Chris Lange, FISM News
[elfsight_social_share_buttons id=”1″]
Jews in Germany’s capital city of Berlin have expressed fear for their safety amid a shocking rise in antisemitism.
Decades after Hitler and his Nazi followers slaughtered some 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, after which the world vowed “never again,” Jewish Berliners find themselves contemplating fleeing the country for their safety, according to reporting by Breitbart.
The report was based on testimonies from German Jews compiled by Spiegel International, a Hamburg-based news agency.
They reported a range of recent antisemitic aggression, ranging from being spat upon to coming home to find swastikas carved into their doorbells.
Rabbis in Berlin have begun covering up their kippahs, a traditional head covering identifying them as Jews. Mothers are warning their children not to speak Hebrew in public.
The Guardian reported that Germany’s antisemitism commissioner, Felix Klein, condemned the spate of anti-Jewish violence, which ticked up after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
Klein said in an interview with The Guardian “People are shocked to hear news of houses where Jews live being marked with a Star of David. Because that, of course, rings a bell and brings us back to the most horrific times we had in this country.”
Germany is among several countries across the globe, including the U.S., where authorities and civil liberty groups have reported a staggering number of antisemitic threats and acts of violence in recent weeks, according to a report compiled by Reuters reporters in various parts of the world.
ADL REPORTS 400% JUMP IN ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN US
In the U.S., the Anti-Defamation League reported a 400% increase in antisemitic incidents in the two weeks following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel compared to the same period last year.
Government officials met American-Jewish leaders on Monday to discuss steps to counter what a White House official described as an alarming uptick in reported instances of antisemitism on university campuses.
The Justice Department on Tuesday announced the arrest of a person suspected of threatening antisemitic violence at Cornell University.
Patrick Dai, 21, a Cornell University junior, is accused of posting threats about killing Jews on the university’s New York State campus.
According to the DOJ, Dai posted on social media that he was going to “shoot up” a campus dining hall next to the Cornell Jewish Center that is frequented by Jewish students.
In another post, Dai allegedly threatened to “stab” and “slit the throat” of any Jewish males he sees on campus, to rape Jewish women and throw them off of a cliff, and to behead Jewish babies. In the same post, he threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.”
The antisemitic incidents aren’t limited to college campuses. Los Angeles police arrested a man last week who allegedly attempted to break into a Jewish family’s home, screaming “Free Palestine” and “Kill Jews,” as reported by AOL.
A ‘FEARFUL TIME’ FOR JEWS IN THE UK
London’s police force said there had been a 14-fold increase in incidents of antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack, per Reuters.
Britain’s Community Security Trust recently reported that the number of incidents in the three weeks following the attack was the highest for any three weeks since it started collecting data on antisemitism in 1984.
British Higher Education Minister Robert Halfon said last week that it is a “fearful time” for Jewish people, citing “ever-increasing” incidents of antisemitism on university campuses, according to a separate AOL report.
Halfon, who is Jewish, said “It’s horrific. It’s scary. It’s frightening for Jewish people in England at the moment.” He noted that “Jewish schools have had to close their doors.” Jewish college students have found Palestinian flags “draped over their cars” and some have reported incidents of people knocking on their doors shouting, “‘We know where you live.’”
Halfon said that the British government is doing everything that it can “to protect the Jewish community” and that universities have been made aware of what they need to do to ensure the safety of Jewish students.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the UK’s chief Jewish rabbi, told ITV News last week that the Jewish community is more fearful now than it has been since 1945.
“The fear that’s running through the Jewish community now I think we haven’t had since 1945,” he said, adding that rising antisemitism is causing “very deep pain”.
“There is a lot of anxiety,” Mirvis continued. “Seeing so many thousands on the streets openly supporting the Hamas terrorists certainly has caused a lot of anxiety in our community.”
MOB HUNTS DOWN JEWS AT RUSSIAN AIRPORT
FISM reported that a violent mob in Russia’s predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan stormed the international airport Sunday night, looking for Jewish passengers on a flight that arrived from Tel Aviv. The flight’s passengers were forced to take refuge in planes or hide in the airport for fear of being attacked.
Russia’s aviation agency said later that the situation was brought under control after officials temporarily closed the airport. Twenty people were injured in the attack, including two who were in critical condition Sunday, though their identities were not released.
The Kremlin blamed the incident on Ukraine, saying it staged a “provocation,” along with other “outside influence.”
JEWISH CHILDREN HARASSED IN SCHOOLS IN THE NETHERLANDS, ARGENTINA
Eddo Verdoner, the Netherlands’ national coordinator for combating antisemitism, told Reuters that anxiety runs high among Jews in the country. Jewish parents are reporting that their children are being targeted with harassment at school, with classmates saying such things as “Hamas were right” and “they should have done it earlier,” Verdoner said.
Argentine Jewish leaders are urging caution and vigilance in Jewish communities amid rising antisemitism and following the arrest of a man who called for attacks on Jewish children in schools.
Students attending Jewish schools are being warned not to wear their uniforms to school and events are being canceled. A Jewish club called off a table tennis competition this week amid fears of being targeted.
Argentina has a troubled history of violence against Jews. According to the Jewish Virtual Library website, more than 116 Jewish citizens were killed in two bomb attacks in the 1990s, the decade that marked “the arrival of Middle Eastern terrorism to South America,” according to the site.
The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a 1992 car bombing at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29, including several Israeli diplomats. A Jewish community center was bombed two years later, killing 87. In 1998, it was determined that Iran was behind the attack.
Authorities in Canada, Brazil, France, and South Africa have also reported dramatic increases in antisemitism.
CHINA OMITS ISRAEL FROM MAP
Some Chinese citizens recently called attention to the country’s latest online map which omits the country of Israel, according to a Fox News report.
A search for “Israel” on China’s Baidu map portal displays the country’s outline, but Israel’s name is not included. Israeli cities like Jerusalem, however, are marked correctly.
The development is concerning, given that China frequently uses its maps to push communist propaganda or as a form of threat against adversaries.
China has not released data on antisemitic incidents. Reuters noted, however, that social media sites in China are “awash with antisemitic content, including posts suggesting the Nazi Holocaust was justified and likening Jews to parasites, vampires or snakes.”
A staff member of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was assaulted on Oct. 13 and a suspect was subsequently arrested.
COMBATING ANTISEMITISM
Rev. Lee B. Spitzer, a Christian theologian and former general secretary of the American Baptist Churches USA, discussed rising antisemitism in an interview with The Christian Post last year and described some ways that churches can show support for Jewish community members.
“The Church can reach out and stand in solidarity with the Jewish community. For example, there may be a local synagogue or shul, or community center where Churches can create relationships,” Spitzer said.
He added that inviting Jewish synagogue members to share in a meal or engage in conversation can make the Jewish community feel supported.
“It’s important for friendship to learn about our commonalities. … And I think sometimes, we have to hit the streets and march in solidarity to spread awareness,” Spitzer said.
Vlad Khaykin, National Director of Programs on Antisemitism for the Anti-Defamation League, told CNN this week that antisemitism can only be stopped if people educate themselves on Jewish history and advocate against hate.
He said that persisting stereotypes and untrue canards about Jewish people “breeds conspiracy theories that distort our ability to make informed decisions, which are central to any democracy.”