Rise of Antisemitism Since May 9, 2021

Since Hamas-controlled Gaza began to launch approximately 4,300 rockets on Israeli population centers, Israel was forced to do what any other nation would: defend its civilian population. A barrage of anti-Semitic attacks has resulted in the United States and throughout the world. Here are some of the most notable:

• June 8: A Chabad center was vandalized with a swastika and the words “dirty kyke” in spray paint (Tuscon, Arizona)
• June 7: The second pro-Israel banner in two weeks was stolen from Congregation Har Shalom’s property (Potomac, Maryland)
• June 2: Two swastikas and “Nazi” were written on the door of two Jewish Florida State students’ apartment. One of the students is a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. (Tallahassee, Florida)
• June 2: the Queens Vietnam Veterans Memorial near 79th Street and Grand Avenue was vandalized with graffiti including swastikas, the words “baby killers” and the number 110, a white supremacist numeric hate symbol calling for the expulsion of Jews from the U.S.
• May 31: Passersby from a car shot paintball guns at a 13- and 11-year-old boy who were on the sidewalk. (Los Angeles, CA)
• May 29: Concrete slabs were thrown at the windows of Young Israel of Century City synagogue and a nearby kosher restaurant (Los Angeles, CA)
• May 28: Rutgers University apologizes for an email it sent condemning antisemitism, saying “the message failed to communicate support for our Palestinian community members.” (New Brunswick, New Jersey)
• May 27: “Jews are guilty,” and a swastika were spray-painted on the Holocaust Museum (St. Petersburg, Florida)
• May 26: Swastika stickers that said “we are everywhere” were placed on two buildings including the Alaska Jewish Museum (Anchorage, Alaska)
• May 24: Hersham Ghonim allegedly punched an elderly Jewish man as he tried to enter a synagogue in Sheepshead Bay, punching him in the face and yelling, “F—ing Jews! I’m going to f-k you up. I see you Jews are racist.” (Brooklyn, New York)
• May 24: A Jewish man was assaulted after a conversation with a stranger about Israel and the Palestinians devolved into the assailant telling the Jewish man “the Jews are not going to exist” and called Jews “baby killers” (Las Vegas, Nevada)

• May 24: A brick was thrown through Saba’s Pizzeria, a kosher restaurant (Manhattan, New York)
• May 24: A man attempted to forcibly gain access to a synagogue, shouting antisemitic slurs, and punching the synagogue’s security guard. (Brooklyn, New York)
• May 23: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in London yelled, “We’ll find some Jews there! We want the Jews! We want the Zionists, we want their blood!” (London, United Kingdom)
• May 23: A synagogue received an email from an unknown sender who wrote: “Die f***ing jew cockroaches! Israel = racism, apartheid, genocide.” (Redondo Beach, California)
• May 22: Three men yelled “Free Palestine, kill all the Jews!” at four Jewish men outside a synagogue in Borough Park (Brooklyn, New York)
• May 22: A Jewish man wearing a Star of David necklace was punched by a man who allegedly asked him, “What is that around your neck, does that make you a f***ing Zionist?” (Manhattan, New York)
• May 22: A synagogue’s preschool received a voicemail from a caller threatening to be “the next synagogue shooter.” (San Diego, CA)
• May 21: A rabbi was threatened while walking to work by a man who reportedly pulled out an Israeli flag and told him, “You see, they’re [Israel] killing my innocent children, you’re killing my innocent children, and I’m going to kill you.” (Manhattan, New York)

• May 21: A man yelled antisemitic slurs at a rabbi outside a synagogue telling the rabbi, “Jews should die.” He also left a bag of human feces in front of the building. (Hallandale Beach, Florida)
• May 21: Waseem Awawdeh allegedly beat a Jewish man with a crutch in Times Square and was charged with gang assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. (Manhattan, New York)
• May 21: A man attacked a Jewish driver in Golders Green, an area known to be home to many Jewish residents. (London, United Kingdom)
• May 20: Two fireworks were thrown from a car, causing one person to suffer a minor burn in the heavily Jewish diamond district. (Manhattan, New York)
• May 20: NYC Jewish residents are attacked by pro-Palestinian protestors at popular Upper East Side establishment Ess-A-Bagel. (Manhattan, New York)
• May 19: A man assaulted a Hasidic Jewish man and set fire to trash bags he had assembled outside a yeshiva in Brooklyn. (Brooklyn, New York)
• May 18: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of “terrorism” against the Palestinians, saying, “It is in their nature.” (Ankara, Turkey)
• May 18: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators physically assaulted Jewish diners at a Los Angeles restaurant. (Los Angeles, California)
• May 18: The UCL Jewish Society’s Instagram account had a number of death threats, calls for physical violence and Holocaust references. (London, United Kingdom)
• May 18: A Jewish family walking home from synagogue was harassed by a group in a car yelling, “Free Palestine!” “F*** the Jews!” “Die Jew!” (Bal Harbour, Florida)
• May 17: A window was smashed at the Persian Hebrew Congregation with a pole, and the assailant left a flag and a pro-Palestine sign. (Skokie, Illinois)
• May 17: Horrendous vandalism inciting the murder of Jews was spray-painted on a Jewish community building in Bahía Blanca. The graffiti read, “We will kill you Jewish rats.” There were several other instances of antisemitic graffiti in cities across Argentina, relating to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Bahía Blanca, Argentina)
• May 16: Police in north suburban Skokie are investigating a report of pro-Palestinian vandalism at a synagogue as a hate crime. (Skokie, Illinois)
• May 16: Police have arrested four people after a convoy of at least six cars was filmed driving down Finchley Road, blasting their horns and screaming “F*** the Jews, rape their daughters.” (London, United Kingdom)
• May 16: Clashes broke out after pro-Palestinian demonstrators showed up at a pro-Israel rally, then threw rocks and yelled antisemitic slurs at peaceful pro-Israel demonstrators. (Montreal, Canada)
• May 15: US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called Israel an apartheid state in a tweet (Washington, D.C.)
• May 15: Several pro-Israel protesters were violently assaulted and injured by pro-Palestinian protesters at a counter-demonstration in Toronto (Toronto, Canada)
• May 15: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Brussels shouted anti-Jewish slogans and burned Israeli flags. (Brussels, Belgium)
• May 14: In an address to Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) claimed that Israel was an “apartheid state,” with her shoulders wrapped with a black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh (Washington, D.C.)
• May 13: A man was arrested after harassing a a woman outside a kosher pizza shop with antisemitic remarks including, “Why didn’t Hitler throw all of you in the ocean?” and “F***ing Jews.” (North Miami Beach, Florida)
• May 12: Anti-Israel protesters did a Nazi salute on a main Los Angeles highway (Los Angeles, California)
• May 12: St Anne’s College Oxford issued a statement “in solidarity with Palestine” (Oxford, England)
• May 12: “Free Palestine” graffiti was found on the façade of the synagogue in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa (Ceuta, Spain)
• May 12: Israeli flags were burnt in front of synagogues in Germany. (Bonn and Muenster, Germany)
• May 12: A van with several Nazi slogans and a Palestinian flag circled around a pro-Israel rally (Boca Raton, Florida)
• May 11: A Jewish man was left bloodied and sought refuge in a New York City store Tuesday after being attacked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the Israeli consulate. (Manhattan, New York)
• May 10: University of Michigan student government accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and war crimes. (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
• May 9: Anti-Israel graffiti and flyers were found at Bates College. Comments on the Bates Leftist Coalition’s Instagram included “Free Palestine,” “Stop Ethnic Cleansing,” “Israel is killing innocent people” and “F*** Zionist Israel.”