A group of progressive House Democrats plans to encourage Secretary of State Tony Blinken to consider alternatives to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, suggesting two definitions that allow for broader criticism of Israel. 

A draft of a letter to Blinken obtained by Jewish Insider, which is being led by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and has been signed by Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Andy Levin (D-MI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), urges Blinken to “consider multiple definitions of antisemitism, including two new definitions that have been formulated and embraced by the Jewish community,” pointing to the Nexus Document and the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism.

The IHRA definition, first developed in the mid-aughts by a collective of government officials and subject experts, was used as guidance by successive Republican and Democratic administrations dating back to the George W. Bush administration, and codified by a 2019 executive order from former President Donald Trump. The push to codify the definition was born out of a 2014 meeting in then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) office.

While there is some overlap between the two more recent definitions and the IHRA working definition of antisemitism — which has been adopted by dozens of countries, many of them European — both the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, a majority of whose signatories are academics, and the Nexus Document, which was authored by U.S.-based academics, allow more space for criticism of Israel. The Jerusalem Declaration describes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as “not, in and of themselves, antisemitic.”

The Nexus Document pushes back on the idea — included in some of the IHRA definition’s associated examples — that applying double standards to Israel is inherently antisemitic. The Nexus Document argues instead that “paying disproportionate attention to Israel and treating Israel differently than other countries is not prima facie proof of anti-Semitism” and that “there are numerous reasons for devoting special attention to Israel and treating Israel differently.” The Jerusalem Declaration similarly argues that boycotts of Israel are not inherently antisemitic.

“While the IHRA definition can be informative, in order to most effectively combat antisemitism, we should use all of the best tools at our disposal,” the letter argues. The letter will remain open for signatures until Tuesday.

Left-wing Jewish groups, including J Street, have been vocal about their concerns with the IHRA definition.

Abe Foxman, the former director of the Anti-Defamation League who led the organization while the IHRA definition was being developed, argued that this criticism stems from disagreements with Israeli policy, rather than legitimate issues with the IHRA definition itself.

“The common denominator of all the groups who don’t like the current definition are groups that have issues with Israel,” Foxman said. “[The IHRA definition] included a new dimension of antisemitism which was anti-Israel and anti-Zionism because in the last 20 years or so, antisemitism metastasized to use Israel as a euphemism for attacking Jews.”

In a letter to the American Zionist Movement in February, Blinken said that the Biden administration “enthusiastically embraces” the IHRA definition, indicating that efforts to implement alternative definitions may struggle to gain traction at the State Department. 

Foxman told JI that he is concerned that considering other definitions of antisemitism, as Schakowsky’s letter urges, would “water down” the State Department’s efforts to fight antisemitism and could also lead the range of other governments and private institutions that have adopted the IHRA definition to reconsider doing so.

Other House Democrats have defended the IHRA definition in the past and its adoption by the federal government. In a 2019 Times of Israel op-ed, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) urged the government to adopt the IHRA definition as “an important tool to guide our government’s response to antisemitism.”

“Opponents of this definition argue that it would encroach on Americans’ right to freedom of speech,” Deutch wrote. “But this definition was drafted not to regulate free speech or punish people for expressing their beliefs, however hateful they may be. It would not suddenly make it illegal to tweet denial of the Holocaust or go on television accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel than the United States. But it would identify those views as anti-Semitic.”

In January, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations adopted the IHRA definition, and it has the support of major mainstream Jewish organizations including the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League.

Read the full text of the letter here:

Dear Secretary Blinken:

We write to thank you and the entire Biden Administration for your commitment to fighting against the rising threat of antisemitism, both globally, and here in the United States. We applaud your prioritization of combatting this ancient hatred. In carrying out this critical work, we urge you to consider multiple definitions of antisemitism, including two new definitions that have been formulated and embraced by the Jewish community.

In 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), of which the United States is a member, adopted a non-legally binding definition of antisemitism. The Department of State began using this working definition at this time. In September of 2018, the Trump Administration announced that it was expanding the use of the IHRA definition to the Department of Education. This was followed by the 2019 “White House Executive Order on Combatting Antisemitism” that formally directed federal agencies to consider the IHRA working definition and contemporary examples of antisemitism in enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

While the IHRA definition can be informative, in order to most effectively combat antisemitism, we should use all of the best tools at our disposal. Recently, two new definitions have been introduced that can and should be equally considered by the State Department and the entire Administration. The first is the Nexus Document, drafted by the Nexus Task Force, “which examines the issues at the nexus of antisemitism and Israel in American politics.” The Task Force is a project of the Knight Program on Media and Religion at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at USC. The definition is designed as a guide for policymakers and community leaders as they grapple with the complexities at the intersection of Israel and antisemitism.

Another valuable resource is the recently released Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA).  The JDA is a tool to identify, confront and raise awareness about antisemitism as it manifests in countries around the world today. It includes a preamble, definition, and a set of 15 guidelines that provide detailed guidance for those seeking to recognize antisemitism in order to craft responses. It was developed by a group of scholars in the fields of Holocaust history, Jewish studies, and Middle East studies to meet what has become a growing challenge: providing clear guidance to identify and fight antisemitism while protecting free expression.

These two efforts are the work of hundreds of scholars and experts in the fields of antisemitism, Israel and Middle East Policy, and Jewish communal affairs, and have been helpful to us as we grapple with these complex issues. We believe that the Administration should, in addition to the IHRA definition, consider these two important documents as resources to help guide your thinking and actions when addressing issues of combatting antisemitism.

Once again, we thank you and President Biden for prioritizing this important matter and urge you to use all tools at your disposal to combat the threat of antisemitism.

Freshman Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) cautioned about the rise of antisemitism in progressive politics during a wide-ranging conversation in the inaugural episode of Jewish Insider’s “Limited Liability Podcast,” hosted by Rich Goldberg and Jarrod Bernstein.

Torres, who describes himself as “the embodiment of a pro-Israel progressive,” said he is mindful of anti-Israel elements within the Democratic Party that have the ability to turn antisemitic. “We have an obligation to combat antisemitism no matter where it emerges, whether it’s from the right, from the left. It has to be fought at every turn and in every form,” he said. 

“My concern is that the pro-BDS left could be to the Democratic Party in American politics what Jeremy Corbyn has been to the Labour Party in British politics,” Torres cautioned. “It only takes a few demagogues to pump antisemitic poison into the bloodstream of a political party. And so I see it as my mission to resist the Jeremy Corbynization of progressive politics in the United States.”

Torres, a freshman representing New York’s 15th congressional district, addressed his hard-fought primary victory, which pitted him against a diverse group of Democratic candidates, from the conservative Rubén Díaz, Sr. to Democratic socialist Samelys López, who had the backing of high-profile progressive leaders and groups.

“New York City has become ground zero for Democratic socialism. In the latest election cycle, the [Democratic Socialists of America] won every single race in which it endorsed, except mine,” noted Torres, who on Thursday endorsed New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang.

“I had powerful forces arrayed against me — I had Bernie Sanders, [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], the [Working Families Party], the DSA, all endorsed Samelys López against me. And not only did I win, but I won decisively,” Torres said of his primary victory. “And I sent a powerful message that you can run as a pro-Israel, pragmatic progressive without catering to the extremes and you can win decisively in a place like the South Bronx.”

“Limited Liability Podcast” is a new weekly podcast for readers of Jewish Insider. Hear from the key players generating buzz and making headlines in conversation with two top political operatives, Jarrod Bernstein and Rich Goldberg. One Democrat, one Republican. Both hosts have extensive experience in the political arena and a deep rolodex to match. It’s Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff brought to life.

A bill elevating the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism to the rank of ambassador passed Congress on Thursday, nearly two years after first being introduced. Prior to its passage, the legislation appeared to stall in the Senate, raising concerns in the final days of the 116th Congress that legislators might have had to start over in the new Congress.

The House of Representatives first passed its version of the bill on Jan. 11, 2019. But — despite broad bipartisan support for the legislation — procedural issues bogged down the bill  once it reached the Senate. 

Several proponents of the bill both inside and outside Congress told JI that they believed the bill was going to die in the Senate, forcing a reset in the new session of Congress, which began January 3. This characterization was disputed by other Hill staffers and activists who had been communicating with senators to advance the legislation.

“I wouldn’t say it was dead, but it needed outside help,” a Republican aide told JI.

The bill was hampered by a dispute over whether to pass an amended version of the House bill or an identical bill that originated in the Senate, according to two Senate aides familiar with the bill, as well as American Jewish Congress President Jack Rosen.

Rosen, who spoke to several senators in an effort to move the bill forward, said Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) preferred to pass the bill as a Senate measure. Menendez did not respond to a request for comment.

Backers of the legislation told JI that Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) was critical to clearing the roadblocks that stood in the way of the bill’s passage. 

“Rosen became incredibly engaged and helpful,” a Senate Republican aide familiar with the bill told JI. Both Senate staffers familiar with the bill said that the senator had aggressively pushed colleagues to pass the legislation.

“Senator Rosen… moved this up in her agenda and began to push her colleagues,” Karen Barall, director of government relations for Hadassah, told JI. “She was very effective in ensuring this was understood to be an important measure. Without her, this would not have passed the Senate.”

Rosen told JI she was pleased that the bill passed through both chambers by unanimous consent — a procedure used to expedite legislation without requiring a formal vote. “In the Senate, I was able to build on my bipartisan record of working with colleagues to fight antisemitism by ensuring this critically important bill was brought to the floor and passed,” she said.

The Senate passed the bill on December 16, leaving a narrow window for the House to pass the amended bill and send it to the president’s desk before the end of the 116th Congress. 

To ensure the bill made it through the House, supporters had to contend with a chamber focused on urgent debates over government funding and COVID-19 relief payments, as well as disputes between Republican and Democratic leadership, generating concerns that the bill would not make it back through the House before the end of session.

“The issue that came up was not a substantive issue related to the text of the legislation, but rather they got caught up in Republican and Democratic food fight over other issues,” a pro-Israel activist involved in discussions about the bill said.

In addition to Rosen and the bill’s lead sponsors in the House, Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Brad Schneider (D-IL), a number of Jewish advocacy organizations joined the effort, including the Anti-Defamation League, Hadassah, the Orthodox Union, American Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“After the Senate voted, there was very little time for the House leadership to act and major legislation — the NDAA, the omnibus, COVID relief — were understandably top priorities for House leadership,” said Barall. “Hadassah and other organizations made an aggressive push to get this done though, and send the bill to the president.”

The pro-Israel activist who asked not to be named credited Smith and Schneider for winning the support of their respective parties’ leaders to allow the bill to pass by unanimous consent on December 31.

Assuming President Donald Trump signs the bill, President-elect Joe Biden will become the first president to nominate a special envoy on antisemitism for Senate confirmation, although it will likely take time before he announces a pick for the spot, and even longer for the nominee to be confirmed.

Trump took 23 months to nominate the current special envoy, Elan Carr, for the position. An individual involved in discussions over the bill told JI that he expects an extended delay to fill the slot, noting that Senate-confirmed nominees face a more expansive background check process, and must go through the lengthy confirmation process, which can take months.

Given that Biden still has yet to nominate some Cabinet secretaries and a range of other high-level appointees that will require Senate confirmation, it’s unlikely the president-elect will name his pick for the position before his inauguration on January 20, the source added.

Among the names said to be under consideration by the Biden transition team are former ADL national director Abe Foxman, past envoy Ira Forman, Emory University professor and noted Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt, University of California, Berkeley professor Ethan Katz and ADL senior vice president of international affairs Sharon Nazarian. Foxman and Katz declined to comment to JI. Lipstadt did not respond to a request for comment. 

Nazarian confirmed to JI she has spoken to members of the Biden transition team about the role and is submitting a formal application. She posited that her experience at ADL, as well as her personal experiences as an Iranian-born Jew, uniquely qualify her to expand and advance the special envoy’s office.

“My number one mission every day… is to advocate and to monitor and to educate, and to train as many people, stakeholders, government officials, as I can to first of all, make them aware of the threat of global antisemitism, and how it manifests in our lives today,” Nazarian said. “I feel like I’m well-positioned both as a practitioner of this work, as someone who’s led a very large team at ADL at the senior executive level, and also [as] someone who’s lived it through my own intersectional identity.”

Nazarian argued that the special envoy’s office, to date, has not taken a sufficiently modern or forward-looking approach to antisemitism, and has relied too heavily on 20th-century understandings of and approaches to global antisemitism.

Forman, who served as special envoy under former President Barack Obama from 2013 to the end of Obama’s term, declined to say if he was in consideration for the slot, but told JI, “I know there are a number of highly qualified people who could undertake this critical work and I am confident the Biden team will make an excellent choice.”

The Senate passed a bipartisan bill by unanimous consent on Wednesday night which upgrades the status of the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. The bill now goes to the House for a final vote.

Under the new bill, the special envoy would become an ambassador-level position requiring Senate confirmation.

Per the terms of the legislation, the special envoy — a position currently held by former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney Elan Carr — would be the primary advisor and coordinator for U.S. government efforts to monitor and combat antisemitism abroad.

“I welcome the passage of this important bipartisan bill that will ensure that the U.S. remains a leader in the fight against antisemitism worldwide,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of the legislation’s original cosponsors, said in a statement. “I commend my Senate colleagues for passing this legislation, and look forward to the House quickly passing it and sending it to the president to be signed into law.” 

The bill’s other original cosponsors were Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO).

In her own statement, Rosen said, “To equip the State Department to better address rising antisemitism, it is critical that we elevate the role of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism to Ambassador-at-Large,” and that the bill will ensure “that the United States remains a leader in combating anti-Semitism internationally and has the tools needed to track and respond to this growing scourge.”

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) signed on as cosponsors after the bill was introduced.

The House passed a version of the bill, introduced by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Eliot Engel (D-NY), in January of 2019 by a vote of 411 to 1 — Libertarian Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) was the only representative to vote against the legislation. 

Rubio, Gillibrand, Engel and Smith introduced similar legislation during the 115th Congress, but it did not pass the Senate during the previous term.

Outside advocates applauded the Senate for passing the legislation, with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt calling it “an important step today to ensure that our government can better fight rising antisemitism around the world.”

American Jewish Committee Director of International Jewish Affairs Rabbi Andrew Baker concurred, saying the bill “will enable the U.S. to enhance our leadership addressing the scourge of antisemitism across the globe.”

Orthodox Union Executive Director for Public Policy Nathan Diament said in a separate statement, “With the passage of this legislation, the Senate is providing powerful new tools to the State Department to lead impactful international efforts to combat what has been aptly called ‘the world’s oldest form of hatred’ and roll back the tide of anti-Jewish hate.”

Recently released statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation — indicating the highest number of antisemitic hate crimes in a decade — “severely” undercounted the number of incidents, New York Attorney General Letitia James said on Monday.

James and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost joined a webcast hosted by the American Jewish Committee to discuss the release of the FBI’s annual hate crimes report, which found that hate crimes targeting the Jewish community had increased by 14% in 2019.

James said she questioned the accuracy of the data, suggesting that underreporting from both local law enforcement and the impacted communities themselves led to a lower number.

The New York attorney general — who described herself as an “honorary member of the Orthodox community,” having represented Crown Heights in the New York City Council for 10 years — sees the latter issue as a particular problem in what she called the “insular” Orthodox Jewish community.

“Going forward, obviously we’ve got to do a better job, particularly in the Orthodox community,” she said. “We’ve got to inform them and educate them and encourage them with respect to reporting these crimes.”

Yost agreed that underreporting is an issue for many categories of crimes, not just hate crimes, but noted that the victims of hate crimes are more than statistics laid out in data.

“We’re talking about hate crimes. That’s measured one life at a time. One case file at a time. This doesn’t happen to X number of people, it happens to one person… Someone who’s going to carry that trauma with them, the rest of their lives,” he said. “As much as I care about the data, it’s not the numbers that move me, it’s the stories.”

The Ohio attorney general criticized New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for his particularly stringent enforcement of coronavirus mitigation measures in Orthodox Jewish communities.

“When you single out a particular group and other similarly situated groups are not called out, I think you’re really sending a subtle message that helps to create a fertile seed bed for antisemitism or for racism or what have you,” Yost said.

James and Yost diverged on recent discussions and protests over police accountability. While James saw them as a potential step toward rebuilding trust between citizens and the police — thereby increasing reporting of hate crimes — Yost painted a darker picture. 

“The notion of law enforcement being a tool of the popular will frightens me and… it should frighten every American who knows anything about history,” he said. “The Holocaust, the things that happened in Nazi Germany were popularly supported. Law enforcement famously looked by while lynchings occurred in the South. Why? Because it was popularly supported… I’m really concerned that in our rush to make policing more responsive in some communities, that we risk unleashing the genie from the bottle.”

While Americans anxiously awaited the outcome of the presidential election, Eric Fingerhut, CEO and president of the Jewish Federations of North America and a former U.S. representative, called on the next administration and Congress to provide additional pandemic relief to “ailing non-profits” and increase funding for non-profit organizations’ security needs.

In an interview with Jewish Insider, Fingerhut — who represented Ohio’s 19^th congressional district from 1993 to 1995 — said that at a time of deep divisions, he views the way that North America’s 146 Jewish federations function as a model for all Americans.

“Leaders of our community, many members of JFNA’s board and at most federations, are on both sides of this election,” he said. “This has always been the case.” 

On Tuesday night, past JFNA board chair Kathy Manning flipped a redistricted House seat and will represent North Carolina’s 6th congressional district as a Democrat. Detroit oil and real estate magnate Max Fisher, a major philanthropist to Jewish causes until his death in 2005 and a member of JFNA’s board, served as an advisor to Republican presidents on Israel and Jewish concerns. Current JFNA board chair Mark Wilf, who co-owns the Milwaukee Bucks franchise, is a longtime Democratic donor who in March contributed $21,250 to the Biden Victory Fund.

“We have always had people on both sides of the political aisle, and always been a model of how we’ve worked together on matters of common concern for Jewish life, Israel and the Jewish people around the world,” said Fingerhut. “We have maintained that unity on that common agenda even as we’ve disagreed politically and worked against each other vigorously. We will continue to, no matter the outcome of this election.”

Fingerhut also noted that the Jewish community is “disproportionately deeply engaged in the civic affairs of the United States as candidates, campaign workers and as supporters of the democratic process, like as poll workers.” The community’s effort, he said, “reflects both our caring for the health and welfare of the country and our appreciation for the unbelievable welcoming and prosperity and success the Jewish community has achieved in this open, democratic society.”

JFNA has representatives in Washington who lobby Congress and the administration on a wide range of issues, including funding for human services — most Jewish federations fund or manage facilities for senior citizens and the mentally and physically disabled — but usually refrains from commenting on specific policies. Earlier this year, the organization worked with the Orthodox Union, the Union for Reform Judaism, Agudath Israel of America, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups to push legislators to provide relief to faith-based charities and religious nonprofits struggling from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Fingerhut was hopeful that the next president will sign into law the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, and ensure that Medicaid and Medicare programs are extended.

Fingerhut was quick to point out that today’s political climate bears resemblance to other tumultuous times in modern American history.

His 2004 run for Senate coincided with former President George W. Bush’s campaign for a second term, and the country, he said, was terribly split over the Iraq war. His state, Ohio, a swing state, was “deeply divided. The rhetoric was very acute.”

“We have had very close elections in our recent past, have been very divided over very contentious issues, and we’ve gotten through,” Fingerhut told JI, adding that Jewish values have something to teach all of America at this tense time.

“One of the things we have in our Jewish tradition is a commitment to civility and respect for differences of opinion. We need to exemplify that in our own behavior, and insist on it in others in public life.”

Former U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was suspended by the party on Thursday for rejecting the findings of a long-awaited report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that found “unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination for which the Labour Party is responsible.”

The report detailed numerous instances of unlawful behavior, examining at least 70 complaints of antisemitism made since 2016. 

In a press conference following the release, current Labour leader Keir Starmer accepted the findings, calling the report “comprehensive, rigorous and thoroughly professional.” Apologizing to the Jewish community, Starmer admitted: “I found this report hard to read and it is a day of shame for the Labour Party… On behalf of the Labour Party, I am truly sorry for all the pain and grief that has been caused.” 

The EHRC report, which concluded the party “at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it,” directed a series of changes to Labour’s reporting and investigation process. Under U.K. law, the mandates of the non-departmental government agency are legally enforceable.

In a statement, Gideon Falter, CEO of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), which submitted one of the first complaints to the EHRC, called the report “groundbreaking.”

“The EHRC’s report utterly vindicates Britain’s Jews who were accused of lying and exaggerating, acting as agents of another country and using their religion to ‘smear’ the Labour Party. In an unprecedented finding, it concludes that those who made such accusations broke the law and were responsible for illegal discrimination and harassment,” Falter continued. “The debate is over. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party became institutionally antisemitic. It drove almost half of British Jews to consider leaving the country.”

In addition to finding a persistent culture accepting antisemitism, the report found that the party had a “practice or policy of Political Interference” in responding to internal reports of antisemitism. This included efforts to “smear” complaints as fake, incidents which the EHRC found to have violated the Equality Act of 2010.

Complaints of antisemitism first emerged not long after Corbyn’s election as Labour leader in 2015. A left-leaning longtime backbencher, Corbyn rose swiftly through the party’s ranks following the resignation of former leader Ed Milliband. The allegations of antisemitism continued through Corbyn’s time as opposition leader, resulting in the resignation of numerous high-ranking Labour MPs, who accused him of harboring antisemitic views and protecting others accused of antisemitism. The controversy was a major campaign issue during the 2019 parliamentary election, which Labour lost. Corbyn eventually resigned following Labour’s landslide defeat.

Starmer, who previously served in Corbyn’s shadow government, skirted calls to punish the former party leader after succeeding him earlier this year. On Thursday, Starmer, in response to repeated media questions, again refused to criticize his predecessor, calling the findings of the EHRC a “collective failure of leadership.”

Corbyn, however, appeared far less accommodating. In a statement released on Facebook, Corbyn — while denouncing antisemitism — claimed “the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.”

The comment appeared to be the last straw for the Labour leaders who were already found by the EHRC to have unlawfully smeared and minimized complaints of antisemitism. Shortly after Starmer finished answering media questions — and reportedly after the Labour leadership failed to persuade Corbyn to retract his statement — a party spokesperson announced the suspension of the former leader pending an investigation.

The suspension sent shockwaves across the U.K. and U.S., where progressive politicians, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), had previously praised Corbyn. Neither Sanders or Ocasio-Cortez responded to a request for comment, but shortly after news of the suspension, the Democratic Socialist Party, of which the New York representative is a member, tweeted a message of support for Corbyn. 

In his remarks, Starmer urged Jewish Labour members, including Louise Ellman and Luciana Berger, to return to the party after having been “driven out.” Neither Ellman nor Berger, who acknowledged speaking personally with Starmer, indicated if they would rejoin the party.

In a statement, Ellman called the report “devastating.” Calling for the party to create an independent investigations system and adopt the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism, the former MP added, “It is only by facing up to the enormity of what has happened and adopting these measures that the Labour party can be a safe place for Jewish people and a truly anti-racist party.”

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sparred with Republican lawmakers over his company’s decision to permit tweets from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for the destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust at a raucous Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.

During the Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee hearing, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) pressed Dorsey on why Twitter had not taken action against tweets from Khamenei threatening Israel. The Twitter founder responded that the company does not see the tweets as an immediate threat to Israel or its citizens’ safety.

“We did not find those to violate our terms of service because we considered them saber-rattling, which is part of the speech of world leaders in concert with other countries,” Dorsey said. “Speech against… a country’s own citizens, we believe, is different and can cause more immediate harm.”

Dorsey’s explanation echoes a letter from the company sent to Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen earlier this year. 

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt disputed Dorsey’s argument.

“Whether ostensibly aimed at Jews or Israel, his rhetoric is more than saber-rattling — it is antisemitism, pure and simple,” Greenblatt said in a statement. “We firmly believe that Twitter needs to apply its policy on hate speech against Khamenei as it would against anyone else who espouses antisemitism. His position is irrelevant when he is spouting prejudice — if anything, it makes his hate even more consequential.”

In response to a query from Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) over the company placing misinformation warnings on some tweets sent by President Donald Trump while allowing Khamenei’s tweets, Dorsey emphasized that Twitter does not have an overarching policy against misinformation or against Holocaust denial.

“It’s misleading information, but we don’t have a policy against that type of misleading information,” Dorsey said, specifying that the platform only bans misleading information relating to the coronavirus and voting, as well as manipulated media.

But Greenblatt highlighted that Twitter told Bloomberg earlier this month that it would remove Holocaust denial content under the company’s hate speech policy. 

“Jack Dorsey’s statement today was confusing, because it appears to be in opposition to his company’s publicly stated policy and policy rationale regarding Holocaust denial,” Greenblatt said. “Twitter should clarify that their policy is that Holocaust denial is not just a form of misinformation, but an antisemitic conspiracy theory that is used to spread hatred of Jews.”

A Twitter spokesperson told JI that Holocaust denial is banned on the platform, and that the Bloomberg article was correct.

“Our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits a wide range of behavior, including making references to violent events or types of violence where protected categories were the primary victims, or attempts to deny or diminish such events,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We also have a robust glorification of violence policy in place and take action against content that glorifies or praises historical acts of violence and genocide, including the Holocaust.”

Twitter did not respond to a question from JI about why Khamenei’s tweets about the Holocaust were not removed or labeled under this policy.

This post was updated on Friday, Oct. 30 to include a response from Twitter.

Facebook’s recent decision to ban Holocaust denial content from its platform was prompted by an uptick in global antisemitism and antisemitic violence coupled with an increasing lack of awareness about the Holocaust, the social media company’s top policy staffer said on Wednesday.

“It’s that combination of these two factors… that prompted us to say we need to recognize this as hate speech and remove it from our services,” Monika Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of content policy, said during an American Jewish Committee webcast.

This explanation echoes one provided by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt earlier this month.

Bickert cautioned that, while Facebook began immediately removing Holocaust denial content when it announced the policy change on October 12, the company is still in the process of rolling out its subject-matter training for platform moderators.

The company will “be going full-force enforcing the policy” in the coming weeks, she added.

Greenblatt — who helped lead the “Stop Hate For Profit” campaign against Facebook — told Jewish Insider that officials at the social media platform “still have a long way to go” in reigning in Holocaust denial.

“One can still easily find pages on Facebook devoted to promoting Holocaust denial or raising questions about the veracity of Holocaust history,” Greenblatt said in a statement. “This is unacceptable, especially since they now have a policy that prohibits this form of hate speech. So there’s lots of room for improvement here.”

Responding to a question about the platform’s stance on anti-Zionist content, Bickert said the company is “taking input” from Jewish groups around the globe to decide where to draw the lines on content moderation, noting that regular meetings with Jewish groups are important to improving Facebook’s overall content moderation practices.

“We’ve increased our collaboration with groups like AJC and others who have direct relationships with stakeholders,” she said. “It’s us saying, ‘here’s how we’re thinking about this issue. Help us to know if we’re in the right place and to get better.’ And it’s those organizations saying, ‘here’s what we’re hearing from stakeholders.’”

Greenblatt said Facebook has not consulted with the ADL on this topic, adding that the company has not always been receptive to pressure and advice from outside groups.

“The fact that it took them this long to remove Holocaust denial, after Jewish organizations had been asking them to do so literally for more than a decade, doesn’t inspire much confidence in their ability to listen and take our concerns seriously,” he said. “Their efforts to try and better navigate these issues by consulting Jewish groups and others who fight hate is a crucial element of improving their platform, but too often it has been only surface level.”

As the presidential election draws near, at least one House Democrat — Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) — is hopeful that a potential Biden administration will maintain protections for Jewish college students, introduced by President Donald Trump in a 2019 executive order on antisemitism.

Speaking during a webinar on antisemitism alongside State Department Special Envoy Elan Carr on Tuesday, Gottheimer expressed support for continued action from the executive branch to address antisemitism and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which has become widespread on U.S. college campuses.

“As a policy matter, whether it’s through executive action or other forms of standing up to the BDS movement, I would hope that the next administration continues that effort, because the BDS movement is antisemitic,” said Gottheimer, who attended the executive order’s signing ceremony last year.

In December 2019, Trump signed an executive order adding antisemitism to a list of punishable offenses included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The executive order originated as guidance in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Departments of Education, but was made official by the president’s signature.

Since the executive order’s implementation, one school — New York University — has reached a settlement with the Education Department over its handling of antisemitism on the campus. It was announced last week that a similar complaint had been filed against the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, due to years of unchecked antisemitic activity at the school.

Gottheimer also spoke about legislative efforts to address antisemitism, emphasizing that the 2019 House resolution condemning the BDS movement received broad bipartisan support, which he believes will serve as a signal to a potential Biden administration.

“I would hope, given the strength of that message and that resolution, that it would be carried forth as policy in the next administration,” he continued. “I think it’s very important that we remain vigilant. Regardless of who is the next president, I believe this must continue in force… I wouldn’t see any reason why we wouldn’t continue that posture in the years ahead.”

Few congressional Democrats have explicitly praised the executive order, but many legislators who have spoken to JI indicated that they hope more will be done to address the uptick in antisemitism around the country

In a statement to JI, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) skirted directly addressing the administration’s executive order, but highlighted the importance of applying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism in the Department of Education. 

Rosen pointed to the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which she is cosponosoring, that would codify the Department of Education’s use of the IHRA definition. “To protect Jewish students and others on campus from antisemitic hate, we must have the tools to enforce federal antidiscrimination laws in education,” she said.

Three months after coming under public scrutiny — and his highly publicized firing from ViacomCBS — for making antisemitic comments on his podcast, actor Nick Cannon has worked to make amends with the Jewish community: He has devoured Bari Weiss’s How to Fight Anti-Semitism, hosted rabbis on his podcast and toured a Holocaust museum. 

While much of Hollywood has moved on from the scandal, Cannon has continued his outreach to the Jewish community, including a growing friendship with Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The pair first began talking, Hoenlein said, shortly after controversy erupted over Cannon’s podcast with rapper Richard Griffin, who was kicked out of Public Enemy in 1989 for making antisemitic comments. Cannon and Griffin engaged in back-and-forth commentary that included clear antisemitic tropes. 

“Somebody close to him connected us, and then he reached out to talk to me and to begin a dialogue that has continued steady throughout this kind of for months now,” Hoenlein told Jewish Insider on Monday of their connection. “It’s led to many hours of discussion. He came even to Friday night dinner at my daughter’s house.” The Shabbat dinner in Teaneck, N.J., Hoenlein believes, was Cannon’s first. “He spent hours talking with my family — my children, grandchildren.”

Since then, Hoenlein has met with the actor numerous times, including a dinner at Manhattan’s UN Plaza Grill last week. Hoenlein and Cannon were also photographed holding up a poster that read “stop Jew hatred.”

In the interview with JI, Hoenlein praised Cannon for his commitment to not only engaging with the Jewish community, but also learning from his missteps. “He made a mistake,” Hoenlein said, “but he has faced up to what he did and publicly spoke about doing t’shuvah.” 

“This guy is anything but an antisemite,” Hoenlein added. “He fasted on Tisha B’av. Because he didn’t know it started at night, he fasted until the next morning.”

“He speaks whole Hebrew sentences, because he studies it,” Hoenlein said of Cannon. “I have fought antisemitism for five decades. I see one and I know somebody who is not.”

Hoenlein was hopeful Cannon could help not just educate younger generations about antisemitism and stereotypes, but also encourage other influencers to use their celebrity status to raise awareness about antisemitism. 

The Jewish communal leader cautioned against the reaction, observed in the aftermath of Cannon’s controversial comments, to immediately cast the actor as an antisemite. 

“We all react to these things, as we should, and we have to condemn antisemitism in whatever way when it appears,” Hoenlein suggested. “But not to jump to a conclusion that this is some ingrained ideology or hatred of a [certain person]. We have to be very careful about the use of the term and not have the term so misused and thrown around in careless ways.”

A bipartisan group of members of Congress will announce on Tuesday the creation of a new global inter-parliamentary task force to combat digital antisemitism. 

Members of the task force include Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), along with elected officials from major parties in Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Another member of the panel is member of Knesset Michal Cotler-Wunsh from Israel’s Blue and White Party, the daughter of former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler. In July, Cotler-Wunsh challenged a Twitter spokesperson during a Knesset hearing over the company’s decision not to delete or flag a post by Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that she said was “calling for genocide.” In a May tweet, Khamenei called for “firm, armed resistance” to bring about the “elimination of the Zionist regime.”

In an interview with Jewish Insider, Deutch said the lawmakers coalesced around the issue of online antisemitism because as social media continues to grow, “it’s unfortunately more and more being used to spread hatred and antisemitism. And we know that what may begin as online threats in the virtual world can lead to violence in the real world.” 

Deutch said conversations about combatting global antisemitism began when he attended the World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem earlier this year, and felt “compelled to move forward” with more action after social media platforms — including Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Google — failed to counter it. “We are aware that there are efforts by multiple groups, and non-governmental organizations who are trying to address this,” Deutch said. “We think that it’s important for elected officials from countries that are experiencing concerning and really upsetting increases in antisemitism to speak out.” 

The goals set by the task force, as reviewed by Jewish Insider, include raising awareness about online antisemitism and establishing a consistent message in legislatures across the world to hold social media platforms accountable. The group will also work to adopt and publish transparent policies related to hate speech.

“Always and at this time in particular as we stand united in fighting a global pandemic, another virus rages that requires global collaboration and cooperation,” Cotler-Wunsh said in a statement. “By working with multi-partisan allies in parliaments around the world, we hope to create best practices and real change in holding the social media giants accountable to the hatred that exists on their platforms.” 

Deutch maintained that “the power of having a group of elected officials” from different parties across the globe come together on this issue “will highlight the need for action by the companies and the need for action by our respective legislative bodies.” He added: “And most importantly, we hope this will help advance the conversation that’s premised upon the fundamental understanding that we just shouldn’t accept this spread of antisemitism that we’ve seen on social media platforms.” 

The Florida congressman told JI that as the group gains traction, its organizers will look to expand “into many more countries.”

Accepting the Genesis Prize from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a glitzy ceremony in Jerusalem in June 2019, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced his vision to “work to end the violence against Jewish communities.”

The prize, granted annually, has become an aspirational award for accomplished members of the Jewish community, honoring their achievements across a variety of fields. It is intended to have the simultaneous effect of encouraging Jewish activism, awarding a check of $1 million to its laureates who, to date, have shown no personal need for the money.

Before an applauding audience at the Jerusalem Theatre, Kraft used the occasion to announce the formation of the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, an effort he painted in lofty terms as working to thwart the rise of antisemitism.

“To counter the normalization of antisemitic narratives that question Israel’s right to exist, disguised as part of legitimate debate on campuses and in the media. To educate, to inform, and to heal inter-communal relations,” Kraft said. “In combating the scourge of antisemitism, my solemn ambition is to counter all forms of intolerance in the spirit of the ancient Jewish value of tikkun olam — to heal and repair the world.”

Kraft immediately committed $20 million to the foundation, now a part of the larger Kraft Family Philanthropies. This was joined, shortly after, by a $5 million commitment from fellow billionaire philanthropist Roman Abramovich — all part of an initial plan to raise some $50 million for the new foundation. But despite the high-profile and high-dollar origins, little of the effort has been made public for over a year.

Now, the organization is going public with its first major initiative, [Together Beat Hate], or [TBH], an effort to engage youth in education, conversation, and activism around the meaning and reality of antisemitism.

“We’ve been saying all along, it’s not a Jewish issue, it’s a community and a society issue,” Josh Kraft, president of Kraft Philanthropies and Robert’s son, told Jewish Insider.

Kraft broke the general population down into three segments: those who hold antisemitic attitudes, those who are knowledgeable about and opposed to antisemitism and those with an incomplete or misconstrued understanding of antisemitism. This third group, which he believes is the most susceptible to learn about the issue, has become the focus for [TBH].

“We’re trying to reach that group in the middle specifically,” he explained. “We feel like we can influence their experience with the [Jewish] community.”

Institutional memory of the Holocaust is quickly fading as the number of survivors dwindles. A January study by the Pew Forum found that less than half of Americans can accurately approximate the number of Jews killed by the Nazis. Yet reports released by the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League show a rapid increase in antisemitic hate crimes in the United States.

In January, the foundation commissioned a study on the perceptions and knowledge of antisemitism among American youth — which they defined as those ages 13-35. The findings, according to the group, indicated a particular lack of familiarity with the terminology and history of antisemitism among those aged 13-17. 

This age group appeared especially representative of the middle segment described by Kraft: largely unfamiliar with antisemitism and in need of education, but without any preconditioned antisemitic views.

“They truly just don’t know what we’re talking about when we say antisemitism,” Rachel Fish, the executive director of the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism added. “They say things like, well, ‘what’s a Semite?’ and ‘I’m not really sure what that is, but I’m anti-racist, I’m also against homophobia, I’m against Islamophobia, so I’m probably an antisemite,’ and they don’t understand that they’re actually an anti-antisemite. They don’t even understand the terminology.”

To address the issue, Kraft and Fish turned to Ryan Paul, an expert in digital media, to organize and run the outreach campaign.

Paul’s approach was modeled after the success of groups like Black Lives Matter, which attracted attention to its movement by exposing those without previous experience or knowledge to stories of racism. Through the [TBH] social media channels and website, the group built a platform that it hopes will bring attention to the issue of antisemitism.

“We’re encouraging people who may not be aware of Jew hatred or antisemitism to explore and to learn things, and we’ve provided content starters for them to have conversations with folks to share what those conversations have been like, in order to expose a broader group of people to this topic,” Paul explained.

Last week, [TBH] published its website, featuring glossy black-and-white photos and call-to-action quotes like “hatred is not a given.” The centerpiece of the site is a five-step plan for visitors to educate and raise awareness for themselves and others. 

Step five — called “Act Together” — encourages visitors to submit their ideas for future campaigns or partnerships. Though the team did not mention any specific groups or opportunities, they repeatedly emphasized an interest in working alongside organizations dedicated to fighting other forms of hate.

The organizational and educational work — fueled primarily through social media — will be supplemented by a digital command center currently under construction in Gillette Stadium, the headquarters for the Patriots and other Kraft-affiliated organizations. There, a team will track more than 300 million websites and social media platforms across the internet and dark web, compiling data on incidents and trends in antisemitism.

Though other longstanding organizations monitor and compile similar information, Fish claims [TBH] will be the first to tie that data directly into social media campaigns aimed at youth. The real-time information gathering will also work as a rapid-response effort, determining which sites and patterns to target.

Fish and Paul admitted this real-time and far-reaching approach straddled the line between drawing attention to the hatefulness of the content and providing emerging movements with undue publicity. But while the organization works to define that standard, Fish argued the information would still prove useful in dissecting the methods of their internet opponents.

“What we want to do is understand that messaging, so that we can refine the way in which we engage with our target audience so that they won’t be seduced by that messaging, but rather, would be positively predisposed to the kind of framing that we’re putting out there,” she said.

The foundation — which has also consulted with experts on youth psychology and the effects of social media — will use the resulting research to furnish its partnerships with similar groups.

Given the logistical restrictions of the ongoing pandemic, the team seemed unsure of an exact timeline for their work. Still, only a few weeks into the project, Kraft, Fish and Paul are impressed with the response from groups seeking to partner with [TBH].

“I really feel very strongly that it relies on people to use their voices right and it’s people from many different backgrounds,” Paul added. “And I can tell you as somebody who’s not in the Jewish community, this is new. It’s a learning experience for me.”

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) defended the Republican Party against allegations of antisemitism in its ranks during a web event Monday held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention, which kicked off today in Charlotte, N.C.

“I, personally, haven’t encountered any antisemitism within the Republican Party,” Zeldin, who is one of two Jewish Republican members of Congress, said. “From a personal perspective, I can tell you — from kindergarten through 12th grade, college, law school and four years of active duty, I never once experienced antisemitism at all.”

The New York congressman said during Monday’s call, which was hosted by the American Jewish Committee, that he’s only faced antisemitism in recent years, something he attributes to the current political atmosphere. He estimated “several thousand” instances of being called a Nazi or a Nazi sympathizer but added, “I’m not aware of any of it coming from within the Republican Party.” 

Zeldin instead assigned blame to the Democratic Party, pointing in particular to comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in 2019. ”I spent four years in the New York State Senate, and through my first four years in the U.S. House of Representatives, I didn’t experience it inside the actual chamber until the beginning of 2019,” Zeldin said. “That became an issue within the House Democratic Caucus in the first half of 2019.” He recalled that the House of Representatives passed a watered-down resolution against hate following Omar’s comments regarding AIPAC and lawmakers’ support for Israel. Zeldin noted that a few months earlier, in January 2019, the House voted in near unanimous fashion on a resolution to condemn Rep. Steve King (R-IA) following comments from the congressman that appeared to defend white nationalists and white supremacists. Republicans “named names, there was a resolution that passed, that member lost his committee assignments,” said Zeldin. “We shouldn’t have double standards, we shouldn’t have moral equivalencies.” 

Zeldin suggested that if Omar’s statements had been made by a Republican legislator, “I guarantee you that we would have passed a resolution that singularly, emphatically and forcefully condemned antisemitism. There would have been no moral equivalencies, that member would have been removed from her committee assignments, and it would have been basically a unanimous effort in doing so.”

A number of Republican candidates have faced criticism this cycle for promoting antisemitic stereotypes. Georgia Senator David Purdue, who is facing a tough reelection challenge from Jon Ossoff, came under fire last month for a campaign advertisement that appeared to enlarge Ossoff’s nose. In the state’s 14th congressional district, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has made claims about George Soros and the Rothschilds, won her party’s runoff and is all but guaranteed a seat in the next Congress.

Zeldin also suggested that the reason there’s not a major shift in support for President Donald Trump among Jewish voters is because Israel is “not popping at the top of their list” of priorities. “I’ll talk to a Jewish voter, and it’s possible that if I ask them for their top 15 issues, they might just not mention Israel,” he explained. 

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who was elected in 2018 as the state’s first Jewish governor, celebrated the increasing number of Jewish Americans involved in politics, with some rising through the ranks of the Democratic Party. 

“It is very heartening to see the increasing visibility of Jewish Americans throughout politics,” Polis said during a virtual event on Tuesday for Jewish Democrats hosted by the Democratic National Committee during the 2020 Democratic National Convention. “This year, several of the candidates for president of the United States were of Jewish heritage. And of course, with the selection of [Sen.] Kamala Harris, our soon-to-be second gentleman of the U.S., Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish.”

Polis noted Emhoff’s possible role is “another reason” why Joe Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate “was not just outstanding, but, frankly, groundbreaking.” 

“These are milestones and speak well of the inclusive nature of our nation and of the Democratic Party,” said the Colorado Democrat. 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who participated in a follow-up panel focused on American Jewish voters, said he was deeply moved to watch “a Jew named Bernie Sanders give, I think, the most enthusiastic speech about a nominee in the nomination that he competed for and came in second place, of any second-place finisher I’ve ever heard.” 

On the webcast, Polis also highlighted President Donald Trump’s comments on the campaign trail on Monday, suggesting that he “moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem… for the evangelicals.” 

“For once, President Trump was honest about his motives. It wasn’t because of a belief that Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel. It wasn’t because of any deeply held belief in the Jewish state. It was simply what he said it was: an appeal to evangelical voters,” Polis stressed. “I have friends on both sides of when or how, or if the embassy should be moved. But it should not be moved — I think we would all agree — simply because evangelical voters in America want it. It should be situated because of where we can best support the peace process, the stability and survival of the Jewish State of Israel.”

Controversial congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene appears to be headed for Washington following her victory on Tuesday in the Republican runoff in Georgia’s 14th congressional district. Her win raises concerns among Jewish organizations who have sounded the alarm over her candidacy for months. The district’s overwhelmingly Republican make-up all but ensures that Greene will win the general election in November.

Greene has been a vocal promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory — which alleges that President Donald Trump is working to take down a network of Democratic politicians and celebrities who practice satanism, pedophilia and cannibalism — and has posted Facebook videos expressing antisemitic, racist and Islamophobic views.

Even after launching her campaign, Greene continued to unapologetically propagate antisemitic conspiracy theories, including falsely accusing Democratic megadonor and Holocaust survivor George Soros of “turning people over to Nazis where they were burned in offices” in a recent television interview. She also dismissed questions about a photo she took with a former Ku Klux Klan leader who described her as a “friend.”

“Ms. Greene has a history of propagating antisemitic disinformation,” Allison Padilla-Goodman, Southern division vice president of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement to Jewish Insider. “ADL previously called on Ms. Greene to disavow her relationship with a prominent white supremacist leader and retract past antisemitic statements. ADL said that ‘failure to do so is a moral failure and unbecoming of someone seeking elected office.’ Ms. Greene’s continued insistence on propagating such antisemitism shows she has decided to double down on hate, which, to say the least, is deeply problematic.”

Republican leaders spoke out against Greene after her Facebook videos surfaced, but only House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) actively worked to boost her opponent, physician John Cowan, frustrating some House Republicans, according to Politico. Scalise, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and the National Republican Campaign Committee did not respond to requests for comment.

The Republican Jewish Coalition opposed Greene during the runoff and endorsed Cowan.

“We are really proud to have endorsed John Cowan. We do not endorse Greene and we think she is the antithesis of what our party stands for,” RJC communications director Neil Strauss said in a statement to JI. “We can hold our heads up high tonight for standing up to Greene, just like we did when we stood up to [Rep.] Steve King by supporting Randy Feenstra.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he was hopeful that Republican leaders would continue to distance themselves from Greene.

“During the primary campaign, top national Republican leaders in Congress, led by the House Minority Leader, denounced her bigotry with good reason. Some even endorsed her opponent. Yet she will likely be elected to Congress this fall,” Cooper said in a statement to JI.

Cooper called on Republican leaders to marginalize Greene within the Republican caucus as they did with King after he questioned why white supremacy was considered offensive.

“If Ms. Green[e] doesn’t change course,” Cooper said, GOP leaders “may have to apply [the] same standards to her.” 

In Georgia’s deep red 9th district, State Rep. Matt Gurtler, who also refused to apologize for taking a photo with the same former KKK leader, lost his runoff race against gun store owner and Navy veteran Andrew Clyde.

Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright (D-Manhattan) called on the New York Police Department’s hate crimes unit to investigate the antisemitic vandalization of her office in New York’s 76th Assembly district.

Seawright’s office, located on Park Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was sprayed with white paint overnight on Monday. A vulgar and antisemitic message alluding to Jewish donors was written on a large poster and slid under the door. 

“I want to speak loud and clear today that we will never be intimidated by this criminal act,” Seawright said during a press conference, flanked by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and faith and community leaders, outside her office on Tuesday. “We will stand together, speak up, and remain vigilant against this violence and antisemitism.” 

Though not Jewish, Seawright is a member of the Assembly’s Jewish Legislative Caucus. Her husband, Jay Hershenson, who serves as vice president for communications and marketing at Queens College of the City University of New York, is Jewish.

Seawright, who has represented the district since 2015, was knocked off the ballot’s Democratic line last month after missing a key deadline during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. Following the ruling, she gathered more than 5,000 signatures to get on the November ballot on the “Rise and Unite” independent party line. 

Maloney, who represents the neighborhood as part of the 12th congressional district, told JI that the incident was “extremely disturbing.” Maloney pointed out that the Never Again Education Act, which she sponsored in the House and which allocates resources to Holocaust education, is aimed “to stop this kind of hatred.” 

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis, who participated in a virtual town hall on combating antisemitism hosted by Seawright’s office last month, said that it’s important that people of all faiths speak out against acts of antisemitism. ”The truth is that antisemitism is anti-Christianity, is anti-Islam. A person who hates me today is going to hate you tomorrow,” he explained. “You scratch the skin of an antisemite and you will find a racist and many other layers of bigotry.”

Following complaints that Twitter locked the accounts of some Jewish users in the U.K. who displayed images of the Star of David, the social media company sought to explain its procedures for determining hateful conduct. 

In a statement released Wednesday morning, Twitter clarified, “We categorically do not consider the Star of David as a hateful symbol or hateful image. We have for some time seen the ‘yellow star’ or ‘yellow badge’ symbol being used by those seeking to target Jewish people. This is a violation of the Twitter Rules, and our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits the promotion of violence against — or threats of attack towards — people on the basis of categories such as religious affiliation, race and ethnic origin.”

“While the majority of cases were correctly actioned, some accounts highlighted recently were mistakes and have now been restored.”

In the statement, Twitter thanked the U.K.-based organizations Campaign Against Antisemitism and Community Security Trust, as well as the Anti-Defamation League, for “bringing this to our attention and for their partnership in tackling antisemitism.”

In a statement to Jewish Insider, Stephen Silverman, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s director of investigations and enforcement, said, “Only one of the accounts locked featured a yellow star, and it very clearly did so as a means of reclaiming the yellow stars used by the Nazis. This is precisely the kind of inept response to antisemitism that we have come to expect from Twitter, which just last week tried to convince us that the viral antisemitic #JewishPrivilege hashtag was legitimate.”

Users reported their accounts were locked by Twitter for depicting the Star of David.

Silverman continued, “We would happily help Twitter, but they largely ignore us when we approach them, which we take as a reflection of their inconsistency in addressing this,” Silverman continued. “It seems that Twitter prefers to go after Jewish users who proudly display their identity but not after antisemitic users who unabashedly promote anti-Jewish vitriol.”

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt welcomed Twitter’s response, praising the social media platform in a tweet. “Good to see Twitter clarifying the difference between images used to harass and when used to express identity and empathy. The Star of David is an ancient symbol that represents all Jews and our solidarity,” he tweeted.

“Upon learning of the situation, ADL reached out to Twitter and worked with the company to help them get it right. Notable that they moved swiftly to correct this problem,” Greenblatt wrote, adding, “Kudos to Twitter for doing this here and elsewhere recently.”

More than 36 hours after posting a photo with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson addressed the maelstrom of criticism he faced for appearing to show support for a man who has for decades spouted antisemitic and homophobic conspiracy theories.

In a second Instagram post, published Thursday, Iverson — who has not removed the offending post — wrote, “I have always had the highest love and respect for all of my fans, regardless of their race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, political designation or personal or political views.”

“I respect Louis Farrakhan’s strong voice on behalf of Black people and his impact on the Black community,” Iverson continued, explaining “My post wasn’t meant to offend anyone.”

“As one who has been a victim of racial injustice personally, I do not support or condone hatred of any kind. Specifically, I do not support anti-Semitic or homphobic views from anyone,” Iverson said. “In this moment, when all oppressed people should stand together in solidarity, we need to see each other, learn from each other and heal. We cannot stand for empowerment unless it is empowerment for ALL people. We must reject hate in any form.”

Iverson explained that he was introduced to Farrakhan in 2017 by his son, Mustapha Farrakhan, Sr., who holds the title of supreme captain of the Nation of Islam. Iverson wrote that he initially met Mustapha during his playing days. “[Farrakhan’s] family grew to love and respect me and my family and the mutual respect that we have for one another still exists to this day,” Iverson said. 

Allen Iverson and Louis Farrakhan in a 2017 photo posted by Iverson.

Mustapha’s own son, Mustapha Farrakhan, Jr., is a professional basketball player who spent time with the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks, but never appeared in a game.

Considered one of the best players of his era, Iverson played for 14 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies. An 11-time NBA All-star, Iverson won the Most Valuable Player award in 2001. His jersey was retired by the 76ers in 2014, and he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame two years later.

The image’s controversy has also caught other sports celebrities in its wake. Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who recently came under fire for twice posting fake quotes he attributed to Adolf Hitler, initially liked the post, but later removed his like.

Former NBA player Stephen Jackson, who initially defended Jackson against accusations of antisemitism, commented on Iverson’s post, “Love u bro.”

In a statement provided to Jewish Insider, the 76ers addressed Iverson’s recent social media activity.

“When we were made aware of Allen’s post on social media yesterday, we reached out to him to understand it. When he learned the post had caused hurt and offense, Allen expressed a continued commitment to standing for equality and opposing Anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia. Now more than ever, we must come together to condemn bigotry of any kind. This includes embracing dialogue on these subjects and learning from each other, no matter how uncomfortable.”

A representative for Iverson did not return a request for comment.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver told JI, “The NBA has a long history of standing up for the principles of equality and the importance of respecting a diversity of viewpoints but we condemn all forms of hate speech, racism or anti-Semitic behavior no matter where it comes from.”

Iverson’s post is one of several recent incidents involving retired NBA players. In addition to Jackson’s comments, former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade apologized after tweeting a message of support for actor Nick Cannon, who was fired by ViacomCBS for antisemtic comments made in a recently resurfaced video.

Basketball Hall of Famer and former Philadelphia 76ers point guard Allen Iverson became the latest celebrity to enter controversy after posting a picture with Minister Louis Farrakhan on Instagram on Tuesday.

Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, has long been decried for decades of public antisemitic remarks.

Iverson, who has more than 8 million Instagram followers, posted the photo showing him meeting with Farrakhan on an unknown date, accompanied by the comment “I didn’t choose to be black. I just got lucky!!! #BucketListMoment #LoveConquersHate #GoodDefeatsEvil”

In a post on Wednesday, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called Farrakhan the “most popular antisemite in America,” citing a speech on July 4 in which he urged his followers to “fight Satan the arch deceiver [and] the imposter Jews who are worthy of the chastisement of God.” The video of his remarks has more than 1.2 million views on YouTube.

Iverson joins a sizable list of celebrities to recently show support for Farrakhan, including rapper Ice Cube, comedian Chelsea Handler — who later recanted — Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, and actor Nick Cannon.

Iverson played for four teams in his 14-year NBA career, including the 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and Memphis Grizzlies. An 11-time all-star and recipient of the 2001 Most Valuable Player award, Iverson is considered one of the greatest players of his era, and was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2016.

An hour after posting, embattled fellow former NBA player Stephen Jackson, under his Instagram handle “@_stak5_,” commented on the post “Love u bro.” DeSean Jackson also initially liked the photo under his handle “@0ne0fone,” according to a screenshot, but later removed his like without explanation. 

In the blog post, the ADL wrote that despite “messages that espouse hate and division,” Farrakhan “has been given a pass in mainstream society.”

The Anti-Defamation League has tapped longtime FBI official Gregory Ehrie to oversee the group’s relationship with law enforcement.

Ehrie, who joined the ADL as its vice president for law enforcement and analysis on May 18, worked in a number of prominent roles in the FBI during his 22-year service, including as section chief of the Domestic Terrorism Operations Section, special agent in charge of the New York Office Intelligence Division and most recently, special agent in charge of the Newark, New Jersey, office. 

Ehrie’s FBI career frequently brought him in contact with the ADL — he attended several ADL seminars and worked with the organization on law enforcement issues. 

“Moving on from the Bureau, I can’t think of a better organization I’d want to join,” he said in an interview with Jewish Insider. “I think my background in law enforcement and my interactions with them really puts me in a unique position to enhance and forward the ADL mission.”

Ehrie’s role places him in charge of the organization’s efforts to build partnerships between law enforcement and both the ADL and the public at large. “I want to get to know both sides,” he said, “and hopefully [I] can translate the languages so we can better not only protect our communities but have a more respectful relationship.”

Though he hails from Irish ancestors, Ehrie said he has “a great affinity” for the Jewish community, fostered by his work in and with the community over several decades. In 2005 and 2006, he spent a year living on the Ramat Rachel kibbutz in Jerusalem learning Arabic for the FBI. Last year, he led the FBI’s Newark office during the investigation into the December attack on a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, N.J.

Ehrie described his time in Jerusalem as “one of the highlights of my life.” “Beautiful country, wonderful, strong people with a proud history and heritage, facing a lot of challenges throughout their history, even today,” he said. “But I found them to be, you know, some of the most caring people and… so welcoming, so open.”

Ehrie arrives at the ADL at a time when the relationship between the public and law enforcement is under severe stress. More than a week of protests against police brutality around the country have, in many cities, elevated tensions between community members and authorities. 

The relationship between the public and law enforcement “is a marriage without divorce, as we like to call it,” Ehrie said. “So I hope… that I can in some way assist the ADL whose mission is to help these communities… to assist them in making this better and repairing this damage.”

The award-winning British novelist Howard Jacobson once wrote, “To assert that antisemitism is not like other racisms, is not to claim a privilege for it.” It was essential for the British public to understand why this is so ahead of last year’s general election, and I believe it is essential for the American people to understand it today. 

Recognizing antisemitism used to be relatively straightforward. A person who marches under a Nazi flag, shouting, “Jews will not replace us” — as so many did in Charlottesville — is easily identifiable and often, even proud of their hatred for Jews. But, antisemitism is hatred in liquid form and can take the shape of whatever political or social philosophy chooses to use it. It has a unique ability to adapt and change with circumstances, finding new proponents and vehicles and clothing familiar tropes in new guises. It has become more difficult to recognize.

In the U.K., the Jewish community has been battling against far-left antisemitism for several years. It is not that anti-Jewish hatred on the far-right has disappeared, just that it has more limited political credibility. Across Europe and elsewhere, however, antisemitism has crawled back and lodged itself into mainstream political discourse on both the left and the right. The far-right think nothing of demonizing high profile Jews as wealthy, manipulative puppet-masters, whilst the far-left think nothing of casting Zionism as the new Nazism.

Recent evidence suggests that unexpectedly, the United States has become one of the next battlegrounds — something that only a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable. More than a third of American Jews report that they have personally been the targets of antisemitism over the last five years. That is why I used my visit to Washington this week for the AIPAC Policy Conference to share some of the key lessons of the British experience.

There are several lessons, but they all flow from a single, inescapable principle: Antisemitism must be held above the realm of partisan politics. The moment that tackling anti-Jewish hatred becomes more of a political point scoring exercise than the merciless pursuit of bigotry and prejudice, the battle against it will be lost.

In practice, this means that figures on the left must lead the charge against left wing antisemitism just as those on the right must face down the anti-Jewish hatred which emanates on the right. Both Democrats and Republicans have their work cut out for them. Both must resist the temptation to judge their own responses to the problem by what they each perceive to be the low standards set by the other. It is easy to criticize the prejudice of one’s political opponents, but those who really care about fighting racism will call it out even when it is politically inconvenient to do so. 

It also means avoiding hyperbole and personal attacks. As the tone of political debate sinks ever lower, it can be hard not to respond in kind. In my experience, temperance, patience and nuance are far more powerful allies in the long term than shrill soundbites which might generate cheap headlines in the short term.                   

Clarity of definition is invaluable. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism is both clear and objective. Those who reject it must be confronted and those who accept it must be held to it. In our post-election U.K., 641 out of 643 members of Parliament have now stated publicly that they accept this definition. The public is left to draw its own conclusions about the two who have not. Lawmakers in the U.S. should be held to the same standard.  

Finally, it is essential to be wise to the sinister formulation, favored by many antisemites, of “good Jews” and “bad Jews.” This formulation provides cover for the antisemites to maintain their animus towards Jews, by claiming an affinity (even a legitimate one) with other, “better” Jews in a different context. Understanding this formulation can render a whole host of familiar claims, weak and unconvincing: “I am not an antisemite because my hostility is reserved for Zionists/I have Jewish friends/I have Jewish heritage/I have a long record of fighting anti-racism.” None of these claims necessarily preclude anti-Jewish hatred as defined by the IHRA definition.

Jean Paul Sartre was right when he said, “If the Jew did not exist, the antisemite would have to invent him.” This is because anti-Jewish racism is a symptom, true across the globe and across time, of disquiet and unease in a society with a desperate need for someone to blame. The caricature of the Jew is as appealing a scapegoat to those who want to “strike upwards” against the privileged, as it is to those who want to “strike downwards” against those who are simply different. 

In this world of social media trolls, fake news and political polarization, an increase in antisemitism should perhaps come as no surprise. Far too many political leaders, however, would rather deny it, ignore it or blame others for it. We must hold them to a higher standard and demand that they show an increasingly rare unity of purpose and join together to take responsibility for rooting it out. Because what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo apologized on Thursday to New York’s Jewish community for having to endure the pain of antisemitic violence under his watch. Cuomo issued the apology as he introduced a package of legislative measures to combat antisemitism in the upcoming April 1 budget. The governor spoke to Jewish Insider’s Jacob Kornbluh at a press conference following a meeting with Jewish leaders in midtown Manhattan. 

Details: The package includes a first-in-the-nation domestic terrorism law, $25 million for religious nonprofit organizations vulnerable to hate crimes, an increase of $2 million to support the state police’s hate crimes task force, and a statewide education curriculum on diversity and tolerance for students. The Cuomo administration also launched a new website and an online petition to express support for the initiatives to combat antisemitism and hate. 

We can do better: Following a roundtable with leaders of major Jewish organizations, Cuomo said, “This issue has caused me great personal pain, and my family personal pain, and families all across this nation should be embarrassed by this. I know I speak for every good New Yorker who disassociates themselves from these acts of cowardice and vengeance and hate. We’re sorry and I apologize to the Jewish community of this state that they had to go through this.” 

Talk is cheap, action matters: Cuomo told JI that while authorities can punish hate crimes, treat them as domestic terrorism and implement security measures to help prevent such attacks, ultimately “you can’t legislate stopping hate.” But he emphasized that introducing such measures would reassure the Jewish community that the state is taking the issue seriously and it will not be tolerated. “It is not just what you say, it is what you do,” Cuomo said, “What does the state do after you have 22 acts of antisemitism? What does this nation do? I can tell you what New York does — we act. We pass the nation’s first legislative agenda that says loudly and clearly that we won’t tolerate this.” 

Amid a dramatic wave of antisemitic violence, Jewish community leaders excoriated NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio during a roundtable — which was closed to the media — in Borough Park on Thursday, Jewish Insider has learned. 

According to several attendees who spoke on condition of anonymity, community leaders challenged the mayor over his response to the situation and expressed their disaffection about a lack of coordination with local NYPD precincts. 

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, de Blasio said, “It’s going to take a lot of work at the grassroots to change hearts and minds. We have got to get to the day, and we’ve got to get there soon, where Jewish people in the city never have to worry about walking down the street, never have to worry about their safety.” 

During the meeting, one of the leaders criticized the Democratic mayor for “politicizing” the issue of antisemitism by “pointing fingers” at President Trump, according to audio obtained by Jewish Insider. De Blasio pushed back, insisting that “the reality is” that the president “unleashed the forces of hatred” and it would be “dishonest” to claim that the threat doesn’t come from white supremacists and the alt-right. 

De Blasio also defended critics of Israel in the Democratic Party, emphasizing that it is generally directed at the Netanyahu government. He added, “I am a Democrat, I am progressive, but I also went to the AIPAC [conference] purposely to make a message that all of us should be able to very clearly call out antisemitism, and we should be ready to oppose BDS and we should be ready to support Israel. But if see something that needs to be called out, I want to hear about it. I think we will probably agree 99 percent of the time. What I am not hearing so much is local leaders in New York City being antisemitic.” 

De Blasio also defended the new state bail reform law which eliminates cash bail for those accused of committing misdemeanors and felonies, including non-violent hate crimes, though he pledged to work to change parts of the legislation.  

“The Song of Names,” due in theaters December 25, is a poignant, haunting and memorable film. It is also the first feature movie ever allowed to film on the grounds of Treblinka.

The film, starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen, darts back and forth between 1938, 1951 and 1985, following the lives of two young boys brought together just before the onset of the Holocaust. Dovidl Rapoport, a Jewish violin prodigy from Warsaw, is taken in as a lodger in London by the family of young Martin Simmonds. 

The two young boys quickly become fast friends as they survive the London blitz together, though Dovidl never learns the fate of his parents and sisters left behind in Poland. On the day he is slated to make his musical debut at a London concert hall, Dovidl disappears without a trace. Decades later, Martin is still searching for him, hunting down clues to find the man he loved as a brother.  

The film was directed by Francois Girard, set to a haunting and pivotal original score from Oscar-winner Howard Shore and produced by Robert Lantos, the Hungarian-born son of Holocaust survivors who has called Canada home for more than 50 years. 

Lantos spoke with Jewish Insider recently about his work on the film, the troubling rise in global antisemitism and the lessons movies can teach about hatred and prejudice. 

“This is a story that — in the climate in which we live today — absolutely has to be told,” Lantos said. “It’s a way to remember, it’s a way to honor the two key words in my entire vocabulary, which are ‘never again.’”

The screenplay for “The Song of Names” was written by Jeffrey Caine and adapted from a novel by Norman Lebrecht of the same name. When Lantos first read the book, he knew immediately that he wanted to bring it to the silver screen. The storyline, he said, is a way of telling a Holocaust tale “in an original manner and an emotionally compelling manner.” The musical-themed plot, he noted, is a conduit for “bringing the horrors of the Holocaust back to a contemporary audience without forcing people to come face to face with living skeletons and images of horror.”

Martin (Tim Roth) in a scene set at Treblinka.

The cast and crew spent just one day filming at the site of the Treblinka extermination camp, where close to a million people were murdered in its just over one year of operation. Today, nothing remains of the original camp, and the site is marked with a haunting memorial to the dead. 

“We asked for a permit and the authorities read the script and surprisingly they said yes,” Lantos recalled. That single day of work was the most difficult and disturbing day on set, he said.

“It was like being in a state of altered reality,” he told JI. “We only shot there for one day. And frankly, I can’t imagine spending more than one day there. The weight of the place is unbearable.”

Caine’s original screenplay contained dialogue for the scenes set in Treblinka. But once the filmmakers arrived on location, they changed the plan entirely. 

“Once we were there, we all felt that the dialogue had to go, because there’s nothing to say there,” Lantos said. “There’s nothing that can be said that wouldn’t be trivial in the context of what we were seeing with our eyes.”

While the original novel told a story of two young Jewish boys living through World War II, the film chose to make Martin and his family not Jewish. 

“The character of Martin provides an access point” to a wider audience, Lantos said. “I thought it’d be important to bring to it the point of view of someone who wasn’t steeped from birth in Jewish rituals and tradition.”

Dovidl (Jonah Hauer-King) enters a synagogue in London in the 1950s.

Dovidl’s connection to religion is a key plot point throughout the film. In one emotional scene, he reflects on the ideas of Judaism as a faith and as an ethnicity — a debate that still resonates strongly today. 

“Ethnicity isn’t soluble in water, Motl,” Dovidl tells Martin, using his affectionate nickname. “It’s a skin you’re born in and wear until the day you die. Now religion — that’s a coat. When it gets too hot — you can take it off.”

Lantos said they consulted with rabbis from Reform to Orthodox to “try and get every detail that had to do with religion and the period this film was set in” as authentic as possible.

Work on “The Song of Names” began several years ago, but Lantos has felt its importance and significance only grow as a rash of antisemitic incidents creeps across North America. 

The scene that was filmed in Treblinka, Lantos said, “is the reason that I felt that the film had to be made. Because in the world in which we now live in, where Jew hatred has found brand new ammunition, and it is firing on all cylinders, and it’s sweeping across Europe and on our campuses in North America, anything that we can do, to not forget… the consequences of that hate and human suffering — anything that I can do to remember, has to be done,” he continued. “If we don’t remember the past, we’re guaranteed to repeat them, to repeat all of its tragedies.”

Dovidl (Clive Owen) performs a solo violin concert.

Lantos has enjoyed a long and storied career as a filmmaker in Canada. His works include the critically acclaimed 2004 film “Being Julia,” starring Annette Benning; 2007’s “Eastern Promises” with Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts; and 2010’s “Barney’s Version,” starring Paul Giamatti. 

But many of Lantos’s films, particularly his recent ones, have dealt with the experiences of Jews during the Holocaust. Those include 1999’s “Sunshine,” starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz; 2003’s “The Statement” with Michael Caine; and 2015’s “Remember,” featuring Christopher Plummer. 

Lantos said his parents, both Hungarian Holocaust survivors, opted to hide their Jewish identity when he was a child, hoping that “the solution to sparing their son of the horrors and persecutions that they had lived through was to forget all about being Jewish.” 

The award-winning producer said that for decades he made films that had nothing to do with the Holocaust or with his Jewish identity — which finally changed with 1999’s “Sunshine,” which follows five generations of a Hungarian Jewish family and in many ways mirrors his own life story. 

“Up until that point, I didn’t feel that compelling need” to tell stories of Jewish persecution, Lantos said. And since then, as he watches a resurgence of antisemitism across the world, “I can’t think of anything that is more important to deal with than that in my life. I happen to be a filmmaker. That gives me a way of dealing with it that could possibly make a difference.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged on Thursday to increase efforts to root out hate speech and antisemitism in the aftermath of a terror attack at a Jersey City, N.J., kosher supermarket on Tuesday, the deadliest targeted attack against members of the tri-state Jewish community in history. 

Calling it out and acting: “This is a moment to be really, profoundly concerned but history is not a teacher only of the negative, history teaches us something else. Which is these horrible trends, these horrible gathering storms can be stopped if people stand up and refuse to accept the reality,” de Blasio said during a press conference with Orthodox Jewish community leaders in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. “We need to be in the vanguard of stopping this hatred, turning the tide. And that is what we will do.” 

High alert: De Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told JI they were committed to increasing police presence around synagogues and Jewish establishments for as long as necessary. “Until this investigation is absolutely concluded, we are going to be in a state of high alert,” de Blasio told Jewish Insider. “and we’re going to assess the broader backdrop with this new unit focused on racially and ethnically motivated extremism of what kind of threats may be emerging over the horizon. This presence will be ongoing as we make that assessment.”

Shifting blame: The mayor maintained that the growing threat of antisemitism comes from the political right. “Where has the worst antisemitic attacks — before two days ago — happened in the United States of America in recent memory? Pittsburgh, Poway, and other parts of the country. And who were the perpetrators? White supremacists. We know this,” de Blasio explained to JI. “If folks on the right want to play this game with people’s lives, I would say you should be concerned about that. The historic danger to the Jewish people has come from right-wing extremists. That is a fact that is proven so deeply. I will debate anyone, anywhere on that one. De Blasio blamed the rise of violent antisemitic attacks on “a tragic global phenomenon” that has orginiated in Europe with the rise of political movements who are a “direct descendant of Nazism.”

De Blasio also pushed back against criticism that antisemitism has been rising under his watch, attributing it to the dramatic rise of hate speech on the right. “Why is there so much hate speech in America? Why is it different today that it was 4-5 years ago? I think you can fill in the blank. You can love [President Donald Trump], that is your choice, but you can’t miss the fact that the dialogue changed with the election in 2016.” He further insisted that there is an “extraordinary difference” between the rise of antisemitic incidents in New York City and the attacks in Jersey City, Poway and Pittsburgh. “And I will tell you just very clearly, we are going to go at all of it. I don’t care who the perpetrators are.”

De Blasio on the White House’s executive order to combat antisemitism on campus: “I have, honestly, mixed feelings about it. I have not read the exact proper document, but I have mixed feelings. Anything that confronts antisemitism, I support. But I worry, at the same time — as an American — about the balance we always strike in terms of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, particularly on college campuses. So this one leads me to real questions about whether that balance has been struck properly. Someone who disagrees with the Israeli government on a given policy, I don’t consider that antisemitic. If someone bears hatred in their heart towards the Jewish people, that’s antisemitism. So we have to understand where that line is.”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on Tuesday bemoaned what he described as a lack of national media attention to a dramatic rise in antisemitic attacks across New York City, saying that the current polarized political environment has made it difficult to meaningfully address the uptick in violence against Jews in the major metropolis.

“The idea that you have 200 incidents [of antisemitism] here in New York City — [that] should be a national news story. It doesn’t belong in the metro section of The New York Times. It belongs on the front page,” Greenblatt told Jewish Insider during a press conference in Brooklyn, N.Y. “But here’s the thing: In a world which is so polarized, so charged, and so political, everything needs to fit to a narrative. You know what? I don’t care how you vote!” 

The fight against antisemitism, Greenblatt stated, has to be, in the name of “decency, diversity and dignity,” a national focus. “When you don’t value these things, when you allow hostility to happen, when you sit and ignore intolerance, that is unacceptable.”

The ADL also announced an initiative in partnership with the Brooklyn Borough President’s office that will double the number of schools participating in its “No Place for Hate” program, with a goal of reaching as many as 40 schools in neighborhoods with significant Jewish populations. The move comes in response to a dramatic increase in violent antisemitic incidents across Brooklyn.

The announcement comes the same day as the FBI released its annual report on hate crime statistics. The report noted that anti-Jewish bias was the source of 57 percent of religion-based hate crimes reported in 2018.

“No one should fear for their safety or be victimized because of their religious beliefs,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “Since extremist, hate-filled rhetoric has become awakened and stoked across this country — particularly in Crown Heights right here in Brooklyn — this unacceptable behavior is increasingly becoming the norm for some.”

Greenblatt stressed that a national response, irrespective of political affiliation, is required regardless of who is the target. “Whether you are a borough president, whether you are a school board president, or the president of the United States, all of us have a responsibility to step up and speak out when hate happens on our watch, whether or not it affects us,” he said.

The United Nations released an unprecedented report on Thursday highlighting a “disproportionate” 38 percent increase in antisemitism across the globe, even in countries that have no Jewish population. The report also identifies certain actions by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel as “fundamentally antisemitic.”

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, will present the final version of the report at the annual session of the U.N. General Assembly’s third committee on Thursday afternoon. An interim report was released last month. According to Shaheed, antisemitism is a threat that requires a “multi-pronged human rights approach” to address the issue. 

In his presentation, Shaheed recommends that states adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as a “non-legal educational tool” to enable them to identify, monitor and respond to antisemitic discourses and attacks. He also calls on the U.N. Secretary General António Guterres to appoint a senior-level envoy to coordinate global efforts to combat antisemitism, as well as the establishment of faith-based organizations to show solidarity and build resilience and trust between communities.

“My key purpose in doing the report is to motivate states and other actors to take action against antisemitism and seize on the very serious threat to everybody to take common action to stop this,” Shaheed said in an interview with Jewish Insider. “I am very clear that governments must respond to all antisemitism by taking preemptive steps, but there’s also an obligation to have laws in place and enforce them to protect people and provide remedy to the victims of such incidents.” 

Shaheed suggested that the U.N. report could help sooth concerns among Israelis and members of the Jewish community that the international body is biased against the Jewish state. “If the secretary-general appoints an envoy to a very senior level in his office to deal with the matter, I think Jews will start feeling that the U.N. also works for them,” Shaheed told JI. “Right now, I feel a sense of grievance that the U.N. is a very biased body against Israel and the Jewish community, and I am hoping that one of the outcomes of this is that those within the U.N. system itself start taking more notice of the issues faced by Jewish communities across the world and that we build bridges in working together.” 

Shaheed, a career diplomat from the Maldives, revealed that when he was appointed to the post in November 2016, he “found almost nothing” was done by this mandate established three decades ago on addressing concerns raised by Jews. This inspired him to “start a conversation” with Jewish groups and human rights monitors how to address the issue. “I think there’s a grave understand that we have to address this deficit and pay more attention to this subject. This is a very good start, and I think we need to build on this connection for the time to come.” 

Shaheed noted that, since boycotts are internationally legal, he took “a very fine line” when spotlighting the “antisemitic tropes” invoked by the BDS movement. “There are elements in the BDS movement who are overtly and openly antisemitic,” he said. “The effects of this movement have been attacks on campuses and incidents against students and religious academics.” The report also connects online antisemitism as a driving tool that leads to violent attacks against the Jewish community. 

“This is a landmark report that represents the first time that the U.N., a body that has too often in the past been identified as a source of Jew hatred has seriously grappled with the stark reality of current antisemitism,” Mark Weitzman, director of government affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, tells JI. “In reading it we get a sense that the author of the report, Prof. Shaheed, is morally outraged not only by the surge in antisemitism but also by many governments lack of recognition and commitment to fighting antisemitism.”

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of Deborah Lauter as executive director of the newly created Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes. 

Lauter previously served as the national civil rights director at the Anti-Defamation League. In her new position, she will supervise a team of six employees and oversee a budget of $1.7 million in the 2020 fiscal year, according to Colby Hamilton, a spokesman for the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. 

The opening of the new office follows a renewed push by New York City Councilmembers Chaim Deutsch (D-Brooklyn), Mark Levine (D-Manhattan) and Donovan Richards (D-Queens), who urged the mayor to take immediate action on antisemitism after a rash of recent incidents across New York City. 

Earlier this year, a bill requiring educational outreach on the municipal level was passed by the City Council, and was slated to be implemented towards the end of the year. But in June, de Blasio declared the immediate opening of the office to combat the dramatic rise in antisemitic violence. 

On Tuesday, three months after his initial announcement, the mayor made good on that promise. 

“I’m cautiously optimistic about the mayor’s decision to hire Deborah Lauter as executive director,” Deutsch, chairman of the city council’s Jewish Caucus, told Jewish Insider. “She comes highly recommended, and I look forward to working together with her.” 

Levine, who held the chairmanship until last year, lauded the pick as “an excellent choice,” saying Lauter “brings the right experience to this job.”

According to City Hall, Lauter has been on the job for a week now, but has yet to meet with de Blasio, who was reportedly in City Hall at the time of the announcement. “I don’t know the mayor’s schedule but I can assure you that everything that’s been communicated to me [indicates] the mayor is taking this extremely seriously,” Lauter told reporters. 

Deutsch told ABC7 that it was “kind of disturbing” that the mayor had not yet met with his new appointee: “Does that kind of beg the question — is the mayor serious about this office or not?” The councilman said de Blasio has been “a little pre-occupied.” The mayor has spent much of the summer outside New York City following his May entrance into the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

In an interview with Jewish Insider, Levine said: “Now that we have a strong director, we need this office fully staffed, adequately resourced and with the broadest possible mandate as soon as possible.”

Jews around the world facing rising antisemitism should know that they have a safe haven in the State of Israel, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said in a recent interview. 

The former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom spoke to Jewish Insider about the rollout of his latest initiative, a network of Whatsapp channels that will disseminate daily inspirational ideas to individuals who sign up. The messages began on Sunday, the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul, which culminates in Rosh Hashana. 

Sacks is particularly proud of this initiative, which as of Monday has reached more than 15,000 sign-ups.

“This is one of my passions,” he said. “Because I am a great believer that revolutions in information technology are the drivers of civilization… I see every single revolution in information technology as having huge spiritual implications. So as soon as the internet began to be important, it became central to our work.” 

“Rabbis,” Sacks added, “are supposed to be teachers. It’s the oxygen we breathe. So when you have a new way of doing so — then I get very excited.” 

Sacks said he wasn’t necessarily surprised by the outpouring of thousands of Jews signing up, since “people are looking for guidance in a very confused and confusing world,” he said. “And the wonderful thing about this new instant technology, is it allows us to communicate very fast and very directly to people without a lot of intermediaries.” 

And what will those 15,000 people be receiving on their phones every day? 

“It will be a big mix of spoken word, the written word, the visuals,” he said. “How can I connect with the [high holiday] prayers? Could you please explain some of the prayers to me? But also more general issues. How do I direct my life? How do I mend broken relationships? How do I get over some of the anger in my heart? We’re going to keep it very varied.”

Sacks is aware that many Jews around the globe are living in tense times and worried about the rising tide of antisemitism. But, he said, quoting Rabbi Nachman of Breslav, “the important thing is not to be afraid.” 

“The terrifying thing about antisemitism in the 19th and early 20th century was that Jews had nowhere else to go,” he said. “Today we have a State of Israel. That means that every Jew in the world has a home — in the sense in which the poet Robert Frost defined it — as a place where, when you have to go there, they have to let you in. And that means that we walk without fear.” 

There is one thing that Sacks pursued as chief rabbi, that he urges American Jews to embrace as well. 

“We may have enemies out there, but we also have friends and they are very, very good friends,” he said. “So I would urge the American Jewish community do what I’m sure it’s done very well already… which is to go out and make friends, make friends among non-Jews, among other religious groups, among key figures in the political world, across parties.”

The relationships that he and the British Jewish community built with political figures has been crucial, Sacks said. 

“When you get Tony Blair and Gordon Brown — both of whom were prime ministers from that party [of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn] — coming out and saying this is absolutely unacceptable, it makes a huge difference when they are [the ones] saying it,” Sacks said. “They’ve been absolutely rock solid because they were the first people we ever enlisted… I believe the campaign against antisemitism in any country should be led by non-Jews.”

Asked about the internal divisions among the Jewish community, Sacks let out a laugh. 

“I just get bored by internal divisions,” he said. “Haven’t we got enough enemies out there? It’s deja vu, been there done that. Let’s do something interesting for change. Let’s be friends.”

Sacks said that he put together two principles as British chief rabbi that helped solve many of the community’s conflicts. 

“On all matters that affect us as Jews, regardless of our divisions, we will work together, regardless of our divisions,” he cited. “And on all matters that touch on our divisions, we will agree to differ but with respect.”