Anti-Semitic incidents in Canada rose to record levels in 2009, according to a just released annual audit. read more »
» Overwhelmingly negative attitudes toward Jews in Islamic countries
» Has anti-Semitism increased or decreased in your area in recent years? 
A survey conducted by Pew Research in 25 countries has found that the populations of nearly all Muslim countries hold very negative attitudes toward Jews. read more »
» French 'Nazi hunter' talks about Holocaust in Middle Eastern countries
» How concerned are you that or your family could be a victim of a terrorist attack?
» Rabbi Michael Melchior at the WJC Strategic Forum, Jerusalem, 19 October 2009 
A record number of anti-Semitic incidents was registered in the UK in 2009, according to a report by the Community Security Trust. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the figures “deeply troubling.” read more »
» Man pleads guilty to anti-Semitic activities in Brooklyn Heights
» Ronald S. Lauder: We are all in the same boat
» Russian newspaper editor jailed for anti-Semitic incitement
» Has anti-Semitism increased or decreased in your area in recent years?
» Mr. Mike Whine at the WJC Strategic Forum, Jerusalem, 19 October 2009
Over the past decade the status of the 500-600,000 French Jews, who constitute the third largest Diaspora community, has continued to deteriorate. This can be attributed to a combination of the dramatic increase in the numbers and power of Islamic extremists, the revival of indigenous anti-Semitism and consistent French support of the Arabs in the Middle East conflict... read more »
A Barcelona court has sentenced the neo-Nazi Pedro Varela to two years and nine months in jail for calling for a genocide against Jews and Blacks, and for distributing hate literature through his bookstore. read more »
The Catholic archbishop of Vienna and Jewish leaders, among others, have strongly criticized the candidacy of the FPÖ politician Barbara Rosenkranz for the presidency of the Republic of Austria. read more »
The Board of Deputies of British Jews has drawn up an action plan to combat the spread of extremism and hate speech on university campuses in the UK. read more »
Israel lodged a formal complaint with Spain yesterday, accusing Spanish schools of promoting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel ideas among young children. read more »
Venezuela's ambassador to the US denied that Jews are being targeted by his government and justified Venezuela's growing friendship with Iran. read more »
Anti-Semitic incidents in Canada rose to record levels in 2009, according to a just released annual audit. read more »
An investigation focusing on extremism in the Czech military has revealed a soldier who had Nazi symbols tattooed on his body. read more »
The Zionist Organization of America has urged Jewish students not to apply for a place at the University of California in Irvine and for donors to stop supporting the institution as it had failed to halt anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing on its campus. read more »
A synagogue in Boca Raton, Florida has been desecrated by vandals who also daubed anti-Semitic slogans on its walls. read more »
A survey conducted by Pew Research in 25 countries has found that the populations of nearly all Muslim countries hold very negative attitudes toward Jews. read more »
The Canadian Jewish Congress strongly condemned a US district court’s ruling that threats made by the American neo-Nazi William White against Canadians were not punishable. read more »
A man has pleaded guilty to charges that he had spray painted swastikas and distributed fliers reading "Kill all Jews" in a Brooklyn neighborhood. He now faces an 18-year jail sentence. read more »
A record number of anti-Semitic incidents was registered in the UK in 2009, according to a report by the Community Security Trust. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the figures “deeply troubling.” read more »
A court in the Russian city of St. Petersburg has found the editor-in-chief of the newspaper ‘Orthodox Russia’ guilty of incitement to hate against Jews and sentenced him to three years in prison. read more »
About 30 Jewish families from Venezuela are expected to leave their country and move to neighboring Colombia in 2010 due to the crisis, the head of the Bogota’s Jewish community has said. read more »
In Italy, the application ‘iMussolini’ for Apple’s iPhone, which allowed users to download speeches made by the former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, has been withdrawn, following legal threats and protests by Jewish groups. read more »
A sermon calling for the killing of Jews has been broadcast by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, the official television station of the Palestinian Authority, which is under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas. read more »
The British advocacy group 'TaxPayers Alliance' has presented reports claiming that European Union development aid funding for the Palestinian Authority is partly used to disseminate anti-Israel and anti-Semitic narratives in Palestinian schools and news media. read more »
Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors have protested to the Apple computer company for allowing a collection of speeches by the Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to be marketed for its iPhone in Italy. read more »
Many Iranians—including those in exile—claim that currently there is not any antisemitism in Iran. They point to the fact that the Jews of Iran today constitute the largest Jewish community in any Muslim country, which is true, and that even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not attack “the Jews,” but rather “the Zionists.” download »
Executive Summary of a report from the UK's Community Security Trust (CST), revealing the highest recorded number of anti-Semitic incidents in the country during 2009. download »
According to a recent report by the Stephen Roth Institute, there was an increase in anti-Semitic incidents world-wide of 6.6 per cent in 2007 compared with the previous year. Moreover, the number of severe violent attacks rose threefold in 2007. The recent Madoff scandal has inspired a new spate of anti-Semitic pronouncements and vandalism in several countries.
Anti-Semitism is still a deeply-rooted phenomenon in many liberal democracies, despite efforts by governments and independent organisations to tackle it. Hatred against Jews is nowadays also entrenched in many Muslim countries.
Anti-Semitism in all its forms must be combated vigorously by determined action of governments and civil society.
Of particular importance are the education of young people, the role of the media, and the action by police and the judiciary in bringing perpetrators of anti-Semitic crimes to justice.
Governments and international organisations need to provide adequate resources for the fight against hatred, notably by providing security to Jewish communities and by improving education.
Laws against anti-Semitism and other forms of racism need to be adopted and enforced properly in every country.
Neo-Nazi groups
In several countries, neo-Nazi groups are gaining ground. Marches and rallies are increasingly being held by extremist organisations. Sometimes, they intentionally pass by Jewish sites or are held to coincide with important Holocaust-era anniversaries.
All forms and expressions of neo-Nazism, xenophobia and intolerance are unacceptable and have to be condemned.
The full force of the law needs to be applied to those who are a danger to democracy liberty and Jewish communities.
Marches by extremist, anti-Semitic neo-Nazi groups should be banned where national laws provide for such a possibility. Where such laws do not exist Government leaders should speak out unequivocally against such groups.
Anti-Zionism = Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism often comes in the form of excessive, unbalanced criticism of Israel, including calls for boycotts of Israeli products, etc. In 2007, a British trade union called for the boycott of Israeli academics. The Paris and Turin book fairs in March and April 2008 were boycotted by many Muslim countries and intellectuals because Israel was invited as the guest of honour. Institutes of higher learning continue to contemplate boycotts of Israeli academics. In most cases, such expressions of anti-Zionism are simply another form of anti-Semitism
Israel’s thriving democracy is rightly open to criticism. However, unfair and biased attacks against Israel or Jews supporting Israel need to be condemned and countered.
Boycotts of Israel in any form are unjustified and unacceptable.
Subtle media that blurs anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism in order to inflame and exacerbate public dislike of both Israel and Jews should be exposed.
The media and the Internet
Along with everybody else, extremists are increasingly making use of the internet, the most wide reaching form of mass media. Extremist groups use the internet to advertise themselves and their ideologies, publicise their activities, communicate with their members and raise funds. Young, impressionable, people are increasingly being misled by hate propaganda disseminated in this way.
Technological advances have also reduced the cost of producing and distributing books and leaflets and television and radio shows can be produced and broadcast over the internet for little or no cost.
Governments, regulators, online retailers and internet service providers need to address the proliferation of anti-Semitic and other hate material on the internet and adopt clear guidelines on this issue, especially when children and teenagers and targeted.
Anti-Semitic broadcasters or newspapers must not benefit from state-funding. Where possible, licenses for TV and radio broadcasters should be granted only if these do not disseminate hate propaganda.
Self-regulation by internet service providers and online retailers to prevent the spread of anti-Semitic, xenophobic or racist material is the appropriate way to deal with this issue. Online retailers and companies must take their responsibilities seriously, or risk being exposed. It is morally wrong and distasteful to make money with items glorifying the Nazis.
Companies that knowingly accept the publication, or promote the sale, of anti-Semitic or racist materials on their platforms and websites should be condemned, and in extreme cases boycotted. However, freedom of speech should not be restricted and efforts to combat hate propaganda in the media should not primarily consist of bans and censorship, but through creative use of the internet in support of Israel and the Jewish people.
