Antisemitism during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war

Antisemitism during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the outbreak of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, there has been a surge of antisemitism around the world.
Africa
Egypt
On 8 October 2023, an Egyptian police officer shot and killed two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian tour guide in Alexandria, Egypt.
Tunisia
On 18 October 2023, the El Hamma synagogue of El Hamma, Tunisia, which is a Jewish pilgrimage site and contains the tomb of 16th-century Kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Ma'aravi, was severely damaged during anti-Israel riots, with hundreds of people filmed setting fire to the building.
Asia
China
After the war began, the Associated Press noted a rise in antisemitism on Chinese social media substantive enough that the Israeli embassy in Beijing had to filter comments on its social media account.
An Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing, China was stabbed and injured on 13 October.
Europe
Germany
In Berlin, the houses of several Jews were marked with a Star of David, echoing the marking of Jewish homes and businesses during Nazism.
On 18 October, two molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue in the Mitte neighborhood of central Berlin. One person was arrested. Following the firebombing, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared, "Attacks on Jewish institutions and acts of violence on our streets are despicable and cannot be tolerated. Antisemitism has no place in Germany."
On 22 October, Chancellor Scholz said, "I am deeply outraged by the way in which antisemitic hatred and inhuman agitation have been breaking out since that fateful October 7, on the internet, in social media around the world, and shamefully also here in Germany. Here in Germany, of all places. That is why our 'never again' must be unbreakable."
France
In response to a rise in antisemitic incidents in France, the French government banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the country. In a televised address on 12 October 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron warned, "Let's remember that antisemitism has always been the precursor to other forms of hate: one day against the Jews, the next against the Christians, then the Muslims, and then all those who are still the target of hate due to their culture, origin or gender."
Poland
At a pro-Palestinian protest in Warsaw on 21 October, a Norwegian medical student was pictured holding an antisemitic poster that showed the flag of Israel in a trash can alongside the text "keep the world clean."
Russia
On 29 October 2023 a mob of antisemitic protestors stormed the airport in Dagestan in search of Israeli passengers from Tel Aviv.
Spain
On 18 October 2023, the Or Zaruah synagogue in Melilla, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, was attacked by a mob chanting "murderous Israel" while waving Palestinian flags.
Turkey
Turkish Jewish newspaper Salom reported rising cases of antisemitism and reported hate speech on Twitter
United Kingdom
On 13 October 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, "There's been a quite frankly disgusting rise in antisemitic incidents." On 20 October 2023, The Guardian reported that according to the Metropolitan police, there has been a 1,350% increase in hate crimes against Jewish people since the war started.
North America
Canada
On 17 October 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "Since this conflict broke out, there has been a very scary rise of antisemitism here at home."
United States
On 25 October, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported antisemitic incidents in the U.S. had increased 388% since the war began, including assault, harassment, and vandalism.
On October 9, a sukkah at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti.
On October 10, a man threw rocks through the glass doors of a synagogue and cafe in Fresno, California, the second with a note reading “All Jewish businesses will be targeted”.
On October 11, at Columbia University, a woman assaulted an Israeli man with a stick after he confronted her for ripping down posters with pictures and information about kidnapped Israelis. She has been charged with a hate crime.
On October 11, a man was arrested for sending threatening emails to a synagogue in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On October 14, a man in New York's Grand Central Terminal punched a woman in the face, telling her it was because she was Jewish.
On October 15, in Berkeley, California, a billboard calling out antisemitism was defaced with antisemitic and anti-Israel graffiti, praising the Hamas attacks. Several buildings in San Francisco were also vandalized with similar messages, sparking condemnation from mayor London Breed and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
A Cornell University professor, Russell Rickford, spoke at an October 15 rally, calling the Hamas attacks "exhilarating". The university leadership condemned his remarks, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney called for him to be fired. He subsequently apologized for the remarks in The Cornell Daily Sun. On October 21, it was announced that Rickford would be taking a leave of absence for the remainder of the semester.
On October 19, the Illinois Comptroller's office fired one of its lawyers, Sarah Chowdhury, over antisemitic remarks she made on the Instagram page of another lawyer, who is Jewish. Chowdhury was also fired from her position as president of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago.
On October 20, a building next to a Jewish fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti reading "The Jews R Nazis".
On October 25, several Jewish students were barricaded inside a library at Cooper Union college while a crowd of pro-Palestine protestors pounded on the doors and windows and shouted slogans. The ADL, American Jewish Committee, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the incident.
A man broke into a Jewish family's home in Los Angeles on October 25, yelling "Free Palestine" and "Kill Jews".
On October 29, threats against the Jewish community at Cornell University were posted online, threatening to shoot, rape, and murder Jewish students and encouraging violence against them. The FBI is investigating the incident as a hate crime. As of October 31, the New York State Police announced they had a person of interest in custody.
Oceania
Australia
On October 9, participants in a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney organized by Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, chanted "Gas the Jews" in front of the Sydney Opera House.
On October 10, several individuals in Melbourne made death threats against Jews, one group harassing a rabbi and his son, and another asking where to find Jews, saying they were "hunting for Jews".
On October 11, a man in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales threatened to kill four Jewish teenagers in a car with an Israeli flag draped on it. He was later arrested and charged.
On October 12, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry received a death threat on Instagram, saying “We are coming for you soon, from western Sydney” alongside an image of a man about to be beheaded by ISIS.
On October 13, three men gave a Nazi salute outside the Sydney Jewish Museum. In Melbourne, several instances of antisemitic graffiti were reported.
On October 14, 20-30 members of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network marched in front of and into the Flinders Street railway station in Melbourne, displaying a banner reading "Expose Jewish Power" and distributing neo-Nazi literature.
See also
Anti-Palestinianism during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Hate crimes related to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Timeline of antisemitism in the 21st century
References
External links
"Global Antisemitic Incidents In the Wake of Hamas' War on Israel", ADL
2023 in Judaism
Antisemitic attacks and incidents
2023 Israel–Hamas war