, ,

Prime Minister makes statement on recognising Palestine

Last night, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire.

In a statement, he said: “So today, as part of this process towards peace, I can confirm the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two state solution.”

He did not appear to impose any conditions at all on Hamas.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Our Prime Minister’s declaration is morally indefensible. There are still hostages held in torturous conditions in Hamas dungeons in Gaza. Were they released, there would be a ceasefire immediately, as Israel and the United States have repeatedly said.

“Sir Keir Starmer should be saying that he will take the issue of Palestinian statehood off the table if the hostages are not returned by September or sooner. Instead, he has decided to brandish recognition of a Palestinian state as a threat against the world’s only Jewish state as it seeks to retrieve the hostages still held nearly two years after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

“This announcement sends the worst possible message: that mass murder, rape, and hostage-taking are legitimate paths to diplomatic gain. This is not a step toward peace; it is a dangerous precedent. This is not about justice, peace, or a negotiated two-state solution. This is about appeasement, and it will only embolden extremists, including Hamas, who now know that they need only hang on until September — holding the hostages and looting aid — to receive their reward.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state should never be wielded as a political weapon. Doing so in the aftermath of an antisemitic pogrom is not only reckless, it is shameful.”

, ,

Major report reveals that Iran has targeted “prominent Jewish individuals”

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has released a major report revealing that Iran has targeted “prominent Jewish individuals” among at least fifteen attempts to kill or kidnap people in Britain.

The report states: “When summarising Iran’s approach to the UK, the Intelligence Community noted that Iran…represents a significant threat to Israeli and Jewish entities.”

Among its top priorities of maintaining the theocratic regime and protecting Shia interests worldwide, targeting Jews and Israelis is a key goal of the Islamic Republic. The IRGC is the key instrument for executing these objectives.

The report notes media reports that the IRGC has allegedly attempted to radicalise British university students through online talks in which IRGC officers espoused antisemitic and violent views, urging students to support illegal attacks and venerating people who had carried out acts of aggression.

The report further says: “The Home Office has rightly proscribed several Iran-supported groups assessed to be concerned in terrorism – such as Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Lebanese Hizbollah – but there are increasingly calls for the UK to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.” It concludes: “The Government should fully examine whether it would be legally possible and practicable to proscribe the IRGC and, if so, what the arguments are both for and against – and make a full statement to Parliament.”

You can sign the petition to ban the IRGC at antisemitism.org/BanTheIRGC

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We welcome this critical report into a regime that threatens British Jews and the UK and its national interests more generally. The IRGC is the principal instrument by which Iran puts these threats into practice. Prior to the election, this Government promised to proscribe. It must now keep its word.”

, , , , , ,

Victory: Palestine Action to be proscribed

On Friday morning, activists from Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the sabotage of two RAF planes at a base in Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.

Footage published on the group’s X account appears to show someone spraying an aircraft with red paint. According to Palestine Action, two activists “repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers and caused further damage using crowbars”.

By the end of the day – and a little over a week since Campaign Against Antisemitism provided her with a detailed dossier making the case for a ban of Palestine Action under existing laws – the Home Secretary announced that she would be proscribing the group.

Breaking into an RAF base to vandalise aircraft demonstrates Palestine Action’s real hatred for this country. This was an attack on Britain and the heroes who protect us daily, and jeopardises our nation’s security.

The vandalism at Brize Norton was reportedly the fourth attack by the group on key UK defence assets, and comes after a litany of attacks on branches of Barclays Bank, premises used by Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit, museums and numerous Jewish institutions, businesses and charities.

Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.

We are pleased that the Home Secretary has listened to our representations over the last week.

The announcement by Yvette Cooper has been met with fury by Palestine activists, who appear to have gone on a new spree of criminal vandalism in London over the weekend ahead of a demonstration this afternoon against their proscription.

In advance of a protest by Palestine Action against the planned proscription this afternoon, the Met Police released a statement outlining conditions imposed on the demonstration outside Parliament under the Public Order Act. Remarkably, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also announced that he was “shocked and frustrated” by the demonstration, which itself was shocking, given that it has been his persistent failure to robustly address anti-Israel protests that has allowed this climate of extremism to take hold.

Sir Mark needs to take his head out of the sand and look around. If he does, he may finally see what the rest of the country has seen for over a year and a half: extremists taking over our streets.

It is clear that the authorities will need to be ready to enforce the law as the ban takes effect.

After all, when a group of radicals takes to the streets to defend a soon-to-be proscribed terrorist group and protest against those who risk their lives to keep our streets safe, it is a frighteningly clear indication that something has gone very wrong in this country.

Frontline police officers’ struggle at times to contain the baying mob of Palestine Action supporters at the protest demonstrates exactly why our calls for the Government to ban this group were needed.

After she bans Palestine Action, we urge the Home Secretary to urgently turn her attention to proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ansar Allah (the Houthis).

This country needs to clamp down on the domestic and foreign terrorists running amok on our soil.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has no place in Britain

Right now, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is operating freely in the UK. It is planning terrorist attacks and grooming young followers.

This madness can end with a stroke of Yvette Cooper’s pen.

As our Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, explained in an op-ed for The Telegraph, “Two governments have failed to act. This one still can. Both Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy promised before the last election to ban the IRGC.

“They must now honour that promise.”

Why is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard a threat to Britain in 2025?

  • Officially a branch of Iran’s Armed Forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operates as a parallel paramilitary force answering directly to the regime. But it’s more than an Iranian military force — it’s a global terror actor involved in plots, threats, and surveillance on British soil.
  • It was founded by Ayatollah Khomeini after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the theocracy and advance its interests. The Iranian Government has a long and appalling record of promoting antisemitic propaganda, including Holocaust-denial, and funding and orchestrating violence against Jews. The IRGC is a principal instrument of the regime for these antisemitic and violent policies.
  • In 2023, the UK Government sanctioned IRGC figures. Why? They plotted to kill or kidnap people in Britain, including dissidents, journalists, and activists. These weren’t idle threats. British intelligence confirmed over fifteen credible threats to kill or kidnap UK-based individuals by Iran since 2022. The IRGC infiltrated Europe, surveilling targets and attempting assassinations.
  • It is not just in Europe. One shocking case was the abduction in the UAE of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan. It is believed that he was surveilled at his kosher grocery shop and murdered by terrorists linked to Iran.
  • There are examples of support for the IRGC in Britain, particularly following the US assassination of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s elite al-Quds Force and, it is believed, the second most powerful man in Iran. We have also observed IRGC flags at demonstrations in London. There have also been instances of IRGC figures trying to radicalise students in the UK and there are multiple cases of foiled abduction and murder plots by IRGC agents in Britain.
  • The IRGC is an indispensable backer of Shia militias in Yemen and Iraq as well as the proscribed terrorist groups Hizballah, Hamas, the Houthis and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hizballah and Hamas pose direct threats to the UK by conducting intelligence operations, targeting Jewish communities, and supporting terrorism globally. The UK fully banned Hizballah in 2019 and Hamas in 2021, but both groups remain active, backed by Iran’s resources and intent on destabilising the West.
  • Despite the Labour Party stating that, if elected, they would ban the IRGC, this has not happened a year after the Party came to power. Today, the IRGC is not yet proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK, even though it clearly fits the criteria.
  • The US, Israel, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain already proscribe the IRGC. Why haven’t we? The UK must act. The IRGC is here in Britain and a threat to our security.

You can add your voice to the calls to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by signing the petition.

With conflict raging between Iran and Israel, demonstrators took to the streets of London over the weekend in support of the antisemitic Islamic Republic.

As our Demonstration and Events Monitoring Unit documented, protesters held aloft signs displaying an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and urging onlookers to “choose the right side of history.”

Ayatollah Khamenei — and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which he controls — could not be further from the “right side of history”.

The signs were embossed with the logo of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, a controversial charity best known for Al Quds Day events, which in the past have featured IHRC-badged placards that read “We are all Hizballah”.

The IRGC is not just a threat to Britain’s Jews, but to Britain itself. It must be proscribed.

This Government previously promised to proscribe the IRGC. It must now keep its word.

Fun at the Maccabi Fun Run!

Yesterday, we attended the Maccabi GB Community Fun Run.

Thousands turned out to run, cheer and raise money for great causes.

We spoke with runners at this most energetic day of the Jewish community calendar, to find out: What keeps Britain’s Jewish community running, literally and figuratively?

A big thank you to everyone running for Campaign Against Antisemitism and to all of our brilliant volunteers who were present.

SRA confirms investigation into Hamas’s lawyer

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has confirmed an investigation into one of the lawyers acting on behalf of Hamas in its application to get de-proscribed in the UK, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

We submitted a complaint to the SRA regarding the conduct of Fahad Ansari after our Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit uncovered a plethora of posts from his X account.

Mr Ansari is the Director and Principal Solicitor at Riverway Law, the law firm representing the terrorist group Hamas in a desperate bid to get the group de-proscribed in the UK. The application is being made to the Home Secretary.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has made a submission to the Home Secretary challenging the application for de-proscription.

According to posts on Mr Ansari’s social media accounts, he seems to find a bulldozer breaching the border fence between Gaza and Israel on 7th October to be “one of the most iconic, hopeful images of our time”, hails Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin as a “hero”, and, referring to “the heroic Palestinian resistance”, hopes that “every one of their bullets hit their targets”.

Another post read: “At this point, Israel could literally set up gas chambers for Palestinians during Ramadan and the genocide enablers in the Western media will be shouting ‘What about Hamas?’ and crying antisemitism if anyone draws a comparison with the Holocaust. Make no mistake, if these people were alive in the 40s, they would have sided with 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.

Another post read, “Long live the Palestinian resistance,” and “Victory to the intifada.” Intifadas in the past have always been campaigns of terrorist violence, including suicide bombings.

Over the past week, we marked World Refugee Day, remembering those who were driven from their homes by antisemites.

Over the centuries, some countries took them in; others refused. Often, those who took them in would themselves later force them to flee once again.

Whether through proscriptions, private prosecutions, protests or other means, we will continue to fight to maintain Britain as a hospitable and safe place for Jewish people to live.

, , , , , ,

Home Secretary, it is time to clamp down

In view of current events in the Middle East, Campaign Against Antisemitism has reiterated its call on the Home Secretary to fulfil a pre-election pledge to ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and also to proscribe the Palestine Action group.

The Government must also finally proscribe Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and the various groups involved in the Hamas-led 7th October 2023 terrorist attack.

The Government must clamp down. Every day that the Home Secretary delays, people who endanger our country are running amok.

Iran’s IRGC is active in the UK. There have recently been arrests in London allegedly linked to the IRGC. Not so long ago an Iranian proxy was found to have three tonnes of high explosives in London. They say that they want to target Jews anywhere around the world and that means us. That means here in our country.

Sign the petition to ban the IRGC now.

Police forces and security services cannot move against IRGC operatives until they have evidence that they are actively planning an attack, which is why proscription is needed, so that they have the legal powers to move immediately to clean out the IRGC in the UK. The Government promised to do this when it came to power a year ago. The IRGC poses a mortal threat to British Jews and the Home Secretary should lay an order before Parliament today. What is the Home Secretary waiting for?

There is now a backlog of terrorist organisations that the Government is allowing to operate here without taking action. We have also asked the Home Secretary to proscribe the Houthis (Ansar Allah) — which fire on Royal Navy ships as well as seeking the death of all Jews — and the smaller Palestinian factions which participated in Hamas’ 7th October atrocities but, due to inaction by two successive Governments, still haven’t been proscribed two years later.

We need action now. The Home Secretary must give law enforcement the powers they need to keep us safe. We cannot wait another day.

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls for ban on Palestine Action

In recent days, Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to the Home Secretary calling for the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000.

We have provided her with a detailed dossier of evidence demonstrating that the group’s activities fall, in our view, squarely within the definition of a terrorism organisation.

Palestine Action is a UK-based activist group which was formed in 2020. It has gained attention for what the organisation describes as “direct action” against companies and institutions which it considers to be linked to the Israeli Government, ranging from defence contractors to the BBC. The organisation is known for confrontational and criminal tactics, including damage to property, vandalism and the occupation of corporate or public facilities, with a latest attack just this weekend.

Since the 7th October 2023 terrorist attacks by Hamas and the subsequent war between Hamas and Israel, Palestine Action has increasingly been targeting cultural and educational sites.

The group’s methods often involve the destruction of property, disruption of business operations, and threats to public safety. Palestine Action revels in these activities and writes extensively about them on its website. The organisation has also published a handbook named “The Underground Manual”, which includes instructions on everything from forming “cells”, to how to “pick a target”, and how to commit criminal damage in the most harmful way. The handbook includes instructions on what to wear, how to use a burner phone, and which tools to use to cause the greatest damage.

We urge the Home Office to act swiftly to ban Palestine Action in order to minimise any further intimidation and property damage to the Jewish community and its institutions and to other businesses and cultural establishments.

Palestine Action is at the vanguard of an activist movement that is severely disrupting the lives of British Jews and the wider public. It is time to enforce the laws of this country and bring to justice those who seek to use what we believe the law defines as terror to advance their goals.

A huge “thank you!”

Last week, we ran our annual crowdfunding campaign, and we are enormously grateful to all of you who donated. We had more donors than ever, each giving because you believe in our work.

Our volunteers and staff see this as a huge vote of confidence in the efforts that we make every single day to defend the Jewish community and fight for the tolerant and decent Britain that we all cherish.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the campaign! It is because of you that we can continue to do our vital work and fight for our future here in Britain. You have helped ensure that our voices remain strong and that we can respond with urgency, clarity, and courage wherever and whenever we are needed.

If you did not have a chance to donate but still wish to, you can do so here.

From all of us at Campaign Against Antisemitism, thank you!

The true colours of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement

Following the second violent attack by a ‘Free Palestine’ terrorist in the United States, our Chief Executive Gideon Falter explained in an op-ed for LBC how verbal calls to ‘globalise the Intifada’ and vandalism are not the final destination of this hateful movement.

When they call for Intifada, they mean it.

You can read the full op-ed here.

Campaign Against Antisemitism challenges new application from CAGE to de-proscribe Hamas

The controversial activist group CAGE International has launched an application to get Hamas de-proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK.

According to CAGE, “The submission is the first of its kind to focus not only on procedural injustice, but on the systemic suppression of political speech, particularly within Britain’s Muslim communities.”

Given that the previous application, made by Hamas itself, made a similar argument, it is unclear why this new application is a ‘first-of-its-kind’, although granted it is better PR to claim that.

We have examined the application, which purports to “challenge the legality of the proscription on the grounds that it violates freedom of expression”.

The application includes several case studies, which CAGE uses to highlight how the proscription of Hamas – an antisemitic genocidal terrorist group that has murdered well in excess of a thousand Jews – apparently inhibits one’s right to freedom of expression.

So, which cases does CAGE cite in its application?

Here are some examples:

“The President of a Palestine Society at a prominent University circulated the headline ‘resistance fighters launch surprise attack against Israel’ as part of a weekly digest to update their audience of Palestine related news.”
❌ Why are people who murdered over a thousand people, raped women and burned families alive referred to merely as ‘resistance fighters’?

“M is a non-British student of Palestinian descent studying law…She was asked by a news journalist from a well-known publication to give a comment. She said: ‘We are so full of pride. We are really, really full of joy at what happened’ following the 7th October attack.”
❌ Hamas and fellow terrorist organisations murdered some 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage. Why is that something to be joyful about?

“Dr F [an NHS consultant] showed considerable support…for the right of the Palestinian people to resist. She publicly called for the de-proscription of Hamas.”
❌ That does not sound like an NHS consultant that a Jewish person would be comfortable consulting.

“S retweeted a drawing of Yahya Sinwar with the caption ‘hero’ without knowing who Yahya Sinwar was.”
❌ So S’s defence is that they are an idiot?

“A young man…allegedly uploaded videos said to be of Hamas to his social media page.”
❌ There is enough material on the internet that the young man could upload without resorting to terrorist content.

The Home Office stated that an academic “shared a document on a WhatsApp group chat, titled ‘Our Narrative – Operation Al Aqsa Flood’, published by Hamas’ media office”.
❌ Most ordinary people would be concerned that a teacher of their children is sharing material literally produced by a terrorist organisation and purporting to explain their rationale for murdering over a thousand people.

A non-British NHS doctor “reposted footage of music festivalgoers running from Hamas and commented: ‘If it was your home, you would stay and fight 🙂.’” In another post, she said: “Israel was never a country…Also, there are no civilians in Israel.”
❌ Yet another NHS clinician. Hundreds were murdered at that festival. Mocking young people running for their lives from murderous terrorists and suggesting that doing so is demonstrative of some political view is monstrous. This doctor needs to work on their bedside manner – but not at the NHS. The former Home Secretary would appear to have been right to say that her continued presence in the UK was not conducive to the public good.

A school boy wore a badge to his school which read: “Victory to the Intifada.”
❌ The intifada was a campaign of murderous Palestinian terrorism, including suicide bombings, that killed more than 1,000 Jews. Hamas was one of the leading terror groups involved.

These are curious illustrations for CAGE to rely on in its application. They are hardly the sort of opinions anyone should want in our hospitals, schools and campuses.

We have already provided a submission to the Home Secretary in response to the original application.

We will not allow Hamas to be de-proscribed in this country, and we will go to court if necessary.

“Jews aren’t welcome here” duo sentenced to prison

In November 2024, two men shouted “Jews aren’t welcome here” at four people leaving Marble Arch Synagogue.

Now, Hussein Altamimi and Ali Alanzi have been sentenced to prison at Isleworth Crown Court after being found guilty of four offences of religiously aggravated fear or provocation of violence and religiously aggravated assault. Both attackers were also found guilty of assaulting an emergency worker.

During the incident, when one of the victims began recording what was happening on her phone, Mr Altamimi struck her arm, causing her phone to fall from her hand. Mr Alanzi then threw a cup of alcohol at the victims.

The men were detained by synagogue security until the police arrived. During the arrest, Mr Alanzi assaulted a police officer.

Mr Alanzi was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment, plus an additional twelve weeks from the activation of a suspended sentence. Mr Altamimi was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment.

If you have been a victim of an attack and need assistance getting justice, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Meanwhile, Oghenochuko Ojiri, who has appeared on BBC’s Bargain Hunt, has been sentenced to two years and six months’ in prison.

Last month, Mr Ojiri pleaded guilty to eight offences of failing to disclose information during the course of business in the regulated sector when knowing, suspecting or having reasonable grounds for suspecting that another person has committed or attempted to commit an offence under Sections 15-18 of the Terrorism Act 2000, contrary to Section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The offences relate to the sale of several works of art to Nazem Ahmad, who is a suspected financier of Hizballah, a proscribed terrorist organisation. Mr Ahmad was sanctioned by the UK in 2023. The sales totalled nearly £140,000.

For some of the transactions, paperwork used names that were not Mr Ahmad’s, despite the sales being to him.

Messages recovered from Mr Ojiri’s phone showed him discussing money-laundering regulation with a colleague.

We welcome this verdict. Financing of antisemitic terrorist organisations has no place in the arts world.

James O’Brien and Jeremy Bowen

“Trump, in some ways, has already gone further than Kristallnacht.” So said LBC presenter James O’Brien on a recent morning show in reference to immigration enforcement riots in Los Angeles. You can listen to the full segment here.

Regardless of one’s feelings about current events in California, there is no comparison to be made to Kristallnacht.

The Nazi violence on Kristallnacht was one-way. There were no riots or mounted defences of the Jews. An estimated 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses were destroyed by the Nazi Government-backed vandals, and 91 Jews were murdered (although some scholars claim the number is much higher).

Within days, 30,000 Jewish men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps in what was effectively a dry run for what would become the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were slaughtered. Whatever may be happening in Los Angeles, it isn’t that.

This sort of hysterical commentary and implicit Holocaust distortion and trivialisation does nothing for the public’s understanding of the Holocaust and does real damage to the contemporary fight against antisemitism, which is more urgent than ever.

Constantly reaching for Holocaust analogies for every instance of violence or unrest not only confuses public understanding; it also cheapens history and disrespects victims.

Our suggestion to Mr O’Brien is that when he hears the words “shut up mate” in his head, it’s probably best to heed them.

Elsewhere, former UK Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption is quoted by the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen as suggesting that the Jewish state is acting like the Jews’ historical persecutors and is committing a genocide.

The undisguised implication is that Israel is acting like Nazis.

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

This is absolutely repugnant from one of Britain’s veteran jurists. What hope can British Jews have in our justice system when senior figures like Lord Sumption espouse views like these?

Of course it is always possible, though in this instance unlikely, that he has been misquoted by Mr Bowen, whose reporting has always left a great deal to be desired and whose abysmal reputation in the Jewish community speaks for itself.

But here we have one of the BBC’s most senior ‘journalists’ and one of the nation’s former highest judges egging each other on to vilify the Jewish state in ever more insulting terms.

Those who shamefully reference the history of Jewish persecution should worry less about urging the Jews to remember the past than doing so themselves.

Meanwhile, the BBC has issued a belated apology for publishing a video that claimed observant Jews spit on Christians in a “holiday ritual”.

On 5th October 2023, BBC Arabic published an article titled “Sukkot: Spitting and Assault on Christians and Harassment of Muslims on the Jewish Holiday,” with a video, in which it was claimed that observant Jews celebrate Sukkot (the festival of Tabernacles) in Israel by spitting on Christians.

It took the BBC nineteen months to issue an apology to our friends at CAMERA.

We have pointed out before that it is no longer clear if BBC Arabic is actually a genuine news channel or something else entirely.

We continue to call on the BBC to hold an independent investigation into its Middle East coverage, which any other institution engulfed in this many scandals would have done long ago.

Until then, the licence fee should be suspended. You can sign our petition here.

Friends of Palestine Society at Birmingham University suspended

The Friends of Palestine Society at the University of Birmingham has reportedly been suspended by the Guild of Students, following a protest last month.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has obtained footage of the protest, which took place on 15th May. The footage appears to show students chanting: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, which was adopted by the University in 2020, “Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology” is an example of antisemitism.

Further footage shows protesters chanting: “Israel is a terror state.”

According to a statement on the Society’s Instagram account, it intends to appeal the decision.

A Jewish student at the University told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “I am pleased with the Guild of Students’ decision. Hearing these kinds of slogans on campus made me feel unsafe and uneasy. Jewish students should not have to face such intimidatory protests at an institution that is supposed to be a place of learning. I hope other universities will look at this case, impose similar measures, and take a clear stand against those who seek to intimidate Jews.”

This decision vindicates Jewish students at the University of Birmingham. This protest was yet another example of just how bad the situation is for Jews on campus right now.

Universities and student societies across Britain should follow this decision and take concrete steps to protect their students, who should be able to come to campus without fear for their safety.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

, ,

CAA calls for proscriptions today to protect Jewish lives

In view of events overnight and ongoing, Campaign Against Antisemitism is today reiterating its call on the Home Secretary to fulfill a pre-election pledge to ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and also to proscribe the Palestine Action group.

The Government must also finally proscribe Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and the various groups involved in the Hamas-led 7th October 2023 terrorist attack.

Yesterday, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, calling for the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “The Government must clamp down. Every day that the Home Secretary delays, people who endanger our country are running amok.

“Iran’s IRGC is active in the UK. There have recently been arrests in London allegedly linked to the IRGC. Not so long ago an Iranian proxy was found to have three tonnes of high explosives in London. They say that they want to target Jews anywhere around the world and that means us. That means here in our country.

“Police forces and security services cannot move against IRGC operatives until they have evidence that they are actively planning an attack, which is why proscription is needed, so that they have the legal powers to move immediately to clean out the IRGC in the UK. The Government promised to do this when it came to power a year ago. The IRGC poses a mortal threat to British Jews and the Home Secretary should lay an order before Parliament today. What is the Home Secretary waiting for?

“There is now a backlog of terrorist organisations that the Government is allowing to operate here without taking action. We have also asked the Home Secretary to proscribe the Houthis (Ansar Allah) — which fire on Royal Navy ships as well as seeking the death of all Jews — and the smaller Palestinian factions which participated in Hamas’ 7th October atrocities but, due to inaction by two successive Governments, still haven’t been proscribed two years later.

“We have also asked her to proscribe the domestic organisation Palestine Action, which operates a cell structure, uses burner phones and provides an entire manual on how to cause maximum damage. It is severely impacting British Jews and the wider public and we believe meets all of the criteria for being banned under the Terrorism Act 2000.

“We need action now. The Home Secretary must give law enforcement the powers they need to keep us safe. We cannot wait another day.”

, , , , ,

We will do everything we can to defend the Jewish community

Today, we can announce that we have launched a private prosecution against David Miller.

Dr Miller was previously an academic at the University of Bristol and is currently a presenter on the Iranian channel Press TV.

The case relates to posts on X, which Dr Miller allegedly published in recent months. Three charges have been brought by Campaign Against Antisemitism alleging that Dr Miller used a public communications network to send messages of a menacing character, contrary to section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.

As we are the prosecutors in this case, we are limited in what we can say about it at this stage, but you can read more details about the case here.

Our application for a criminal summons to be issued against Dr Miller was granted by Westminster Magistrates’ Court with a first hearing scheduled for next month.

Warrant issued for Reginald D. Hunter to attend court in separate Campaign Against Antisemitism private prosecution

A warrant has been issued for Reginald D. Hunter to attend court in relation to a private prosecution brought by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Mr Hunter is charged with three offences under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, relating to posts on X that he allegedly published in September 2024.

The first hearing took place last Friday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, but the professional comedian failed to appear.

A warrant has now been issued for him to attend court on a future date.

This is one of a number of private prosecutions that we are bringing, and there will be more to say on the case in due course.

Jewish world rocked by a second violent ‘Free Palestine’ attack in as many weeks

As Jewish people around the world began bringing in the festival of Shavuot, another horrendous ‘Free Palestine’ attack on Jews took place in Boulder, Colorado.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian immigrant to the United States (some reports suggest that he had been in the country illegally), is alleged to have targeted a demonstration to raise awareness of the hostages in Boulder Colorado with a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails.

He allegedly told authorities that he had been planning the attack for a year and that he wanted to kill Zionists and said that he would repeat the attack if he could.

He was reportedly heard yelling “Free Palestine” at the scene.

This is what happens when our societies refuse to comprehend what the ‘Free Palestine’ movement is capable of. When people say that “the only solution is Intifada revolution”, this is what that looks like.

We wish the eight victims a swift recovery, and call for swift justice against those responsible.

Why is Palestine Action still not banned?

One night last week, a Jewish business in Stamford Hill in North London was vandalised with red paint and had its windows smashed.

CCTV footage shows two masked individuals breaking the front window of the building and spraying it with red paint using a fire extinguisher.

Palestine Action has claimed responsibility for this abhorrent act of intimidation.

It is understood that the Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident as racially-aggravated criminal damage.

Palestine Action is a criminal enterprise operating freely in the UK and terrorising the Jewish community. It must be banned and its organisers and activists prosecuted.

We are examining legal and policy options.

If anyone has information about the incident, they should call the police on 101, quoting reference number CAD 1397/29MAY.

The role of the media

These violent attacks – murder, attempted murder, racially-aggravated property damage – are the result of a number of complementary factors, including the failure of the authorities to take decisive action but also the peddling of misinformation by the media.

  • After the UN’s humanitarian chief made the unfounded assertion that “14,000 babies” would die in Gaza within 48 hours, the UN retracted the claim. But that was not before all the news outlets amplified the lie. Some eventually retracted, some continued to amplify it. But some of those that retracted still have the unedited stories online. The BBC, for example, still has an unedited and uncaveated segment live on its website pushing the false claim with no indication in the text that the lie has been debunked and withdrawn.
  • BBC Arabic, meanwhile, has had to issue an on-air apology after one of its presenters claimed that there was no evidence of Hamas terrorists burning entire families during its barbaric attack in Southern Israel on 7th October 2023. The propagandistic and insulting statement was made during a programme in April in response to an Israeli researcher discussing the massacre on one of its programmes. It is not known if the presenter has faced any disciplinary action or indeed basic training in journalism since the incident.
  • Then, this week, the BBC promoted the false story that Israeli forces killed Gazans at a humanitarian distribution centre. After the BBC’s version of events changed several times – including the numbers of alleged fatalities and the methods of killing – eventually BBC Verify decided to do the work of traditional journalism and found the story to be untrue. That was not before footage of the supposed image had been viewed countless times online and the story made headlines in the UK.

The BBC recently reiterated its commitment to a thematic review into its Gaza coverage, including BBC Arabic.

This is not enough. We need a properly independent investigation to uncover what is really going on at our national broadcaster.

Until then, the TV licence fee must be suspended, pending an independent inquiry. Sign the petition now!

The BBC is funded by UK taxpayers through the TV Licence Fee. To stop paying yours now, read our guide at antisemitism.org/canceltvlicence.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to lead the campaign against the ‘Hamas case’

The Home Office has written to thank Campaign Against Antisemitism for our legal submission to the Home Secretary in response to Hamas’ application to be de-proscribed in the UK.

Whilst the Home Office is prevented from commenting on the application itself for legal reasons, the response noted that “National security is the Government’s first priority, and we are committed to tackling extremism and terrorism in all its forms. The barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on 7th October 2023 was the most appalling attack in Israel’s history and the worst loss of Jewish life since the Second World War.”

The Home Office went on to say that “The UK retains a no-contact policy with Hamas and strongly condemns all acts of terrorism. Everyone in this country has the right to feel safe and we already have some of the strongest laws in the world to protect our citizens from hatred and terrorism. I want to reassure you and Campaign Against Antisemitism that this Government will do whatever is required to keep communities in the UK safe and protect our national security.”

There is absolutely no way that we will permit the proscription of Hamas to be overturned on our watch, and we are quite confident that the Home Secretary will reach the same conclusion given the appalling brutality of Hamas, its ongoing attempts to perpetrate terrorism, its foundational commitment to the murder of Jews, and the startlingly poor quality and maximalist position of its application for de-proscription.

If Hamas persists in its legal claim, we will pursue the matter at every stage in court.

On the other side of the case, one of Hamas’ lawyers, Franck Magennis, referred to Zionism as a “crisis” in an interview and extolled Ansar Allah (the Houthis) as having “shamed the rest of the world” in its “willingness to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians…taking real material sacrifices to militarily confront the Zionist entity.”

Ansar Allah is a terror group backed by Iran with a long history of violent attacks in a number of different countries, including firing drones and missiles at Jewish civilians. Despite widespread condemnation, they also persist in recruitment of child soldiers. The group’s slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews.”

This is a disgrace to the legal profession.

We are waiting to hear from the Bar Standards Board regarding Mr Magennis’ (un)fitness to practice law in England.

Would you like to help Campaign Against Antisemitism?

Next week, we will be asking our supporters and the wider community for your help to Fund The Fight in our annual crowdfunder.

If you would like to be a Team Leader in this campaign, which will be run through Charity Extra, or you would like further information, please contact us at [email protected].

Team Leaders receive all the resources that they need in order to tell their family and friends about the work that Campaign Against Antisemitism does and how we use the donations that our supporters contribute.

We can only continue the fight against antisemitism with your help.

Explosive claim about alleged British funding of Hamas

The explosive claim last week that British taxpayer money not only may be going to Hamas but could actually be one of its main sources of funding should be prompting emergency meetings at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Handing money to third parties, including UN agencies and established charitable organisations, is no substitute for extensive due diligence and tight safeguards.

We all know that Hamas steals and diverts aid, whether in the form of money or food. So how can our Government be so irresponsible as to reportedly provide monies that ultimately go to Hamas ministries and organs?

In this case, it appears that the FCDO provided funding to UNICEF knowing that would go to a Hamas Ministry in Gaza for disbursement.

Civil servants are right to worry about the reputational risk to the British Government around such policies, because clearly this is extremely damaging.

The problem is that they apparently didn’t properly consider the other risks, including potentially to life and limb.

From one banned group to another?

We welcome reports that ministers are to get anti-terror-style powers to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The proposal, which has been recommended by the Government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation and, if implemented, would fulfil a Labour pre-election promise, would introduce a fourteen-year prison sentence for anyone helping or benefiting from a banned state intelligence agency such as the IRGC.

A new criminal offence of inviting support for state agencies such as the IRGC or displaying their flags or insignia in public, would also be introduced, essentially replicating existing offences for proscribed terrorist organisations under the Terrorism Act.

For now, these are only proposals and they come from an independent advisor to the Government, so it remains to be seen whether the Home Office and FCDO will accept them.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for the proscription of the IRGC, including recently in a submission to the Foreign Affairs Committee, and our representative polling shows that 93% of British Jews believe that the Government should proscribe the IRGC.

Antisemitism in the Middle East is not a new phenomenon

This week, we commemorate the Farhud.

In June 1941, the Farhud tore through Baghdad — a brutal pogrom where Jews were beaten, raped, and murdered in the streets.

Jack Hikmet was born in its aftermath. Growing up as a Jew in Iraq, his life was marked by fear, violence, and uncertainty. Listen to his story here.

The violent ‘Free Palestine’ attack in Colorado underscores just how urgent our fight against antisemitism is.

Our private prosecutions, complaints to regulators, scrutiny of the media, advocacy for victims, support for students are just a sample of our work, which is more vital than ever.

We will continue to do everything that we can – from the courtroom to Parliament and from the television studio to the classroom – to defend the Jewish community.

, , , , , ,

The real destination of ‘Free Palestine’

A crowd gathered on Thursday evening outside the Israeli Embassy in London for a vigil organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism to honour two diplomats who were brutally murdered on Wednesday night in Washington DC.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who both worked for the Israeli Embassy in the United States, were shot outside Capital Jewish Museum as they were leaving an event.

The shooting, by a suspect who shouted “Free Palestine!” at the scene and who later reportedly confessed to police, has sent shockwaves around the world.

The growing extremism of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement has been a ticking time bomb which has been waiting to explode.

This is what they mean when they yell ‘Globalise the Intifada’ on the streets of capital cities, on our campuses and at trade union meetings.

Addressing the crowd in London, Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “They were a couple, and had plans to travel to Jerusalem next week, where Yaron intended to propose to Sarah. That is what could have been. That is what should have been. Instead, their lives were stolen, and now, that proposal will never come. The family they would have built will never be realised. They were gunned down at the very gates of a Jewish museum — a place meant to preserve memory and culture — by a man shouting ‘Free Palestine.’ This was not peace. It was violence. This was not protest. It was murder.”

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis then addressed the crowd: “We will never lose our hope, and we have every reason to be filled with hope, and that is because we know that the peace we are committed to, the justice that we want to see in the world, will ultimately triumph over those who seek to kill and to murder.”

A statement from Tzipi Hotovely, Ambassador of Israel to the Court of St. James’s, was read on her behalf, as she was unable to join for security reasons: “At a time when tensions remain high, and Jewish communities are feeling vulnerable, this incident is a sobering reminder of the threats we face. All diplomats, and representatives of embassies across the world, should be able to work without fear for their lives or safety, as they work to achieve greater cooperation amongst nations. Last night’s events are a harsh reminder of the virulent antisemitism we are still seeing, in the US, here in the UK, and across the world.”

A two-minute silence for the victims was then observed, following which the crowd was led in song and prayer by Cantor Aaron Isaac. Attendees then sang the British national anthem and the Israeli national anthem.

We are locked in a battle for the soul of the West.

It’s long past time that our leaders and police chiefs here in Britain woke up and took firm action, otherwise these will not be the last lives taken by these fanatical extremists dressed up as peaceniks.

May their memory be a blessing.

Kneecap member charged following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism

A member of the Belfast rap trio Kneecap has been charged with a terrorism offence.

Liam O’Hanna, 27, was charged by post with displaying a flag in support of Hizballah, a proscribed terrorist organisation, at a concert at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town on 21st November last year.

Mr O’Hanna is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court next month.

Footage of the concert in question appeared to show a member of the band, draped in a Hizballah flag, shouting to the crowd, “Up Hamas, up Hizballah.”

In a statement following considerable backlash, the group said: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hizballah.”

Yet just one day after the charge was made public, Kneecap performed at the 100 Club in London. During the show, Mr O’Hanna claimed the group was being used as a “scapegoat” to avoid “talking about the real issue”.

His transparent deflection tactics may fool some within Kneecap’s unquestioning fanbase – but not us.

Shame on the 100 Club for putting profit before principle by hosting the band so soon after the charge.

Those who continue to associate themselves with Kneecap make clear that they care little for ethics or the concerns of Jews worldwide, for whom the threats posed by Hamas and Hizballah are not theoretical – they are existential.

Despite all of this, the group was still allowed to headline at Wide Awake Festival at Brockwell Park on Friday.

Following our calls on festival organisers to cancel Kneecap’s performance, Wide Awake Festival said in a statement that it was looking forward to “staging another unforgettable event”.

Those who oppose extremism will not forget this. This decision was a disgrace.

A welcome development

Abu Wadei, whose real name is understood to be Mosab Al Qasas, has been sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment.

He was sentenced following his guilty plea to attempting to enter the country on 6th March without leave or valid entry clearance.

The jailing of Mr Al Qasas after we revealed that he was part of a violent Hamas-endorsed unit is an extremely welcome development. However, this is only in respect to charges relating to immigration breaches.

We have called for the Crown Prosecution Service to bring terrorism charges against him as well, as we believe that he has committed serious offences and that it is in the interests of national security to bring a prosecution.

Failure to do so risks signalling that Britain is a safe haven for terrorists. For now, he is in prison, but we need clarity on what happens once he has served his term: will he be deported or will he be at liberty in Britain?

Will he face justice for his potential involvement in terrorist activity abroad, or will he walk free?

The general public and British Jews in particular must urgently be told the answers to these questions.

The Crown Prosecution Service must bring terrorism charges against him.

Are Hamas’ lawyers acting with honesty and integrity?

We have reported Franck Magennis and Daniël Michaël Grütters to the Bar Standards Board (BSB).

Mr Magennis and Mr Grütters are barristers who are working for Hamas on its desperate bid to get the group deproscribed in the UK.

Upon reviewing the application for deproscription, it is evident that Mr Magennis and Mr Grütters knowingly or recklessly presented, on behalf of Hamas, a false and misleading description of the 7th October 2023 massacre.

The Hamas false version of events denies that Hamas carried out a deliberate massacre of civilians in Israel, despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary — this deeply offensive assertion evokes Holocaust denial, in that it denies the veracity of a barbaric, deliberate mass-murder of Jews which is the subject of comprehensive, incontrovertible evidence.

It is accordingly a particularly reprehensible assertion for a barrister to make, even on instructions, knowing it to be untrue.

Rather than being incidental to the application, the Hamas false version of the events is central to the application.

Mr Magennis and Mr Grütters have knowingly prepared and presented a submission to the Secretary of State containing at its core a set of egregious falsehoods, which we charge breaches the requirement that all barristers “must act with honesty, and with integrity”.

The BSB must now open an investigation into Mr Magennis and Mr Grütters.

We have already reported Hamas’ solicitor, Fahad Ansari, to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

We are hiring!

Can you write good copy? Can you turn academic research into impactful messaging? Do you want to help combat rising antisemitism?

We’re looking for a Communications and Research Manager to join us in the fight against antisemitism.

For more information and to apply, visit antisemitism.org/jobs.

Are you a medical professional, or a recent patient?

We are collecting testimonies on antisemitism in the medical field.

We are interested to hear from doctors and other medical practitioners, staff, patients and anyone else who has encountered antisemitism in medicine over the past year and a half.

If you have been affected, please e-mail us at [email protected] with the subject: “Medical”.

It is vital that victims make their voices heard. We cannot raise awareness of antisemitism in medicine without your help.

We understand the significance of professional and privacy concerns, which is why victims trust us to amplify their voices and get justice. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Last week, the true destination of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement was revealed to the world. Jews across the globe were left reeling in horror as they were faced with the news of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky’s murder.

It is times like this when we are reminded of just how vital the fight against antisemitism is for the future of British Jews and indeed the West.

This is a battle that we cannot lose. We will continue to do everything we can to fight for our future.

Photo credit: Campaign Against Antisemitism

, ,

Abu Wadei sentenced to prison following CAA investigation

Abu Wadei, whose real name is understood to be Mosab Al Qasas, was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment today at Canterbury Crown Court.

He was sentenced after he pleaded guilty this morning to attempting to enter the country on 6th March earlier this year without leave or valid entry clearance.

Mr Wadei, who arrived in the United Kingdom on a dinghy on 6th March 2025, was arrested following an investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The initial investigation found that Mr Wadei has been part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border, and has told a rally in Gaza that he wanted to “die for the sake of Allah”, along with various other details.

We also uncovered a video posted to Facebook on 18th September 2024, in which Abu Wadei is heard praying: “Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who conspire with them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who are in league with them. Oh Allah, kill them all ,and do not leave a single one of them. Oh Allah, destroy them completely, scatter them completely, and make the earth fall from under their feet.”

He is also heard praying: “Oh Allah give us strength against the criminal Jews. Give us strength against them, Oh Lord of the worlds. Give us strength against them, Oh God.”

Mr Wadei seemed to have been living without attracting attention in Switzerland and Germany for two years, despite having hundreds of thousands of followers on social media accounts that showcase his involvement in violence in Gaza. It then appeared that he decided to cross Europe and risk his life to come to Britain.

We also obtained a WhatsApp number that appears to be his, registered in Greece.

It appeared that he was receiving money via PayPal using paypal.me/MosabAlqassass. We reported the account to PayPal.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The jailing of Mosab Al Qasas (Abu Wadei) after we revealed that he was part of a violent Hamas-endorsed unit is an extremely welcome development. However, this is only in respect to charges relating to immigration breaches. We have called for the CPS to bring terrorism charges against him as well, as we believe that he has committed serious offences and that it is in the interests of national security to bring a prosecution. Failure to do so risks signalling that Britain is a safe haven for terrorists. For now, he is in prison, but we need clarity on what happens once he has served his term: will he be deported or will he be at liberty in Britain? Will he face justice for his potential involvement in terrorist activity abroad, or will he walk free? The general public and British Jews in particular must urgently be told the answers to these questions.”

, ,

BBC reiterates commitment to thematic review of Gaza coverage

The BBC has reportedly reiterated its intention to launch a “thematic review” into its Gaza coverage and BBC Arabic.

Samir Shah, the Chair of the BBC, has told Times Radio: “The [BBC] Arabic service, we are looking at it, we’ve been examining it. I think this whole business of how we’ve covered Israel-Gaza is a proper thing to examine thoroughly, which is why we’re going to identify… we’re going to get hold of an independent figure to look at our coverage.”

This comes after the BBC told Jewish media last month: “We take the matters raised with us extremely seriously and have updated them [the Board of Deputies] on a number of the topics they raise, including around training for staff and launching an independent Thematic Review of our Israel-Gaza coverage. The BBC is committed to upholding the highest possible editorial standards across our output, reporting impartially to maintain the trust of audiences. The conduct and welfare of all of our staff is an absolute priority and we have well-established and robust processes in place to handle any concerns or complaints raised with us.”

It is understood that this “thematic review” of the standard of the BBC’s Gaza coverage will be drafted for presentation to the BBC Board, and will be “independent and published in full”.

The announcement, such as it is, comes some two months after Mr Shah suggested before the Culture Media and Sport Committee that a thematic review might be on the table, and just days after yet another BBC Arabic contributor who reports on the Hamas-Israel conflict was alleged to have published antisemitic rhetoric on social media.

The scandal has arisen following the broadcast earlier this year of a so-called documentary, ‘Gaza How to Survive a War Zone’, which was narrated by the son of a senior Hamas official, whose family was paid with licence fee funds for the son’s participation. The BBC launched an internal review, which, almost three months since the broadcast, has yet to report its findings.

Our polling shows the overwhelming majority — 92% — of British Jews believe media bias against Israel fuels antisemitism, and look on the BBC’s coverage disfavorably (it performs the worst among broadcasters). We need a full and independent inquiry into the BBC’s coverage of the Jewish state.

Since the scandal erupted earlier this year, Campaign Against Antisemitism has:

  • Called for an independent investigation into the scandal and into BBC bias in its Israel coverage more broadly.
  • Held multiple protests outside Broadcasting House.
  • Urged the scrapping of the ‘BBC First’ policy, whereby the BBC, uniquely among broadcasters, is able to mark its own homework before a complaint can be escalated to Ofcom.
  • Commissioned and published polling (conducted by YouGov) that showed that 57% of the British public back an independent investigation into the BBC Gaza film scandal and only 21% do not.
  • Launched a petition calling for a suspension of the licence fee pending an independent investigation.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Why go through the charade of an internal review only to accept, weeks later, the need for an independent investigation? We called for that from the start but the BBC, as usual, tried to dig in its heels. Given the BBC’s record, does anyone trust the BBC to appoint someone truly independent to investigate itself? BBC bosses still haven’t got a grip on this scandal.”

,

Jordan announces ban on Muslim Brotherhood

Jordan has announced a ban on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, is an offshoot of the Society of the Muslim Brothers, popularly known as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Whilst Hamas currently is proscribed in full in the UK as a terrorist group, the Muslim Brotherhood is not. Our representative polling shows that more than four-fifths (85%) of British Jews think that the British Government should proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood is proscribed in a number of countries, now including Jordan, where the Interior Minister has announced on television that membership of the Brotherhood has been prohibited and all of its offices in the Kingdom have been closed.

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

, ,

CAA makes submission to Foreign Affairs Committee

Campaign Against Antisemitism has made a submission to the Foreign Affairs Committee, following calls for evidence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The full submission can be read here.

We made the following recommendations to the Committee:

  • The Government should treat Hamas as an illegitimate entity and ensure that any policy that it pursues ultimately aims towards a world in which Hamas does not exist. It would be unconscionable for the British Government to risk appearing to endorse a group that is proscribed in the UK as a respectable partner abroad.
  • The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) must make greater efforts to ensure the safe and swift return of all of the remaining hostages. This must be undertaken in a way that does not legitimise or empower Hamas, especially through pressure on Iran, Qatar and Egypt, all of which have relations with and leverage over Hamas.
  • All of the organisations that were involved in the 7th October 2023 attack must be proscribed in full under the Terrorism Act 2000.
  • Hamas is an offshoot of the Society of the Muslim Brothers, popularly known as the Muslim Brotherhood. This organisation is proscribed in a number of countries, and the UK should follow suit.
  • Ansar Allah (the Houthis) is a terror group backed by Iran with a long history of violent attacks in a number of different countries, and whose slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews.” The Houthis must be proscribed in full under the Terrorism Act 2000.
  • The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the US, Canada, Israel, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Britain must finally follow suit, in fulfilment of Labour’s pre-election pledge.
  • Any British funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) must be carefully vetted to ensure that it does not directly or indirectly benefit terrorist organisations or promote antisemitism, in addition to rigorous safeguards against corruption. The FCDO must disclose whether legal advice was sought or obtained in relation to the decision to resume funding to UNRWA, and must publish a summary of the legal advice. British Jews in particular have a clear and significant interest in understanding how the British Government is guaranteeing that funds to UNRWA are not being used to directly or indirectly benefit terrorist organisations or promote antisemitism.

The full submission can be read here.

, , ,

CAA uncovers social media posts from account of lawyer representing Hamas

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Online Monitoring and Investigations Unit has uncovered a plethora of inflammatory posts from Fahad Ansari’s X account.

One post read, “Long live the Palestinian resistance,” and “Victory to the intifada.” Intifadas in the past have always been campaigns of terrorist violence, including suicide bombings.

Another post read: “Fact: Hamas has never been more popular around the world than it is today. Why is that? Possibly because people understand that it is the only thing that stands between the Western-backed Israeli genocidal army and the complete eradication of the Palestinian people.”

Another post on the account read: “At this point, Israel could literally set up gas chambers for Palestinians during Ramadan and the genocide enablers in the Western media will be shouting ‘What about Hamas?’ and crying antisemitism if anyone draws a comparison with the Holocaust. Make no mistake, if these people were alive in the 40s, they would have sided with 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.

Mr Ansari is the Director and Principal Solicitor at Riverway Law, the firm that is currently representing Hamas in a bid to have the group de-proscribed in the UK.

The application is being made to the Home Secretary.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Judging by what we have uncovered from Fahad Ansari’s X account, he appears to view a bulldozer breaching the border fence between Gaza and Israel on 7th October as ‘one of the most iconic, hopeful images of our time’, hails Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin as a ‘hero’, and, referring to ‘the heroic Palestinian resistance’, expresses hope that ‘every one of their bullets hit their targets’. This rhetoric is stomach-churning, but it befits a lawyer who represents Hamas. It is ludicrous that someone with views like these is permitted to practise in the legal profession. We will be writing to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.”

, ,

CAA reacts to legal case to de-proscribe Hamas: “Our initial review of the so-called ‘Hamas case’ is that the submission is amateurish and desperate.”

Yesterday, it was announced that law firm Riverway Law is representing the antisemitic genocidal terror group Hamas in a bid to get the group de-proscribed in the UK.

The application is being made to the Home Secretary.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Our initial review of the so-called ‘Hamas case’ is that the submission is amateurish and desperate. It demonstrates that Hamas is struggling by any means necessary to stay afloat as pressure is brought to bear on the murderous Islamist group. If Hamas is no longer proscribed, it can be funded from the UK.

“It’s a grotesque irony that the case to de-proscribe Hamas is being made as a human rights claim. Yes, a group that has deprived well in excess of a thousand Jews of their lives and two million Gazans of their safety is basing its appeal on human rights. The case argues that the proscription of Hamas deprives British citizens of their rights to freedom of expression and protest.

“But haven’t we been told for a year and a half that all the protesters on our streets and elsewhere are not terrorist sympathisers? So whose rights are being curtailed, exactly? Are there people in Britain who are desperate to be able to reveal that they support Hamas and its aspiration to annihilate the Jewish people? This case appears to rest on the claim that there are.

“The courts must stand firm against Islamist antisemitism, and the Home Secretary must take seriously what this claim represents.”

, , ,

CAA calls for terror prosecution of Abu Wadei

After we revealed that Abu Wadei was part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border and used antisemitic rhetoric at foreign rallies and online, he has been arrested by British authorities on immigration charges.

Our solicitors have now written to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) calling for terrorism charges to be added to the charge sheet.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is being represented by Asserson Law Offices.

Abu Wadei, who recently arrived in the United Kingdom on a dinghy, was arrested following an investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The initial investigation found that Mr Wadei has been part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border, and has told a rally in Gaza that he wanted to “die for the sake of Allah”, along with various other details.

We also uncovered a video posted to Facebook on 18th September 2024, in which Abu Wadei is heard praying: “Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who conspire with them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who are in league with them. Oh Allah, kill them all ,and do not leave a single one of them. Oh Allah, destroy them completely, scatter them completely, and make the earth fall from under their feet.”

He is also heard praying: “Oh Allah give us strength against the criminal Jews. Give us strength against them, Oh Lord of the worlds. Give us strength against them, Oh God.”

Mr Wadei seems to have been living without attracting attention in Switzerland and Germany for two years, despite having hundreds of thousands of followers on social media accounts that showcase his involvement in violence in Gaza. Suddenly a few days ago, it appears that he has decided to cross Europe and risk his life to come to Britain.

We believe that Abu Wadei’s name is Mosab Al Qasas.

We also obtained a WhatsApp number that appears to be his, registered in Greece.

It appeared that he was receiving money via PayPal using paypal.me/MosabAlqassass. We reported the account to PayPal.

Mr Wadei was arrested on immigration charges, and we are now calling for him to be prosecuted on terror charges as well.

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “After we revealed that Abu Wadei was part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border and used antisemitic rhetoric at foreign rallies and online, he has been arrested by British authorities on immigration charges.

“Our solicitors have now written to the CPS calling for terrorism charges to be added to the charge sheet. We believe that Abu Wadei has committed serious offences and that it is in the interests of national security to bring a prosecution. Failure to do so risks signalling that Britain is a safe haven for terrorists. We cannot be a soft touch. The only way to deter more Islamist extremists from entering our country is to ensure that the extremists already arriving here face the full force of the law. We have offered the CPS any assistance to help their assessment of the charges.”

, ,

“Let my people go”: CAA lights up UK headquarters of International Committee yellow for the hostages

Following a year and a half of apparent inaction by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in relation to the hostages, Campaign Against Antisemitism lit up its UK headquarters yellow for the 59 hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “As the Jewish community prepares to celebrate Passover, a festival commemorating Jewish liberation, our thoughts are still with the 59 hostages being held captive by antisemitic genocidal Hamas terrorists. Much of the international response to the plight of these hostages has been lacklustre and vapid, with empty promises to take action with no follow-through. Among the pitiful responses has been that of the ICRC.

“Many in the Jewish world no longer regard the ICRC as much more than a glorified taxi service, sitting aside for months as hostages languish in abominable conditions and then patiently waiting as psychopathic terrorists parade their traumatised captives onstage in grotesque ceremonies before carting them away as though nothing had happened.

“The ICRC claims that ‘for the hostages in Gaza, the Red Cross is neutral’ but denies being mere ‘bystanders’. Tell that to the families of the hostages longing for their loved ones to come home. Tell that to the Jewish people waiting for their brethren to return. ICRC, we say to you: let my people go!”

, , ,

UK-Israel APPG publishes report on Hamas attack of 7th October 2023

The All Party Parliamentary Group on UK-Israel has published a report on the Hamas attack of 7th October 2023. The report was authored by esteemed historian Lord Robert of Belgravia.

As the report explains: “This report is driven by a single purpose: to chronicle the facts of 7 October with clarity and precision. By compiling survivor testimonies, eyewitness accounts, first responder narratives, and expert analyses, this project has sought to create an authoritative historical record. This report will serve as an enduring resource for governments, educators, and civil society, safeguarding the truth against denialism and distortion.

“By preserving these facts for posterity, the Commission seeks to honour the memory of those who died and ensure that the events of 7th October 2023 are never forgotten. It should also stand as a stark reminder of the cost of extremism.”

The report observes that more British citizens were killed on 7th October than in any foreign terror attack since 9/11.

The report also memorialises the eighteen British citizens murdered by Hamas:

Bernard Cowan
Nadav Popplewell
Roi Popplewell
Nathanel Young
Danny Darlington
Jake Marlowe
Aner Shapira
Dvorah ‘Debbie’ Abraham
Yonatan Rapoport
Lianne Clair Brisley [Sharabi]
Noiya Sharabi
Yahel Sharabi
Benjamin “Benji” Trakeniski
Yannai Hetzroni-Heller
Liel Hetzroni-Heller
Rotem Kalderon
Yosef Malachi Guedalia
Dor Hanan Shafir

May their memory be a blessing.

In addition, the British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari was released in a ceasefire deal in January 2025, after fifteen months in Hamas captivity.

The report further notes that several victims, though not British citizens, have strong ties to Britain.

Eli Sharabi is the husband and father of the deceased British-Israeli citizens, Lianne, 48, and Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, who were murdered by Hamas on 7th October. Eli was taken as a hostage into Gaza and was recently released in a ceasefire deal. Yossi Sharabi, Eli’s brother, was taken into captivity by Hamas and murdered.

Oded Lifshitz was taken hostage by Hamas along with his wife, Yocheved. Both were peace activists. While Yocheved was released in October 2023, Oded was kept in captivity by Hamas and murdered. His daughter, Sharone, is a British citizen residing in the UK.

Avinatan Or was taken hostage from the Nova Music Festival on 7th October, along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani. His mother, Ditza, is British. Avinatan and Noa were separated and taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists. Noa was rescued by Israeli soldiers. Avinatan remains in Hamas captivity.

Tsachi Idan, 50, was taken hostage from his home, where his daughter Maayan was murdered by Hamas. Tsachi was murdered in captivity. His cousin, who has long been working to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages, lives in the UK.

, ,

CAA calls on UCL to ban Francesca Albanese

Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to the UCL, following the announcement that Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, will be speaking at an event on campus.

Ms Abanese has a well-documented history of using rhetoric that alienates Jews. Last year, Campaign Against Antisemitism organised several protests at London universities after it was announced that she was due to address students.

Below is a sample of her past rhetoric:

  • She has previously posted about “the Jewish lobby” and is alleged to have told a Hamas-organised conference that they have “the right to resist”.
  • She has made innumerable comparisons between Israelis and the Nazis, in breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism, which has been adopted by the British Government and UCL.
  • In 2022, she reportedly addressed a conference in Gaza in which she stated “You have a right to resist this occupation.” The conference was reportedly organised by Hamas and numerous spokespeople from both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were present. Both Hamas and the PIJ are proscribed as terrorist organisations by the UK Government.
  • Last year, she was condemned by the French Foreign Ministry after she posted on X: “The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel’s oppression,” after President Macron described the 7th October attacks as “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century”.
  • A 2014 open letter that she posted on her Facebook account read: “America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust, remain on the sidelines and continue to condemn the oppressed — the Palestinians — who defend themselves with the only means they have.” This is also a breach of the Definition.
  • According to The Times of Israel, in 2014 in a now-hidden post on Facebook directed at the BBC, she wrote: “The Israeli lobby is clearly inside your veins and system and you will be remembered to have been on the big brother’s side of this orwellian [sic] nightmare caused once again by Israel’s greed.” Also a breach of the Definition.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The decision to welcome Francesca Albanese on campus is appalling and sends a damning message to Jewish students. She has previously posted about ‘the Jewish lobby’ and is alleged to have told a Hamas-organised conference that they have ‘the right to resist’. Everyone knows by now how Jews feel about this inflammatory activist. Are these appearances just to bait Jews? At a time when Jewish students are experiencing an unprecedented surge in antisemitism, Ms Albanese’s presence on campus only exacerbates the issue. We will be writing UCL.”

, , ,

Abu Wadei arrested, following investigation by CAA

Abu Wadei, who was recently reported to have arrived in the United Kingdom on a dinghy, has reportedly been arrested, following an investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The initial investigation found that Mr Wadei has been part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border, and has told a rally in Gaza that he wanted to “die for the sake of Allah”, along with various other details.

We also uncovered a video posted to Facebook on 18th September 2024, in which Abu Wadei is heard praying: “Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who conspire with them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who are in league with them. Oh Allah, kill them all ,and do not leave a single one of them. Oh Allah, destroy them completely, scatter them completely, and make the earth fall from under their feet.”

He is also heard praying: “Oh Allah give us strength against the criminal Jews. Give us strength against them, Oh Lord of the worlds. Give us strength against them, Oh God.”

Mr Wadei seems to have been living without attracting attention in Switzerland and Germany for two years, despite having hundreds of thousands of followers on social media accounts that showcase his involvement in violence in Gaza. Suddenly a few days ago, it appears that he has decided to cross Europe and risk his life to come to Britain.

We believe that Abu Wadei’s name is Mosab Al Qasas.

We also obtained a WhatsApp number that appears to be his, registered in Greece.

It appeared that he was receiving money via PayPal using paypal.me/MosabAlqassass. We reported the account to PayPal.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We welcome the reported arrest of Abu Wadei. It is evident that he poses a threat to the safety of the Jewish community and to the British public more widely. Clearly he should not be at liberty in the UK. We are now asking the Home Office to confirm that this case will be expedited and we are seeking assurances on the anticipated timeframes. We are also asking why nobody seemed to have worked out who he was until our investigators exposed him.”

, , ,

Further information surfaces following CAA investigation into Abu Wadei

Campaign Against Antisemitism has uncovered further information about Abu Wadei, who was recently reported to have arrived in the United Kingdom on a dinghy.

The initial investigation found that Abu Wadei has been part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border, and has told a rally in Gaza that he wanted to “die for the sake of Allah”, along with various other details.

We have now uncovered a video posted to Facebook on 18th September 2024, in which Abu Wadei is heard praying: “Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who conspire with them. Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who are in league with them. Oh Allah, kill them all ,and do not leave a single one of them. Oh Allah, destroy them completely, scatter them completely, and make the earth fall from under their feet.”

He is also heard praying: “Oh Allah give us strength against the criminal Jews. Give us strength against them, Oh Lord of the worlds. Give us strength against them, Oh God.”

Mr Wadei seems to have been living without attracting attention in Switzerland and Germany for two years, despite having hundreds of thousands of followers on social media accounts that showcase his involvement in violence in Gaza. Suddenly a few days ago, it appears that he has decided to cross Europe and risk his life to come to Britain.

We believe that Abu Wadei’s name is Mosab Al Qasas.

We have obtained a WhatsApp number that appears to be his, registered in Greece.

He also appears to receive money via PayPal using paypal.me/MosabAlqassass. We have reported the account to PayPal.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We consider that this man poses a threat to public security and are asking the Home Office for urgent assurances that he is in secure custody pending further investigation. A jihadi whose stated ambition is ‘to die for the sake of Allah’ and prayed for the slaughter of all Jews must not be permitted to be at large in this country.

“The fact is that he has brazenly posted not only these views, but also his involvement in a Hamas-endorsed unit in Gaza on social media accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers. It is alarming in the extreme that he does not appear to have attracted the attention of the authorities in numerous European countries and has now arrived in the UK with relative ease, having openly posted videos on each stop of his journey to the UK.”

, , ,

CAA finds dinghy arrival to UK was part of Hamas-endorsed unit in Gaza

An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism has revealed that a man who posted on TikTok earlier today about his arrival in the UK was a member of a Hamas-endorsed unit involved in serious violence on the Gaza-Israel border who wants to “die for the sake of Allah”.

The man, who goes by Abu Wadei, posted a video on TikTok this morning showing the final steps of his journey from Gaza to Britain, in a dinghy. We have been urgently looking into who he is.

We have identified him in a video in which he took the microphone at a rally, apparently in Gaza. He told the crowd that he is a member of the “tyre burning unit”, which was active in the Hamas-endorsed violent border riots in 2018 and 2019. He then railed against Jews, adding that his “loftiest aspiration” is to “die for the sake of Allah”.

At the same rally, men chant a battle cry referring to a massacre of Jews: “Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.”

The “Khaybar” chant is a classic Arabic battle cry referencing the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, now Saudi Arabia, in the year 628 CE. The chant has been heard in numerous anti-Israel rallies in Britain and abroad.

We have also found photographs of Abu Wadei apparently at a conference addressed by Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar is the deceased leader of the antisemitic, genocidal terrorist group Hamas. He was one of the primary organisers behind the group’s barbaric 7th October 2023 attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were murdered and over 250 were taken hostage, 59 of whom are still held by Hamas.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We are asking the Home Office to take immediate action to locate Abu Wadei and ensure that he cannot pose a threat to public security. Anyone who may have a track record of being in any way affiliated with Hamas or promoting antisemitic rhetoric must not be permitted to endanger this country.

“If jihadis who want ‘to die for the sake of Allah’ can enter the United Kingdom from Gaza with relative ease, that poses a serious threat to national security.”

, , ,

London in chaos as the Met finally takes on the marches

Saturday was a dark day for London.

Not only did we see the usual antisemitic bile and open support for Jew-hating terrorist organisations to which our nation’s capital has become accustomed, but extremists repeatedly breached the modest restrictions imposed by the police on the anti-Israel protest. Frontline officers acquitted themselves superbly in the face of extremely challenging circumstances, making numerous arrests across central London, but why had they been put in such a dangerous position by their superiors?

Over the course of the preceding days, the Met Police and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) argued online and in meetings about the route of Saturday’s regular anti-Israel march. The fact that the marches invariably feature antisemitic rhetoric and sympathy for terrorism have sadly not prevented them from becoming a weekly staple of London life.

The PSC wanted to march from near Broadcasting House to Whitehall, as per their usual route. For once, the Met Police decided to impose restrictions on their march under section 12 of the Public Order Act, insisting that the march could not assemble near Broadcasting House due to its proximity to London’s Central Synagogue, which has borne the brunt of these intimidatory marches for over a year.

The PSC defiantly declared that the march would assemble at Whitehall and end at Broadcasting House. The Met said that this was unacceptable and directed that the march should form up at Russell Square instead and then head to Whitehall. The PSC then decided that it will assemble at Whitehall and indicated that the march will likely now become a static protest, but appeared to leave the door open to marching.

Indeed the PSC spent all of last week posting online with the hashtag #WeWillMarch.

When Saturday came, chaos ensued. The police arrested some 77 individuals, some 66 of whom in relation to breaches of the modest conditions that the police had imposed, in what the Met described as “a coordinated effort to breach Public Order Act conditions and cause serious disruption to Londoners.” Other arrests related to alleged support for proscribed terrorist organisations and other offences, which of course are by now to be expected on the streets of London.

So far, some twelve people have been charged with Public Order offences, including the chief steward of the protest, as well as PSC Director Ben Jamal and Piers Corbyn, while Jeremy Corbyn MP and John McDonnell MP, who ran in the 2019 General Election to become Prime Minister and Chancellor of Exchequer respectively, have been interviewed by the police under caution.

These charges came after we called on the Met to arrest the organisers of these protests.

The Met’s Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is learning what happens when you bend over backwards to accommodate extremists for fifteen months and then dare to impose a minor restriction. For over a year we have called for these marches to be banned; we reiterated that call on Friday when it was clear that the police would not be able to control the situation. In the event, police authorised a static protest for activists who repeatedly declared, ‘#WeWillMarch’. The result was chaos in London.

What happened on Saturday was not a case of a few bad apples. It is time that the organisers of the protest, several of whom appeared to be involved in trying to break the police lines and defy the conditions, finally be prosecuted and their organisations’ future marches be contained as static rallies.

Anything short of that would broadcast the message that the police have lost control of law and order in our nation’s capital, or, worse still, that some people are above the law, and some forms of extremism are acceptable.

Our Demonstrations and Events Monitoring Unit was on the ground capturing evidence that day. We have a considerable amount of footage from the march, including of the organisers, and we have offered our assistance to the police in this matter. Our analysis has been quoted across the media, from the BBC and Metro to the Independent and The Times.

We will be monitoring whether the arrests lead to charges and the charges to prosecutions, and if necessary we will intervene wherever we can to ensure that justice is done.

Calls to boycott Holocaust Memorial Day

For some weeks now, there have been calls for a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), which takes place next Monday, 27th January.

Coming after a year of constant antisemitic comparisons of Israel to Nazis and baseless allegations of genocide against the Jewish state, it is not surprising but still despicable that some now seek to deprive the Jewish community and its friends of a day to remember the millions of Jews murdered in an actual genocide.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has reportedly written to 460 town halls and educational institutions calling on them to boycott official HMD events following organisers’ refusal to include references to Gaza in commemorations.

The IHRC is best known for its pro-Hizballah “Al-Quds Day” parades under IHRC-badged placards that read “We are all Hizballah,” and this past summer it reportedly claimed that “Zionist financiers abroad” were to blame for “enabling” the Southport riots. The Chair of the organisation allegedly participated in a vigil in 2020 for the leader of the Iranian IRGC terror group Qassem Soleimani, reportedly saying at the event: “We hope and we pray and we work hard to make sure that there will be many many more Qassem Soleimanis. We aspire to become like him.”

The IHRC is a registered charity. While it may no longer be able to bring itself into any further disrepute, its conduct does still continue to adversely impact the charitable sector as a whole.

In a similar vein, others are planning to hold a Genocide Memorial Vigil in Parliament Square on Saturday, two days before HMD, in what appears to be an unsubtle protest against HMD’s focus on the Holocaust.

It is extraordinary just how intolerable some people find the notion that Jewish people can be victims.

Let your star shine!

On 27th January, the world will commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day and mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

There are so many ways in which we can honour the victims. One of the best ways is to be a proud Jew.

This year, we’re launching our “Let Your Star Shine” campaign. We’re encouraging Jews to confidently wear their Stars of David for the whole world to see, demonstrating their Jewish pride and unwavering opposition to the rising tide of antisemitism.

Send us your selfies where you’re proudly wearing your Stars of David and we will repost them on our social media channels.

All images should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line: “Let Your Star Shine”.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in this video: food writer and chef, Alissa Timoshkina; artist Avraham Vofsi; chef and activist Ben Rebuck; comedian Elon Gold; Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Elie K; actor Jonah Platt; comedian Josh Howie; comedian Judy Gold; entrepreneur Karen Cinnamon; rapper Kosha Dillz; journalist Nicole Lampert; actor Tracy-Ann Oberman; musician Westside Gravy and comedian Zach Margolin.

Antisemitism on dating apps

Antisemites must not be welcome on dating apps.

We are hearing from people who are experiencing antisemitism on these platforms.

If this applies to you, we want to know.

Please e-mail us confidentially at [email protected] with the subject line “Dating apps”.

How has antisemitism shaped English literature?

From Chaucer to Shakespeare, Dickens to Dahl, how has antisemitism shaped English literature?

Our short six-part series chronicling the history of antisemitism in English literature is now available.

In this podcast, we explore the anti-Jewish tropes perpetuated by centuries of literary misrepresentation. Beginning with medieval poetry and concluding with contemporary plays, the series offers a chronological overview, inclusive of social as well as literary context. From Dickens to Dahl, there’s a lot to learn!

You can stream the Antisemitism in English Literature series now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and other major platforms.

Kfir and Emily

This past Saturday, Kfir Bibas turned two years old.

He has spent the majority of his life in Hamas captivity.

We continue to pray for his safe return, along with his brother Ariel and his parents Yarden and Shiri, and all the other hostages who were barbarically abducted by Hamas, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist organisation, and have been held for well over a year.

The ceasefire due to come into force on Sunday was delayed having already been breached by Hamas, which failed to provide the names of the first hostages to be released in the prescribed time frame. To the last, Hamas’ psychological terror continued.

A few hours later, Emily Damari, a British-Israeli national who was brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on 7th October 2023, was freed, along with two other hostages, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher.

Emily can now do something that she has not been able to do in fifteen months: embrace her mother, Mandy, who has been tirelessly working to bring her home.

We joined so many others across the world to call for her release over the past fifteen months. Yesterday, it finally happened.

We are on the right side of history; those who shamefully spread lies to humanise and defend murderous Hamas terrorists, including on the streets of Britain, are on the other.

We pray for the safe return of all of the other hostages, and that this weekend was the last birthday that baby Kfir spends in Hamas’ clutches.

This has been a bittersweet weekend.

There was chaos in London, but the Met has finally taken action against the marches and their organisers.

Frontline police officers conducted themselves superbly in trying conditions, but now it is the failed leadership of the Met that is taking an undeserved victory lap.

Meanwhile, hostages have begun to be released from Gaza but in difficult circumstances and on Hamas’s timeline. Still, after fifteen months of agony, we must take all the good news that we can get.

, , , ,

Marching has never been more important

The situation in Britain right now is worse than any of us can remember.

Antisemitism is rife across our public life. Worst still, the authorities seem to be indifferent.

Below is a sample of recent examples across society of the problems that we are seeing. But while we may be feeling helpless, we still have a responsibility to do something.

The future of British Jewry and our country’s tradition of tolerance and decency is not guaranteed. We have to stand up to extremism.

March with us. The march will start at 13:00 on Sunday 8th December in central London.

If you were among the 105,000 people who marched with us last year, you will know that this is a historic opportunity not to be missed.

Please ensure that you sign up in order to receive details and updates, enable us to plan for the right numbers and, for those coming from farther afield, arrange coaches.

The antisemitism and extremism – and the indifference – are deafening

These are just a sample of recent developments that showcase the levels of antisemitism and extremism – and the apparent indifference of the authorities.

  • Last month, Dyar Amin pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault after he tried to attack a Jewish counter-protester at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) demonstration. He also called him a “big-nosed bastard” and a “baby killer”. Shockingly, he was only sentenced to 180 hours of community service, despite the maximum being 300 hours. His sentence was further reduced by 30% due to his guilty plea. Since the attempted attack, he has also reportedly been used as a steward by Leeds PSC at an anti-Israel demonstration. This is another disappointing outcome from our justice system, but hardly an outlier over the past year.
  • The police have said that they will review a decision not to treat an imam’s public prayer for the destruction of Jewish homes as a crime after a public outcry led by The JC. We still have an outstanding complaint with the Charity Commission about the mosque in question, but why does it take a public backlash for the police to take this incident seriously?
  • The Telegraph and others reported this weekend on how the failure of the police to make arrests and pursue charges has forced an organisation like ours to bring private prosecutions as the only means of securing justice for the Jewish community.
  • The CPS, instead of devoting its energies to prosecuting antisemites, is bringing charges against allies of the Jewish community like Niyak Ghorbani, who has become renowned for declaring, in the face of anti-Israel protesters, that Hamas and Hizballah are terrorists under UK law. Once again, we funded his legal defence to have the charges dropped so that he retains the freedom to show solidarity with British Jews.
  • A social media account appearing to belong to the Oxford-based Dr Sebastian Hormaeche published numerous inflammatory posts, including “Gaza is a concentration camp where zionist jews are bombing Palestinians to oblivion [sic],” “The unimaginable horrors. Israel is a Nazi terrorist state,” and “May the souls of the Zionazis burn in hell forever,” among others. We wrote to Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation requesting an investigation. They replied to say that they were actioning it, and we queried what that meant. They responded that “internal actions remain confidential”, but that they “have looked into your concerns raised, met with Dr Hormaeche and [are] satisfied that this matter has been dealt with appropriately.” Since then, Dr Hormaeche has continued to post incendiary material. Such is the quality of NHS enforcement. We have now written to the GMC, which regulates doctors.
  • Whether or not we are right to place our confidence in the GMC remains to be seen. We have just heard from the regulator in response to our complaint in the case of a doctor who was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir (which has since been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government). The GMC have contended that they have no power over the NHS’s decision to lift his suspension. This is true in a technical sense but untrue in the sense that he is only able to practice as a physician because the GMC permits it. Still, they are investigating, which is obviously welcome. It has been several months now, however, so we do wonder how long this is going to take. In the meantime, he continues to see patients and the NHS apparently has no problem with that.
  • Last week, a caller to LBC said that “We’ve got a country controlled by Zionists who are running the whole world…the definition of Zionist is Jewish,” and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a “Zionist”. He said that, clearly, because President Zelenskyy is a Jew. Presenter Tom Swarbrick deftly dealt with the call, which you can listen to below. But the enduring – and growing – popularity of these opinions and comfort with publicly expressing them contributes to the current surge in antisemitism.
  • Some media outlets are doing less to challenge dangerous sentiments – and are even amplifying them. The BBC, for example, published a fawning article on its website that excuses and even appears to glorify members of Palestine Action. “I think people will look back at people who took direct action in this context as heroes in the future,” one source is quoted as saying. No victims of Palestine Action were interviewed, and we also discovered that the journalist who wrote the piece has strongly-held views about the Jewish state which are easily discernible in her article. We submitted a complaint to the BBC.
  • Equity, the trade union for entertainment and the performing arts, has affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The PSC is one of the organisers behind the regular anti-Israel demonstrations in London and across the country. These demonstrations routinely feature antisemitic rhetoric and signage. We asked some Jewish members of the union how they feel about this decision. One Jewish theatre director told us: “Equity does not support the views of Jewish members except a minority who are anti-Zionist. As a Jewish director, I do not feel that Equity represents me.” Another said: “Once again, Equity’s Jewish members have been airbrushed. And it’s heartbreaking. In aligning with an organisation that hosts regular marches at which antisemitism is ever-present, Equity has betrayed its Jewish members…I’m upset, disillusioned, and frankly, about to give up on Equity.” We have asked Equity for its reactions to these testimonies from Jewish members.
  • In a bid to disrupt a “Peace-building at Goldsmiths” event, anti-Israel activists at the University banged on the windows of a lecture hall whilst brandishing a banner that read “Zionism is colonialism”. It is revealing that this is how “peace-building” is treated on a British university campus.

These incidents showcase what British Jews are facing right now, from our streets to campuses, charities to unions, hospitals to policing, and more.

If you want to take a stand, sign up to march with us at antisemitism.org/march.

We mourn the murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, and reiterate our call on the Government to ban the IRGC

It has been announced that UAE-based Chabad Rabbi Tzvi Kogan was murdered.

It is believed that he was surveilled at his kosher grocery shop and murdered by Uzbek terrorists linked to Iran.

This is a global war on Jews, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is leading this antisemitic onslaught.

The British Government and other Western states must take action if they actually believe their own words about the importance of fighting antisemitism.

That is why we join a call by a cross-party group of more than 40 MPs, peers and other public figures for the Government to finally proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as promised prior to the general election. Iran’s malign influence is on display day after day in the Middle East and beyond, and that influence finds expression through the IRGC. We and others have been calling for a proscription for a long time.

We bless the memory of Rabbi Kogan, who is also the nephew of another Rabbi murdered in Mumbai in 2008 by antisemitic Islamist terrorists. This incredible but long-suffering family, which has dedicated itself to the service of Jewish communities around the world, are in our prayers and thoughts this week.

We honour Jewish veterans

Last weekend, Campaign Against Antisemitism was honoured to have participated in AJEX’s annual Remembrance Parade.

We pay tribute to the sacrifices and contributions of the British Jews who so courageously served our country.
Many people are despairing about the levels of antisemitism and are resigned to this becoming the new normal for British Jews – even if it means rethinking whether they have a future here.

But we owe it to ourselves and our children – and to wider British society – to fight for that future.

We must march. We hope that you will join us.

Image credit: Stuart Mitchell/Campaign Against Antisemitism

, , , ,

Modern-day pogrom in Amsterdam as antisemitic thugs attack Israeli Jews

Last night, Jewish Israeli football fans were reportedly targeted in a series of violent attacks.

We have received reports of shocking scenes across Amsterdam last night, where Jewish Israeli football fans appear to have been targeted in a series of violent attacks. Footage from the evening shows people running for their lives, an unconscious body being kicked in the street and a man begging for mercy as attackers yell ‘Free Palestine’.

Others were reportedly run over, and at least one man apparently had to jump into a canal to avoid further attack.

Information is still emerging but it appears that these attacks were pre-planned, with bands waiting at designated spots with knowledge of where the Israeli Jewish fans were and were staying. The attackers were reportedly armed with knives, clubs and other weapons, with information about the locations of fans even provided by taxi drivers.

It has been reported that Israel is sending rescue planes for the Jewish football fans.

The assailants are believed to be of Moroccan heritage.

It is understood that five people have been taken to hospital with injuries and Dutch police have arrested 62 people, but details about the arrests still remain scant.

Dutch authorities have said that they will provide extra police to the city and that there will be increased security around Jewish buildings over coming days.

One of the supporters said of the evening: “We don’t feel safe. You come to the game to have fun, but I can’t believe what happened here. I come here for a holiday, but it looked like a war zone.”

Media coverage of the event has been appalling, with many major outlets rushing to victim-blame the Israeli fans and play down the apparently orchestrated violence against the them.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is what ‘globalising the intifada’ looks like. We are receiving shocking reports of people running for their lives, unconscious bodies being kicked in the street and people begging for mercy as attackers yell ‘Free Palestine’. These images mirror early 20th century pogroms in Europe and elsewhere, where Jews were sought out by mobs and either ran or faced being beaten in the streets, or worse. We are witnessing levels of antisemitism not seen in our lifetime, and it is of the utmost importance that Britain acts against the antisemitic thugs here at home who have become increasingly emboldened. This is what happens when lax policing for over a year repeatedly succumbs to the mob. When are we going to wake up?”

, ,

CAA submits complaint to BBC following alleged bias in reporting Israel’s response to Iran and Hizballah

Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted a complaint to the BBC, following a report on BBC News that implied that Israel’s response to ongoing attacks by Iran and its proxies was unprovoked.

The report, which aired at the weekend, included a backgrounder on the recent targeting of military infrastructure in Iran by Israel, in which the news anchor listed a series of actions taken by the Jewish state, but failed to provide adequate context for why those actions were taken.

The anchor began: “Let us just remind you now of exactly how we got here.” She then said that “Tensions rose in Lebanon last month” due to the explosion of pagers that had been purchased by Hizballah and distributed to its members.

Apparently, 10,000 unprovoked rockets fired by Hizballah at the Jewish state, causing the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israeli civilians from their homes for over a year now, were not relevant to “how we got here”, because it all began when Israel randomly decided to blow up pagers.

The pagers, the BBC implies, were not purchased by Hizballah, a proscribed antisemitic genocidal terror organisation funded by Iran, and distributed to its members, but rather found their way to Lebanon somehow and a few just happened to be in the possession of Hizballah members when they exploded.

She went on to say: “Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Israeli air strikes on southern Beirut.”

According to the backgrounder, Israel has been doing everything, and Hizballah and Lebanon have done nothing at all. The viewer is presented with no possible motivation for Israeli action, which is portrayed as unilateral and unwarranted.

Moreover, throughout the report, Hizballah is not described as a terrorist organisation. Whatever it is, it just has a leader who was assassinated by Israel for reasons that are apparently unfathomable. The BBC’s failure to describe Hizballah as a terrorist group is not impartial but inaccurate. No context is provided for why this organisation, which began firing rockets at Israeli homes on 8th October in solidarity with Hamas, which is also a proscribed antisemitic genocidal terror group, might have provoked a response from the Jewish state.

The reporter continued to imply that it is Israel that expands conflict rather than Hizballah terrorists who created the northern front in this war in the first place, saying: “Three days later, Israeli tanks crossed the border into southern Lebanon opening up a new offensive in the conflict.”

“Within hours Iran had launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel.” Iran is presented not as the financier and puppet-master of Hamas and Hizballah terrorists, which it is, but as a third party merely showing solidarity with Lebanon after Israel attacked for no reason whatsoever.

Of the Iranian missile attack – the largest barrage of ballistic missiles in history – the BBC is at pains to point out that “Most were intercepted”. But Israel, it seems, decided to target Iran for no good reason anyway.

Our polling shows, year after year, that British Jews believe that media bias against Israel fuels antisemitism.

When the Jewish state is falsely portrayed, as in this BBC report, as needlessly aggressive and the methods and motivations of its enemies are whitewashed, it invites viewers to view Jews negatively and gives licence to antisemites to attack them.

You can sign our petition calling on all broadcasters to call Hizballah terrorists here.

, , ,

Today, we remember.

Today is the first anniversary of 7th October 2023, a day that traumatised the Jewish people and will live in infamy.

On this day, the Jewish people suffered the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering some 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostage.

We remember the victims who brutally lost their lives that day, some of whom lived their final moments in agony. We also remember the brave acts of heroism from those who made it their mission to help and rescue others nearby, even if it cost them their life.

May their memory be a blessing.

Through the testimonies of courageous survivors, we are still piecing together the horrific events of that day.

We continue to fight for the release of the over 100 hostages who still remain in captivity. They and their loved ones are in our thoughts. The Jewish people is incomplete without them.

We were proud to partner with organisations across the Jewish community in support of the commemorative event in Hyde Park yesterday, and to host a stall to speak to members of the community.

London supports the hostages

As we know, one year ago today, Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage. More than 100 hostages are still being held captive.

We recently went out in London to offer pedestrians yellow ribbon pins in support of the hostages still held by Hamas. Watch what happened here.

Last week, we invited people to print off “Bring Them Home” posters and place them in their windows to show solidarity with the hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on 7th October.

Thank you to everyone who has sent us photographs of your posters so far. To take part, just e-mail your picture to [email protected].

Learn more about 7th October and the hostages

Over the past year, we have released a number of episodes of our podcast addressing the events of 7th October and its impact on survivors and the families of hostages.

On this day of commemoration, you may be particularly interested in our interviews with:

  • Natalie Sanandaji, a survivor of the Supernova Sukkot Gathering music festival, where some 365 people were murdered by Hamas.
  • Elad Poterman, a survivor, along with his wife Maria and baby daughter, of the Kibbutz Nahal Oz massacre.
  • Eylon Keshet, a cousin of Yarden Bibas who, along with baby Kfir, his five-year-old brother Ariel, and their mother Shiri, were kidnapped and taken as hostages to Gaza by Hamas.
  • Dr Einat Wilf, a former Member of Knesset and leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education.

Antisemitism at its highest levels

It has been reported that, over the past eleven months, there were more reported abuses of Jews than Muslims in London, for the first time.

For years, Jewish people have been by far the biggest victims of hate crime per capita – as we have previously highlighted in national billboard campaigns – but now, notwithstanding our relatively minuscule numbers, Jews are also the biggest victims in absolute terms.

This is an indictment of where our society is at, with rising levels of antisemitism and radicalisation, particularly among British youth – a trend that our national polling, released today, demonstrates. The polling has already been covered in the national press.

The antisemitic hate crime figures – which show that hate crime against Jews has increased fourfold – cannot come as a surprise to many people, particularly given that there is antisemitic rhetoric and chanting on our streets week after week. Indeed, this past Saturday, an anti-Israel demonstration was held in London marking one year since the Hamas invasion. As always, our Demonstration and Events Monitoring team was present and documented what took place.

Nearly one year on, the streets of London are filled with the same calls for intifada and grotesque Holocaust inversion. But now, support for Hizballah is on display too. This is the result of inaction from those in power who failed to forcefully clamp down on support for terror over an entire year.

Among the photographs and footage captured by our volunteers this past weekend was a man holding a pro-Hamas sign and declaring his “love for October”. The Times and The Telegraph picked up the story, and the Metropolitan Police then put out a witness appeal.

If you have any information, please e-mail us at [email protected] or contact the Metropolitan Police directly.

Join us to discuss the state of antisemitism today

From arson attacks to chants calling for intifada, to the harassment of Jewish students on campus, British Jews have been facing torrents of abuse. For the past year, our community has felt uncertain not just about safety, but our place in Britain.

One year on from 7th October, we invite you to join communal leaders for an important conversation as they discuss the current state of Jewry in Britain and what the future holds.

Hosted by journalist Nicole Lampert, the event will feature Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, and Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

This event will take place on Wednesday 9th October at 19:00 in North London. Booking is essential. The location will be announced to ticketholders on the day.

We are one year on from what was only the beginning of a heart-wrenching period for the Jewish people and our friends and allies.

Israel’s entry into a multi-front war, continuing efforts to free the hostages and a worldwide surge in antisemitism unprecedented in recent times have deprived us of an opportunity to properly mourn and process what happened that day.

This anniversary is one such opportunity, imperfect though it may be. In the meantime, we will continue to do whatever we can to defend British Jews.

We wish those fasting this weekend an easy and meaningful Yom Kippur.

, , ,

An obscene decision

The Foreign Secretary has announced that the Government is suspending some 30 licences for arms exports to Israel following legal advice from the Attorney General, whose views on Israel were well-known before he was appointed.

In the interest of “transparency”, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has published a summary of this legal advice.

This decision comes just weeks after Mr Lammy announced that the Government was resuming funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), after the previous Government suspended funding earlier this year following allegations — which have since effectively been admitted — that some UNRWA staff had been involved in the 7th October Hamas attack and even that at least one hostage was held captive at the home of an UNRWA teacher.

Today, Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to ask whether legal advice was sought in relation to the restoration of funding to UNRWA, and for a summary of that advice similarly to be published. Weapons sales to the Jewish state have been suspended because of a supposed “clear risk” that they may be used in ways that breach international law; we are interested to see whether no such risks were identified in relation to the funding to UNRWA.

The Government has ensured that a UN agency that is, at best, reckless to Hamas’s use of its premises and personnel for purposes of terror and, at worst, complicit, has the resources that it wants, while depriving Israel of what it needs to defend its citizens. It is a Government whose decisions thus far have all been hostile toward the Jewish state — decisions announced by a Foreign Secretary who insists that his Government supports Israel while sanctioning it and who wears a yellow ribbon in support of the hostages when he meets Israeli officials but removes it for meetings with the Palestinian Authority.

This latest announcement of arms sale suspensions comes on the day that Israel was burying the six hostages brutally slaughtered in cold blood by antisemitic Hamas terrorists. The British Government is broadcasting that Western allies should not be supplying Israel with the arms that it needs to fight to save the hostages and defeat Hamas. This is obscene.

The announcement also comes on the day that Jeremy Corbyn declared the establishment of a new alliance of five independent MPs who have made Gaza their principal priority. Each of these MPs has a concerning record of rhetoric in relation to the Jewish community or the Jewish state, yet it is they and their supporters whom Labour is choosing to appease with this announcement, while paying lip service to the Jewish community.

British Jews cannot be bought with fine words and hand-wringing every Holocaust Memorial Day. We continue to make every effort to engage with Sir Keir Starmer’s new Government, but, as he himself said as he took over the leadership of the Labour Party, the Jewish community should judge him by his actions and not his words. The events of 7th October and the ongoing captivity of hostages are the worst single antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust, and we join the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, in condemning the actions of the Foreign Secretary.

We invite you to write to:

  • David Lammy MP, particularly if you live in his Tottenham constituency;
  • Lord Hermer, the Attorney General; or
  • Sarah Sackman MP, the Solicitor General, particularly if you live in her constituency of Finchley and Golders Green.

Continuing to do our part to help the hostages

Our joy at the rescue of hostage Qaid Farhan Al-Kadi from Gaza last week has been displaced by heartbreak at the news that six hostages were murdered by Hamas hours before their own abortive rescue.

This news makes our campaign to encourage MPs to take action all the more urgent.

Later this week, 7th September 2024 will mark eleven months since Hamas abducted 251 Israelis and other nationals from Israel and took them into captivity in Gaza. Of those 251 hostages, 117 have been returned alive, and now 36 bodies have been repatriated. Over 100 still remain, including four who have been held by Hamas since before October 2023.

In a month’s time, on 7th October 2024, we will be marking the one-year anniversary of the massacre perpetrated by Hamas. We must do whatever we can to ensure that no hostage is still in captivity by that date.

That is why we are running a campaign encouraging everyone to write to their MP to educate our Parliamentarians — including the hundreds of new MPs — about this issue and put the hostages back on the agenda. Thanks to so many of you for heeding our call and writing to your MP.

You can write in two easy steps.

  • First, download this Word document, which contains a draft letter that you are welcome to use or amend as you please before sending either as a hard-copy letter, or as an e-mail attachment, or simply as text in the body of an e-mail. Remember to add your MP’s name and your name and postcode so that they know that you are a constituent and that they should respond.
  • Second, find out who your MP is and how to contact them, by clicking here.

If you get particularly supportive or hostile responses, you are welcome to share them with us by forwarding them to [email protected].

Last chance to RSVP for Stories from Students

Since 7th October, Jewish student life on campus has been turned on its head.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has therefore brought together current students and recent graduates from universities across the country to share their stories and answer questions from prospective students and their parents, as well as current students and other interested members of the Jewish community.

This event, taking place this Thursday 5th September at 18:30 in North London, is an important opportunity to hear directly from Jewish students.

It is also a chance for us to come together to show our support and solidarity with those who faced this new generation of hate head-on.

Booking is essential.

Sir Keir Starmer said that the Jewish community should judge him by his actions and not his words. So far, this Government’s words regarding the Jewish state have tried to be reassuring but its actions have been little short of hostile.

This bodes very ill for the coming years, and Sir Keir risks rapidly losing the goodwill with British Jews that he spent years building up.

, , ,

“This is not an act of resistance”: Relative of kidnapped Bibas family opens up about life after 7th October

Eylon Keshet, a relative of the Bibas family who were kidnapped and taken as hostages to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on 7th October, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he spoke candidly about how he is coping with the ongoing situation and his thoughts on those who claim the terrorist attacks were an act of “resistance”.  

This podcast can be listened to here or watched here.

Mr Keshet is the cousin of Yarden Bibas who is married to Shiri Bibas and are the parents of baby Kfir and his five-year-old brother Ariel. The Bibas family lived on the Nir Oz kibbutz, close to Gaza, where a quarter of the community were killed, kidnapped or injured in the 7th October attacks.

In the podcast, Mr Keshet told our host that the current situation for him and his family is “very surreal”.

He said: “You learn to very artificially control your feelings and just get through the day because if you keep thinking about it, you can’t operate. It’s too much for the mind to handle. It’s so nightmarish.”

When asked how he is coping with the situation, he revealed that he feels like he is “on the verge of crying any minute…it feels like torture.”

Almost immediately after Hamas’ barbaric attacks were carried out on 7th October, missing persons posters of the hostages appeared all over Britain and around the world. 

Less than a week after the attacks, there were scenes of people tearing down the posters. Videos and photos of people defacing the posters and scrawling slurs on them have become a shamefully common phenomenon.

Posters of Kfir and Ariel Bibas have also been vandalised.

Speaking about these incidents, Mr Keshet said: “How could you rip posters of Kfir and Ariel? And try to politicise it? What kind of monster do you have to be? What kind of ignorant [person] do you have to be to try to merge these issues together?”

“Hamas is a terrorist organisation that has done horrific stuff… there is no merit in it. There is only sadism and destruction in mind,” he added. 

Describing scenes of the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Mr Keshet said:  “They decapitated heads, they killed elderly people. This is not an act of resistance.”

Yarden and Shiri Bibas, along with Kfir and Ariel, all remain in captivity in Gaza.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.

, , ,

UN says UNRWA has fired nine employees over involvement in Hamas attack on 7th October

The United Nations has announced that nine employees of the controversial UN agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), have been fired over alleged involvement in the Hamas terror attack in Israel on 7th October 2023.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said that “the evidence was sufficient” regarding the nine individuals “to conclude that they may have been involved” in the 7th October attacks.

The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services commissioned an investigation into nineteen UNRWA employees who were allegedly involved in the massacre, when Hamas terrorists and other Gazan terror groups rampaged across southern Israel, murdering some 1,200 people and abducting some 250 hostages.

The UN investigation connected nine employees to the terrorist attacks. In nine other cases, the agency found the evidence to be “insufficient” to “support” the employee’s involvement.

All nine dismissed staff members were understood to be men.

Mr Haq said that “any participation in the attacks” was a “tremendous betrayal of the sort of work that we are supposed to be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people”.

In March, Israel claimed that 450 of UNRWA’s 14,000 personnel in Gaza were members of terrorist groups. Many countries, including the UK, paused funding to UNRWA amid allegations that the agency aided Hamas terrorists.

UNRWA employs 30,000 staff members across the Middle East.

Israel has been aware for several years that Hamas uses UNRWA facilities in Gaza – including its schools – to store weapons, and as bases to run terrorist operations against Israel. The Israeli military claims that in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Hamas terrorists were found in UNRWA’s central logistics compound alongside UN vehicles. A group of 3,000 teachers working in Gaza for UNRWA even praised the 7th October Hamas attack. UNRWA-operated schools in Gaza have also been accused of teaching children antisemitism and hatred of Israel.

In June, more than 100 Israeli victims of the 7th October terrorist attacks sued UNRWA, alleging that the agency “knowingly provided material support to Hamas in Gaza.”

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

,

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

,

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.

, ,

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

, , ,

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.

, ,

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

, , , ,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

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.

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.

, , ,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

, ,

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.

,

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.

,

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.”

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.

, ,

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

, ,

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.

,

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

, ,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

“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

, ,

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.

,

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.

,

“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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

“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.

, ,

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. 

,

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. 

,

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. 

, ,

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. 

, ,

“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

, ,

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. 

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.

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.

, ,

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

, ,

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. 

,

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.

,

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. 

, ,

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.

,

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 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 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
,

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.

,

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

,

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.

, ,

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.

,

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.

,

“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.

, ,

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.

,

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.

, ,

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

, ,

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.

,

“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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

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.

,

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.

, ,

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.

,

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.

, , , ,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

,

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.

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel a Solicitor a Legal Researcher a School and Campus Educator to join our London office

Join the fight

Subscribe
Volunteer
Donate

Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.