Israeli Court Sentences Muslim Preacher For Incitement To Racism

In Israel this week, a Jerusalem Magistrate's court sentenced a Muslim preacher to 11 months in prison (and another 6 months suspended) on three counts of incitement to racism.  According to YNet News, Sheikh Khaled Mughrabi regularly delivered speeches at al-Aqsa Mosque, filmed them and uploaded some of them to YouTube.  In one speech, Mughrabi said that the Holocaust was a result of the Jews’ corruption and took place because Jews prepared "special bread" for Passover by kidnapping children, placing them in a barrel full of needles, and using their blood to make the bread. The indictment referred specifically to 3 speeches in the summer of 2015.

Story of Justice McReynolds' Anti-Semitic Photo Refusal Is Debunked

National Law Journal reported yesterday that research by a staffer in the U.S. Supreme Court curator's office has proven false an often-repeated story that no 1924 photograph of Supreme Court justices was taken because the anti-Semitic Justice James McReynolds' would not sit next to Justice Louis Brandeis for the photo.  It turns out that group photos are taken only when a new justice comes onto the court, which was not the case in 1924.  It was the case however that one photo studio that was passed over for the 1923 photo lobbied Chief Justice Taft for an extra photo in 1924, and McReynolds (known for his disagreeable temperament) balked at the idea.  McReynolds does appear in nine other group photos between 1914 and 1941 with Jewish justices, though never next to them because the tradition of seating-by-seniority did not place him there.

European Commission Appoints Officials To Combat Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslim Hatred

The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it has appointed a Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism (Katharina von Schnurbein, a German national), and a Coordinator on Combating Anti-Muslim Hatred (David Friggieri, a national of Malta).  The new positions grew out of a Colloquium on Fundamental Rights held last October. [Thanks to Law & Religion UK for the lead.]

Belgian Court Sentences French Comedian For Anti-Semitic Remarks

Last Wednesday, a Belgian court sentenced French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala to prison for two months, and imposed a fine equivalent to $9,500 (US) on him for his anti-Semitic remarks during a comedy show in Belgium in 2012.  According to The Forward:

Judges said that the remarks, made in front of an audience of 1,100 people in the town of Herstal, were clearly calls to hatred and violence. By calling on Christians and Muslims to unite to kill Jews, he had incited genocide.

He was also ordered to pay for the entire text of the judgment against him to be printed in two leading French-language Belgian newspapers.

Dieudonne has prior convictions in France.  Earlier this month the European Court of Human Rights refused to reverse Dieudonne's conviction in France for Holocaust denial stemming from a different performance. (See prior posting.)

House Resolution Urges Stepped-Up Action Against European Anti-Semitism

On Nov. 3, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H. Res. 354 (full text) urging the U.S. government to do more to combat growing anti-Semitism in Europe.  The Resolution, in part, encourages the U.S. government to work closely with European governments, law enforcement agencies, the OSCE  and EU to "formally recognize, partner, train, and share information with Jewish community security groups to strengthen preparedness, prevention, mitigation,
and response related to anti-Semitic attacks and to support related research initiatives." The Resolution's sponsor, New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, issued a press release providing further background.

Today Is 100th Anniversary of Anti-Semitic Leo Frank Lynching

The Forward reminds us that today is the 100th anniversary of the anti-Semitic lynching of Leo Frank:

Frank was the superintendent of the National Pencil Factory in Atlanta in 1913 when Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old white employee, was murdered. Frank, 29, was an interloper in Georgia: a northerner and a Jew. The police quickly seized on him as a suspect. His trial, conducted in an atmosphere of rampant anti-Semitism and anti-Northern sentiment, led to his conviction and sentencing to death in the summer of 1913....

During his confinement, Frank’s advocates cast enough doubt on his conviction that Georgia’s governor commuted his sentence to life in prison, in June 1915.

It was a wildly unpopular decision in Georgia and not enough to save Frank’s life. He was moved to a rural prison 100 miles away in Milledgeville where, within a matter of weeks, an inmate slit Frank’s throat.

Frank survived the attack. But on the night of August 16, a lynch mob. organized by the leaders of Cobb County where Phagan’s family lived, stormed the prison. They bundled Frank into a car and drove him 150 miles to their county seat of Marietta, where they lynched him at dawn.

For anyone interested in an excellent and exhaustive history of the case, I recommend Steve Oney, And the Dead Shall Rise, (Vintage Books, 2003).

School District Settles Anti-Semitic Harassment Claims For $4.48M

The New York Times reported yesterday that upstate New York's Pine Bush School District has agreed to a $4.48 million settlement in a suit against it by five current and former Jewish students who claimed pervasive anti-Semitism. The suit claimed that school officials showed deliberate indifference to anti-Semitic harassment from fellow-students in 3 of the district's schools.  The settlement also calls for teacher and staff training on recognizing and reporting anti-Semitism, revision of policies on bullying and discrimination, and curricular reform. (See prior related posting.)

ADL Releases 2014 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents

Earlier this week, the ADL released its 2014 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents in the United States. It found that the total number of incidents rose by 21% last year. According to the Report:

In 2014, anti-Semitic incidents were reported in a total of 38 states and the District of Columbia.  Those incidents are categorized in the ADL Audit as follows: Assaults: 36 incidents in 2014, compared with 31 in 2013; Vandalism: 363 incidents in 2014, compared with 315 in 2013; Harassment, threats and events: 513 incidents in 2014, compared with 405 in 2013.

Placing those numbers in perspective, however, the Report said:

Despite the increase in incidents, the total number of anti-Semitic acts still represents one of the lowest totals of anti-Semitic acts reported by ADL since it started keeping records in 1979.  Still, the Audit has also identified new trends in anti-Semitic incidents, including the phenomenon of hacking attacks on community and synagogue websites by overseas hackers, which multiplied in 2014.

UCLA Incident Highlights Campus Anti-Semitism

An article posted yesterday, the New York Times explores anti-Semitism on American university campuses.  The article focuses primarily on an incident last month at UCLA involving a meeting on the nomination of a Jewish student to the student Judicial Council. A student member of the Undergraduate Association Student Council began the question period by asking nominee Rachel Beyda: "Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?" This led to a 40 minute debate by Council members, with Beyda sent out of the room. Eventually she was approved, but only after an initial split vote against her. The president of the UCLA Hillel chapter says that this anti-Semitism is a carryover from anti-Israel activity: "The problem is the anti-Israel culture in which we are singling out only the Jewish state creates an environment where it’s O.K. to single out Jewish students."

Former NYPD Officer Sues Claiming Anti-Semitic Harassment From Co-Workers

JNS.org reported yesterday on a federal lawsuit filed last month by a former New York City Police Department officer charging that he was forced out of his position by six years of anti-Semitic comments and harassment from fellow officers.  The 26-page complaint (full text) in Attali v. City of New York, (SD NY, filed 1/21/2015), says that the abuse became particularly bad after plaintiff was assigned to the World Trade Center command in 2011.  It alleges, among other incidents, that beginning in January 2013:

Plaintiff ATTALI's co-workers, repeatedly, and without provocation, vandalized Plaintiff's locker at the WTC Command by writing hateful and abusive language and messages consisting of swastikas, newspaper clippings of pork, ham, salami and bacon advertisements, the word "DIRTY JEW" carved into an orange sticker and the following letters cut out of various newspaper headlines: "HAIL HITLER."

New Report On Antisemitism Presented To Israeli Government

Jerusalem Post reports that the Coordination Forum For Countering Antisemitism today presented to the Israeli government its 2014 Report on antisemitism. (Full text of report.) Here is an excerpt from the Report's Overview:

2014 was marked by an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents, acts of terrorism and attempted attacks against Jewish targets, primarily by parties identifying with extremist Islamic movements or with the radical right. At the same time, there was worsening trend in street harassment toward Jews, and verbal and physical violence, a phenomena which increased mainly in Western Europe, in proximity to synagogues and Jewish schools. An increase of 400% in the number of antisemitic incidents of was recorded in July-August 2014, compared to the previous year, following the Israel–Gaza conflict in Operation Protective Edge.

French and Israeli Officials Display Some Tensions After Supermarket Terrorist Attack

While most of the media depicted the turnout of world leaders at the Paris march against terrorism on Sunday as a show of unity, there appears to be a continuing tension between French and Israeli officials in the wake of the fatal attack at a kosher supermarket.

First, in a Jan. 12 article, Haaretz reported that originally French officials asked both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to stay away from the solidarity demonstration to avoid diverting attention to controversial issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Originally both leaders agreed. But then when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett-- both Netanyahu rivals in the upcoming Israeli elections announced they would attend the Paris demonstration, Netanyahu changed his mind. This led French officials to then extend an invitation to Abbas as well.  French President Hollande showed his anger by leaving the Sunday evening ceremony at the Great Synagogue in Paris as Netanyahu was about to speak. (I24 News reports that Foreign Minister Liberman denied that the French asked Netanyahu not to attend the Paris demonstration.)

Additional tensions have been created by the statement of condolence that Prime Minister Netanyahu issued Saturday evening in which he welcomed French Jews to emigrate to Israel, suggesting a threat to Jewish safety in France. (See prior posting.) Even before the terrorist attack, there has been increasing French Jewish emigration to Israel.  Reacting to that earlier trend, The Atlantic in a Jan. 10 article reports that French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: "[I]f 100,000 Jews leave, France will no longer be France. The French Republic will be judged a failure." Yesterday, according to the New York Times, the French Interior Minister said that 4,700 police officers would be sent to guard France's 700 Jewish schools and other institutions.

Then at the funeral in Israel today for the four victims of the Paris supermarket shooting, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said: "We cannot allow that in 2015, 70 years since the end of World War II, Jews are afraid to walk in the streets of Europe with skullcaps and tzitzit." (The Local).

In Wake of Terrorism, Broader Anti-Semitism In France Is Examined

In the wake of this week's terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, the media are beginning to examine more broadly the issue of rising anti-Semitism in France.  The Telegraph carries an article which begins:

The least surprising thing about today’s turn of events in Paris is that Jews are the target. Because when it comes to home grown anti-Semitism, France leads the world.... No wonder Jewish emigration from France is accelerating.

As reported by JTA, in the wake of the attacks, the Grand Synagogue of Paris was closed for Sabbath services for the first time since World War II.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement (full text) sending condolences to the French Jewish community and the French people, and saying to French and European Jews:

The State of Israel is not just the place to which you turn in prayer. The State of Israel is also your home. This week, a special team of ministers will convene to advance steps to increase immigration from France and other countries in Europe that are suffering from terrible anti-Semitism. All Jews who want to immigrate to Israel will be welcomed here warmly and with open arms. We will help you in your absorption here in our state that is also your state.”

Court Says Students Can Proceed With Claims of Anti-Semitic Harassment At School

In T.E. v. Pine Bush Central School District, (SD NY, Nov. 4, 2014), a New York federal district court refused to dismiss claims by three Jewish students that they suffered extensive anti-Semitic harassment from fellow-students while attending elementary school, middle school and high school. In a 76-page opinion, the court allowed students to proceed against the school district and various school officials in their individual capacities with claims under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 14th Amendment and the New York Civil Rights Law. Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Suit Alleges Anti-Hasidic Conspiracy By Two Municipalities

Invoking RLUIPA, the Fair Housing Act, the 1st and 14th Amendments as well as New York statutory and constitutional provisions, in a 66-page federal court complaint a Jewish school, developers and Orthodox Jewish residents sued the Village of Bloomingburg, NY and the adjoining Town of Mamakating alleging an anti-Semitic conspiracy to prevent more Hasidic Jews from moving into the area. The complaint (full text) in The Bloomingburg Jewish Education Center v. Village of Bloomingburg, New York, (SD NY, filed 9/8/2014), alleges in part:

The Village of Bloomingburg ... and the adjoining Town of Mamakating ,,,, acting on behalf of an aggressive and hateful group of residents, are engaged in a conspiracy to prevent Hasidic Jews from buying houses, establishing a private religious school, and operating businesses in their community. After members of the Hasidic community began to move into the area, Bloomingburg and Mamakating instituted a number of roadblocks designed to stop the community from growing. These municipalities are engaged in a series of patently illegal actions to block lawful, approved and long planned developments....

The Village and Town are seeking to use their political power, economic pressure, zoning laws and sheer intimidation to prevent a certain type of people from joining their community. This type of intolerance might sound like a story from the Civil Rights Era in the South. But it is unfolding right now in a municipality just 75 miles from New York City.

As reported by JP Updates:

The lawsuit is directed at Bill Herrmann, the Supervisor of the Town of Mamakating, who has said that “the people elected him to stop the Jewish infiltration,” and Frank Gerardi, the new Mayor of Bloomingburg, who’s claim to fame is that he was elected to prevent more of “those people” – Hasidic Jews – from moving into Bloomingburg.

British Group Rallies Against Rising Anti-Semitism

In Britain on Sunday, some 3500 to 4500 people gathered in front of London's Royal Courts of Justice to protest rising anti-Semitism in Britain. As reported by International Business Times, the rally was organized by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAAS) which said that Jews in Britain are facing levels of anti-Semitism not seen in almost a century. CAAS called on police to demonstrate a zero-tolerance for anti-Semitism.

School Officials Do Not Enjoy Immunity In Equal Protection Suit Claiming Anti-Jewish Fellow-Student Harassment

In Shiveley v. Green Local School District Board of Education, (6th Cir., Aug. 27, 2014), parents sued school board members for permitting the anti-Jewish harassment and bullying of their daughter by fellow students.  School board members claimed qualified immunity.  In a 2-1 decision, the court held that defendants were not entitled to immunity as to plaintiffs' equal protection claim.  The majority said:

It is difficult to imagine how any school administrator could think he would not be liable for allowing unregulated religious and gender-based persecution that spanned a four-year period.

The majority also held that defendants were not entitled to immunity on plaintiffs' state law claim that defendants were liable for negligence for making the deliberate decision not to enforce anti-bullying policies even though they knew of the bullying of their daughter, including a report that her name was on a "kill list."

All three judges agreed that plaintiffs were entitled to qualified immunity as to plaintiffs' substantive due process claim. saying that " it was not clearly established that school officials violate due process by failing to address student-on-student harassment."

Facebook Not Liable For Delay In Removing Page Containing Anti-Jewish Threats

In Klayman v. Zuckerberg, (DC Cir., June 13, 2014), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed a suit against Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg alleging assault and breach of duty of care growing out of Facebook's delay in removing a page titled "Third Palestinian Intifada."  The page proclaimed: "Judgment Day will be brought upon us only once Muslims have killed all the Jews." The suit alleged that it took Facebook "many days" after receiving complaints to remove the offending page.  Plaintiff sought an injunction and damages exceeding $1 billion.  The court held that Sec. 230(c) of the Communications Act (47 USC Sec. 230) shields Facebook from liability. That section provides:

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

DC Transit System Carries Competing Controversial Ads Sparked By Middle East Rivalries

The Washington Post reported last week on the latest round of competing advertising on the sides of Washington, DC's Metro buses.  In mid-March to mid-April, the Illinois-based group American Muslims for Palestine bought advertising space on the sides of 20 buses for an a banner ad featuring a drawing of Uncle Sam waving an Israeli flag, and reading: "We're Sweating April 15 So Israelis Don't Have To! Stop US Aid To Israel's Occupation!" In response to those ads which it described as "Jew-hating,"  the pro-Israel American Freedom Defense Initiative has purchased a month's worth of ads on the side of 20 buses beginning last Monday. Those ads feature a photo of Adolph Hitler with the mufti of Jerusalem who supported him, and read: "Islamic Jew-Hatred: It's In The Quran.Two-Thirds Of All US Aid Goes To Islamic Countries. Stop Racism. End All Aid To Islamic Countries."

New International Survey of Anti-Semitic Attitudes Released

The Anti-Defamation League today announced the release of its new worldwide survey of anti-Semitic attitudes, The ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism. The study surveyed 102 countries and territories in order to determine the level and intensity of anti-Jewish sentiment internationally.  According to the ADL's press release:

The survey found that anti-Semitic attitudes are persistent and pervasive around the world. More than one-in-four adults, 26 percent of those surveyed, are deeply infected with anti-Semitic attitudes.  This figure represents an estimated 1.09 billion people around the world.

The overall ADL Global 100 Index score represents the percentage of respondents who answered “probably true” to six or more of 11 negative stereotypes about Jews. An 11-question index has been used by ADL as a key metric in measuring anti-Semitic attitudes in the United States for the last 50 years.

The detailed results are also available from an elaborate interactive website. Among the survey's other findings were that anti-Semitism is highest in the Middle East & North African (MENA) region. The non-MENA country with the highest level of anti-Semitic attitudes is Greece. The the country in the Middle East with the lowest amount of anti-Semitic feeling is Iran.  Around the world, 35% of those surveyed had never heard of the Holocaust.