A
new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) provides a snapshot of the
dramatic upsurge in violence and vitriol against Jews around the world during
and related to Israel’s recent military operation to stop Hamas rockets and
tunnels in Gaza.
Violence against Jews and Jewish institutions “metastasized” during
Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in July and early August. ADL reported
serious incidents, directly linked to anti-Israel protests, of attacks against
Jews and Jewish communal buildings in Western Europe, South America, Canada,
Australia and North and South Africa. The report includes only international
incidents outside of the U.S.
In Casablanca, Morocco, a rabbi was assaulted by an individual angry
over Israeli air strikes, suffering a broken nose and ribs. In the Netherlands,
a Holocaust memorial was defaced with “free Gaza” graffiti. In South Africa,
members of the Jewish community received threats of violence by telephone and
on social media with references to Gaza.
“And the list goes on and on,”
said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “There was a dramatic surge in
violence against Jews and Jewish institutions around the world during Israel’s
Operation Protective Edge. From France to Argentina, from Canada to Chile,
synagogues were attacked, Jewish cultural centers were vandalized, Jewish shops
were threatened and identifiably Jewish individuals beaten on the street. Antisemitism
was in the air, and in the streets.”
ADL will be sharing copies of its report on antisemitism during Israel’s
Operation Protective Edge with members of Congress in the U.S. and with
representatives of foreign governments and other world leaders in an effort to
raise awareness about the seriousness and extent of the problem of global antisemitism.
The global rise in antisemitism during Israel’s Operation Protective
Edge comes in the wake of the release of the ADL Global 100 poll of global antisemitic
attitudes around the world, in which fully one-quarter of those polled in 100
countries were identified as harboring deep-seated antisemitic attitudes.
This antisemitism came to the fore in street demonstrations and
anti-Israel rallies, where Israeli leaders were compared to Hitler and the Nazi
swastika was repeatedly displayed, often next to the Jewish Star of David. It
also was manifested in the mainstream media and in the form of conspiracy
theories that spread through society.
Some examples of the rampant spread of antisemitism cited in the ADL
report:
– Shouts of “Jews to the gas!” during a July
12 anti-Israel rally in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
– Spain’s daily newspaper El
Mundo published an op-ed by a leading columnist with blatant and blunt antisemitism.
He wrote on July 24th that Israel’s military operation in Gaza showed why Jews
“have been so frequently expelled.” He continued, “What is surprising is they
persist. Either they are not good, or
someone is poisoning them.”
– Colombia’s premier weekly
magazine Semana published an op-ed arguing that Palestinian land has been
occupied, “since three thousand years ago, when Jews arrived there escaping
from Egypt with Moses and Joshua, cutting heads and foreskins off of local
inhabitants.”
– A sign reading, “Well done
Israel, Hitler would be Proud,” was held up during a London protest.
– Use of the antisemitic blood
libel appeared in various rallies around the world where signs depicted Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as drinking the blood of Palestinian
children.
– Following a pro-Palestinian
rally, occupants in a group of cars driving through the Jewish neighborhood of
Broughton Park in Manchester, UK, shouted and swore at Jewish pedestrians with
slogans that included “Heil Hitler” while pelting them with cans and eggs.
