The year 2015 was “a year of raging anti-Semitism and extreme anti-Israelism.” The Center carefully chose its top 10 worst incidents.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) has released its annual ranking of the 10 worst anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents that occurred in 2015.
The Center, which combats global anti-Semitism and racism and educates about the lessons of the Holocaust, wrote in the report that in 2015, “a year of raging anti-Semitism and extreme anti-Israelism, it was difficult to limit the list to Top Ten.” “Those selected a merely representative of the growing menace that threatens the Jewish people and democratic values such frightening occurrences,” the report stressed.
1. Hatred of Jews from within the family of the San Bernardino terrorists who murdered 14 people.
“I told him he had to stay calm and be patient because in two years Israel will not exist anymore. Geopolitics is changing: Russia, China and America don’t want Jews there anymore. They are going to bring the Jews back to Ukraine …” Sayed Farouk, father of San Bernardino terrorist mass murderer in La Stampa interview in which he validated his son’s hatred for Jews even while attempting to dissuade him from acting out violently.
2. Genocidal hatred and threats against Jews is an increasing staple of the Islamic State (ISIS) online propaganda.
“To all the Jews, grandsons of apes and pigs, we are coming at you from all over the world. … [The war] is soon; it won’t be long, God willing, God willing,” ISIS states in one clip. Another video released in Hebrew threatens, “Soon, there will not be even a single Jew left in Jerusalem or the rest of the country. We will keep going until we eradicate this disease worldwide.”
3. Mainstream anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity surged in Europe.
The European Union (EU) has chosen to label products from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights alone, ignoring the products of other disputed territories in the world such as Western Sahara, Kashmir, Tibet and products from areas controlled by terrorist Hamas and Hezbollah.
“This use of double standards against Israel typifies modern anti-Israelism and has been at the core of anti-Semitism for many centuries,” the SWC said.
4. Anti-Semitism experienced by a growing number of Jewish students on prominent campuses across the US.
5. Palestinian leaders, diplomats, and teachers unleashed anti-Semitic harangues to demonize Israel and fuel violent attacks against Jews.
6. The nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic has not diminished Iranian threats against the Jewish State.
“I am telling you… God willing, there will be no Zionist regime in 25 years. Second, during this period, the spirit of fighting, heroism and jihad will keep you worried every moment.” – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declared in September.
7. Sports venues in Europe witnessed shocking anti-Semitic chants in front of tens of thousands of fans at football (soccer) matches.
8. Ascent of UK Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MO Gerald Kaufman.
Some 250,000 Biritsh voters handed new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a first round absolute majority. In the past, Corbyn has called Hamas and Hezbollah his “friends,” received funding from Ted Honderlich, a promoter of anti-Israel violence, and also appeared with Holocaust denier, Paul Eisen, even donating to his charity, Deir Yassin Remembered. Eisen wrote that Corbyn has, “… Attended every single one of his annual events, and has even donated money to his group.”
Gerald Kaufman alleged that the majority of the Palestinian “attempted stabbing” attacks are based on false claims. “They are executing Palestinians on the streets and then they fabricate the stabbing story. Several videos came out after some of these incidents that clearly show those Palestinians killed posing no harm at all but they got shot anyway and some were executed after they were injured on the ground. It is enough for an Israeli to scream terrorist and if you look like an Arab you will be shot dead on the spot.”
9. Kuwait’s refusal to allow Israeli passengers on board its flights.
“How deep is the (official) hatred of Israel in some Arab nations?” the SWC asks. Kuwait Airways informed the US Department of Transportation that they will stop service between JFK and London. This, after US authorities threatened legal action against Kuwait Airlines for its refusal to sell a ticket to Eldad Gatt, an Israeli citizen.
It is against Kuwaiti law to do business with Israelis and against US law to discriminate against anyone based on nationality
10. Poland
A demonstration against accepting Syrian refugees in Wroclaw morphed into a vicious anti-Semitic display when dozens of demonstrators began burning stereotypic effigies of ultra-orthodox Jews. The demonstration took place in front of City Hall and in full view of police, who took no action.
Several other ugly anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the country over 2015.
– The city of Munich received a “Dishonorable Mention” for allowing an anti-Israel BDS(Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) event on the anniversary of Kristallnacht-the 1938 Nazi pogrom that torched German synagogues, and left at least 91 Jews dead and tens of thousands in concentration camps.
Community leader Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor protested: “The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement disguises the socially unacceptable (Holocaust era), ‘Don’t buy from Jews!’ as a modernized form of Nazi jargon by demanding, ‘Don’t buy from the Jewish state.’”
BDS campaigns continued to be a major source of the animus against the Jewish State and her Zionist supporters.
By: United with Israel Staff