Tag: anti-Semitism

Christianity: The #1 Target of Hate Crimes

Raymond Ibrahim – December 10, 2021

Hate crimes against Christianity and its followers in Europe — formerly and for centuries the guardian and disseminator of Christ’s teachings — are at an all-time high.  According to a recent report, at least a quarter of all hate crimes registered in Europe in 2020 were anti-Christian in nature — representing a 70-percent increase in comparison to 2019.  Christianity is, furthermore, the religion most targeted in hate crimes, with Judaism at a close second.

Worse, the true number of hate crimes against Christians is likely even higher.  As the Nov. 16, 2021 report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) explains (boldface in original):

24 states report data on hate crimes committed due to racism or xenophobia, 20 on LGBT groups, 16 states on anti-Semitism, and 14 on incidents against Muslims, but only 11 countries report data on hate crimes against Christians, and this obviously distorts the statistics significantly. Furthermore, of the 136 civil society organisations that provided descriptive data, only 8 organisations (!) consistently reported incidents against Christians. Both of these findings put the reality of the situation into a different perspective, which indicates that the actual number of hate crimes against Christians is probably way higher.  When comparing the numbers of incidents from last year to the number of this year, we can see an increase of almost 70%. What is also striking, is the fact that of the 4,008 descriptive cases [of 2020], 980 are hate crimes against Christians, almost 25%, more than against any other religious group.

Indeed, whereas 980 hate crimes were anti-Christian in nature, 850 were anti-Semitic and only 254 anti-Islamic.  But as the report explained, the true numbers are probably significantly higher — for whereas the majority of racial, anti-Islamic, or anti-homosexual attacks are reported as such, a great number of anti-Christian attacks are not.  Even so and despite this discrepancy, attacks on Christians are still greater than against any other religious group.

Discussing these findings, Madeleine Enzlberger, head of Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe, said, “The media and politicians do not see the rise in hatred of Christians in Europe as a growing social problem.  The OSCE report shows only part of this problem, yet it sends a very clear signal against indifference and the almost fashionable bashing of Christians.”

https://www.frontpagemag.com

Police Surround Synagogue & Fine Jewish Worshippers For Holding ‘Illegal Gathering’

Milne News – September 7 , 2021

AUSTRALIA – Police surrounded a Melbourne synagogue to break up a Jewish New Year celebration and issue $5,452 fines for holding an “illegal gathering” to all adults who attended the celebrations.

An estimated 100 people attended the all-day Jewish New Year celebrations at the orthodox Adass Israel Synagogue in Glen Eira Avenue, Ripponlea, with Victoria Police dispersing the group around 9 pm on Tuesday night.

A second, smaller prayer group who assembled for Jewish New Year was also broken up by police from an apartment above the Ripponlea IGA supermarket, also on Glen Eira Avenue.

Police said they were alerted to the gatherings on Tuesday morning and they waited for people to exit the celebrations during the day.

But tensions grew as worshipers and their supporters confronted police in the early evening.

Two worshippers climbed onto a nearby roof around 6 pm as the confrontations ignited with some supporters heard abusing police and accusing media and health authorities of anti-Semitism.

‘Victoria Police has spoken to a number of people who attended an address on Glen Eira Road, Elsternwick on Tuesday 7 September,’ a Victorian Police statement said.

Under Melbourne’s latest lockdown, which began on August 5 and is still in place, no private or public gatherings are allowed.

‘All adults who attended will be issued with a $5452 fine. A number of children who were present will not be fined. Investigators believe a number of other people were present and are yet to be spoken to by police. Investigators are working to identify them.’

Earlier, police blocked roads around the synagogue where an estimated 100 worshippers celebrated Jewish New Year.

It is understood the worshippers stood their ground and refused to leave the two buildings on Tuesday despite Police attempts to make them get out.

Jewish New Year celebrations, known as Rosh Hashanah, commenced on Monday, September 6, and last until the evening of Wednesday, September 8.

https://milnenews.com

American Synagogue Under Siege

Charles Jacobs and Ben Poser – October 20, 2020

In an outrage to the Jewish community, it has apparently become acceptable for people to picket synagogue services, and accuse the Jews inside of murder, imperialism, and the very acts of genocide visited upon them by the Nazis.

The members of Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, Michigan, endure the vile taunts of protesters holding signs reading “Resist Jewish Power,” “Jewish Power Corrupts,” “No More Holocaust Movies,” “Boycott Israel,” “Stop U.S. Aid to Israel,” and “End the Palestinian Holocaust” every Shabbat. What’s more, this unconscionable behavior has not just been the weekly norm recently, but every single Shabbat (Saturday) since 2003.

“They portray themselves as kindly types who bring their detractors tea and wish them a nice day, while they espouse Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic global conspiracy theories… And their hate fails to alarm some progressive leaders who would be rightfully shouting from the rooftops if this were a mosque,” Beth Israel’s rabbi, Nadav Caine, told Ryan Stanton of Michigan Live.

The local protest group in question, Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends, is led by Henry Hirskovitz: “We’re not there because they’re Jews. We’re there because they’re Jewish Zionists,” he told the same reporter. Hirskovitz, apparently a former congregant who fell out with the temple due to political differences, leads an organization whose website proudly features a picture of a woman holding a sign saying, “Zionists Picnic While Palestinians Starve. The World is Watching.” This is Jewish anti-Semitism at its purest.

After 16 years of suffering such venomous harassment, in 2019, long-time Beth Israel congregant Marvin Gerber had had enough and filed a lawsuit against Hirskovitz and his deluded, hate-filled protestors. The suit cited how their actions were insulting to the congregation, impeded their ability to walk to the temple and pray in peace, and exposed young children to vicious anti-Jewish propaganda. Miriam Brysk, a Holocaust survivor and member of a smaller synagogue located on Beth Israel’s grounds, joined as a second plaintiff.

On August 19, 2020, in her official opinion, District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Victoria Roberts stated that Hirskovitz and his group’s actions constituted lawful speech and peaceable assembly protected under the First Amendment.

Gerber plans to appeal the decision. But in the meantime, the rabbi and his congregation can and should take the initiative against these brainwashed defamers of Israel.

https://www.frontpagemag.com

Anti-Semitism in Germany ‘sharply rising,’ warns security agency

DW – October 9, 2020

One year after an attack on a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle, the head of Germany’s domestic security service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has warned that Germany is experiencing a “steep rise” in anti-Semitism.

“In the past two years, criminal offenses, including acts of violence, against Jews and Jewish institutions in Germany have increased significantly,” BfV chief Thomas Haldenwang said in an interview Friday with the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

On October 9, 2019, an armed 27-year-old man attempted to shoot his way into a packed synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. A well-secured door prevented him from carrying out an attack inside. The man then killed two bystanders before fleeing and later being taken into custody.

Last week, a man dressed in military fatigues attacked a Jewish man outside a synagogue in Hamburg.

Haldenwang said Friday that attacks at synagogues were especially disturbing because of Germany’s dark past with National Socialism.

“Germany has a special responsibility for Jewish life,” he said, adding that Jews in Germany have reason to be worried about facing violence and hostility while in public.

The danger especially comes from radicalized “lone wolf” attacks, said Haldenwang.

“Security services must be especially vigilant with this,” said Haldenwang. “Above all, society must be made aware that we need to work together in fighting emerging anti-Semitism.”

https://www.dw.com

Trump to Sign Executive Order Declaring Jewish People a ‘Nation’ Just as Written in Genesis

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz – December 11, 2019

Once again, President Trump is attaching himself to the words of the Bible by passing an executive order which explicitly enacts God’s promise to Abraham; the Jews are a nation. One prominent American Israeli rabbi noted the sole Biblical character who referred to Judaism as a religion; Haman.

President Trump announced that he will be signing an executive order on Wednesday intended to withhold federal funding as a means of forcing universities to cope with growing anti-Semitism on campus. First reported in the New York Times, the order will effectively define Judaism as a race or nationality and not just a religion.

The order empowers the Education Department as described in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which allows the department to withhold funding from any college or educational program that discriminates “on the ground of race, color, or national origin.” Religion was not included among the protected categories, so Mr. Trump’s order will have the effect of embracing an argument that Jews are a people or a race with a collective national origin in the Middle East.

The new executive order will be based on the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism which includes a section on anti-Semitism relative to Israel based on the three ‘D’s’: Demonization, Double-Standard, and Delegitimization.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com