PROMINENT LA SYNAGOGUE MARKED WITH SWASTIKAS

Ikar, a well-known Los Angeles synagogue, was targeted in an antisemitic attack, with swastikas scratched onto its office windows overnight May 26 or 27. Synagogue officials called the incident distressing but "unfortunately not surprising," noting an uptick in antisemitic acts in the last several years. The incident came days after a rented truck bearing antisemitic messages made its way down nearby Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Activists identified the responsible group as the Goyim Defense League, a hate group responsible for at least 74 antisemitic propaganda incidents in 2021, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

ANTISEMITISM A FACTOR IN BUFFALO MASS SHOOTING

Deborah Lipstadt, recently appointed US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, described the pervasive antisemitic ideology influencing the May 14 attack on the Black community in Buffalo. Speaking in New York City on May 26, in her first major address as special envoy, she noted the shooter’s online manifesto, and said his “first objective was to kill Blacks, but the Jews would be dealt with in time.”

HARVARD FACULTY MEMBERS REJECT STUDENT PAPER’S BDS ENDORSEMENT

Seventy Harvard faculty members joined in condemning the university’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, for endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel on April 29. Faculty members were joined by an editor at the newspaper and at least eight former staffers in their opposition to the Crimson’s pro-BDS statement.

The faculty statement notes, “In seeking to delegitimize Israel through diplomatic, economic, academic, and cultural isolation, and by opposing the very notions of Jewish peoplehood and self-determination, BDS is disrespectful of Jews, the vast majority of whom view an attachment to Israel as central to their faith identity.”

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY DEFENDS ANTISEMITIC COMMENTS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s May 1 claim on Italian TV that Adolf Hitler had “Jewish blood,” and that “some of the worst antisemites are Jews” sparked worldwide condemnation and the worst flare-up in relations with Israel since Russia invaded Ukraine. On May 5, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reported that President Vladimir Putin had apologized to him for FM Lavrov’s remarks and congratulated Israel on its 74th year of independence. But the Kremlin readout of the conversation made no reference to an apology, and the Russian Foreign Ministry defended Lavrov against Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in the spat over Lavrov’s comments.

PITTSBURGH JEWS RETHINK SECURITY AMID RISING ANTISEMITISM

Julie [last name withheld upon request] grew up in the Squirrel Hill, neighborhood in Pittsburgh, but now avoids it when possible. “It used to be no big deal for me to drive into Squirrel Hill, do some quick shopping, run in, grab some things from the deli. Now, if I don’t have to, I choose not to,” she said. For Julie, things began changing after the massacre at the Tree of Life building in 2018. Since then Western Pennsylvania has seen a marked increase in antisemitic incidents, according to the Anti-Defamation League—the most since the organization began tracking them in 1979.

MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN WHO CALLED JEWS “REAL VIRUS” LOSES ELECTION

Robert “RJ” Regan was defeated in a May 3 special election to replace a retiring state House member in a conservative district. His Facebook pages were filled with memes blaming Jews for the September 11 attacks, calling Jews the “real virus” (instead of COVID-19), and calling feminism “a Jewish program to degrade white men.” Michigan’s Republican Party refused to aid Regan in his Grand Rapids-area special election, after he won the primary in March.

Global Antisemitism News Roundup, May 2022