The West Brookfield Police Department said in a news release on Tuesday that it was aware of the distribution of rice-filled bags that had “offensive content targeting the Jewish community.”

Authorities in town said that while the content may be protected by free speech laws, they “recognize the impact it can have on those affected.”

“We value the diversity and unity within our community, and we stand against any form of discrimination or intimidation,” a news release from the department said. “We urge individuals to continue to support one another and foster an environment of respect and understanding.”

Police believe a neo-Nazi extremist group with a national reach was responsible for the incident.

People in town have been encouraged to contact police if they need support, have concerns or have information about what happened.

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As the RIAS reported, most of the cases involved post-Shoah antisemitism. This means the defense against guilt and responsibility for the crimes of German National Socialism, more concretely: Holocaust denial or relativization.

In 13 cases there was damage to property, six of them to Jewish property and to memorials for Jewish victims of Nazi crimes. In Saarbrücken, the memorial on Rabbiner-Rülf-Platz and the information board on the recently opened memorial for the Saarland victims of the Shoah (“Band of Remembrance”) directly in front of the synagogue in Saarbrücken were damaged several times.

According to RIAS, the memorial plaque for Holocaust survivor Alex Deutsch in Wiebelskirchen was damaged twice, including by scratched swastikas.

Incidents in which Jews in Saarland are directly intimidated and attacked are particularly alarming. In the RIAS Saarland, three such cases have been documented in the past two years. Minors who were attacked by their classmates were affected.

“It is an intolerable social reality that children and young people experience antisemitism in school,” says Petra Melchert, an employee of RIAS Saarland . “This also shows that anti-Semitism must become an integral part of educational work” – and not only in the ninth grade in the context of the Nazi era.

“Anti-Semitism is an everyday problem in Saarland,” states Melchert. “This is also indicated in the cases we have documented, although these certainly only cover a fraction of the actual events.” That is why it is important that antisemitic incidents are always reported – this can be done online, for example, via the website www.report-antisemitism. en .

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Over the course of three weeks, a German man who stoked antisemitism while claiming to be Jewish was unmasked and faced a public downfall.

Frank Borner, a school teacher, had hosted two gatherings called “Meet a Jew” on the island of Fehmarn, on the northern coast of Germany. 

On Tuesday, the news website Fehmarn 24 reported that the organization that was hosting these talks pulled the plug on future events with Borner. When asked by Fehmarn 24 if he is a Jew, Borner refused to answer.

German Jewish author Henryk M. Broder and his colleague Moritz Gerlach first broke the story about Borner’s manufactured Jewish identity in the daily broadsheet Die Welt on July 19. The Welt journalists wrote that Borner claimed that Jews have a  “capacity for suffering.” Borner linked the alleged Jewish suffering to a “victim role” that adheres to Jews “archetypically, like primordial slime.”

Borner also claimed in his talk that New York and Hollywood are “full of Jews” and “firmly in Jewish hands.”

After the publication of the Welt exposé, i24NEWS reached out to the Central Council of Jews in Germany. The German state-subsidized Central Council issued a message about Borner on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating “The damage done by such charlatans to such an important project is great.” 

The local Jewish community also said that Borner was never a part of their “Meet a Jew” program. 

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The number of antisemitic crimes remains at a high level. The Federal Criminal Police Office registered a total of 960 cases in the first half of the year, including 25 acts of violence. This emerges from a response from the federal government to a small question from the Vice President of the Bundestag, Petra Pau (left).  Last year, 965 criminal offenses were registered at this point.

The majority of criminal offenses can be assigned to so-called politically motivated “right-wing” crime. 380 of the 446 criminal offenses registered in the second quarter of 2023 and seven of the 14 acts of violence are attributable to this area. Two of these acts of violence were registered in Berlin and Bavaria, as well as one each in Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony.

In the second quarter, 15 criminal offenses and two violent offenses were attributed to the “foreign ideology” category, while four criminal offenses and one violent offense were attributed to a “religious ideology”, i.e. Islamist-motivated offenses. Accordingly, 33 criminal offenses and four violent offenses cannot be assigned to any area. In the phenomenon area “left” no offenses could be measured in the second quarter of the year. Throughout the previous year, the number of antisemitic acts of violence had risen massively to a total of 88 .

It should be emphasized that the previous figures from 2023 could be significantly higher, because many crimes are only reported with some delay. In the previous year, at the time of the first query, 347 criminal offenses could be reported in the second quarter of 2022; these have now been corrected to 714 criminal offenses through late reports. Pau already criticized the delayed registration numbers last year. There is a need for timely recording and increased awareness of police officers for antisemitic crimes.

Incitement to hatred dominates among the reported crimes. Many of these crimes are committed online. In addition, the Federal Criminal Police Office found cases of dangerous bodily harm, robbery, insult, use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations – such as the swastika – or disturbance of the peace of the dead.

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More than eight children aged seven and eight were already standing with caregivers when a mother and her son joined them. In this situation, the 57-year-old is said to have insulted those present in the worst anti-Semitic way. Among other things, she described the group as “shitty Jews”.

The local police say that the incident took place last Friday, shortly after 8:00 a.m. In addition, the police said that the woman had committed similar offenses in the past.

Shortly after the incident, the school teachers called the police, who soon arrested the woman.

In her interrogation, she claimed that she decided to curse after hearing the group of Jews speaking in Hebrew.

The woman is now being investigated for insult and threats. The Munich woman is not the first time at the center of criminal investigations. According to a police spokeswoman, the 57-year-old has already committed crimes across the penal code.

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“There’s no doubt that the anti-Zionist rhetoric and terminology popular in European left circles are increasingly being adopted and exploited by some in the U.S. political far left,” said Marina Rosenberg, ADL Senior Vice President of International Affairs. “While antisemitism from individuals associated with left-leaning political organizations is generally less violent than the threat of right-wing antisemitism, its increasing penetration into the political mainstream is deeply concerning.”

Featuring contributions from partner organizations, the ADL report provides new insights into how anti-Israel actions and calls for the application of BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel are increasingly common in leftist political circles in Europe. Their rhetoric influences, and draws inspiration from, some left-leaning activist movements in the U.S.

Contributing to the ADL assessment are the following European organizations:

• The Community Security Trust, the British Jewish community’s security agency, which monitors, reports on, and educates about antisemitism for the safety and security of the Jewish community. Among other findings, their assessment found that the idea of an all-powerful Israeli or Zionist lobby is one that has found swaths of appeal among the British left. It is common for British Jewish organizations or institutions to be referred to as a “pro-Israel lobby group.”

• The politics and culture magazine “K., The Jews, Europe, the 21st Century,” which reports on contemporary challenges and opportunities for Jewish life in France and elsewhere in Europe. Today in France, the Jewish community faces not just centuries-old far-right antisemitism and decades-old Islamist antisemitism, but now a rapidly growing left-wing antisemitism that includes both anti-Zionism and traditional antisemitism.    

• Amadeu Antonio Foundation, one of Germany’s foremost independent non-governmental organizations. In Germany, Israel-centered antisemitism is a major contributor to the normalization of antisemitism, making it difficult to combat the phenomenon in general. Progressive environments in particular are propagating Israel-centered antisemitism, which has implications for culture, art, academia, the politics of remembrance and the political left itself. With all these fields coming under pressure to adopt a stance, Jews are left feeling uncomfortable as a result – not to mention threatened and fearing for their safety.

• ACOM, a non-denominational and independent organization in Spain that strengthens the relationship between Spain and Israel. In Spain, the neo-Marxist Podemos party and its Communist associates includes politicians who openly defend the dissolution of the State of Israel and who are close to the Jewish state’s most vicious enemies.

The report also identifies common antisemitic themes that emerge from each of the four countries, including claims that Jewish cabals control politics and media; Holocaust trivialization; equating Israel with the Nazi regime; and the false charge that accusations of antisemitism are used to silence criticism of Israel.

“This analysis highlights the need for the American Jewish community and supporters of Israel more broadly to pay close attention to the trends happening in Europe and to remain alert to the potential for them to spread,” said Rosenberg. “This is especially true when it comes to anti-Israel trends and anti-Zionism, where we have seen a blurring of the lines between attacks on Israel and attacks on Jews and Jewish identity.”

Dr. Dave Rich, Director of Policy, Community Security Trust, said, “The UK has experienced how antisemitism in parts of the left can have a profound impact on Jewish communities, and on wider politics, if it is left unchallenged and unchecked. We hope this report will add to broader understanding of the main ideas and themes of this kind of antisemitism, both in the UK and elsewhere, to ensure that it no longer has such space to grow.”

Stéphane Bou, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, “K., The Jews, Europe, the 21st Century,” said, “Today in France, the Jewish community faces not just centuries-old far-right antisemitism and decades-old Islamist antisemitism, but now a rapidly growing left-wing antisemitism that includes both anti-Zionism and traditional antisemitism.”

Tahera Ameer, Program Director of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, said, “Antisemitism is a problem for society as a whole. And it also affects parts of the left, where Israel-related antisemitism in particular is a growing issue, which we must tackle. Age-old conspiracy myths are given a new lease of life in the name of supposedly progressive politics. But we also shouldn’t forget that there has always been left-wing criticism of antisemitism, which we must continue to support and encourage. This gives hope and offers the possibility to build powerful alliances.”

Angel Mas, President, ACOM, said, “Sixty years ago, before Spain’s transition to democracy, antisemitism maintained its classical forms and was clearly associated with very conservative segments of society. Today, as in the rest of Europe, traditional antisemitism, now disguised as anti-Zionism, predominates on the whole spectrum of the political left.”v

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The 13th century “Judensau” or “Jew Sow” on Wittenberg town church depicts a caricature of a rabbi lifting the tail of a sow and two Jewish children suckling on the teats. 

However, Felix Klein, the German government commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism, said its presence made the city unwelcoming for Jews.

The plea comes as the eastern Germany city is being considered as the location for a new German Israeli youth organisation. This organisation would oversee the planned intensification of the long-standing youth exchange between the two countries, administered through ‘Conact’. 

The Israeli and German governments announced plans for the new organisation last year. The German Ministry of Youth said the exchanges were intended to take youth policy cooperation between Germany and Israel to a new level.

The memory of the Holocaust, but also common challenges of young people such as climate change or renewable energies should be the subject of cooperation.

At the time, it was discussed using existing coordination offices for the youth exchange schemes in Germany and Israel. The German coordination office “Conact” has been located in Wittenberg since it was founded in 2001. 

Klein said: “A city in which hostility to Jews is so openly displayed with the Judensau on the church cannot be a place of welcome for Jewish Israelis.

“For Wittenberg to become the base of the German-Israeli Youth Exchange, the antisemitic Jew-sow must be removed.”

The Wittenberg stone carving is one of about two dozen similar sculptures from the Middle Ages that still feature on churches around Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Wittenberg was also the town where Martin Luther is said to have nailed his theses challenging Catholicism to a church door in 1517 which led to the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

The Judensau was built into the southeast corner of the church in about 1290. The Latin-Hebrew words “Rabini Schem haMphoras” were added in the 16th century, an allusion to two polemics in which Luther deplored Jews as the “Devil’s people” and a “plague and a pestilence” on Christendom.

Michael Dietrich Düllman has been fighting a long legal campaign to force church bosses to remove the sculpture. He argues it is an insult to all Jews.

However, in June, the Federal Court of Justice, Germany’s top appeals court, upheld rulings from lower courts which dismissed the case.

The court ruled the sculpture could stay on the facade of the church. However, the judge agreed with Düllmann the Judensau was a “massively defamatory statement to the Jewish people and their faith” and an “expression of antisemitism and hatred”.

The Evangelical Academy of Saxony-Anhalt in Wittenberg, which is responsible for the church, hit back at the criticism. 

Director Christoph Maier said: “The bilateral negotiations between Germany and Israel are sensitive and are currently making slow progress, also due to the domestic political situation in Israel.

“A location debate in Germany is not conducive to the cause and comes at the wrong time for the already difficult political constellation.”

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Words that raised immediate controversy in the city council, with the Democratic Party calling them “inappropriate and heavy”, while for Italia Viva they are “shameful and unacceptable expressions”. To stop the criticism, the councilor tries to put a patch in, which risks being worse than the hole: “I said it in the good sense of the term – she explains – I’m from the Marches and I have” short arms “”. That is, that they do not easily reach the pockets.

«Every day this right, inadequate and disturbing – attacks the secretary of the Italian Left Nicola Fratoianni – gives us a nasty surprise. The shame of the right arm of the current president of the Lazio Region with his indecent words on the Bologna massacre was not enough at a national level. Now we also have the Ancona councilor of FdI. But where are we getting to? But where can President Meloni find such people?” The parliamentarian of the Alleanza Verdi Sinistra asks the leaders of Giorgia Meloni’s party that «before managing public affairs, it would be a good thing in those parts to do a good cleaning of racists, fascists and anti-Semites. Italy does not deserve to be represented like this. And in the case of Ancona, FdI should accompany its councilor to the door. Right away”.

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The incident that they say took place on Wednesday consisted of a swastika being painted over one of the business’s glass doors. They could not provide a photo of that incident, because they say they were able to clean it up rather quickly since it was over glass.

But the same business claims that sometime between 7 p.m. on Friday and early Saturday morning, they were vandalized again.

The Flowerama sent WEAR News a photo of the second incident, which can be interpreted as a Star of David, commonly recognized as a symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism, inside a circle with a slash drawn diagonally across it.

The Flowerama says they have since painted over the symbol.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office says they spoke with the business on Saturday morning and took a report.

An arrest has not yet been made in that case as the sheriff’s office continues to investigate.

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“Four Zionist Jewish professors who complained about antisemitism on their campuses have now been placed under investigation by CUNY for ‘discrimination’ against BDS and radical Islamist antisemitic activists,” said SAFE CUNY, which advocates for Jewish students at the school, on their Twitter account.

“We have all the details but cannot share yet.”

Professor Jeffrey Lax, who has been a vocal advocate against antisemitism at CUNY, confirmed that he is one of the staff members under investigation by the school for speaking out.

“For those asking, yes, I am one of the four,” Lax wrote on his Twitter account Monday.

Speaking to World Israel News, Lax warned that academia is “right now going down a 1930s path of Nazi Germany, where Jewish academics are being expunged. And here still, we have Jewish leaders who prefer to work only with our oppressors, and maintain cozy relationships with people in power.”

Lax cited CUNY’s adoption of the Jerusalem Declaration, which does not define anti-Zionist activity or the BDS movement as antisemitic, as one of the reasons why harassment of pro-Israel students and staff is permitted on the campus.

“The Jerusalem Declaration allows for the vilification of Zionist Jews as racists,” Lax said. “It’s a complete disgrace. Politicians and Jewish leaders shouldn’t tolerate this…and them having done so is an utter betrayal of the Jewish people, not just at CUNY, but everywhere.”

He added that “not one” of the local council members and Jewish leaders “who claim to be fighting for Jewish people” had reached out to help the Zionist professors under investigation for complaining about antisemitism, who are “victims of abhorrent oppression.”

Lax wrote in a later post on Twitter that CUNY denied him the ability during the course of the investigation to testify in his own defense, would not provide him with a copy of the complaint against him, and that despite the probe being closed nearly five months ago, the university refuses to reveal the findings of the investigation.

For years, CUNY staff and students have reported numerous antisemitic events on campus, including two consecutive years of commencement speeches at the law school’s graduation ceremonies that were focused on demonizing Israel.

A number of reports have also indicated that senior CUNY officials engaged in a systematic cover-up of antisemitism at the school and refused to cooperate with probes into a campus environment that is hostile towards Israel and Jews.

In a May interview with WIN, Lax pointed to Fatima Mousa Mohammed’s law school commencement speech, which called for the destruction of both Israel and the U.S., as a sign of the school’s attitude towards radicalism on campus.

“What I find truly incredible is not just that Mohammed’s speech is clearly evil – I’m not interested in a random evil student, even though she’s now a graduate. What I’m much more interested in is that the faculty most likely saw that speech and approved it,” Lax said at the time.

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