Please notice the number of times that Abe Foxman (most definitely a non-Semitic Ashkenzi Jew) repeat the word 'Semitic' in his statment!
ADL: anti-Semitism Jews Under Attack
Remarks by Abraham H. Foxman (as prepared)
National Director, Anti-Defamation League
To the ADL
National Executive Committee Meeting
February 6, 2009
Palm Beach, Florida
Posted: February 6, 2009
In all my years at the Anti-Defamation League -- monitoring exposing and combating anti-Semitism -- I have never been so worried about the safety and well-being of Diaspora Jewry as I am today.
It is as if the floodgates have been opened. An open season has been declared on world Jewry.
A new legitimacy - there is no country in the world from Austria to Zimbabwe, including even Iceland - that is not experiencing this recurring returning virulent virus of
anti-Semitism .
There is not even a pretense that this is a political issue – that Israel is wrong, evil, satanic, a violator of international human rights and international law. It has become a given.
And now the only issue is how responsible are the Turkish, French, Argentinean, Spanish, South African, British or other Diaspora Jews.
Every so often we hear rumblings that the Jewish community no longer needs an Anti-Defamation League. After all, say some, anti-Semitism is no longer a problem. That American Jews flourish, that Jews live freely in the world's democracies, and that there is a Jewish State of Israel all make their case, they say. I only wish it were so.
While I am practical enough to know that anti-Semitism will always exist in the hearts and minds of too many people despite the great strides we have made in our educational efforts and with the moral leadership of our government, religious and community officials, my hope is that we can keep it at bay, make it unacceptable for the bigots to act out their anti-Semitism .
These past six weeks, my hopes have been dashed by an explosion of anti-Semitic rhetoric and assaults across the globe.
Israel's operation to defend its people from Hamas rockets has had an impact far beyond Gaza and Israel's besieged southern cities. Its repercussions have been and are continuing to be felt by Jewish communities around the world, particularly the Jews of Western Europe and Latin America.
We reported on incidents from Thailand to Peru, but we followed especially closely the situations in the two European countries with the largest Jewish populations.
In France, 113 incidents were reported during the three weeks of the fighting, roughly the same number of incidents that occurred over three months in 2007. In Toulouse, a burning car was rammed into a synagogue, and Molotov cocktails were thrown at several others houses of prayer around the country. At a school in Nice, a children's mural was spray-painted with "Death to the Jews." In Paris, a teenage Jewish girl was beaten by a gang, including three of her classmates, who said they were avenging the Palestinians.
In the United Kingdom, 220 anti-Semitic incidents were reported during the three weeks of Israel's military operation, an eight-fold increase compared to the same time period a year ago. A synagogue was firebombed. Jews were beaten on the street. Graffiti in public areas included "Slay the Jewish Pigs," and "Jihad 4 Israel." At anti-Israel demonstrations, shouts of "Heil Hitler" and "Kill the Jews" were heard, as was the chant at a Muslim rally, "Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning."
In Amsterdam, Antwerp, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Caracas, Florence, London, Montevideo and Paris, Jews have been beaten on the street, synagogues have been firebombed and desecrated and Jewish institutions, businesses and homes have been attacked.
Holocaust comparisons abound in grotesque language and images:
• "Jews to the gas chambers" has been chanted at anti-Israel demonstrations in Europe, Latin America and even here at home, and similar calls for death to Jews have been heard across the Arab and Muslim world.
• At anti-Israel demonstrations in Bangkok, Barcelona and Buenos Aires, Israeli flags with a swastika replacing the Star of David were paraded.
• A Norwegian diplomat sent a mass e-mail comparing the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza to the Jews in concentration camps, including side-by-side photos -- 20 Holocaust photos paired with 20 photos of Palestinians.
• Articles about the "Zionist Holocaust against the Palestinians" or other Holocaust equations were a staple of the Arab media during the Gaza operation.
Hamas terrorists and the leader of their main supporter, Iran, endorsed such incitement. One of the top Hamas leaders, Mahmoud Zahar, called for Jewish children to be attacked around the world. Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran said he would confer the status of "martyr" on "anyone who dies in this holy struggle against World Zionism," by which he means Jews anywhere.
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 Hamas sleeper agents, but individuals who have decided to single out Jews and Jewish community institutions.
These types of attacks may be dissuaded or deterred. But in order to prevent further incidents of anti-Semitism , political, religious and community leaders need to make clear that such attacks have no justification, no excuse, and will never be tolerated.
• In Belgium, attackers tried to burn down two synagogues and a Jewish home with firebombs. Jewish stores and a Jewish school were vandalized. To date, Belgium's prime minister has said nothing.
• In Denmark, two Israelis were shot by a Dane of Palestinian descent. Danish public school principals have called for Jewish students not to be admitted to certain schools for their own safety. Denmark's prime minister, a noted friend of Israel, has said nothing.
• In Greece, a synagogue was defaced with graffiti that read: "The state of Israel murders – whose side are you on?" Greece's Prime Minister has said nothing.
• In Turkey, an Israeli basketball team fled from the court into the dressing room because the crowd became threatening, calling them "killers." Prior to that, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan did worse than say nothing. He called on Allah to punish Israel.
• In Latin America, participants at an anti-Israel demonstration in Argentina held in front of a Jewish community center carried banners that equated Israel with the Nazis. Brazilian cartoons have made the same noxious comparison and the Chilean Jewish community reported a threat to kill everyone at one of their institutions.
• In Arab countries, the anti-Semitic incitement in the press has been ratcheted up to conflate Israelis with Jewish communities around the world. Every day Arab cartoons incite hatred by demonizing Israelis either as Nazis or with classic anti-Semitic stereotypes such as having horns or lusting after blood. Qatar's al-Watan published an article with the 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."
Sadly, such hatred still hasn't been fully shamed into silence in our country.
At anti-Israel rallies in the United States, which promote the usual extreme anti-Israel and anti-Zionist messages, the demonstrators loudly and proudly engaged in
anti-Semitic rhetoric and offensive Holocaust imagery, likening Jews and Israelis to Nazis.
At a Dec. 30 anti-Israel demonstration in Fort Lauderdale, a woman was heard shouting, "Go back to the oven, you need a big oven! That's what you need!"
And while these demonstrations have been largely nonviolent, I believe it is not a leap to say the incitement they fomented have led to attacks against Jewish institutions.
• Three synagogues in Chicago were vandalized and defaced early on a Saturday morning by vandals who smashed windows and doors with rocks and bricks and sprayed pro-Palestinian graffiti on the buildings that read "Death to Israel and "Free Palestine."
• Handmade signs left on the door of a synagogue in Dalton GA, showed a Jewish star and swastika.
• In San Francisco, the Holocaust Memorial outside the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park was spray-painted in red letters about three feet tall saying, "Israel -- there blood is on your hands."
• In Hollywood, California - "Free Gaza" and "swastika = star of david" was spray-painted on a wall belonging to a TV studio.
And then there is Chavez. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has emboldened and empowered anti-Semites by his rhetoric and actions and that of his minions. The synagogue attack in Caracas did not happen in a vacuum. It took place in an atmosphere of intimidation and threats against the Jewish community of about 15,000 that has been building for weeks, stoked by the vile comparisons of Israel's actions to the Nazis coming from Chavez and his regime.
We're also seeing the economic version of these anti-Semitic attacks – the boycotting of Jewish businesses. While physical assaults against Jews and Jewish institutions are of primary concern, anti-Jewish economic boycotts have a particularly menacing symbolism as actions that marked the beginning of the Nazi terror and isolated Israel for too many years.
• In Venezuela, opinion articles in government-owned newspapers have called for boycotts of Jewish-owned Venezuelan businesses and multinational companies believed to be owned by Jews.
• In Italy, a labor union distributed fliers that urged a boycott of "shops in central Rome linked to the Jewish community."
• In Malaysia, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad spoke at the National Mosque in support of the "Selective Boycott of Jewish Products" campaign, organized by the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association. That organization also called for halal certification to be withdrawn from Jewish-owned companies.
• In South Africa, an email campaign is urging a boycott of businesses with "Jewish connections."
• In Switzerland, a sign was put on a kosher store that read "Swiss people, defend yourselves. Don't buy from Jews."
• In Argentina, a far-left politician has organized physical blockades of Jewish businesses, saying the protests target "rat nests."
• In Turkey, Jewish-owned businesses have been vandalized with posters calling on consumers to stay away.
Even America is not immune from calls for anti-Semitic boycotts. Fifteen professors in California recently called for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Despite all the concerns we have about college campuses these days, their appeal doesn't seem to be getting any serious support.
Once again we have to ask where are the voices from international leaders to counter the incitement of Hamas and Iran before their threats are translated into violence.
• President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who is consistently outspoken in condemning anti-Semitism , made such a statement after several synagogues had been firebombed, saying that he "utterly condemned the unacceptable violence, under the pretext of this conflict, against individuals, private property, and religious buildings," and assured "that these acts would not go unpunished." In well-publicized statements, he told French security forces that they must enforce a zero-tolerance policy for anti-Semitic acts, and he convened a meeting with Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious leaders to urge a united religious front to condemn these attacks.
• The Dutch Justice Minister announced that he would investigate allegations of
anti-Semitism and incitement to hatred and violence at anti-Israel demonstrations, including whether public prosecutors were enforcing hate speech laws.
• The British government also recognized and condemned the explosion of anti-Semitic incidents. Foreign Minister David Miliband condemned this anti-Semitism at the Parliament, and the Parliament's All-Party group against anti-Semitism expressed its "horror as a wave of antisemitic incidents has affected the Jewish community."
• In Caracas this past Monday, representatives of the United States, France, Canada, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic visited the synagogue that was attacked on Friday evening, the start of Shabbat, to express their solidarity with the Jewish community and condemn the violence.
These important, but few statements have been the exception, rather than the rule. We find a vast official silence in the face of loud calls at demonstrations to "kill the Jews," the explosions of Molotov cocktails hitting synagogues, and the crash of bricks breaking the windows of Jewish schools.
Jews around the world were attacked when the second Palestinian Intifada began in 2000 and during Israel's war with Hezbollah in 2006. Security is government's primary responsibility, and an essential component of security is warning against threats and incitement.
Bully pulpits must be used to send a loud and clear message from political, religious and community leaders that attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions have no justification, no excuse, and will not be tolerated, whether in Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Uruguay, Chile or Venezuela. If world leaders do not speak out against anti-Semitic violence and incitement, if they allow the threats of Hamas and Iran to go unchallenged, they will have failed an important political and moral test.
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