The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), which dedicates itself to combating post-Holocaust anti-Semitism, has presented its list of the 10 worst anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents that occurred over the course of 2018.
It was “a year where anti-Semitism showed disturbing signs of growth worldwide,” the anti-Semitism watchdog noted.
1. The Pittsburgh synagogue massacre.
The deadliest attack in American Jewish history: Eleven worshippers were shot and killed during Shabbat-morning services on Oct. 27 at the Tree of Life or L’Simcha Synagogue.
“How could this have possibly happened in the United States? Why now? With hate crimes on the rise in the US, including a 57 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents, the shooting in Pittsburgh illustrates the dangers of a society in which openly espousing hatred and intolerance on social media—and in the real world—[is] no longer taboo,” SWC wrote.
2. Louis Farrakhan’s use of Nazi propaganda to dehumanize Jews.
During a speech in October in Detroit, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan slammed those who call him a Jew-hater: “I’m not mad at you because you’re so stupid. … So when they talk about Farrakhan, and call me a hater, you do what they do: call me an anti-Semite. … Stop it, I’m an anti-termite.”
“The vile Farrakhan continues to draw accolades from the founders of the Women’s March on Washington, many elected officials and members of the entertainment community. The mainstream media has largely turned a blind eye to Farrakhan’s longstanding hatred of Jews,” SWC charged.
3. Swastikas on multiple U.S. campuses after the Pittsburgh tragedy.
Swastikas were found at Duke University, University of Illinois, Cornell University, Stanford University and other higher education institutions in the aftermath of the deadliest shooting in U.S. Jewish history.
“Members of extremist groups, like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), created hostile environments for Jewish students by posting quotes on social media like, “Let’s stuff some Jews in the ovens” and “every time I read about Hitler, I fall in love again,” SWC noted.
4. The Jeremy Corbyn-led British Labour Party mainstreams Anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom.
“Multiple photos of Corbyn embracing members of Middle East terrorist groups added to the fears of many Brits well beyond the Jewish community,” SWC stated.
5. UNRWA’s school curriculum that wipes Israel out of existence and venerates the mass murderer of Jews.
According to SWC, “Hamas effectively controls the UNRWA teachers’ union and teachers resort to social media to promote terrorism against Israelis and to ‘stab Zionist dogs.'”
6. Airbnb’s discrimination against Israelis in Judea and Samaria.
There is no indication that Airbnb, who claim to oppose BDS, is extending its interventionist diplomacy to Cyprus or the scores of other disputed territories around the world.
The Wiesenthal Center is urging its 400,000 members to book their travel elsewhere.
7. German Bank’s association with leading BDS group.
In 2018, the Bank for Social Economy insists on doing business with the radical “Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East,” which strongly endorses boycotting the Jewish state.
8. Episcopal bishop’s wholesale fabrication of non-existent Israeli atrocities against Arab children.
During a speech in Massachusetts last July, Bishop Gayle Harris reported that she witnessed an Israeli soldier arrest a 3-year-old Arab child on the Jerusalem Temple Mount and gun down a 15-year-old Palestinian teen in the back. After SWC exposed the claims as fabrications, Harris, the No. 2 Episcopal clergy in the state, backtracked, saying she had only heard the stories from a third party—a Palestinian.
9. Prestigious Swedish hospital’s refusal to act against overt Jew-hatred in its top ranks
The head of neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute has systematically discriminated against three Jewish doctors, blocking them from helping their patients and even hindering continued research at the Institute.
“We are shocked by the lethargic response of Karolinska to the cancer of anti-Semitism,” SWC’s Rabbi Abraham Cooper said. “So far, powerful bigots have been protected, and life-saving Jewish physicians are left twisting in the winds of hate.”
10. Roger Waters using concert venues to spread vitriol against the Jewish people.
There are few performers whose anti-Israel vitriol can match that of Roger Waters. Despite his protests to the contrary, for years, the co-founder of the iconic band Pink Floyd has crossed the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.
2018 has been a busy year for Waters. While in Germany, he heard Munich’s Mayor, Dieter Reiter, explain why the city would not rent any venues for his performances. “Waters has made increasingly unacceptable and anti-Semitic comments,” Mayor Reiter said. “I want to make it unequivocally clear that Waters’ anti-Semitic rabble-rousing is not welcome in Munich and will not go unchallenged.” {eoa}
This article originally appeared at unitedwithisrael.org.
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