Key Findings
Most countries with large Jewish communities experienced a dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents last year, according to several annual antisemitism reports published ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day. As Western societies grew more polarized, effects of the Covid-19 pandemic alongside the escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in May 2021 amplified pre-existing trends.
✓ The latest outbreak of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is giving new momentum to extremist elements, a confluence of Muslim fundamentalist (Sunni and Shia), Arab nationalist, and far-left actors, who are exploiting the crisis to disseminate radical anti-Zionist hate speech frequently featuring antisemitic rhetoric.
• In the U.S., anti-Israel rallies featuring antisemitic rhetoric were held across the country. Online discourse and physical rallies against Israel frequently featured calls to ‘Globalize the Intifada.’
• In Germany, several anti-Israel rallies took place in Berlin, Dortmund, and Hanover, during which participants chanted openly antisemitic and inflammatory anti-Zionist slogans. Notably, several demonstrations degenerated into violence.
• In the UK, anti-Israel rallies included openly chanted Arabic death threats to Jews.
• By contrast, France did not see massive anti-Israel rallies. Preemptive policy initiatives effectively stymied explosive reactions to Israeli-Palestinian violence.
✓ Meanwhile, the Iranian regime kept pushing antisemitic rhetoric. The Islamic Republic marked the annual “Al Quds day,” an event characterized by anti-Zionist incitement and featuring antisemitic rhetoric. Notably, the regime displayed a missile called ‘Khaybar Shekan’, in reference to the battle of Khaybar in which the prophet Muhammad massacred his Jewish adversaries. In parallel, as Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, a state-run Iranian newspaper published an opinion piece that included antisemitic tropes and overt praise of Adolf Hitler.
✓ Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the fact Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish does not negate his country’s Nazi elements, claiming that Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler also “had Jewish blood.” He added that “some of the worst antisemites are Jews.”
✓ Additional significant developments included reports indicating the persistence of an upward trend in antisemitic hate crimes in New York, Los Angeles, and London; and the violent death of a French Jewish man in possible antisemitic assault.
