US President Joe Biden spoke out strongly on Monday against the rising number of antisemitic incidents in the US during and following the recent conflict between Israel and Gaza. Such attacks should be halted, he said.
Numerous antisemitic attacks have been reported over the last two weeks, including physical assaults in New York and Los Angeles and vandalism and verbal assaults.
Last week, the Anti-Defamation League said antisemitic incidents rose by 47% in the week following the beginning of Operation Guardian of the Walls compared with the previous week.
“The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop,” Biden said on his official presidential Twitter account. “I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad – it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor.”
The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop. I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad — it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 24, 2021
Israeli Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan thanked Biden for his comments.
“The demonization of Israel is clearly sparking this rise in antisemitism,” he said. “It must be stopped.”
Thank you @potus for taking a tough stance on these outrageous attacks! I hope the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice & deterred from committing such hate crimes in the future. The demonization of Israel is clearly sparking this rise in antisemitism. It must be stopped https://t.co/3SR1But2Ow
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) May 24, 2021
The ADL thanked Biden for his “leadership and commitment to the safety of the American Jewish community” and said it looked forward to working with him “to find new ways to combat this despicable rise in antisemitism.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted: “The surge in anti-Semitic attacks against the Jewish community in the U.S. and around the world is despicable... it must be called out, condemned, and stopped... As a country, we must stand united against hate of any kind.”
The surge in anti-Semitic attacks against the Jewish community in the U.S. and around the world is despicable—it must be called out, condemned, and stopped. As a country, we must stand united against hate of any kind.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 24, 2021
The ADL in the US and the Community Security Trust (CST) in the UK have continued to report ongoing increases in antisemitic incidents.
On Friday, the ADL together with the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, the Jewish Federations of North America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America wrote to Biden about rising antisemitism. The conflict in Gaza has been used to “amplify antisemitic rhetoric, embolden dangerous actors, and attack Jews and Jewish communities,” they wrote.
They urged Biden to publicly call out antisemitism, appoint an “ambassador at large” to monitor and combat antisemitism and reestablish and fill the position of White House Jewish liaison.
Oren Segal, the ADL’s vice president of the Center on Extremism, has said social media – including Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram – is a particularly worrisome repository of antisemitic activity.
Antisemitic messages, such as praise for Hitler, posts about “Jewish control” and the demonization of Jews, have become rampant, he said, adding that in the days after the beginning of the recent Gaza conflict, the ADL identified 17,000 tweets using variations of the phrase “Hitler was right.”
“We are receiving reports from concerned community members, from parents whose children are observing antisemitism in the context of Israel on their social-media feeds, many for the first time, and are unsure how to respond,” Segal said. “Extremists are also weighing in – in many cases not only calling for the Jewish state to be destroyed but glorifying genocidal posts calling for Jews to be gassed.
“Social media has become an ecosystem of platforms for the most vile antisemitism with little or no accountability, and people feel more free to express such hatred in those spaces.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have also been a source of antisemitic incidents, although the majority of protesters have stayed within the lines of free and civil discourse, he said.
Antisemitic messages have been observed at such rallies, including “signs with the classic antisemitism accusation that Jews are responsible for killing Jesus, Holocaust analogies and in some cases, explicit support for terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah,” Segal said.
These protests have not reached the level of vitriol seen in previous crises, he said.
The CST in the UK also said it has witnessed a severe rise in anti-Jewish incidents. It logged 233 antisemitic incidents in the 16-day period from May 8-23, compared with 43 incidents in the previous 16-day period, a 441% increase, it said.
The massive spike in antisemitism in the UK was following a similar pattern witnessed in 2009 during Operation Cast Lead and in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge, both against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, CST spokesman Dave Rich said.
Social media has become a more pervasive part of social discourse since 2014, and the severe level of antisemitism on such platforms has been a significant factor in the overall spike in antisemitism in the country, he said.
Antisemitic incidents in the UK were emanating primarily from elements on the far Left of the political map, as well as the South Asian-Muslim community, Rich said.
Pro-Palestinian rallies have been a source of antisemitic messaging. At a rally on Saturday in London, a placard was seen bearing an image of Jesus being taken to be crucified, and the slogan “don’t let them do it again,” an implicit comparison of Jesus and the Palestinians.
The flags and symbols of antisemitic jihadist organizations were also displayed, as well as many comparisons of Israel with Nazi Germany.