Swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans including the Nazi slogans “Arbeit macht frei” (Work will set you free) and “Juden raus” (Jews out) were spray-painted on the outside of a synagogue in Olney, Maryland. read more »
» Has anti-Semitism increased or decreased in your area in recent years? 
The controversial minister of the Nation of Islam movement, Louis Farrakhan, has written a letter to the leaders of more than a dozen major US Jewish organizations in which he claims that Jews had caused Blacks damage for centuries. read more »
A member of a state legislature in Germany has been suspended for six months after calling Israel a “Jewish terror state” and speaking of a “thriving Holocaust industry”. read more »
A new survey by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism in Tel Aviv has revealed a strong surge in violent anti-Semitism in 2009, which in western Europe has now reached the highest level in decades. read more »
» British Jews take action against hate speech on college campuses
» Has anti-Semitism increased or decreased in your area in recent years?
More than 1,000 Jews marched through central Budapest in protest against a series of anti-Semitic incidents and the worsening political climate in the run-up to parliamentary elections next week. read more »
» Bill punishing Holocaust denial becomes law in Hungary
» Hungarian extremists promise cleansing of nation from "vermin"
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
Swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans including the Nazi slogans “Arbeit macht frei” (Work will set you free) and “Juden raus” (Jews out) were spray-painted on the outside of a synagogue in Olney, Maryland. read more »
American movie director Oliver Stone has alleged that Jewish control of the media was preventing an open debate about the Holocaust. He also alleged that the Jewish lobby in Washington was controlling US foreign policy. read more »
A firecracker has exploded on the steps of the synagogue in the Swedish city of Malmö, a day after a bomb threat was taped to the building. read more »
More than two dozen graves were desecrated at a Jewish cemetery in Wolfisheim, in the eastern French region of Alsace. read more »
In Canada, a Bangladeshi immigrant who regularly calls for the slaughter of Jews in postings on the internet has become the first person to be charged with promoting genocide. read more »
A Spanish court has ordered the dissolution of the neo-Nazi group 'Blood & Honor' and sentenced 14 members of the group to prison terms. read more »
Jewish and Catholic leaders have welcomed changes to this year's production of a 400 year old German Passion Play which removed several anti-Semitic stereotypes. read more »
Rabbi Marc Schneier, Chairman of the WJC United States presented a keynote address on Islamophobia at the OSCE plenary meeting in Kazakhstan read more »
The controversial minister of the Nation of Islam movement, Louis Farrakhan, has written a letter to the leaders of more than a dozen major US Jewish organizations in which he claims that Jews had caused Blacks damage for centuries. read more »
A New Zealand radio presenter has been suspended after saying that “Jews were expendable” and making a Nazi jibe. read more »
Two Israeli tourists have been attacked by a man of Palestinian descent in a Berlin nightclub, although it is not yet clear if the motive for the attack was anti-Semitism. read more »
A group of Jewish dancers has been attacked with stones by a group of teenagers during a street festival in Hanover, Germany. read more »
The mayor of the Dutch capital Amsterdam has reportedly decided to deploy undercover police officers disguised as religious Jews on the streets in order to identify violent anti-Semites. read more »
A homemade bomb went off in the early hours of Monday outside the synagogue of Tver, 170 km northwest of Moscow. No one was injured. read more »
A member of a state legislature in Germany has been suspended for six months after calling Israel a “Jewish terror state” and speaking of a “thriving Holocaust industry”. read more »
In a new report, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance says that discriminatory attitudes persist in Poland and that anti-Semitism was tolerated in parts of the political world and the media. read more »
President Barack Obama has welcomed the immediate retirement of journalist Helen Thomas, 89, following her call on Jews “to get the hell out of Palestine”. read more »
The French government has asked its broadcasting authority CSA to put an end to "incitement to hatred' on the Hamas-run ‘Al-Aqsa TV’, broadcast via a Paris-based satellite company. read more »
Helen Thomas, at 89 the oldest active member of the White House Press Corps, has been forced to apologize for saying that the Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go “back home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else." read more »
Six Torah scrolls, including one that is more than 200 years old, have been stolen from one of the main synagogues in Antwerp, Belgium. read more »
This report marks the 20th year in which the author has compiled, analysed and reported on the many phenomena which together constitute antisemitism in Australia. download »
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.
Iran's nuclear ambitions pose a threat to its neighbors and the world. Iran is a leading sponsor of terrorism. Iranian leaders, above all President Ahmadinejad, repeatedly question or deny the Holocaust and threaten Israel. read more »
Anti-Semitism is still a deeply-rooted phenomenon in many democracies, despite efforts by governments and NGOs to tackle it. In addition to 'traditional' anti-Semitism, new forms and expressions of anti-Semitism are being manifested around the world. read more »
Jews, and Jewish sites, are often the main targets of terrorists. The WJC works to fight terrorism by advocating a halt in arms proliferation to terrorist groups, better international cooperation, and the protection of Jewish institutions. read more »
Around the world, Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is constantly questioned. The WJC and its affiliates actively defend the legitimacy of Israel on all levels and support the state against unfair and biased attacks. read more »
Seven decades after the Shoah, some countries still have not returned stolen Jewish property. The WJC defends the rights of the victims and their heirs. It also strives to ensure that the greatest crime in the history of mankind is not denied or trivialized. read more »
The plight and concerns of Jews who fled from,or still live in, Arab lands after 1948 are not well-known. The WJC is committed to raising this issue with governments and international organizations. read more »
The WJC has always spearheaded dialogue between the three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Inter-faith cooperation can make an important contribution to peace around the world and to better understanding between communities in our societies. read more »
