Analysis
BDS Is Antisemitic
By Daniel Schwammenthal
Is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel antisemitic? The rhetorical question about the Pope and his faith comes to mind. The German Bundestag, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and former British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt are among a growing number of political players to recognize the BDS movement’s bigoted nature.
And yet, not everybody seems to understand that when the world’s only Jewish state is singled out for de-legitimisation and worse, we are dealing with the latest mutation of the world’s perhaps oldest hatred.
Is Denying Israel’s Right to Exist Antisemitic?
Who better to weigh in on antisemitism than Jews? AJC Chief Advocacy Officer Daniel Elbaum presents in The Times of Israel AJC’s just-released landmark survey of U.S. Jews: 84% believe the statement “Israel has no right to exist” is indeed antisemitic. Over 80% said the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement is mostly antisemitic or has antisemitic supporters.
UN Finally Confronts Antisemitism
A first in the world body’s history, a UN human rights expert issued a report dealing exclusively with antisemitism. Writing in The Times of Israel, Felice Gaer, head of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute, praised the historic report for confronting antisemitism as a human rights problem. It urges all UN countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, including Holocaust denial and the rejection of Israel’s right to exist.
Antisemitism at German Editors’ Desks
Germany’s leading weekly news magazine Der Spiegel faced heavy criticism for publishing a piece entitled ‘Lobbying in the Bundestag: How Two Organizations Control Germany’s Middle East policy.’ AJC Berlin’s Assistant Director Remko Leemhuis writes in The Algemeiner that the article - light on facts and rife with anti-Jewish tropes - is eroding the post-war consensus on antisemitism in Germany.
A Conversation with Pompeo
In this exclusive interview first aired at the Global Forum, AJC’s annual flagship conference held on June 2-4 in Washington, AJC CEO David Harris speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about rising anti-Semitism, the future of American global leadership, why the Trump Administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, and the need to bolster the crucial U.S.-Israel alliance.
Muslim World League and AJC Agree on Historic Visit to Auschwitz
AJC and the Muslim World League agree to cooperate against racism and extremism in all its forms and to further Muslim-Jewish understanding. Upon the invitation of AJC CEO David Harris, the League’s Executive Director H.E. Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa will lead in January 2020, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most senior Islamic delegation ever to visit the camp.
Counterpoint | Episode 3
This month’s edition of “Counterpoint,” the Transatlantic Institute’s talk show on EU politics and foreign affairs, focusses on EU-Israel relations as well as the UK Labour party's anti-Semitism problem and its impact on campus life. Host Daniel Schwammenthal is joined by Hannah Rose, President of the Union of Jewish Students of the UK and Ireland, and Lukas Mandl, Member of the European Parliament from Austria.
AJC Outraged Over Anti-Semitic Carnival Puppets in Aalst, Urges Belgian Government to React
Brussels – 7 March 2019 – The AJC Transatlantic Institute condemned the anti-Semitic puppets on display on Sunday at a carnival parade in Aalst, Belgium, and called for political consequences for the city’s mayor, Christoph D’Haese, who defended the carnival’s organizers for...
Highlights from "The Rise of Anti-Zionism: Countering the Threat to Jewish Life in Europe"
All the must-watch moments from a breakfast discussion entitled "The Rise of Anti-Zionism: Countering the Threat to Jewish Life in Europe", co-hosted by in the European Parliament by Members of the European Parliament Lukas Mandl (EPP), Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D),...
Counterpoint | Episode 2
The latest episode of "Counterpoint," the Transatlantic Institute’s talk show on EU politics and foreign affairs, takes stock of the Council Declaration on anti-Semitism. Host Daniel Schwammenthal is joined by Katharina von Schnurbein, the EU Commission Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism, and Heinz K. Becker, EU lawmaker from Austria.
Anti-Zionism is a Form of Anti-Semitism
Writing in “New Europe,” Michael Sieveking, Deputy Director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute, urges EU Member States to adopt and fully implement the IHRA Working Definition of anti-Semitism, which includes a provision on anti-Zionism.