Antisemitism, hooliganism and anger over Gaza war all factors in trouble that broke out last week, report says
The violence that erupted in Amsterdam last week was sparked by “a toxic cocktail” of hooliganism and antisemitism, according to a detailed report published by the city’s mayor.
The city remains gripped by high tensions days after violence flared around a football match last Thursday between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Continue reading...French president offers ‘fraternity and solidarity’ as Israel discourages wearing of ‘Jewish symbols’ abroad
Emmanuel Macron will attend the France-Israel football match at the Stade de France on Thursday in a gesture of “fraternity and solidarity” after attacks on Jewish fans in Amsterdam last week.
Thousands of extra police will be on duty for the game taking place against a backdrop of high tension caused by the conflict in Gaza.
Continue reading...Four suspects still held on suspicion of violent acts and 50 people fined after attacks on football fans
Amsterdam police expect to make more arrests after what authorities called “hateful antisemitic violence” against Israeli football fans, prosecutors said on Saturday.
Four suspects remained detained on Saturday on suspicion of violent acts, including two minors, and 40 people had been fined for public disturbance and 10 for offences including vandalism, prosecutors said.
Continue reading...Unity has begun to crack over ex-president’s support for Israel in its military operations across the Middle East
As the presidential election season unfolds, the Trump campaign has increasingly leaned on xenophobic rhetoric born out of racist chat boards – even receiving the tacit help of neo-Nazis attempting to seed their own policy interests into the mainstream.
But one campaign issue where the Maga world and the extremists of Telegram and other fringe social media sites have diverged, is the former president’s support for Israel in its several military operations across the Middle East.
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904 Australians and their immediate family members have now left Lebanon on assisted-departure flights – in addition to those who left on partner and commercial flights.
407 Australians left on 5 October, and 448 on 6 October.
Why so silent, Mark? This, I have been asked a lot. I have thought about it a lot too. I have said little in public about the Hamas-Israel war because I am not the foreign affairs minister. I am Australia’s first law officer. A minister, not a commentator. Just because I’m not talking doesn’t mean I don’t understand.
Continue reading...Exclusive: London mayor boosts counter-hate funding as British Jewish group warns of danger of ‘reprisal’ attacks
Sadiq Khan has warned of a potential increase in hate crime in Britain triggered by the rise in Middle East violence, as a leading British Jewish group warned of the danger of “reprisal” attacks here.
The London mayor’s warning comes after a series of Israeli airstrikes against targets in Lebanon, which have killed Hezbollah’s top leaders as well as its followers, and it is feared, scores of civilians. Khan is pumping extra emergency funding into groups in London countering hate.
Continue reading...JCA’s Sarah Schwartz says targeting Mark Scott’s handling of pro-Palestinian encampment risks conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism
A “concerted campaign” calling for University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott’s resignation is “dangerous” and conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, the Jewish Council of Australia says.
Scott is facing calls to resign over the university’s handling of a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. He has apologised and conceded the university must do better.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: Jenny Leong, who apologised after referencing antisemitic cartoon, was subject of human rights commission complaint
New South Wales Greens MP Jenny Leong will visit the Sydney Jewish Museum and has donated $4,000 after a complaint was lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission over comments she made about Jewish lobby groups last year.
Leong apologised and said she did not intend to reference an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as an octopus after footage emerged of comments she made at a Palestine Justice Movement forum in Sydney in December 2023.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal ‘all communications’ will be solely attributed to special envoy
The Australian government is seeking to create some distance from its new special envoys on antisemitism and Islamophobia, suggesting they do not characterise their comments as official government policy.
Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal the instructions the government has given its new special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, including the need to highlight “diverse Jewish Australian identities”.
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Continue reading...Ministers call for more security around Jewish schools and places of worship after incident in La Grande-Motte
French police have arrested a man suspected of attempted arson against a synagogue in the southern France city of La Grande-Motte, acting interior minister Gérald Darmanin said on X.
The incident in the Mediterranean resort east of Montpellier is being investigated by France’s specialist antiterrorism prosecutor.
Continue reading...Plaintiff in New York case says he lost job after complaining that his manager openly celebrated terrorism against Israel
A Jewish former employee of Intel sued the chipmaker on Tuesday, saying he was fired after complaining that the senior executive he reported to openly celebrated antisemitism, Hamas and terrorism against Israel.
The plaintiff, a former vice-president of engineering using the pseudonym John Doe, said Intel fired him on 2 April in a purported cost-cutting move barely two months after assigning him to report to Alaa Badr, vice-president of customer success.
Continue reading...Police say they are searching for a male who allegedly vandalised the inner-west Sydney office in what is the latest political graffiti attack
Police are investigating after the New South Wales Greens’ office was graffitied with Islamophobic and white supremacist messages.
The graffiti, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning at the office in inner west Sydney, called an Islamic prophet a white supremacist.
Continue reading...Growing number of antisemitic, misogynistic posts reveal far right’s anxieties as Harris’s candidacy solidifies
As Donald Trump’s campaign shifts his focus to presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice-President Kamala Harris, the online ecosystem of the far right has responded in lockstep with racist insults, misogynistic tropes, antisemitic conspiracy theories and viral memes against her. Some of those attacks, common throughout her vice-presidency, are directly targeting her Jewish husband and second gentleman, Doug Emhoff.
After Joe Biden’s stunning decision to step down as the Democratic candidate in this year’s presidential election to then endorse Harris, Republicans as high ranking as Trump were quick to decry the switch as tantamount to a “coup” attempt – a dangerous allegation with no factual basis.
Continue reading...University president says private text exchange during school event was ‘unacceptable and deeply upsetting’
Three Columbia University deans have been indefinitely removed from their positions after sending text messages that the university president said included antisemitic tropes.
In a message sent on Monday, the Columbia president, Minouche Shafik, said that text messages “revealed behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional, but also, disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes”, the Columbia Spectator reported.
Continue reading...Meta says it would remove content ‘attacking “Zionists” when it is not explicitly about the political movement’
Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it would start taking down more posts that target “Zionists” when the term is used to refer to Jewish people and Israelis rather than representing supporters of the political movement.
The Facebook and Instagram parent said in a blog post it would remove content “attacking ‘Zionists’ when it is not explicitly about the political movement” and uses antisemitic stereotypes or threatens harm through intimidation or violence directed against Jews or Israelis.
Continue reading...Many say they feel stuck in middle between far-right National Rally and hard-left France Unbowed
As France faces a high-stakes second round of elections on Sunday, French Jewish people say they are grappling with tough choices and feel caught between extremes amid concerns about rising antisemitism.
As part of her longstanding efforts to detoxify the image of the far-right National Rally (RN) – currently leading in opinion polls – Marine Le Pen, to the incredulity of many, has sought to present herself as a friend of Jewish people and Israel.
Continue reading...The Guardian used public records and open source materials to identify Daniel Linden of the Shirion Collective
A prime mover behind the Shirion Collective, a conspiracy-minded, pro-Israel disinformation network seeking to shape public opinion about the Gaza conflict in the US, Australia and the UK, is a tech entrepreneur named Daniel Linden living in Florida who co-wrote a guidebook for OnlyFans users, the Guardian can reveal.
Shirion has harassed pro-Palestinian activists, including many Jews, offered bounties for the identity of pro-Palestinian protesters, spread conspiracy narratives centered on figures like George Soros, and boasted of an AI-surveillance platform but offered few concrete details of how the technology functions.
Continue reading...Pro-Palestinian protesters accuse companies of trying to sell stolen land in the West Bank, and question legality
Efforts to market homes in Israel and stolen land in West Bank to Jewish Americans are continuing to spark protests across North America, with the latest angry confrontations happening outside a synagogue in one of Los Angeles’s most prominent Jewish neighborhoods.
The volatile protest and counter-protest outside a real estate event at the Adas Torah synagogue on Sunday prompted denunciations from Democratic politicians, including Joe Biden, who said protests targeting a house of worship were antisemitic and unacceptable.
Continue reading...Alleged rape of girl, 12, in suspected antisemitic attack contributing to ‘very difficult climate’ as election looms
Many Jewish people are “questioning [their] future in France”, a community leader has said, after a 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped in a suspected antisemitic attack and fears deepen about the rise of extremism before a parliamentary election this month.
“The climate is very, very difficult for Jews,” Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (Crif), said on Thursday. “People are very, very worried about the future,” he said. “People are, I would say, questioning the future in France.”
Continue reading...Reports say investigators looking into possibility that Russian security services ordered vandalism in Paris
France is investigating whether graffiti painted on the wall of Paris’s Holocaust memorial last week was a destabilisation operation coordinated from Russia, French media have reported.
On the morning of 14 May, about 20 spray-painted red hand symbols were discovered on one of the memorial’s exterior walls, which is dedicated to honouring individuals who saved Jews from persecution during the Nazi occupation of France.
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