by: Jonathan Greenblatt | March 08, 2019 The Forward Can it happen here?
It’s a question that Americans, and particularly Jewish-Americans, have asked over the decades when looking to Europe. We see the ocean that separates us as an impenetrable barrier that keeps the pathologies that may plague the old country far, far away from us.
Yet, having spent some time last month meeting with Jewish communities across the continent, I saw in the rising anti-Semitism there glimmers of…
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March 13, 2019 Could anti-Semitism, which drove Jews out en masse 500 years ago, drive Jews back to Portugal?
By Andrew Srulevitch, Director of European Affairs
With all of the bad anti-Semitism news coming out of Europe these last few weeks, it’s time for some good news.
About a month ago in Porto, Portugal, I listened to Rabbi Abraham Levy of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue of London recount the story of Torah ornaments that had traveled from Barbados,…
February 27, 2019 Many American Jewish organizations generally refrain from commenting on Israeli electoral issues. The fact that so many felt they had no choice but to condemn the agreement to include Otzma Yehudit Party (Jewish Power) on a mainstream party list in advance of the April 9, 2019 national elections demonstrates the level of concern with which American Jews and pro-Israel groups view this development and its implications -- both in Israel and abroad -- for how Israel…
February 25, 2019 As the political crisis continues in Venezuela, the hardline regime of Nicolas Maduro, whose power is currently being challenged, is promoting hateful anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and allegations of Jewish or “Zionist” plots to take over the government.
As declared interim President Juan Guaidó – whose bid to take over the government is supported by more than 50 countries – challenges Maduro’s power, the resulting political, social…
New York, NY, February 25, 2019 … ADL (Anti-Defamation League) today welcomed the United Kingdom's important decision to ban Lebanese Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist group. Until now, Britain had merely proscribed Hezbollah's "military wing," a policy that is still pursued by the European Union even though Hezbollah itself admits that such a distinction is inaccurate and arbitrary.
“Hezbollah threatens the security of not just Israel, but also the entire Middle…
February 20, 2019 It shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore that France has a serious anti-Semitism problem. Since 2000, there’s been attack after violent attack against the French Jewish community, with only the most shocking ones – from the horrific murder of a Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll last year to the deadly terrorist shooting at the Hyper Cacher kosher market – making headlines and raising perennial concerns about the safety and long-time viability of…
February 07, 2019 By David Andrew Weinberg
The government of Qatar has a longstanding and problematic record with regard to promoting or enabling anti-Semitism.
The state Grand Mosque has hosted numerous anti-Semitic hate preachers, including anti-Semitic sermons delivered in recent years by regular preachers in residence. Qatar’s state book fair this past year provided a platform for numerous anti-Semitic titles. Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, which the U.S. State…
The following letter was submitted to The Jerusalem Post in response to "American Jewish Leaders: Where Are You?" (Jan. 31) Good and bad on both sides:
Isi Leibler’s latest assault against mainstream US Jewish organizational leaders is misinformed (“American Jewish Leaders: Where Are You?” January 31).
Leibler wrongly argues that no Jewish leaders in America are standing up against threats to Israel and the Jewish people from the far Left. As he gets around…
January 29, 2019 Michelle Alexander is a scholar and writer of considerable repute on issues of racial equity and social justice in the United States. Her works have contributed significantly to public understanding of these issues. But her recent New York Times column on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one-sided and contains significant factual inaccuracies.
Her column, “Time to Break the Silence on Palestine,” attempts to imagine how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would…
January 22, 2019 In a letter to the president of the International Paralympic Committee, ADL urged the body to move its upcoming international para swimming competition out of Malaysia after its government banned Israeli athletes from participating. January 22, 2019
Mr. Andrew Parsons
President
International Paralympic Committee
Adenauerallee 212-214
53113 Bonn
Germany
Dear Mr. Parsons:
The ADL is a 105-year-old American anti-hate organization with a mission to …
December 26, 2018 ADL has been monitoring anti-Semitic editorial cartoons in newspapers across the Middle East for decades. One regular source of such cartoons, which blatantly demonize Jews, is the Qatari media, notably by cartoonist Umayya Juha.
The prevalence of these highly problematic depictions led ADL to contact Qatar’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani calling for action.
Backed by ADL’s long time and…
December 24, 2018 Sports tournaments and other international competitions have long been harnessed by some countries in the Middle East as part of their continued efforts to isolate and delegitimize Israel and prevent engagement with Israelis. This typically includes the host country barring entry to Israeli athletes; refusing to allow them to compete under the Israeli flag or play their country’s national anthem at medal ceremonies; and refusing to shake their hands or even compete…
December 21, 2018 Can you remember being a fourth grader? It’s a vulnerable age, where you’re just starting to gain more confidence and independence, yet you’re still squarely in the “kid” zone. Now imagine being a child this age and hearing the slur “dirty Jew” ringing in your ear, uttered by multiple classmates.
Melanie Roloff doesn’t have to imagine this nightmare—she lived it. In her fourth-grade class, instead of being able to…
December 21, 2018 With approximately 3 percent of the world’s Jewish population residing in Latin America, ADL works in partnership with the organized Jewish communal institutions to lend our voices when needed. Going into 2019, as challenges to Jewish community grow worldwide, ADL’s focus on strengthening relations with local Jewish communities across Latin America will continue to be paramount, particularly in areas of common interest.
Political shifts
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December 20, 2018 Imagine the terrified, demoralizing feeling of going to your place of worship, and seeing hateful graffiti spread across its walls—graffiti that directly targets and assaults not only your faith, but who you are as a person.
That’s exactly what happened in Mandeville, Louisiana on September 5, 2018, at Northshore Jewish Congregation (NJC). Imagine being Rebecca Slifkin, who worked at NJC, whose concerned neighbors came by to tell her about being shocked and…
New York, NY, December 17, 2018 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued the following statement in response to an article in The New York Times Book Review, in which author Alice Walker offered an unqualified endorsement of a book by a British anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist.
Statement by Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO and National Director:
“We’re deeply disappointed that The New York Times Book Review would print author Alice Walker’s unqualified…
New York, NY, December 14 ... ADL's Task Force on Middle East Minorities condemns the recent arrest of over 100 Christians in Iran. The timing of the arrests follows a pattern of harassment that Iran has used in the past toward its religious minorities, intimidating them just weeks before their religious holidays, in this example just weeks before Christmas.
According to reports, the arrests targeted Christian converts of Muslim backgrounds. This wave of arrests is seen as part of a…
New York, NY, December 14 … ADL’s Task Force on Middle East Minorities welcomes Congress’s passage of the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act (H.R. 390) and President Trump signing this important bill into law. The Act, which passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan support, ensures that U.S. humanitarian assistance in Syria and Iraq goes to ethnic and religious minority individuals and communities that are in greatest need,…
December 06, 2018 A capacity crowd of over 1,200 people came together on Monday, Dec. 3 at Never Is Now 2018, ADL’s Summit on Anti-Semitism and Hate. We were thrilled to see so many business, community, academic and religious leaders mix with students to tackle the pressing and perplexing issues around anti-Semitism and hate. Check out a few highlights from the event!
ADL's CEO and National Director, Jonathan Greenblatt, kicked off the summit by addressing the current state of…
By David Weinberg | Washington Representative for International Affairs December 04, 2018 New York Daily News In the wake of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, America is reassessing its interests in Saudi Arabia. As U.S. officials consider the complexities of this relationship, they must not forget the importance of motivating Riyadh to remove incitement from its government-published textbooks.
Speaking to an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations this fall, Saudi Arabia’s foreign…