Antisemitic Graffiti on a Synagogue Door in Norwich, UK
Updated: June 1, 2021
Since the start of the May conflict between Israel and Hamas, there have been numerous antisemitic incidents around the world related to the conflict. The perpetrators of these attacks deliberately targeted Jewish institutions in order to express their anger towards Israel.
Whenever anti-Israel actions target synagogues, Jewish community centers, kosher restaurants, Jewish owned businesses, or individual Jews – in other words, holding Jews collectively responsible Israel’s actions – ADL considers such incidents as antisemitic. These actions intimidate Jews and prevent them from living openly and freely as Jews.
During the 2014 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, dangerous incidents occurred in a similar context: attempts to breach synagogues while worshippers were inside; Molotov cocktails and other projectiles thrown at synagogues; and unprovoked assaults on Jews on the street with expressed linkage to the conflict. Jewish communities remember these incidents and worry about similar attacks.
Below is a selection of recent antisemitic incidents linked to the present conflict:
May 29
Munich, Germany: At a pro-Palestinian rally, Israel was equated with the Nazis and resistance by "all available means" was encouraged.
May 28
London, UK: A man yelled “f***ing Jews, f*** you, free Palestine”” outside Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
May 27
London, UK: A Royal London hospital Jewish neonatal nurse wearing a Star of David necklace was cornered by two men in a hospital lift and accused of killing Palestinian children.
May 26
Innsbruck, Austria: A Jewish man wearing a kippa had antisemitic slogans yelled at him during a “Free Palestine” demonstration.
May 25
Caracas, Venezuela: A pro-Palestine protest contained signs with Jewish Stars that said “Israel is a terrorist” “Israel is the enemy of the Humanity”. When confronted about the rally a group of people marching shouted “Damn Jews”.
May 23
UK, London: After a pro-Palestinian demonstration, a group continued walking through the streets of central London, as one man shouted: “We’ll find some Jews there”, he continued with “We want the Zionists. We want their blood”.
Munich, Germany: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, a speaker repeatedly compared Israel to Nazi Germany and the Gaza Strip to "concentration camps”.
May 22
Argentina: A newspaper published an article making Holocaust analogies titled “Song to Palestinauschwitz.”
Berlin, Germany: A visibly Jewish man was approached by three men and punched in the face.
Chile: In a newspaper interview the president of the Palestinian Federation in Chile invoked antisemitic tropes saying Jews control the media, the government and the world’s finances.
Duesseldorf, Germany: At an anti-Israel demonstration, a protester held a sign, “One Holocaust doesn’t justify another,” and another held a sign that read, “End the Palestinian Holocaust.”
London, UK: At an anti-Israel demonstration, a protester held a sign that invoked the antisemitic deicide accusation. Under a depiction of Jesus crucified, the sign read, “Do not let them do the same thing today again.”
Melbourne, Australia: A child carried a placard with a photo of Benjamin Netanyahu as Hitler, alongside a swastika.
May 21
Berlin, Germany: A young woman was subjected to antisemitic taunts in a park.
Hoyo de Manzanares, north of Madrid, Spain: A crossed-out Star of David and the words “f—king Israel” were discovered on the gate of the Jewish cemetery.
Jakarta, Indonesia: A demonstrator outside the US Embassy held a sign with the phrase “Hati-hati yahudi pesek”, which translates to “be careful, pug dog Jew.”
May 20
Buenos Aires, Argentina: A Argentine congressman said that “The Zionist state of Israel must be finished and a new singular state, non-religious, non-racist, and democratic must be imposed in the whole historic territory of Palestine.”
May 19
Santiago, Chile: In a protest in front of the Israeli Embassy, Palestinian groups held signs with Nazi imagery.
Taiz, Yemen: Among the most common chants at demonstration in Taiz, Yemen, was reportedly the slogan “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return.”
Tunis, Tunisia: A massive banner at a rally in the Tunisia capital had the words in Arabic for “the resistance” and “our weapon is to eliminate this epidemic” and then in English with a Star of David “COVID1948”. Other banners included a swastika over the word “Zionism” and another with the phrase “Genocide in Gaza”.
May 18
Bahía Blanca, Argentina: A building belonging to the Jewish community was vandalized with graffiti saying “We are going to kill you”, “Jewish rats” alongside a Jewish Star of David;
Barcelona, Spain: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, a protestor held up a banner with a modified Israeli flag including a swastika instead of the regular Star of David.
Mexico City, Mexico: A public exhibit on Israeli innovation on a main street was vandalized with graffiti scrawling: “F**k Israel”, “Assassins”, “Nazis”, "Free Palestine”, “Fascists”, “Racists” and “Israel is Genocidal.”
San Juan, Argentina: An inscription read “Make a Jew kill homeland” and in El Dorado, Misiones, swastikas crosses were painted on a sidewalk.
Santiago, Chile: Anti-Israel caravans passed in front of the Jewish community center with intimidating posters and slogans including “Palestinian Holocaust”, “End Israeli Apartheid” and “End genocide of the Palestinian People”. A LED billboard calling Israel Apartheid State was installed in front of the Jewish Community Center and later removed after the community claimed its location was aimed at incitement. A rock was thrown at the Jewish Community building breaking a window.
May 17
Amman, Jordan: A sit-in outside the Israeli embassy included chants such as “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return”, “no embassy, no ambassador; come out, you pig” (an allusion to the fundamentalist antisemitic slur that Jews are descendants of apes or pigs).
Sanaa, Yemen: Houthi authorities patronized a large rally where “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return” was chanted.
San Juan, Argentina: An antisemitic graffiti was written in San Juan saying "Be a patriot, kill a Jew."
May 16
Casablanca, Morocco: According to press reports, a demonstration of about 300 people, organized by the Moroccan Initiative for Support and Victory, gathered in Marshall Square and included chants of “Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return.”
London, UK: A caravan of cars with Palestinian flags drove through London with someone shouting antisemitic obscenities over a loudspeaker: "F**k the Jews" "F**k their daughters" "F**k their mothers" "Rape their daughters" "Free Palestine."
Montreal, Canada: A group of Pro-Palestinian protesters launched rocks against pro-Israel demonstrators and hurled antisemitic slurs.
Toronto, Canada: Rallies used Nazi imagery and equating Israel with Nazi Germany, as well as an Israeli flag superimposed with swastikas. Posters with calling for “Death to Israel” were also on display.
May 15
Amsterdam, Netherlands: In Amsterdam, participants of a pro-Palestinian demonstration, carried a flag of the Taliban. Slogans like "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and “O Jew, the army of Mohammed is returning” were also chanted.
Berlin, Germany: “O Jews, Mohammed’s Army is returning” was chanted at a protest. Slogans “Stop doing what Hitler did to you” and “Yesterday Auschwitz, Today Palestine” were seen. Protesters also threw firecrackers at an Israeli journalist who was reporting on the protest and speaking in Hebrew.
Berlin, Germany: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, three Jewish people were shouted at with "Go back to Israel, you child murderers, you are responsible for what is happening."
Bologna, Italy: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, banners with Nazi comparisons such as “Zionism is like Nazism” were seen.
Brussels, Belgium: At the pro-Palestinian demonstration, people chanted “O Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning.”
Doha, Qatar: Crowds chanted “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return” at a rally outside Qatar’s state Grand Mosque, where Hamas’s politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh was the main speaker.
Flensburg, Germany: At a counter-demonstration against antisemitism in Flensburg, a man tried to snatch an Israeli flag from a protester, accompanied with a “Jew-hostile exclamation” by the alleged perpetrator. Both fell to the ground and police intervened.
Frankfurt, Germany: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, protestors moved “purposefully in the direction of a synagogue” and were stopped by the police. Signs with Holocaust comparisons such as ”Stop doing what Hitler did to you,” and signs calling for the destruction of Israel, e.g. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” were seen as well.
London, UK: At the pro-Palestinian demonstration, people chanted “O Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning.”
Mallorca, Spain: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Mallorca, a banner read “What an irony to become the one you once hated” with an Israeli and a Nazi-Germany Swastika flag on it.
Montreal, Canada: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, protestors displayed signs with slogans comparing Israel to the Nazis and references to Hitler.
Munster, German: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, people chanted “O Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning.”
Naples, Italy: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, protestors displayed pictures that were a mash up of Hitler and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ontario, Canada: A Swastika flag was flown at a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
Rome, Italy: In Rome at a pro-Palestinian demonstration, people shouted “O Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning.”
Southern Lebanon: “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammad is beginning to return” was chanted by a group of Palestinians protesting near Jisr al-Khardali, between Nabatiyeh and the Israeli-Lebanese border, near Metullah.
Sydney, Australia: Protestors at an anti-Israel demonstration waved an Israeli flag with a swastika instead of the Star of David.
The Hague, Netherlands: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, there were shouts of “[Prime Minister Mark] Rutte cancer Jew” (“cancer Jew” being a common antisemitic term in Dutch) and “Heil Hitler.”
Toronto, Canada: Several pro-Israel protesters were violently assaulted and injured by pro-Palestinian protesters.
Turin, Italy: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration banner read “One Holocaust doesn’t justify another.”
Vienna, Austria: At a pro-Palestinian demonstration people chanted “O Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning” as well as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Posters with Holocaust trivializing content, i.e. “One Holocaust doesn’t justify another one” and Hamas flags and headbands were worn by protestors.
Warsaw, Poland: In front of the Israeli embassy, protesters shouted “O Jew, the army of Mohammed is returning” and one protester held a sign, “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust.”
May 14
Bahrain: “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Zion, the army of Mohammed is coming” was chanted at an opposition rally in Bahrain.
Norwich, UK: A synagogue was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti spray-painted on the front-door, including “K*ke”, “Free Palestine,” and a swastika.
Utrecht, Norway: Protestors shouted “O Jew, the army of Mohammed is returning” at a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
May 13
Istanbul, Turkey: The website for the oldest Jewish paper in Turkey was hacked with pro-terrorist propaganda.
Mannheim, Germany: An unknown perpetrator tried to break a window at the synagogue in Mannheim.
Ulm, Germany: Three anti-Israeli banners were hung in front of the Jewish synagogue in Ulm on Thursday. According to police, the handwritten statements referred to the current conflict in Israel.
Vienna, Austria: At a demonstration, Leo Gabriel from the “World Social forum (German:"Weltsozialforum") used the antisemitic trope of Jews poisoning wells: “The jug goes to the well until it breaks. The jug, the fat jug, which has enriched itself a lot in the last decades, has gone to the well with its poison to poison it, but it will break.”
May 12
Berlin, Germany: Jewish NGO Jewish Forum for democracy and antisemitism (JFDA) received threats, among them: “May God take revenge on you Jews for what you are doing to Palestine. Burn in hell for this.”
Ceuta, Spain: Graffiti saying “Free Palestina Allah” on the facade of the synagogue in the city of Ceuta, Spanish part in Northern Africa.
Gelsenkirchen, Germany: About 200 people gathered near the synagogue and chanted "shi**y Jew".
Hannover, Germany: Crowds chanted “Jews, the army of Mohammed is coming to get you” at an anti-Israel demonstration.
Hannover, Germany: A man called a Jewish community center and said: “I will light up your synagogue. It will burn.”
Karachi, Pakistan: A pro-Palestinian demonstration included a large banner in Arabic proclaiming "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return."
London, UK: Passersby shouted “Free Palestine” at diners at a kosher café.
Ulm, Germany: Posters with “Stop killing Innocents” and “Don’t forget your own story” were put in front of a synagogue.
Vienna, Austria: At a demonstration participants hold up signs “Well done Israel. Hitler would be proud”, “The Nazis are still around they call themselves Zionists now” and “A Holocaust doesn’t justify another one.” A journalist reported a speaker said “Israel does not exist.”
May 11
Bonn, Germany: During an anti-Israel demonstration in front of a synagogue, stones were thrown at the synagogue’s glass entrance and an Israeli flag was burned.
Ceuta, Spain: “Free Palestine” was spray-painted on the synagogue.
Istanbul, Turkey: extremist preacher Wagdy Ghoneim led chants of “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return,” during a demonstration at the Israeli consulate.
Kuwait City, Kuwait: a televised demonstration in front of the parliament building included group chants of “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return.”
London, UK: Protestors tried to gain entry into Chelsea football stadium, which is owned by Jewish business Roman Abramovich, before burning an Israeli flag outside.
Muenster, Germany: 15 people gathered outside the synagogue and burned an Israeli flag.
May 10
Duesseldorf, Germany: Vandals threw trash on a Holocaust monument to a synagogue that had been destroyed on Kristallnacht in 1938. And then they lit the trash on fire.