The world is “now witnessing the biggest surge in antisemitism that we’ve seen worldwide in many decades,” said U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt in a recent briefing.
The October 7th terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas against Israel was “the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust” and it precipitated a “wave of not just support for Hamas, but a tidal wave of antisemitic rhetoric and incidents,” said Ambassador Lipstadt.
“Holocaust memorials defaced in Greece, Denmark, Canada and the United States. Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues, including in Berlin and Montreal. Jewish stars dabbed on buildings housing Jews in France and Germany. Jews harassed, chants at a protest: gas the Jews, kill the Jews. Posters showing a Jewish star in a garbage can; you know, clean up society, free society.”
The United States welcomes peaceful protests, even when the protesters are expressing views that run counter to U.S. policy. “However, when you see people chanting or hear people chanting, kill the Jews or calling for a violent intifada ... that’s not support for the rights of the Palestinian people,” affirmed Ambassador Lipstadt:
“That’s antisemitism, pure and simple. So, too, when you express support for the terrorism that was engaged in October seven. We believe that this kind of mindset only incites more hatred, more death, more violence.”
Ambassador Lipstadt further clarified that criticism of Israeli policy is not antisemitism:
“But bottom line, when you target Jewish communities with hate, intimidation, that’s not taking a position on the Middle East conflict. That’s antisemitism.”
In response to the rising tide of antisemitism, the United States has been working closely with the European Commission’s coordinator for combating antisemitism and other leaders to develop a world-wide strategy for how to address it. In all her European travels, Ambassador Lipstadt has stressed that the United States sees this “tsunami of antisemitism as not just a threat to Jews. ... But we see it as something larger, with great implications for democratic values, democratic governments, humanity, national stability, even national security.”
That’s why no form of prejudice is acceptable, and no form of prejudice should be tolerated.
