The Antisemitism Report of the Monitoring Center summarizes the main points of the events, including the picture of the situation that is emerging in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
Executive Summary
➢ In late February, the world’s focus turned to the Russia-Ukraine war. Preliminary data indicates that malicious international actors are instrumentalizing the crisis to disseminate antisemitic propaganda on social media.
➢ In January, publication of Amnesty International met with wide condemnation, prominently on the basis of the report’s demonization of Israel and potential to embolden antisemitism. Meanwhile, the progressive left broadly greeted the report as a discourse tipping point in framing Israel as an apartheid state. Critics of the report pointed to its racialization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
➢ A significant rise in antisemitic incidents in Western countries was reflected in new data on 2021 from the UK, France, Germany, and Austria. A further rise was already reported for 2022 in the UK and U.S.. In contrast, antisemitic incidents in Ukraine reportedly went down in 2021.
➢ Continued signs of emboldened white supremacist movements in the U.S. centered on a countrywide antisemitic flyer campaign sustained by a loose network of fringe actors; while in pre-conflict Ukraine neo-Nazi antisemitism featured in a Kiev rally.
➢ The U.S. and Germany saw concern surface about mainstreaming right-wing antisemitism. In the U.S., this primarily surrounded conspiracy theories advanced on right-wing new media, and rightwing politicians’ embrace of trivializing comparisons between COVID-related mandates and the Holocaust. In Germany, a longtime AfD party leader left the party claiming it had become too radical.
➢ Strong law enforcement responses to antisemitic incidents were noted in a number of arrests and imprisonments in the U.S. and in Germany. Meanwhile, UK police faced criticism specifically on addressing antisemitism in London’s Stamford Hill. Notably, an Austrian government initiative recently developed an antisemitism training module for the Austrian police.
➢ Jewish community-led responses to antisemitism included a U.S. prioritization on securing additional congressional funding for security measures, and on mounting education and awareness campaigns regarding antisemitism.
➢ In the non-Western world, discourse related to antisemitism centered on Holocaust Remembrance Day, including as commemorated in Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, and Azerbaijan. In parallel, nationalist Latvian members of parliament asked the president to postpone implementation of a Holocaust restitution law.
