LAPID SLAMS MAHMOUD ABBAS OVER "50 HOLOCAUSTS" CLAIM

Speaking at a September 12 joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid condemned Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for recent comments accusing Israel of perpetrating “Holocausts” against Arabs. He also praised his own finance minister for apologizing for comparing Israeli Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. “I condemn what the Finance Minister said. I condemn any comparison to the Holocaust. I was clear about it then, and I am happy to see that the minister has walked back his comments.”

IRAN'S PRESIDENT RAISI LATEST REGIME OFFICIAL TO QUESTION HOLOCAUST
In a 60 Minutes appearance on September 18, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi became the latest in a long line of top Tehran regime officials who have trivialized, distorted, or outright denied the Holocaust in recent decades. Asked by CBS interviewer Lesley Stahl, “Do you believe the Holocaust happened, that six million Jews were slaughtered?”, Raisi replied, “Look, historical events should be investigated by researchers and historians. There are some signs that it happened. If so, they should allow it to be investigated and researched.” Stahl followed up with question on Israel’s right to exist. Raisi answered, “You see, the people of Palestine are the reality. This is the right of the people of Palestine, who are forced to leave their houses and motherland. The Americans are supporting this false regime there.”

SCIENTIFIC PAPER EXPLORES THE BIRTH OF THE BLOOD LIBEL

A new paper published in Current Biology on Aug. 30 might have finally resolved some of the mysteries surrounding a massacre of Jews in Norwich, UK, in 1190, part of a wave of persecution that year linked to the infamous anti-Jewish blood libel. In 2004, while excavating at a construction site for a shopping mall, workers in Norwich discovered a large collection of skeletal remains at the bottom of a medieval well. After several years of research, forensic scientists determined that the bodies likely were those of Ashkenazi Jews, and in 2013 Norwich officials decided to follow the advice of local rabbis who believed that “there was sufficient possibility that the bones should be interned in a Jewish cemetery.” A headstone in that Norwich cemetery marks the resting place of 17 souls who met “violent deaths.” The paper in Current Biology offers the strongest evidence to date that the skeletal remains are “consistent with accounts of the 1190 CE antisemitic attacks.”

COMBATANTISEMITISM.ORG PROVIDES GUIDES TO REPORTING ANTISEMITIC CONTENT

On September 20, Combat Anti-Semitism posted guides for reporting antisemitic content on popular social media networks including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. Reporting is anonymous and reports can be posted with Fighting Online Antisemitism (FOA) by clicking on “Report Hate” on the top right corner of the FOA website. Follow-up action can be taken if the problematic content is not removed. For more information email: monitor@foantisemitism.org

AS ANTISEMITIC HATE CRIMES RISE, NYC OFFERS NEW TRAINING

With antisemitic incidents continuing to rise in New York City, a new city-led initiative called “Understanding Jewish Experiences and Antisemitism” is seeking to address antisemitism on a local level. The initiative aims to educate New Yorkers about their Jewish neighbors and decrease hate as a whole across the city, and received a brief mention in City Hall’s Mayor Management Report released September 16. The 500-page report gave updated numbers on addressing crime, pandemic response and education. Among the key findings were that hate crimes had risen by 35%, which the report said was “partly due to an influx of incidents during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and amid heightened racial and political tensions across the country.” Hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers, in particular, have increased every month in 2022 when compared to the previous year.

Jewish neighborhood patrol group sets out to train Asian neighbors

*Photo Courtesy of Councilwoman Vernikov’s office*

JUDGE WHO APPROVED TRUMP SEARCH WARRANT ATTACKED FOR SYNAGOGUE INVOLVEMENT

The judge who approved the search on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was attacked in early August for his synagogue. Judge Bruce Reinhart, a former prosecutor who had previously been criticized for representing former employees of Jeffrey Epstein related to his sex-trafficking scandal, appears to be on the board of a South Florida synagogue. Trump loyalists eager to question the legitimacy of the FBI raid seized upon that detail to launch online attacks.

US NGO ANTI-ISRAEL RALLY KIT INCLUDES TERRORIST POSTERS, CHANTS FOR INTIFADA

A new version of a protest toolkit for anti-Israel activists features hagiographic posters of terrorists killed during Operation Breaking Dawn and chants that call for intifada and the dissolution of Israel. The rally guide, updated by the NGO Within Our Lifetime (WOL) on August 14 in the wake of last month’s three-day conflict between Israel and the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is meant to be “a non-comprehensive list of everything you need to organize a rally,” including “chants, logistics and outreach to materials, assigned roles and follow up.”

Global Antisemitism News Roundup, August-September 2022