Experts in human rights and Jewish groups say that education is the long-term answer to this form of hatred, but disagree on the approach.
In the US, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told The Media Line that the number of antisemitic incidents was up nearly 65% in the two weeks since the start of the recent hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as compared to the same period last year leading up to May 10.
One such incident took place across the street from Temple Beth Israel in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, where a small group of protestors yelled “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,” and “Intifada,” the Arabic word for uprising.
“The following Sunday, our Skokie community gathered in a rally of solidarity against antisemitism. About 600 people came, and there were no problems,” Michael A. Weinberg, the rabbi at Temple Beth Israel, told The Media Line. “So, the impact of the event on the 16th was to bring together the Skokie Jewish community on May 23 across all denominational lines, which I saw as a victory for Jewish unity.”