مشاهد من فعاليات الإرباك الليلي قرب البؤرة الاستيطانية في بلدة بيتا.

تصوير: عبدالله بحش#فلسطين pic.twitter.com/omvKCgrkkO
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 14, 2021

16/08/2021

Middle East, Social media, United States of America Website

Media “go-to voice on Israeli-Palestinian affairs” spreads “vicious Jew-hatred” on Twitter and in world’s top media outlets

Media monitoring organisation Honest Reporting has alleged that the Ramallah-based Mariam Barghouti, whom it describes as “a go-to voice on Israeli-Palestinian affairs” is spreading “vicious Jew-hatred” via social media and her media contributions,

The media-monitor claims that Ms Barghouti spreads “vicious Jew-hatred” on her verified Twitter account which has more than 74,000 followers. In her posts, she has described Israel as “beating Hitler at his own game since 1948,” and has referred to “racist Zionist-Nazi’s [sic].”

In other posts, she has asserted that “Zionism did nothing but exploit the tragedy of the Holocaust,” and claimed that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “supports racism…and the ethnic cleansing of a people,” adding that he was “a war criminal and a Nazi.” Honest Reporting offers links to the tweets “in case they are deleted,” noting that “they can be viewed here and here.”

The media monitor says that Ms Barghouti’s so-called “accounts of everyday West Bank life” that have been published by many outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and, most notoriously, Newsweek “provide withering narratives” about Israel, or as Ms Barghouti calls it, the “colonialist project.”

Other pronouncements include a claim that the Israeli army, police and settlers were “working together in tandem” to carry out “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinians and that Tel Aviv “is a settlement.”

Readers “should never have been exposed to the thoughts and opinions of someone who has harboured such deeply antisemitic sentiments,” declares Honest Reporting, noting that despite her alleged antisemitism, Ms Barghouti continues to appear in “the pages and on the websites of some of the most high-profile publications in the world” allowing her propaganda to be “internalised” by a large number of people.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

06/08/2021

Spike in antisemitism across the globe linked to Iranian Twitter accounts

There was an 80% rise in antisemitic hate crimes – including physical attacks on Jews in the US and Europe – during the May conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to the Secure Community Network (SCN), a US-based group.

SCN partially attributes the spike to an “explosion of disinformation” on social media, which it links to Iran.

According to research by the Network Contagion Research Institute – affiliated to Rutgers University and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) – this was allegedly spread and “amplified” by Twitter accounts linked to the Iranian regime. These accounts allegedly spread messages such as “Hitler was right” and “kill all Jews” at a rate of 175 times per minute.

According to ADL chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt, “the troll armies of the Islamic Republic of Iran” were behind the Tweets.

SCN said that a study by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University revealed that the Twitter hashtag “#COVID1948” – promoting the idea that the Jewish state was a dangerous virus – originated with an Iranian network in April 2020 and could allegedly be traced to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The hashtag was used to link COVID-19 with various antisemitic conspiracy theories, including blaming a “Zionist plot” for creating the pandemic. These spread rapidly in Iran and across the Middle East and were allegedly officially promoted by Iran’s state-owned media and by its proxies with one Houthi official reportedly saying: “That virus that has spread all over the world – the Jews are behind it.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

22/06/2021

Middle East, Social media Website

More Clubhouse rooms emerge in support of Hamas and calling for death to Jews and LGBT people

Clubhouse is rampant with antisemitism yet again with users calling for the death of Jews and donning profile photos of Hamas, the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group.

Clubhouse is a live audio app that emerged during the COVID-19 lockdown, described by Bloomberg News as a favoured haunt for “venture capitalists and other Silicon Valley insiders.”

Last night, users participated in a pro-Hamas Clubhouse room called “Why are all Zionists ugly?” which featured several users donning profile photos of Hamas militants. It is understood that participants in the Clubhouse room also praised Hitler and issued death threats to Jews.

The room was shut down but a second was opened in its place, named “Zionists VS. HAMAS”, which not only featured users with Hamas profile photos but also one user with an image of a Jewish man beneath Hebrew text that called him a “dog” and a “whore.”

It was also reported by a Twitter user that hostile activists also raided another Clubhouse room titled “LGBT Jews and Allies”, where they called for death to Jews and LGBT people.

Last week, it was reported that there was a Clubhouse room called “Is Zionism racism?” that was filled with “antisemitism, hate and ignorance.” According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is an example of antisemitism.

This is not Clubhouse’s first brush with antisemitism. Last month, the Oscar-nominated actor LaKeith Stanfield apologised for failing to stop an antisemitic discussion in a Clubhouse room he was moderating.

Last October, the app found itself caught in controversy after antisemitic stereotypes were allegedly invoked during an online discussion it was hosting on relations between Jews and African Americans.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for tougher regulations on social media sites and that social networks proactively search for and remove hate speech from their platforms.

https://twitter.com/Fionn_Grunspan/status/1402751086059048962

10/06/2021

Leader of antisemitic genocidal terrorist group Hamas thanks Iran for providing funding and weaponry and “the West and Europe” for showing support

The leader of Hamas has publicly thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran for providing funding and weapons to his antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, and he also expressed gratitude for “the enormous support in the West and Europe.”

Ismail Haniyeh thanked the Iranian theocratic regime in a speech from his current residence in Qatar that was aired on Iran’s state-run Press TV.

The speech was broadcast a few hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect last Friday after eleven days of conflict.

“I cannot but thank those who brought forth money and weaponry to the valiant resistance: the Islamic Republic of Iran, which did not hold back with money, weapons and technical support. Thanks,” Mr Haniyeh said in his speech.

Iran has long been accused of providing support to Hamas, and now Hamas’ own leader has proudly confirmed it.

Mr Haniyeh said further that over the course of the conflict, “We saw our Arab and Islamic nation arose, from east to west, in all its components and factions, behind Jerusalem and Palestine and the resistance,” adding that “Resistance is the best strategic choice for liberation and return.”

He went on to praise the “enormous support in the West and Europe.”

The conflict has seen antisemitic assaults, threats, chants, banners and property damage targeting Jewish communities around the world.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Head of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas Ismail Haniyeh thanks the Islamic Republic of Iran for supplying money and military support. pic.twitter.com/NT6KiW0hVt
— Press TV (@PressTV) May 21, 2021

25/05/2021

Middle East, Websites Website

Turkish Jewish community website targeted in antisemitic hack attack

The Turkish Jewish community’s main news website has been targeted in an antisemitic hack attack.

The home page of the Salom website was reportedly taken down by a group called “IBDA-Cyber Front”.

The hackers displayed the flag of the Palestinian Authority alongside a child with a slingshot, and sent a message that read: “Our actions will continue until Palestine is free and independent!”

Avlaremosis, a Turkish website monitoring antisemitism, said: “It is obvious that the attack carried out will fuel the hatred of the Jews in Turkish society.”

Earlier this week, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew American ire after publicly promoting an antisemitic trope.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Image credit: The Algemeiner

21/05/2021

Conspiracy theories, Middle East, Politics Website

Pakistani Foreign Minister challenged by CNN anchor on antisemitic tropes live on air

The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has been challenged live on air after he repeated antisemitic tropes about Jewish power.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in an interview with CNN that Israel was “losing the media war, despite their connections” but was interrupted by the anchor, CNN’s Senior Global Affairs Analyst, Bianna Golodryga, who asked him what he meant by “their connections”.

Mr Qureshi reacted with laughter before saying “deep pockets”.

“What does that mean?” the anchor asked.

“Well, they’re very influential people, they control media.”

Ms Golodryga called him out, replying: “I mean, I would call that an antisemitic remark.”

Mr Qureshi doubled down, insisting that “they” have a lot of influence, but that this influence is being balanced by “citizen journalists”.

Ms Golodryga asked whether the discussion over the conflict between Hamas and Israel cannot be separated from antisemitic discourse, but Mr Qureshi evaded answering the question. Ms Golodryga persisted in asking why he used an antisemitic trope, and Mr Qureshi claimed that his comments are based on the “perception” and put the onus on the victims of antisemitism to “negate” the perception, a suggestion that Ms Golodryga rejected.

At no point in the interview did Mr Qureshi acknowledge that his remarks were antisemitic or even denounce antisemitism, despite multiple requests by the anchor to do so.

The exchange took up half of the ten-minute interview, which then turned to Pakistan’s relative silence on China’s policy in Xinjiang compared to its vocal condemnations of Israel. Mr Qureshi quickly shifted the conversation to Kashmir instead.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

OMG, this is a must-see: Discussing Israel's actions in Gaza, Pakistani FM said Israel has "deep pockets" and "they control media," prompting an impressive pushback from CNN's @biannagolodryga 👇 pic.twitter.com/BuxqtsDpo1
— Noa Landau נעה לנדאו (@noa_landau) May 20, 2021

21/05/2021

Turkish President Erdogan draws American ire after accusing Jews of being “murderers” who are “only are satisfied by sucking [the] blood” of their victims

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Jews of being “murderers” who are “only are satisfied by sucking [the] blood” of their victims.

During a speech made in Ankara, President Erdogan spoke about the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Accused of using the terms “Jews” and “Israelis” interchangeably, President Erdogan was quoted as saying: “They are murderers, to the point that they kill children who are five or six years old. They are murderers, to the point they drag women on the ground to their death and they are murderers, to the point they kill old people…they only are satisfied by sucking their blood.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis” is an example of antisemitism.

President Erdogan’s rant prompted condemnation from the United States. The State Department spokesman said: “The United States strongly condemns President Erdogan’s recent antisemitic comments regarding the Jewish people and finds them reprehensible. We urge President Erdogan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from incendiary remarks, which could incite further violence.”

These accusations were rejected by Omer Celik, President Erdogan’s Party spokesman. Mr Celik said that “accusing our President of antisemitism is an illogical and untrue approach. This is a lie said about our President.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

20/05/2021

Three synagogues torched in antisemitic “pogrom” in Lod, Israel

Three synagogues have been torched in Lod in what the Israeli town’s Mayor likened to an antisemitic pogrom.

Intense Arab rioting broke out in the central Israeli city, which is populated by a mix of Jewish and Arab residents. Cars and numerous shops were also set ablaze, while City Hall and a local museum were also reportedly attacked.

The Mayor compared the situation to the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom in Nazi Germany, as he lamented that decades of coexistence had broken down. In response to his pleas for help, the Israeli Government declared a state of emergency in the city for the first time in decades and bolstered the law enforcement presence.

Harrowing videos of the video and of sacred Torah scrolls being removed from the ruins have circulated on social media.

One Jewish resident told the media: “Gangs of Arab youths are going street to street, burning stores, smashing windows. Jewish families are huddled at home, terrified of going out. Their cars are being set alight outside… Police are nowhere to be seen.”

There were also reports that some Jewish residents were refraining from using public bomb shelters to protect themselves from Hamas rocket fire for fear that they would be attacked by mobs if they appeared in the open.

The riots come in the wake of fighting between terrorist organisations and Israel.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s 2020 Antisemitism Barometer revealed that an overwhelming 91% of British Jews want the British Government to proscribe the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group Hamas in its entirety.

🔴A synagogue is burning in Lod

pic.twitter.com/Qk0smCbtow
— Gabriel Hébert-Mysterious™ 😎 (@Gab_H_R) May 11, 2021

בית כנסת שרוף בעיר לוד, רק בנס לא נשרפו ספרי התורה.

פוגרום תשפ"א pic.twitter.com/DsSQtK1PM2
— בנצי רובין (@bentzi_r) May 12, 2021

פרעות בערים המעורבות: בתי כנסת הוצתו בלוד, מג"ב בדרך אל העיר > מהומות ברמלה, לוד, רהט pic.twitter.com/WrpMWbdTSx
— ידיעות אחרונות (@YediotAhronot) May 11, 2021

12/05/2021

“Jihadis gloat over Mount Meron death toll and call on God to “increase this night of hell fire”

Jihadis around the Middle East took to social media for a macabre celebration of Jews killed at the Lag B’Omer festival at Mount Meron in northern Israel.

Analysts at the Washington-based media monitor MEMRI (Middle East Media Research), reported that an Al-Qaeda supporter posted a photograph on Telegram showing the bodies of Jewish pilgrims who were crushed, commenting: “These bodies do not belong to our people in Gaza, rather they are the carcasses of the Jews who were killed …Oh Allah, we gloat over their misfortune.”

Other posts uncovered by the team at MEMRI included the comment: “The number of those who were killed, the ancestors of monkeys and pigs, is on rise.” The same person also posted a photo of dead victims, writing: “The Jews’ corpses are filling the road, praise be to Allah.”

On Twitter, supporters of the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group Hizballah wrote: “more than 20 terrorist murderers occupying Palestine dead.” Another tweet asked God to “increase this night of hell fire.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

03/05/2021

Media, Middle East, Universities Website

Risk of censure for abusing Jews is proof of Jewish power, Jordanian professor tells TV audience, adding that “Jewish” and “Zionist” are synonymous

A Jordanian professor has reportedly stated that the risk of being “cancelled” for using the term “Jews” when abusing Jewish people was proof that Jews “control the world.”

Professor Ahmad Nofal of the University of Jordan also alleged that “Zionists” harvest organs illegally and “plant illnesses” when patients are unconscious.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Professor of Islamic Law delivered an antisemitic, anti-Western rant on Jordan’s Yarmouk TV channel on 2nd April in which he said, “If you dare to say one word” against the Jews, “they cancel you…See how they rule the world? They even monitor what words you use. What kind of power is this?”

He allegedly also described Freemasonry as a “Zionist movement”, stating: “Freemasonry, Masonic lodges’ and whatnot…these are all Zionist notions. Jewish notions…Call them whatever you like…it is forbidden to say ‘Jewish’ nowadays…We’ll say ‘Zionist.’ It is the same thing.”

Mr Nofal added: “We need to make sure that Western culture has not changed our notions and our tastes without us even noticing.”

He allegedly added that Zionists “harvest organs from our [Palestinian] patients” and they “sometimes plant illnesses in you when you are under anaesthesia.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

26/04/2021

Jewish life in Afghanistan will end with departure of last Jew later this year

Jewish life in Afghanistan, which began at least 1,500 years ago, will end with the departure of the country’s last Jew, Zabulon Simantov, 61, who is to leave for Israel after this year’s High Holidays season in the autumn.

Mr Simantov’s wife and their two daughters have lived in Israel since 1998. But Mr Simantov, who sells carpets and jewellery, stayed on in the Afghan capital, Kabul, to take care of the country’s last synagogue through decades of war and political turmoil.

Mr Simantov was born in Herat – an Afghan city once home to hundreds of Jews – but moved to Kabul and then to Tajikistan in 1992 before returning to “protect the synagogue of Kabul like a lion of Jews.”

He now fears that the American promise to withdraw troops from the country will create a vacuum to be filled with radical groups such as the Taliban. He told a local news channel: “I will watch on TV in Israel to find out what will happen in Afghanistan.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

26/04/2021

Europe, Incidents, Middle East Website

Mixed messages on whether French prisoner subjected to antisemitic harassment in Turkish prison may be repatriated

Turkish officials have agreed in principle to repatriate a French prisoner allegedly suffering antisemitic abuse in prison.

Campaigners in France say that Fabien Azoulay, 43, who is four years into a sixteen-year jail sentence for drug offences, has reportedly been subjected to abuse, harassment and mistreatment in prison in the city of Giresun because he is Jewish and “because of his sexual orientation.” The charges relate to the drug GBL, which prosecutors claim he intended to distribute. An appeals court rejected his claim that the substance was for personal use. Developed for medical use, GBL is implicated as a date-rape drug but is also popular in the gay club scene.

While Turkey’s Ambassador to France said that Turkey had “no objection in principle” to a prison transfer, the Turkish Embassy in Paris issued a statement saying that Mr Azoulay was not Jewish. “Claims that this individual is Jewish are unfounded, as his lawyers can also confirm,” noted the statement.

Carole-Olivia Montenot, a lawyer for Mr Azoulay, said that he was “being intimidated” and that his fellow prisoners “summon him to convert to Islam” and to pray five times a day. She said he was also harassed “because of his sexual orientation.”

A petition in France calling on the French government to accelerate the repatriation process received more than 80,000 signatures within three days.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

Image credit: Change.org

23/04/2021

Europe, Incidents, Middle East Website

Lawyers for sister of Sarah Halimi announce lawsuit under Israeli law to convict antisemitic murderer after French court rules he cannot be held responsible

Lawyers for the sister of murdered retired doctor and schoolteacher Sarah Halimi have announced that they will be bringing a lawsuit under Israeli law to convict her antisemitic murderer, Kobili Traoré, after France’s highest court ruled he cannot be held responsible for his actions because he was high on cannabis.

Dr Halimi’s sister, Esther Lekover, is an Israeli citizen and the lawyers stated that they intend to make use of an Israeli law that allows them to take action over the murder even though it was committed outside of Israel.

French lawyers Gilles-William Goldnadel and Francis Szpiner said in a statement in French that they: “deplore being forced to make use of this procedure, but cannot accept a denial of justice which tramples reason and justice, reaching far beyond the Jewish community of France.”

In 2017, Dr Halimi, a 65-year-old retired schoolteacher found Mr Traoré in her Paris apartment. He had reportedly subjected her to years of abuse. Mr Traoré savagely beat Dr Halimi, shouting “Allahu akhbar” and then hurled her from her window to her death, shouting “I killed the Shaitan [demon]”.

For months, French authorities refused to admit the antisemitic nature of his crime. Dr Halimi’s murderer, a violent drug dealer, claimed that he had felt “possessed” because he was high on cannabis and should not be held responsible.

France’s highest court has now ruled in his favour, meaning that in France today, it is possible to be sentenced to a year in prison for throwing a dog from a window, but if you hurl a Jew to their death whilst on drugs, you walk free.

In addition to the lawsuit being filed in Israel, Dr Halimi’s family is considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a change in the law.

For years, France has gradually betrayed its Jews by allowing antisemitism to run rampant, putting French Jews in fear. This Sunday 25th April, to coincide with demonstrations in France, we will rally outside the Embassy of France in London to stand in solidarity with French Jews. By agreement with the authorities, due to COVID-19 restrictions, only those who have registered to attend will be permitted entry to the enclosure. Capacity is limited, so please only register if you are certain you can attend.

On Sunday at 1pm, to coincide with #JeSuisSarahHalimi demonstrations in France, we will rally at the Embassy of France in London to stand in solidarity with French Jews.

Due to COVID restrictions, only those who have registered at https://t.co/VT4SXjeqv2 will be permitted entry. pic.twitter.com/PvogvYY1YQ
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) April 20, 2021

21/04/2021

“Curse on Jews” and calls on children to “fight against the tyranny of the Jews” found across educational materials in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen

Explicitly hostile attitudes to Jewish people and Israel, including repeated use of the slogan “curse on the Jews” have been found in educational materials in Yemen.

A newly released report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School (IMPACT-se) reveals a violent and hostile attitude to Jewish people in materials published in areas of Yemen controlled by the rebel Houthis, the Iranian proxy whose organisation is known as Ansar Allah. The report points out that Ansar Allah’s attitudes to Jews closely mirror those of its Iranian backers.

IMPACT-se notes that “Violence and jihad are expressly encouraged” and that the materials contain “explicit antisemitism”, including manipulated images relating to the Holocaust and children urged to “fight against the tyranny of the Jews.” It also states that the Houthi Ansar Allah slogan, “death to Israel, curse on the Jews,” is seen repeatedly throughout the material.

IMPACT-se states that while Ansar Allah has “made education a core tenet” of its campaign to increase its influence in Yemen, the “hatred, glorification of violence” and “worldview of its materials” are contrary to “UNESCO standards of peace and tolerance and are unacceptable in any society.”

IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff said that the report offered “a worrying insight into the violent mindset” of Ansar Allah and was “an extreme example of how education can be weaponised to perpetuate conflict.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

09/04/2021

Research shows online antisemitism has increased during COVID-19 pandemic

Research from Tel Aviv University has shown that online antisemitism has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conversely, physical antisemitism has decreased, with reported, violent incidents dropping from 456 to 371.

The trends are due to a variety of reasons, according to the research, including the increased amount of time people spent on their computers in isolation and the spread of Covid-sceptic, antisemitic conspiracies theories which blamed Jews for not only the effects of the virus but its inception.

Theories also accused Jews and the Jewish state of intentionally spreading the virus in order to profit from the vaccine.

Comparisons between lockdown restrictions and Nazi Germany are also rife, with several anti-lockdown groups using symbols and imagery from the Holocaust. Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination networks have become known as hotbeds of antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes.

Along with the increased usage of Zoom came countless incidents of antisemitic Zoom bombing. Campaign Against Antisemitism has previously reported on the phenomenon of ‘Zoom bombing’ and has urged communal institutions to take precautions to safeguard against antisemitic disruption of online events.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

08/04/2021

Local authorities, Middle East Website

Antisemitic propaganda found in Jordanian textbooks despite Government’s promise to promote tolerance

Textbooks in Jordanian classrooms have been found to promote antisemitic tropes and propaganda.

The revelation comes despite the Jordanian Government’s earlier plans to repackage school textbooks in order to promote tolerance.

The ADL, which carried out a study and rigorous translation, found “particularly troubling examples in first and second semester textbooks for the seventh grade course on Islamic Education.”

In an autumn textbook, a story involving a Jewish tribe included the antisemitic explanation: “the Jews broke their pact with the Muslims, as is their custom always.” The chapter ends on the multiple-choice question: “Among the characteristics of the Jews for which they are renowned are: (A) the breaking of pacts, (B) treachery and treason, (C) hating Muslims, or (D) all of the above.”

A spring textbook taught the antisemitic trope that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus, stating: “The Israelites who did not believe in Jesus, peace be upon him, wanted to be rid of him and eliminate his call, so they tried to kill him.”

A twelfth-grade history textbook describes Zionism as “a racist, settler political movement aimed at establishing a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine, founded on historical claims without basis in truth,” and claims all Jewish ties with Jerusalem are “founded on historical and religious claims without any actual grounds on which to base them.”

According to the ADL, these textbooks are still under official authorisation from the Government.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

05/04/2021

Istanbul names park after Nazi sympathiser

The municipality of the Turkish city of Istanbul has reportedly named a park after a Nazi sympathiser.

Although the naming took place last November, it is only coming to light now that the city government named the park after Hüseyin Nihal Atsız (1905–1975), who is believed to have held antisemitic and pro-Nazi views.

“As the mud will not be iron even if it is put into an oven, the Jew cannot be Turkish no matter how hard he tries,” Mr Atsiz wrote in 1934.

He also wrote that “Turkishness is a privilege; it is not granted to everyone, especially to those like Jews…If we get angry, we will not only exterminate Jews like the Germans did, we will go further…”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

25/03/2021

Middle East, Social media Website

Interpol drops warrant for terrorist who masterminded Jerusalem pizzeria bombing that killed 15

An international arrest warrant for a terrorist who orchestrated a Jerusalem bombing that killed fifteen people has been dropped.

The International Police Organisation, commonly known as Interpol, has apparently abandoned its pursuit of Jordanian terrorist Ahlam Tamimi, who orchestrated the 2001 bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem in which fifteen people were killed, including seven children and a pregnant woman. Another 130 people were injured. The attack is considered to have been the work of the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, Hamas.

In a letter published on 8th March in Arabic-language media, the law-enforcement organisation said that Ms Tamimi was no longer “subject to Interpol notice.” Ms Tamimi, who has lived in Jordan since being released from an Israeli prison as part of a prisoner exchange in 2011, also appears to have been removed from Interpol’s red-notice “most-wanted” list.

Ms Tamimi’s husband, the convicted terrorist Nizar Tamimi, triumphantly confirmed the news on his Facebook page, saying: “After a legal battle …the defence for freed prisoner Ahlam Al-Tamimi achieved the erasure of the red notice…With this legal victory, her name was removed from the wanted list of Interpol. Praise be to God.”

Mr Tamimi, who was deported from Jordan last year and now resides in Qatar, added: “Our struggle will continue until her file is completely closed.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

16/03/2021

Middle East Website

Exclusion of Jews from Pope’s visit to birthplace of Abraham was missed opportunity to “correct injustices” to Iraqi Jews

Iraqi Jews were excluded from a meeting with the Pope during a historic visit by the pontiff to Iraq earlier this month.

Referring to the visit in a news release, the Vatican said that Pope Francis would meet “representatives of the three Abrahamic religions” at Abraham’s birthplace, Ur of the Chaldees, where Pope Francis would be urging “Christians, Muslims, and Jews to journey along a path of peace under the stars of the promise God made to Abraham.”

However, it is understood that a public delegation of Jews was not permitted to attend the event, with one prominent Iraqi-Jewish figure calling it a “wasted a historic opportunity to reconcile with its Jews” on the part of the Iraqi Government, and a missed chance to recognise and correct the “injustice committed against them” by successive Iraqi governments.

In his prayer at Ur, the Pope said that “the children of Abraham, Jews, Christians and Muslims…and all good people” thanked G-d for giving them Abraham.

While the Vatican had sought to include Jews, both in prayer and in interfaith meetings, it appeared that the Iraqi Government “stymied efforts for any Jews to travel to Iraq.”

Omar Mohammed, the historian behind the Mosul Eye blog, told The Algemeiner that the absence of Jews at the Papal events harmed Iraq’s image. “Without recognising the Jewish history of Iraq…without recognising the Jewish contribution to Iraq from thousands of years ago until now” there could be no “real diversity or inclusion,” he said.

Jews have lived in Iraq since 586 BCE. In 1948, the Jewish population in Iraq was 150,000. Today it is believed to be fewer than twenty. Jewish sites have fallen into disrepair or have been destroyed while some claim that in recent years, land and property that belonged to the Jewish community has been transferred to Shi’ite religious control.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

10/03/2021

Concerns raised over alleged rise in neo-Nazi content on Telegram

Concerns have been raised over the alleged increase in neo-Nazi content on Telegram.

The Dubai-based social media platform has reportedly begun removing some content and even some channels in response to the trend, which comes as the platform has, by its own estimation, acquired 25 million new users in the past week.

NBC News claims that at least fifteen far-right channels on Telegram have recently been banned, while content had been censored on other channels.

Part of the rise in user numbers is allegedly due to white supremacists and neo-Nazis leaving major platforms which are moving to curb hate speech. However, Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, claimed that the “vast majority” were those who “no longer want to be held hostage by tech monopolies.”

Whatever the truth, Megan Squire, a professor of computer science who monitors extremist groups, claimed that a number of Telegram channels were still “actively posting explicitly white supremacist and pro-Nazi content.”

NBC’s national security analyst, Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant FBI director, welcomed the curbs at Telegram, claiming that such crackdowns “help to keep the violent extremists off-balance.” As they “scramble to find new homes, they inevitably make mistakes,” leaving “clues and trails” that law enforcement can use to defeat them, he said.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

21/01/2021

Australasia, Middle East, Politics Website

Australia reviews funding after UNRWA distributes antisemitic material calling for jihad to children

A watchdog monitoring peace and tolerance in the Middle East has accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of distributing educational materials containing antisemitism and calling for jihad.

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School (IMPACT-se) has published a report that alleges that material promoting jihad and violence was distributed by UNRWA to hundreds of thousands of pupils in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza, which is controlled by the genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisation, Hamas.

UNRWA reportedly said that an internal review had been conducted. The UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini blamed the distribution of the offending educational materials on the coronavirus pandemic. “Unfortunately, in the rush to continue students’ education uninterrupted, some material the Agency had previously identified as not in line with UN values was mistakenly included.”

The Australian Department of Foreign Trade and Affairs (DFAT) has said it would investigate the issue, following the IMPACT-se report. Australia gave $8.39 million in 2020, making it the 19th-biggest contributor to the $921 million pledged to UNRWA in 2020.

A DFAT spokesperson told The Australian newspaper: “UNRWA has a fundamental obligation to remain unbiased and impartial while it delivers its humanitarian mandate.”

According to the IMPACT-se report, some textbooks erased Israel from maps or labelled the country as “Palestine.” Other books featured phrases such as: “Jihad is one of the doors to Paradise” and “The motherland is worthy of any kind of sacrifice.” A social-studies booklet aimed at fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds contains the claim that Israel “deliberately spreads disease by dumping radioactive and toxic waste”, which is reminiscent of the age-old antisemitic trope that Jews spread disease.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

20/01/2021

Incidents, Media, Middle East, United Kingdom UK-only e-mail list (not for international stories), Website

Terror group urges Muslims to “behead” Jews visiting Arab countries

The terrorist group Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula has condemned the Governments of four Arab countries for their rapprochement with Israel and has called on Muslims to kill Jews who visit.

In its report, Middle East Media Research Institute’s (MEMRI) Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor states that an editorial in the 8th January issue of the terror group’s publication described the Governments of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco as “traitors” and accused them of a “humiliating stance” on “the Jewish occupation” and the “violation” by “the criminal Jews” against the Muslim nation.

After further accusing them of being “submissive to the Ziono-Crusader coalition”, it allegedly urged Muslims to “seize the opportunity presented by the visits of Jews to Muslim countries to cut off their heads,” pointing out that “the jihad waged against Jews today” was not limited to “those who are in Palestine”, as Jews were “walking around in the region,” offering “a rare opportunity.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

19/01/2021

BBC denied request by father of teenage victim of antisemitic terrorist attack to address the staff who broadcast a sympathetic interview with her murderer

The BBC has reportedly denied a request by the father of a teenage victim of an antisemitic terrorist attack to address the staff who broadcast a sympathetic interview with her murderer.

Arnold Roth, whose daughter Malki was murdered in the 2001 Sbarro Pizza terrorist attack in Jerusalem by the unrepentant antisemitic terrorist Ahlam Al-Tamimi, met with BBC executives after a sympathetic interview was broadcasted on the 8th October episode of BBC Arabic’s Trending. The attack took the lives of fifteen civilians, half of whom were children.

Ms Al-Tamimi is a Jordanian national who was convicted for the terrorist attack, which killed fifteen people, half of whom were children. She was also behind a previous failed terrorist attack. She has repeatedly expressed pride at her actions and never remorse; she was even disappointed that the death toll was not higher. Although she was given several life sentences, she was released as part of a prisoner deal that secured the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from the genocidal antisemitic terrorist group Hamas. The sympathetic interview saw her appeal for the return of her husband – also a convicted terrorist – from Qatar to Jordan, where she resides and enjoys a celebrity status of sorts.

The families of numerous victims complained to the BBC, with an internal report finding that the Corporation had breached its own ethical guidelines.

The Director of the BBC World Service, Jamie Angus, apologised, calling the episode a “lapse in our editorial standards”, but Mr Roth reportedly criticised the apology as “empty, cruel and pointless”.

Mr Roth, who met with Mr Angus and the Head of BBC Arabic, Samir Farah, on 9th November, said that the episode went beyond a mere lapse in editorial standards, noting that the episode omitted reference to the victims and described Ms Tamimi’s crimes as allegations, and that the episode was promoted on social media with the hashtag “Ahalm Tamimi, your voice is loud and clear”. Mr Roth said that the episode was contrary to journalistic and ethical values.

It is believed that Mr Roth observed that the BBC Arabic anchorman presented the apology by saying “I read you a message from the BBC”, which he claimed showed that BBC Arabic was failing to take responsibility. The BBC apparently considered, to the contrary, that this introduction gave the apology more prominence.

It is understood that Mr Roth wished to speak with BBC Arabic’s Trending staff to present on the work of the Malki Foundation, named for his daughter, which works with disabled children of all faiths in Israel, and to record a segment for the programme outlining his criticism of the interview.

According to the JC, the BBC decided to “respectfully decline” his request.

A spokesperson for BBC Arabic reportedly said: “Airing an apology on live TV gives it the highest of prominence. The fact that BBC Arabic did this, and the breach in editorial guidelines acknowledged by the programme, is a reflection of the seriousness with which BBC Arabic dealt with it. The very clear apologies published online in both English and Arabic also show how seriously it is still taken.”

Ms Tamimi is wanted in the United States on terror charges.

05/01/2021

Central and South America, Middle East Website

Satan and Jews are “two sides of same coin” says Yemeni Government minister

A senior Government minister in Yemen made a series of antisemitic statements in a speech broadcast on Yemen TV, including a claim that Israel controls the drugs trade and another that Satan and Jews were “two sides of the same coin”.

In a Friday sermon delivered in the capital, Sanaa, and broadcast on the Yemeni television station, Al-Eman, Health Minister Dr Taha Al-Mutawakkil said: “Satan and the Jews” were “two sides of the same coin.” He also said that “Jewish trade relies on sex and drug trafficking” and claimed that Israel distributes drugs to Arab and Muslim societies as part of Jewish plans to harm them.

He also said that Muslims who carry out suicide attacks against Islamic targets were “under the influence of Jewish drugs”.

In a previous Friday sermon, Dr Al-Mutawakkil reportedly suggested that the United States may be behind the COVID-19 pandemic.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

04/01/2021

AMIA bombing suspect acquitted by Argentinian court

A suspect in the 18th July 1994 terror attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AIMA) building in Buenos Aires was acquitted in a recent verdict delivered by three federal judges on 23rd December 2020.

Carlos Telleldín was accused of providing the van and car bomb used in the attack, which killed 85 people and left more than 300 injured.

Mr Telleldín serve ten years in prison for his involvement. Argentine courts, however, nullified the original sentence after it was discovered that he had allegedly accepted a bribe to participate in the attack.

The second trial began in 2019, almost a decade after several Jewish groups argued that the evidence collected before the illegal payment must remain valid.

The AMIA President reassured the wider Jewish community that the organisation intends to appeal the court’s decision to ensure justice is achieved.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist us with this project.

In 1994, an #Iran-backed #Hizballah #terrorist detonated a car bomb destroying the #Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building in #BuenosAires killing 85 people. There have been repeated cover-ups.

Retweet if you believe victims of #antisemitism should have #justice. pic.twitter.com/P4lYZd7rDU
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) July 18, 2020

29/12/2020

Saudi textbooks remove or tone down antisemitic content

A review of Saudi Arabia’s 2020-2021 schools curriculum has revealed that school textbooks had been revised to remove or tone down antisemitic content.

The educational research institute IMPACT-se found that among the tropes removed was that Jews control and manipulate the world. Its CEO said that the trend has been observable since the early 2000s, but that the new 2020 textbooks “represent an institutional effort to modernise the Kingdom’s curriculum.

A chapter questioning Israel’s right to exist has also been removed.

While many controversial ideas were excised, problems still remain, according to the report. Zionism, for example, is still presented as a racist movement and the term “Zionist enemy” is still common.

The report also points out that moderation efforts have been tried and failed before, so “more time” was needed to determine if the changes are permanent.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

21/12/2020

Europe, Middle East, Politics Website

Norway cuts aid to Palestinian Authority over antisemitism and incitement to violence in its educational materials

The Norwegian Parliament has endorsed a cut in aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) due to ongoing concerns over antisemitism and incitement to violence against Jews in its educational material.

According to IMPACT-se, an organisation that monitors hate speech in regional education, the materials continue to contain racism, antisemitism and incitement to violence, despite promises of improvements by the PA. As a result, the Norwegian Government is cutting 30 million Krone (£2.6 million) in aid.

The Progress Party led the push to reduce aid, with one MP saying “not a single Krone should go to Palestinian education” until the PA materials stopped containing “hate speech.” He also regretted that it had taken “so many years to take a strict line.”

“The Palestinian school curriculum abounds with calls for violence and hatred against Israel and for martyrdom to be glorified,” noted Sylvia Listhaug, deputy leader of the Progress Party. “It is quite clear that Norway cannot support this.”

A Christian Democrat MP and Foreign Affairs Committee member Geir Toskedal said that he and his colleagues had long “been uneasy about both [the] textbooks and teaching programmes.”

Last June, Norway’s foreign minister, Ine Eriksen Søreide, announced that funds earmarked for the PA’s education sector would be withheld until changes were made to schoolbooks. In December the Norwegian Parliament urged the PA to remove violent, racist and antisemitic materials from its school curriculum, or face funding cuts.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

14/12/2020

Media, Middle East, United States of America UK-only e-mail list (not for international stories), Website

Saudi prince breaches International Definition of Antisemitism by accusing Israel of “incarcerating [thousands] in concentration camps”

A Saudi prince and former senior Government official on Sunday claimed that Israel has “incarcerated [thousands] in concentration camps”.

Prince Turki al-Faisal al Saud, the former head of Saudi intelligence and a former ambassador to the UK and the United States, made the comment at a panel discussion in Bahrain.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

09/12/2020

Financial Times fails to recognise antisemitic blood libel and refuses to apologise for providing no clarification in the article

The Financial Times has failed to recognise an antisemitic blood libel that it printed and has refused to apologise or provide any clarification in the article.

In an article published on 19th November about a visit by the U.S. Secretary of State to a winery in Psagot, the reporter wrote: “The fate of the Palestinian project has often been prey to the vicissitudes of US domestic politics. Barack Obama, during a 2013 visit to the Holy Land, visited the other side of the fence from the Psagot winery, meeting Palestinian leaders at a youth centre in the Arab community of al-Bireh. ‘We want to tell our fellow Americans, that when you drink [Psagot’s] wine, you are drinking the blood of the Palestinian people,’ said Abdel Jawad Saleh, an American citizen who has served as Mayor of al-Bireh.”

The quotation from the Mayor is highly inflammatory and invokes the centuries-old antisemitic blood libel which falsely accuses Jews of killing non-Jews for nefarious or ritualistic purposes and drinking their blood, in particular associating the victims with the blood of Jesus, whom the Jews were for millennia also accused of having killed. The blood libel has been the basis for the persecution and murder of Jews for centuries and, in new iterations, remains popular in certain parts of the world and even in some pockets of British society.

It also contravenes the International Definition of Antisemitism which states that “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis” is antisemitic.

It is regrettable that the Mayor chose to express his political views in racist terms, but it is disgraceful that the Financial Times to have printed the statement without clarification that it is antisemitic.

The article was brought to our attention by a member of the public and we wrote to the Financial Times, which has now responded saying that the quotations was merely a “metaphor to refer to the Palestinians killed and wounded in occupied territories during decades of conflict”. Consequently, there was apparently nothing to apologise for nor was any context or clarification in the article necessary.

The Financial Times has totally failed to grasp the meaning of the words used – a severe and embarrassing shortcoming for journalists seeking to explain foreign conflicts and cultures to a domestic readership. The newspaper has printed a racist statement without even realising it has done so. Like its editors, the Financial Times’ readers may now conclude from this article that it is acceptable to express political opinions in antisemitic terms.

The newspaper is not a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), apparently believing it is capable of upholding standards by itself. This episode suggests otherwise.

Campaign Against Antisemitism regularly contacts traditional media over antisemitism in coverage or workplaces. If you find media reportage that may need investigating, please contact us.

09/12/2020

Europe, Middle East, Politics Website

Proposed Knesset Law would create memorial day for the victims of the Spanish Inquisition

A new law being proposed by Israel’s Parliament would create an official Day to Commemorate the Victims of the Inquisition.

During the Spanish Inquisition in the Early Modern period, forced Jewish converts to Christianity were brutally persecuted.

The bill, proposed by Member of Knesset Michal Cotler-Wunsh, would create a memorial day to be held annually on 1st November, the date that the Spanish Inquisition was formally established in 1478. It has been suggested that the day would be marked with educational activities that teach on the shared history of Jews with Sephardic ancestry, as well as the mass expulsion of the Jewish population from Spain and Portugal. The Minister of Diaspora Affairs will also host an official state ceremony to mark the occasion and commemorate the victims of the Catholic persecution.

The President of the Hispanic-Jewish Foundation has maintained that Spain and Latin America are gaining further understanding of their roots and influence on Jewish traditions. He stated that it is therefore important that the Inquisition is remembered as “pure religious fanaticism and intolerance” with significant, lasting effects for those whose ancestors were subjected to the oppression.

Co-sigantories to the bill include numerous Knesset members from a variety of Israel’s major political parties, including members of the governing coalition.

Ms Cutler Wunsh stated that the bill will “create a day of memory and reminder in the Knesset for us to recognise this tragic event in our collective history and learn from it, in order to ensure ‘never again’ in a world of ‘again and again’.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

30/11/2020

Middle East, Social media Website

Bahrain makes ground-breaking move to combat antisemitism

In what is seen as a game-changing move, Bahrain and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding on combating antisemitism, including anti-Zionist antisemitism.

At the signing on 22nd October, Bahrain became the first nation in the Arab world to acknowledge the International Definition of Antisemitism.

At a ceremony on Thursday, which came less than a week after Israel and Bahrain signed a series of bilateral agreements normalising relations, the document was signed by the US State Department’s antisemitism monitor, Elan Carr, and Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the head of Bahrain’s King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence.

While the signing falls short of a legislative adoption of the Definition, it is, nevertheless, seen as ground-breaking. Under the Definition, claiming that Israel “is a racist endeavour” or that Jews or Israel exaggerated the Holocaust is antisemitic.

Under the terms of the document, both sides vowed to promote and share the best practices for “combating all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of the State of Israel.” In a tweet following the signing, Mr Carr said: “Thank you Bahrain!” adding that, together, the US and Bahrain would “create programmes to teach the region’s children the value of peaceful coexistence.”

“We all know that hatred is the enemy of peace,” Shaikh bin Khalifa said at the event.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has now expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

26/10/2020

Hatred has “no place” on our platform, TikTok director tells Knesset committee

A director at TikTok has told a Knesset Committee that hatred had “no place” on the video-sharing platform and that they would increase their efforts to remove antisemitic content.

The meeting with Elizabeth Kanter, TikTok’s Director for Government Relations in Israel, was the fourth meeting that the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs held on social networking in recent months. The meeting with the representative of the viral video-sharing service followed the creation of “an inter-ministerial taskforce” to work with social media companies to “fight the phenomenon and remove antisemitic content from the networks.”

Committee chairman, MK David Bitan told the meeting that “the phenomenon of antisemitism on social networks has significantly intensified since the outbreak of the corona crisis” and that government offices were “monitoring the phenomenon.”

Ms Kanter said: “Antisemitism is an abomination, and therefore antisemitic content that expresses hatred has no place on our platform. We have zero tolerance for organised hate groups and those associated with them. In a world that is becoming more polarised by the day, it is probably a very difficult challenge, but we will never stop working to make TikTok a safe platform for our community.”

Stressing that its policy and community guidelines “do not tolerate content that attacks or incites violence,” and did not permit hate speech, she said that TikTok enforces this with “technology tools that proactively flag content or accounts that encourage hate or extreme content.”

Noting the previous absence of TikTok, MK Michal Wunsh declared: “After its noticeable absence in the past, TikTok has chosen to take responsibility for the venomous antisemitism that exists on its platform.”

Dvir Kahana, Director-General of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, said that there was a wide gap between declarations of policy by social media companies and “actual implementation.” She added it was their “duty” to continue to ensure the “policies of the platforms” were implemented.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has repeatedly reported on antisemitism on TikTok, especially in the form of mockery of the Holocaust.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

19/10/2020

Conspiracy theories, Middle East Website

A “historic moment”: UAE Foreign Minister makes ground-breaking visit to Berlin Holocaust Memorial

The Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates made a ground-breaking visit to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin last week.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan visited Germany’s main Holocaust memorial with his Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, in a visit hosted by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas that was described by Mr Ashkenazi as a “historic moment”.

The event showcased the rapprochement between the two Middle East nations following the US-brokered establishment of full diplomatic relations between the Gulf state and Israel on 15th September.

Both sides have pointed to a sense of reconciliation and mutual tolerance as a driver of the deal – a message that the UAE Foreign Minister expressed at Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Writing in the visitors’ book in Arabic, he called the site a memorial to “victims of advocates of extremism and hatred”. He then referred to “the noble human values of co-existence, tolerance…and respect of all religions and beliefs,” before adding, in English: “Never Again”.

Mr Ashkenazi and his Emirati counterpart were in Berlin to discuss a variety of issues in connection with the promotion of relations between the two countries, according to an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The UAE dignitary’s visit to the memorial was particularly poignant given the high levels of ignorance about the Holocaust and Holocaust denial in the Middle East.

In his own inscription, Mr Ashkenazi – a former commander of Israel’s armed forces – said that his presence alongside the Emirati and German Foreign Ministers “symbolises a new era…of peace between the peoples.” It was also a reminder of the need “to ensure that this will never recur,” added Mr Ashkenazi in Hebrew.

In statements to the press issued following the meeting between the three, Sheikh al-Nahyan and Mr Ashkenazi both referred to the other as “my friend”” and pledged to continue to work together.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist us with this project.

13/10/2020

Qatari author slams women’s conference against child marriage as “a Jewish plot”

An initiative by a Gaza women’s organisation to hold a conference to discuss the banning of child marriage has been branded as “a Jewish plot to destroy Gaza society”.

Abd Al-Aziz Al-Ansari, a Qatari author who writes about social issues, reportedly described the plan for a conference as “a satanic demand”, according to MEMRI.

He made his comments in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel on 28th August after the independent Gaza women’s organisation AISHA called for a conference on the issue of child marriage.

In his video, Mr Al-Ansari urges his listeners to “marry off” their daughters at “the correct age,” which he states is “twelve or thirteen” because “delaying marriage increases depravity, homosexuality, lesbianism, prostitution and sodomy.”

He praises Yemeni society, where, he says, “they still marry their daughters off at the correct age. Early marriage is a tradition with them.”

He then mocks Western efforts to curb this practice, saying: “This has made the US Congress upset. They are losing sleep over this.”

Addressing the people of Gaza directly, Al-Ansari said: “The Jews failed to destroy you, kill you, disgrace you…They want to destroy you socially, by increasing your depravity.”

He then sought to undermine the credibility of the Islamic women’s organisation by associating it with Jews, claiming: “This is not the ‘AISHA association’, this is the ‘Golda Meir association.’…This is a satanic association that demands to delay the age of marriage. It demands to change the law of Allah upon the land. This is a message to our people in Gaza. Beware! Beware! Marry your daughters off at the age of 12…Marry them off! Don’t let the [Jews] fool you.”

According to its website, AISHA was established in 2009 and “works to achieve gender equality and integration through economic empowerment and psycho-social support.” Its website also declares that it “aspires to play a leading role in “protecting women and children.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist us with this project.

Image credit: MEMRI

13/10/2020

Conspiracy theories, Middle East, United Kingdom UK-only e-mail list (not for international stories), Website

Saudi official praised for fighting antisemitism now accused of past antisemitic remarks

The Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL) has been accused of making antisemitic statements in a report recently released by a Washington, D.C. think-tank.

Dr. Mohammad al-Issa has been a prominent supporter of Muslim-Jewish understanding and has been recognised for his contribution in the fight against antisemitism, even receiving in June the first prize awarded by one organisation to a Muslim leader. During the ceremony, Dr. al-Issa said: “We must rebuild the bridges of dialogue and the bonds of partnership between our communities. Since taking over the MWL, it has been my mission to fight the forces of hatred and violence.” Dr al-Issa has also led a group of representatives from the MWL in a historic visit to Auschwitz, in which he condemned Holocaust denial.

However, the Institute of Gulf Affairs claims that Dr al-Issa made antisemitic comments on a Saudi radio programme dating back to June 2014. When these remarks first aired he was serving as Saudi Arabia’s Justice Minister. Dr. al-Issa reportedly stated that Jews have “harsh hearts, harsh as stones, even harsher”, that “Jews distorted the Torah” and that Jews are on the same “deviant” path as their ancestors.

A spokesperson for the MWL said that the organisation had not been aware of such statements, however staff were “aware of determined efforts in recent months by a small, Washington-based group to sully Dr al-Issa’s groundbreaking interfaith work with leading Jewish organisations.”

It is unclear whether Dr al-Issa still holds these alleged views or whether his recent interfaith work reflects a positive change in his stance.

The report further claims that Saudi military magazines and educational texts contain antisemitic, anti-Christian and other discriminatory messages.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

30/09/2020

Veteran activist links Israel to racist killing of George Floyd and says “Israeli embassies” were behind campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, who listens without objecting

A veteran left-wing activist has linked Israel to the racist murder of George Floyd by claiming that American police forces are trained in Israel and have learned dubious techniques of restraint from their Israeli counterparts. He went on to accuse “Israeli embassies” of claiming that any criticism of Israel is antisemitic and that one of the “central targets” of this campaign has been the former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

Tariq Ali made the incendiary comments in an online conversation with Mr Corbyn, who listened quietly to his remarks without objecting, under the aegis of the Stop the War Coalition, which has appeared in the past to advocate war against Israel and whose marches have featured antisemitic tropes.

Mr Ali said during the panel event with Mr Corbyn: “I would now like to come to another part of the world which ironically links the knee on the neck to George Floyd to this region because a lot of the American police forces have been trained in Israel. Not just the Americans but many from right-wing countries in South America. And the methods in dealing with protests or ordinary citizens is virtually the same. You can find lots of photos of Israelis when these people are brave enough to take photographs with their knees on the neck of Palestinians.”

He added: “This is another subject which has virtually been downgraded compared to even five or six years ago because people have got frightened about this campaign which alleges everyone is antisemitic except those who support Israel. That’s basically the campaign that was waged by Israeli embassies everywhere of which one of the central targets was Jeremy Corbyn.”

The claim that Israel is in any way responsible for the racist killing of George Floyd is reminiscent of repeated defamations of the Jewish people who have been blamed throughout history for atrocities. Moreover, the suggestion that allegations of antisemitism have been used to silence criticism of Israel is itself an antisemitic trope popularised by Ken Livingstone and accuses Jews of acting in bad faith when they call out anti-Jewish racism. Mr Ali’s claim that this campaign was led by “Israeli embassies” is a further popular and outrageous conspiratorial belief.

It is shameful that in a discussion of the racist killing of George Floyd, a speaker felt the need to accuse another minority.

Naturally, Mr Corbyn, who is himself an antisemite, did not object to Mr Ali’s claims. Later in the conversation he declared: “Let’s get it clear, antisemitism is wrong, it’s evil and it should never be condoned in any circumstances. I never would, you never would, in any way and we must all be united against racism of any sort — antisemitism, Islamophobia or racism in the USA following the murder of our friend in Minnesota.” His comments rang even more hollow than usual given what Mr Ali had just said in his presence.

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.

08/06/2020

Middle East, Social media UK-only e-mail list (not for international stories), Website

Facebook’s representative in Israel confirms that it has no intention of removing Holocaust denial unless compelled to do so by law

According to Israeli news website NRG, Facebook’s representative in Israel has confirmed in a letter to an Israeli parliamentarian that the company has no intention of removing Holocaust denial content from Facebook unless compelled to do so by law.

Jordana Cutler, Facebook’s public policy representative in Israel wrote in a letter to Israeli MK Uri Maklev that Holocaust denial content will be removed in Israel and other countries where it is illegal, but not in countries like Britain which do not have specific legislation outlawing Holocaust denial.

According to NRG, Facebook considers Holocaust denial to be the expression of an opinion which should be challenged. She wrote: “In some cases, instead of the removing and censoring of content, exposure and the condemnation of the lies and the narrow-mindedness are more significant to promoting the truth.”

She claimed however that Facebook will remove hate speech and Nazi symbols, which exposes Facebook’s view that denying the Holocaust is not hate speech and is less offensive than the sight of a swastika.

Facebook’s policy of permitting Holocaust denial is repulsive and irresponsible. This latest announcement is merely the latest in a litany of attempts to dodge the expensive and difficult task of policing incitement on Facebook.

The company appears to be pressing ahead with attempts to remove “fake news”, but apparently it is not bothered by fake history and incitement.

27/06/2017