A Global Campaign of Hate Against Jews and Israel

A Global Campaign of
Hate Against Jews and Israel
Part Two: As Israel Defends Itself, Jews Come Under Attack Worldwide
January 2009
A Global Campaign of
Hate Against Jews and Israel
Part Two: As Israel Defends Itself, Jews Come Under Attack Worldwide
January 2009
Table of Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................... 3
Violence, Vandalism, and Threats ....................................................... 4
Anti-Semitism at Anti-Israel Demonstrations .................................... 8
Anti-Semitism in the Media................................................................ 14
Many Venezuelans make no distinction
between Jews and Israelis.
- Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Venezuela Pynchas Brener, January 8, 2009
Introduction
As Israel defends her citizens from Hamas missiles, Jews around the world have
also come under attack. Jews have been beaten on the street. Synagogues have
been fire-bombed.
Jews to the gas has been chanted at anti-Israel
demonstrations. Newspapers in the Arab world and in Latin America have
published pieces making blatant comparisons between Israel and the Nazis
perpetration of the Holocaust. One newspaper in Qatar ran an article noting that all
Jews bear responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. Caricatures that depict
Israelis as Nazis are appearing daily in the Arab press, in Latin American and even
in some mainstream European newspapers.
The Anti-Defamation League has been tracking international anti-Semitism in the
forms of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions and hate speech at
demonstrations and in the media.
Among the most prevalent expressions of anti-Semitic hate speech is equating
Israel with the Nazi regime. The widespread Holocaust and Nazi analogies
employed at these demonstrations go well beyond legitimate criticism of Israel.
Particularly dangerous and disturbing is the use of Nazi imagery to depict Israelis
and comparisons of Israel s actions to the absolute evil perpetrated by the Nazis in
the Holocaust. These comparisons and the imagery feed the age-old myths of Jews
as a satanic and conniving force which endeavors to take over the world.
Anti-Israel protest, January 7, 2009, Bangkok. (Photo: AP Photo)
3
Such anti-Semitic notions create fodder for hatred and bias by continuing the
myths which have plagued the Jewish people for centuries. The images of Jews as
Nazis committing genocide are an insult to the memory of those who perished in
the Holocaust, an affront to those who survived the horrors of Nazi Germany and
to those who fought to defeat the Nazis.
The Anti-Defamation League characterizes Holocaust and Nazi analogies as antiSemitic, as does the U.S. State Department and the European Union s Fundamental
Rights Agency.
Violence, Vandalism, and Threats
Violence against Jews and Jewish institutions has occurred mostly in Western
Europe. The unsophisticated methods and materials used in anti-Semitic attacks
that we have seen to date, particularly in Europe, indicate that the assailants are not
trained terrorists, but individuals who have decided to attack Jews.
Australia:
January 5, 2009 Melbourne A synagogue was defaced with graffiti.
December 29, 2008 Sydney A 47 year old Jewish man was chased and
attacked during a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
Belgium:
January 7, 2009 Charleroi A synagogue was spray-painted with the
words Hezbollah, Israel, and Death.
January 6, 2009 Schaerbeek Four Molotov cocktails were thrown at a
synagogue.
January 5, 2009 Charleroi Rocks were thrown at a synagogue.
January 5, 2009 Forest A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a synagogue.
January 4, 2009 Antwerp Belgian Jewish leaders say they have received
dozens of death threats.
January 4, 2009 - Anderlecht A brick and eggs were thrown at a Jewish
school.
January 3, 2009 Antwerp Arson was attempted against a Jewish home.
December 31, 2008 Antwerp Anti-Israel protesters attacked cars, buses
and trams as they marched toward a Jewish neighborhood that was being
protected by police.
December 29, 2008
Charleroi
A fire was set at the entrance to a
synagogue and a cobblestone was thrown through the window.
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December 27, 2008 Anderlecht Five stores were spray-painted with
swastikas, stars of David, and death threats against Jews.
December 26, 2008
Antwerp
A public Hannukah menorah was
vandalized.
Kill you
Kill you written on a shop window in Anderlecht, December 27, 2008
(Photo: www.antisemitism.org.il)
Denmark: On December 31, 2008, a Dane of Palestinian descent shot two Israelis
in a shopping mall in Odense where they worked. The owner of the store noted
that the Israelis had been regularly harassed by Arab residents.
France:
January 11, 2009 Paris Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue in
Saint Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The fire-bombs bounced off the
reinforced window and caused damage to an adjacent Jewish restaurant.
January 11, 2009 Bischeim Three Molotov cocktails were thrown at a
synagogue near Strasbourg.
January 8, 2009 Nice Death to Jews was spray-painted at a primary
school in Nice.
January 7, 2009 Paris A 15 year old Jewish girl was beaten by a gang of
youths, including three schoolmates, who said they were avenging the
Palestinians.
5
January 5, 2009 Toulouse A burning car with a Molotov cocktail was
rammed into the door of a synagogue while a rabbi was giving a class
inside. Another car was also prepared with Molotov cocktails, but an
alarm scared off the attackers before it was used.
The car used to attack the Toulouse synagogue, January 5, 2009. (Photo: Reuters)
January 4, 2009 Paris A 29-year-old Jewish man was attacked at a Paris
subway station by a gang of about 20 people who yelled Palestine will
win. They hit him in the face and reportedly filmed the scene.
January 3, 2009 Toulon A car at the synagogue in Toulon was burned.
January 1, 2009 Bordeaux Two kosher food shops were vandalized.
December 27, 2008 Villeurbanne - A Jewish student wearing a yarmulke
was walking with his fiancée in the town center, when they were attacked
from behind by three youths. The student suffered a broken nose.
Greece: On December 31, 2008, the gate of a synagogue in Volos was defaced
with graffiti that read: The state of Israel murders whose side are you on?
Volos synagogue, December 31, 2009 (Photo: http://athens.indymedia.org/)
6
Sweden:
January 5, 2009
synagogue.
January 4, 2009
burial chapel.
Helsingborg
Malmo
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the
There was an attempt to burn down a Jewish
Jewish Community center and synagogue in Helsingborg.
January 5, 2009, (Photo: www.antisemitism.org.il)
Turkey: On January 6, 2009 in Ankara, an Israeli basketball team, Bnei Hasharon,
fled from the court into the dressing room, because the crowd became threatening,
calling them killers and shouting death to Jews.
Israeli basketball team flees an angry crowd in Ankara, Turkey, January 6, 2009, (Photos: AP Photo)
United Kingdom:
January 9, 2009 London Jihad is the only solution for Palestine posters
were put on a Jewish community center.
January 7, 2009 London An identifiably Jewish man was attacked after
an anti-Israel demonstration.
7
January 3, 2009 London Assailants tried to burn a synagogue in the
Brondesbury section of London.
December 31, 2008 London A Jewish man was pulled from a car and
beaten by three men, reportedly of Arab descent.
December 31, 2008 London Jewish-owned shops were attacked by Arab
youths who reportedly shouted anti-Israel slogans.
December 29-30, 2008 The Community Security Trust reports that several
synagogues were vandalized with anti-Semitic slogans, including Kill
Jews and Jihad 4 Israel and a Jewish community center was spraypainted with pro-Hamas slogans.
Uruguay: On January 13, 2009, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Jewish
community center of Montevideo.
For more incidents, see Global Anti-Semitism 2009.
Anti-Semitism at Anti-Israel Demonstrations
The violence cited above is often incited by hate speech at demonstrations after
which individuals have sought out Jewish targets.
In Argentina, about 20,000 people marched in downtown Buenos Aires to the
Israeli Embassy. Arab and student groups and the Argentinian Communist Party
organized the march.
What a shame, Israel. in front of the Israeli Embassy
in Buenos Aires, January 6, 2009. (Photo: AP Photo)
8
In Chile, protests have been large,
frequent, and replete with anti-Semitic
banners, like the one shown at right
that reads, Zionism equals Nazism.
Chile has one of the largest
Palestinian communities outside the
Arab world. Demonstrators rallied
around the Embassy of Israel and the
presidential palace, La Moneda.
In the Netherlands, at an anti-Israel
rally in Amsterdam that included the
participation of a Dutch legislator, the
crowd chanted, Hamas, Hamas, Jews
to the gas.
(Photo: kallejero.wordpress.com)
In Quito, Ecuador, on January 6,
2009, dozens of protesters marched
toward the Israeli Embassy, where
some protesters threw black paint,
eggs and shoes, in reference to last
December zapatazo that an Iraqi
journalist threw to the U.S. President.
The signs in the photo say, They
turned Gaza in a concentration camp
and No to the invasion, to the killing
of innocents, to colonization.
Anti-Israel demonstration in Quito, January 6, 2009
(Photo: EFE)
9
In Panama, on December 30, 2008 a
small rally, organized by the
Organization
FRENADESO,
an
umbrella organization for labor, leftist
and civic groups, was held in front of
the Embassy of Israel in Panama City.
Posters, like the one at right, featured
swastikas and Stars of David.
In Germany, dozens of anti-Israel
protesters were arrested for illegal
anti-Semitic
banners
at
demonstrations,
and
Berlin s
Holocaust memorial was vandalized
with anti-Semitic slogans and
swastikas.
Panama City, December 30, 2008 (Photo: AP Photo)
On January 6, 2009, in Wellington,
New Zealand, Father Gerard Burns, a
Catholic priest, defaced a memorial
plaque to Yizhak Rabin with a
mixture of his blood and paint.
In Caracas, Venezuela, about 5,000
people participated in a rally on
January 8, 2009, organized by social
and political organizations, including
the Venezuelan Communist Party and
the United Socialist Party, which on
Wednesday met with President Hugo
Chavez and asked him to boycott
Israel and US products, to stop
sending gas to Israel and putting an
end to all the educational and cultural
agreements with that country until the
invasion of Palestine ends.
Wellington, January 6, 2009 (Photo:
www.antisemitism.org.il)
10
Caracas, December 29, 2008. The poster on the left says:
The Assassins of the Palestinian People are the same that crucified Jesus Christ.
(Photos: Noticias24.com)
Following
the
January
8
demonstration, the main Sephardic
synagogue was vandalized with
spray-painted slogans, including
Long Live a Free Palestine ,
Islam
Patrimony of All, and
Bolivar We are Present in the
Palestinian Rebellion.
Bolivar We are Present in the Palestinian Rebellion.
Caracas, January 8, 2009, (Photo: Noticias24.com)
Protests were also held in other large cities, including Maracaibo, Maracay,
San Felipe, Puerto La Cruz, Barquisimeto and Merida.
All the
demonstrations contained anti-Semitic references comparing Israel s
military actions to the Holocaust and showing Nazi imagery.
In Brazil, anti-Israel rallies took
place in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
and in smaller cities in Brazil. On
January 8, 2009 about a thousand
people demonstrated in Rio with
some banners reading Hamas
Brazil. On January 6, 2009, in
Sao Paulo, approximately five
hundred demonstrators joined
religious
leaders
and
representatives of Arab-Brazilian
organizations, some of whom held
signs that read, Holocaust in
Palestine.
Rio de Janeiro, January 8, 2009
(Photo: 3.bp.blogspot.com)
11
In Spain, the ruling Socialist
Workers Party s Madrid regional
division
co-sponsored
a
demonstration on January 10,
where posters equated Israel with
the Nazi regime.
As a result of the incitement, the
Embassy of Israel in Madrid had
stones
thrown
through
its
windows.
Madrid, January 10, 2009 (Photo: AP Photo)
Israeli Embassy, Madrid (Photo: AP Photo)
Madrid, January 10, 2009 (Photo: AP Photo)
In France, on January 10, 2009,
protesters in Paris carried banners
with bloodied baby dolls and
stickers with a photo of Izz a-Din
al Qassam, a Syrian born in 1882
who preached violent jihad against
the West. Hamas military wing,
the al Qassam Brigades, and their
Qassam rockets are named after
him.
Be afraid, Jews. The army of
Mohammed is back was among
the slogans heard.
Paris, January 10, 2009 (Photo: AP Photo)
12
In Eskisehir, Turkey, at a January
7, 2009 anti-Israel demonstration,
members of the Ozmangasi
Cultural Association held signs
that read, Dogs can enter, and
Jews and Armenians cannot
enter.
Just three days earlier, Turkey s
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan had called for divine
punishment for Israel, saying,
Allah will sooner or later punish
those who transgress the rights of
innocents.
January 7, 2009, Eskisehir (Photo: www.radikal.com.tr)
In Istanbul, billboards reportedly
hundreds showed a bloody baby
shoe with the text:
In
Palestine,
humanity
is
destroyed. You can t be the son of
Moses.
You shall not kill.
(Exodus 20:13).
In the United Kingdom, the Community Security Trust reports that antiIsrael demonstrations have included shouts of Kill the Jews, Heil Hitler,
Dirty Jews go to Hell, and O Jews of Khaybar, the army of Mohammed
is returning. Flags of Hamas and Hezbollah were also commonly on
display at the numerous protests.
In Switzerland anti-Israel protesters carried signs equating Israel with Nazi
Germany.
For more examples of anti-Semitism at demonstrations, see Anti-Israel
Protests.
13
Anti-Semitism in the Media
In the Arab press in particular, the anti-Semitic incitement has been horrific
and conflates Israelis with Jewish communities around the world.
Newspapers across the Arab and Muslim world have published editorial
cartoons, articles and opinion pieces laced with age-old anti-Semitic themes,
including blood-libel accusations and demonic large-nosed, bearded Jews
plotting to rule the world. The articles and editorial cartoons have appeared
in mainstream newspapers from Egypt and Jordan, to Syria, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates. Following are a few examples. A large
selection can be found on ADL s website.
Al-Quds al- Arabi (UK) and Al-Ghad (Jordan), January 7, 2009
The Arabic text reads, The New Nazis.
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Al-Ghad, Jordan, January 4, 2009
An American-made F-16 fighter jet, used in the Gaza operation, is compared to
the infamous Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.
Al-Dustur, Jordan, December 30, 3008
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak swims in the Palestinian blood while
giving the voter a drink. He votes for Barak. On the right, a figure labeled
Western hypocrisy looks at a Palestinian rocket.
15
Arab media has included widespread use of Holocaust analogies, including
some of the following examples.
Do they think that the Palestinian people are unnecessary and
need to be annihilated? Is this why they entrusted the task to
the Holocaust survivors descendants so that they would
commit their own Holocaust against Palestinian children,
women and elders?
- Gaza is Facing the Invaders with a Legendary Withstanding: The Israeli
Holocaust is Targeting Children and Annihilating Entire Families, ArRai, January 6, 2009, Jordan
What is important is that this Western approach is not
concerned about the Zionist Holocaust against the Palestinians,
but is concerned about finding an 'exit' for the Zionist state of
its military difficult situation.
- Dr. Ahmad Mustafa, What is After Gaza s Holocaust? Al-Watan,
January 7, 2009, Oman
The Zionist terrorism is exceeding other kinds of terrorism. It
became a Nazi symbol similar to what Hitler did.
- Yousef al-Kuweilit, From the Crusade Wars to the Zionist Wars! ArRiyadh, January 6, 2009, Saudi Arabia
Qatar s al-Watan published an article on January 5, 2009 with the following
menacing statement:
The Zionists are spread all over the world and are connected
through tribal bigotry with solid close ties
The World s Jews
should know that their participation in our massacre will not
pass silently.
- Muhammad Ben al-Mukhtar ash-Shanqiti, Gaza s Holocaust - A
Chance for the Greater Encountering, Al-Watan, January 5, 2009
16
European and Latin American media have also included clearly antiSemitic articles and caricatures.
In Greece, the leader of a far-right party published an editorial that accused
Israel of acting in Gaza like the Nazis, claiming that such could be expected
of Jews because they are Christ-killers. The editorial also included the
phrase, it is known all over the world that a Jew smells of blood.
Spain s El Mundo, a mainstream paper, published a caricature on January 8,
2009 that showed a stereotyped Jew with barbed wire side locks.
Gallego & Rey, El Mundo, January 8, 2009
Another
Spanish
mainstream
paper, El Pais, published a cartoon
on January 10, 2009, that reads,
They re locked in a ghetto,
starved to death, and then
exterminated. All that s missing is
to stitch on yellow crescent moons
and it would be exactly like
Warsaw.
Romeu, El Pais, January 10, 2009
17
On January 12, 2009, Bolivia s La Prensa ran an op-ed in the form of a
fictional letter to Eva Terezin, a 9 year old girl who was murdered in
Auschwitz. The author compares Israeli soldiers to Nazis and lists names of
Jewish children who unlike her, survived the holocaust and became the
trunk of families of merciless soldiers like those that terrorized you in your
dreams. The article ends with the sentence: Death, beautiful Eva, saved
you from giving birth to the new Nazis.
The Irish Times of Belfast, Northern Ireland, published a cartoon on
January 2, 2009 in which Israeli soldiers are shown launching a missile at
Gaza with the label Final Solution.
Ian Knox, Irish Times, January 2, 2009
Venezuela s Diario Vea published
on January 9, 2009 a drawing of
Hitler with the caption, Those
Zionists are really out-doing me!
Diario Vea, January 9, 2009
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In Brazil, the Rio de Janeiro newspaper, Gazeta de Alagoas, ran two clearly
anti-Semitic cartoons in January.
Enio, Gazeta de Alagoas
A shadow falls over the Gaza Strip...
Enio, Gazeta de Alagoas
El
Espectador
of
Bogota,
Colombia, published a caricature
on January 12, 2009 that equates
Jews and Nazis.
Betto, El Espectador, January 12, 2009
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ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
Glen S. Lewy, National Chair
Abraham H. Foxman, National Director
Kenneth Jacobson, Deputy National Director
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS DIVISION
Charles F. Kriser, Chair
Michael A. Salberg, Director
©2009 Anti-Defamation League
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New York, NY 10158-3560
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All Rights Reserved
Copies of this publication are in the Rita and Leo Greenland Library and Research Center