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Antisemitism in Context
Reporting that leads to a greater understanding of antisemitism
Screenshots from videos taken at Makhachkala airport show rioters looking for Jewish passengers. Photo credit: Screenshots from videos shared by Nexta on X.
The videos of a mob breaking into Makhachkala International Airport in Russia’s Dagestan document a genuine pogrom.
Campus Conflicts
Incidents of antisemitism related to the Israel-Hamas war occurred on a number of U.S. college campuses over Halloween weekend, with the most serious event occurring at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where nearly a quarter of the student population is Jewish. A number of posts on a platform called Greekrank, a Cornell University forum, on October 28 and 29 threatened extreme violence and death to Jews on campus. There were several different usernames used to post these messages, including “kill jews,” “freedom,” “jew crimes” and “hamas soldier.” In response, Cornell increased police presence on campus, specifically around the university’s kosher dining hall, which is run by the Center for Jewish Living (CJL).
While the posts on Greekrank have since been removed, and the culprit has been arrested, according to NBC News, the fear remains. Many parents came to Cornell to pick up their children and take them away from campus. Other Jewish students have found alternative accommodations in Ithaca rather than remaining in the dormitories run by the CJL, situated right next to the kosher dining hall. Some students were afraid to leave their dorm rooms, choosing to skip classes for the time being.
As of November 3, Cornell’s Center for Jewish Living has received a great deal of support from around the world. Molly Goldstein, CJL’s president, told NPR that they had received gift baskets and that over 200 students gathered on November 2 to show their support for Cornell’s Jewish community. All the same, the university canceled classes on Friday, November 3, due to the extreme stress that many students were feeling after the previous week’s events.
In another incident of war-inspired anger, open violence broke out between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protestors at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 24. It began with one student grabbing an Israeli flag out of the hands of someone who was about to set the flag on fire. The incident at Tulane ended with a broken nose for the pro-Israel student, and another frustrated and grim message from the university’s president. One of the Tulane students who came to the aid of the injured student told The Washington Post that her grandfather is a Holocaust survivor and that she never expected to see this level of anti-Jewish violence in her lifetime.
Close to 25 percent of Tulane’s students are Jewish, putting the school consistently on top-ten lists of most-Jewish universities in America. Jewish students at Tulane who witnessed the physical altercation at the protest were shaken by what they saw. “It’s scary to be a Jew right now,” freshman Gabriel Rudelman told the campus newspaper, the Tulane Hullabaloo. “Even on a very Jewish campus.”
According to The Washington Post, Jewish students on college campuses “feel more vulnerable than ever before.” Universities across the country are responding to the crisis in markedly different ways. The University of Pennsylvania, which faced a backlash after the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in September, has unveiled an action plan to address antisemitism. The plan, put forth by President Liz Magill, includes developing a task force and establishing a student advisory group to improve the Jewish experience on campus and hiring experts in antisemitism and Islamophobia. At Harvard University, where 33 student groups initially supported a statement blaming Israel for the Hamas attack, President Claudine Gay recently announced the development of an advisory group to begin work on a plan to address antisemitism on campus.
United States, October 25, 2023
A Studio City, California, couple reported that a man broke into their home on the morning of October 25, shouted antisemitic insults at them, and threatened to kill them and their family. According to KTLA 5, the man, later identified as Daniel Garcia, shouted “I’m going to kill you because you are Jewish!” The couple fears that their mezuzah alerted him to their Jewish identity. Police say that Garcia, who at the time of the incident was just in his underwear, was likely intoxicated when he made these threats.
Turkey, October 30, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has firmly supported Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, justifying the actions as part of Palestinian liberation, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). In addition, antisemitic graffiti and signs have appeared in Istanbul and Izmir on streets and above shops that expressly insult and exclude Jews. One shop owner put up a sign over the door to his bookshop stating, “No Jews Allowed.” In Samsun, a city on the Black Sea, a politician told the media that he was “praying for the soul of Hitler” and that he believed the Holocaust is “unfinished.” Despite these events, Erdogan’s foreign ministry issued a statement denying that Turkey’s “rhetoric on Israel has been antisemitic.”
United Kingdom, October 30, 2023
A North London soccer club, the Panthera FC, has begun an investigation after a parent held their child back from a soccer game where they would have played against a team with Jewish members, the Maccabi Lions. Panthera issued a statement shortly after the incident reinforcing its commitment to inclusivity and their no-tolerance policy on discrimination and prejudice. According to Jewish News, the club sent a message to all parents and athletes saying that it “will not hesitate to take appropriate action, including removal from [the] club.”
The Netherlands, October 31, 2023
The Goldstoffs, a Jewish couple living in the southern area of Amsterdam, have decided to replace their traditional mezuzah with a “Camozuzah,” an innovation designed by an Irish rabbi in 2021. The Camozuzah appears to be an alarm sensor, but remains outside the door frame where a mezuzah is customarily placed. “It makes me breathe easier,” notes Marja Goldstoff. Since Hamas’s October 7 attack, more than 75 Jewish households have purchased the Camozuzah, according to The Times of Israel. While some express consternation about using the Camozuzah since its purpose is to hide a household’s faith or observance, others feel that, right now at least, the peace of mind that comes from replacing a mezuzah with this alternative is more important.
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Antisemitism, World War II and FDR’s “Arsenal of Democracy”—with Craig Nelson and Dan Raviv
From Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh to a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden to passengers of the St. Louis being denied entry, antisemitism and isolationism raged in the United States as Nazi Germany invaded Europe. Join historian Craig Nelson, author of the new book V is for Victory: Franklin Roosevelt’s American Revolution and the Triumph of World War II, for a conversation about how FDR’s leadership transformed the United States and helped defeat the Nazis. In conversation with former CBS News correspondent and Moment contributor Dan Raviv, in commemoration of D-Day which is the day prior.
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Can the world order that came out of World War II withstand the aggressiveness of Putin’s Russia, Xi’s growing authoritarianism and, most of all, Iran’s expanding influence in the Middle East? How does the war between Israel and Hamas threaten the world order? Join Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, and Moment Editor-in-Chief Nadine Epstein, for a wide-ranging conversation about the links between Russia, China, Iran and the strategies behind them.
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The Rise of Antisemitism Since October 7—with Ira Forman and Sarah Breger
Eighty-five years after the Nazi pogrom known as Kristallnacht, antisemitism is on the rise both domestically and abroad in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. Where is the line between antisemitism and anti-Zionism today? Has it changed since October 7th, and what can we do about it? Join Ira N. Forman, former U.S. State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism and director of Moment’s Antisemitism Monitor, and Moment Editor Sarah Breger for this important conversation about the current state of antisemitism around the globe.
More to Read
Stories from Moment picked by our editors
A Pro-Palestinian protester confronts a photographer during a march in Cambridge, MA on October 10, 2023.
How Israel’s Allies Are Addressing the War on Campus
Moment Book and Opinion Editor Amy E. Schwartz spoke with Miriam Elman, the executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, to discuss the war in Israel and how it is affecting life on college campuses.
Resources
Key reports and studies on antisemitism around the globe