Anti-Semitism around the world
Anti-Defamation Chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich has expressed ADC’s concern about rising levels of antisemitism around the world, a view backed up by the World Jewish congress.
Dvir Abramowich
Abramovich said: “I am very concerned about the increasingly threatening and violent vitriol directed at Jews around the world, including here in Australia. Since the launch of Operation Protective Edge, we have witnessed a series of anti-Israel demonstrations that have morphed into vile expressions of antisemitism as protesters advocated the killing of Jews, compared Israel to Nazi Germany and stoked the flames of Jew-hatred with chants of “Jews to the gas chambers’.
In Sydney last week, we witnessed manifestations of the age-old blood libel and the labelling of Prime Minister Netanyahu as a modern day Hitler. It is very worrying that several of the global demonstrations have devolved into attacks against Jews, synagogues, and Israeli diplomatic offices in countries such as France, Germany and Italy.
Over the last week in Paris, mobs, using pogrom style tactics, looted businesses, damaged synagogues, set cars on fire and screamed “Slaughter the Jews”. Such disturbing hate-fests must be publicly and forcefully condemned as morally unacceptable.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas cannot justify violence and incitement against Jews, and all legal steps must be utilized to fight this ugly explosion of undeniable antisemitism.
We are pleased to hear that several European leaders have spoken out and repudiated those who are targeting Jews, and are heartened by their reassurance to the Jewish community that it has the absolute support and protection of the state. However, more must be done to stem the tide of this radical anti-Jewish hatred and to hold accountable those who are blowing on the embers of discord.”
The World Jewish Congress reports:
The attacks and incitement against Jews have reached an alarming level not seen in many countries since World War II, the head of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) said on Tuesday. WJC President Ronald Lauder reacted to a series of reports from Jewish communities about antisemitic incidents carried out by opponents of Israel’s military operation against Hamas in Gaza. Lauder called it an outrage that Jews in a number of European countries had become the target of anti-Israel protests and urged
Ronald S. Lauder
government leaders to urgently clamp down on any expression of antisemitism. “The world needs to show by words and by actions where it stands: in solidarity with Hamas’ supporters who attack synagogues and shout ‘Death to the Jews’, or with their law-abiding citizens who express themselves peacefully but are being pilloried by extremists,” Lauder said.
He went on to say: “Once again, the ugly specter of antisemitism is raising its head in Europe. It needs to be dealt with urgently. It needs to be fought, not explained away and placated. If this requires more police to protect Jewish sites, the authorities must provide it. If it means banning violent rallies, they should be banned, or disbanded.
“We cannot accept that pogroms against Jews are being attempted again in Europe or anywhere else in the world. We will not accept that Jews anywhere are being terrorized because of their religion or because they support Israel.
“In the free world, people have a right to express their opinions and feelings. They have a right to disagree with what Israel is doing in Gaza to defend itself against the attacks from there, provided they get their facts right, just as people have the right to support and defend Israel in its quest to protect its population from terror and rocket fire. However, nobody has a right to insult, threaten or hurt people in the streets of Paris or Berlin, or call for the death of Jews just because he or she is unhappy about the Middle East conflict. Moreover, any head of state or government who fuels this debate by equating Israel’s defensive operation with genocide, or even the Holocaust, is acting disgracefully and putting the safety of Jews in his country at peril,” Lauder added.
The WJC president said Europe’s leaders had a stark choice: “Either you stop this agitation and protect your Jewish population, or you fail to do so and Jews will ultimately turn their back on your countries. This is not a question of whether you agree or not with Israel. It’s about whether or not you are willing and able to do what it takes to prevent the renaissance of anti-Jewish pogroms in your countries,” Lauder emphasized.
He welcomed a statement by three European foreign ministers, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, Laurent Fabius of France and Federica Mogherini of Italy, on Tuesday in which they condemned the antisemitic protests and the recent violence in many countries. “Their words are more important, but in order to fight this outbreak of antisemitism effectively, they need to be bolstered by further steps.”
