EXTREMISMAntisemitism Surges Around World as Israel, Hamas Clash
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas rages for another day, many Jews around the world face a familiar threat: a surge in antisemitism. From New York to London, St. Louis to Sydney, Jewish communities are grappling with hate and bigotry that often flare up whenever the Middle East erupts.
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas rages for another day, many Jews around the world face a familiar threat: a surge in antisemitism.
From New York to London, St. Louis to Sydney, Jewish communities are grappling with hate and bigotry that often flare up whenever the Middle East erupts.
“It’s just a sad fact that whenever conflict arises between Israel and the Palestinians, Jews in all parts of the world will suffer some level of hate violence,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.
Israel plunged into a bloody nightmare Saturday when Hamas militants unleashed a surprise onslaught, killing at least 1,000 Israelis, wounding more than 2,000, and taking some 150 as hostages.
Brian Levin, a prominent extremism researcher and professor emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino, said the carnage amounted to “the worst single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.”
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the attack as “an act of sheer evil.”
Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes against targets in Gaza have been equally deadly, killing at least 1,100 Palestinians and leaving more than 5,000 others wounded, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Threats Surge
While Hamas’ brutal assault has spurred sympathy for Israel, it also has sparked a surge of online threats against Jews, intimidation of Jewish institutions and brazen displays of antisemitic symbols.
Anti-Jewish threats on Telegram, a platform popular with Islamic State militants and white supremacists, surged by an alarming 488% in the first 18 hours of Saturday, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the oldest Jewish civil rights group in the United States.
Offline, there have been sporadic reports of antisemitic incidents. In Salt Lake City, Utah, a synagogue was forced to evacuate after receiving a bomb threat. Police are investigating threats against a number of synagogues in the state.
In St. Louis, Missouri, a swastika was spray-painted on the side of a truck. Police said they were investigating it as an act of antisemitic vandalism.
And in London, a kosher restaurant was vandalized in the Golders Green section of the city. Mayor Sadiq Khan said, “There will be no tolerance for hate.”
The first four days of the conflict saw a surge of over 300% in antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom, according to Community Security Trust.
Pro-Palestinian protests around the world have sometimes taken on an anti-Jewish overtone, according to extremism experts.
