UNESCO’s vote on Jerusalem leads the ADC’s list of top five anti-Semitic/anti-Israel incidents of 2016

The ADC has ranked UNESCO’s denial of Jewish history in Jerusalem as the most prominent example of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel occurrence in 2016. In its list, the organisation also includes the UN’s continuous condemnation of Israel, the Iranian’s government repeated threats of destruction against Israel and Holocaust denial, the Palestinian authority’s incitement and violence,  and the outbreak of anti-Semitism in the U.K. Labour party.

THE TOP FIVE INCIDENTS OF GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM IN 2016

1. UNESCO’s denial of Jewish history in Israel. The toxic vote by the UNESCO Executive Board that re-named the Temple Mount as al-Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif and  referred to the Kotel as “the Burka plaza’.  UNESCO’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israel resolution embraced a false narrative which denies two thousand years of Jewish history and Israel’s irrefutable connection to these holy places. This was an effort to erase the Jewish people’s eternal connection to this holy site and to delegitimize the Jewish state.
2. President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. President Abbas’ claimed in a speech before the European Parliament that “certain rabbis in Israel have said very clearly to their government that our water should be poisoned in order to have Palestinians killed” and that Israel was responsible for terrorism in the world. His speech, full of old-age anti-Semitic blood libels, was met with a standing ovation by the parliamentarians present.  This formed part of the Palestinian authority’s  systematic spreading of anti-Semitic libels, and its indoctrination of young people to hate Israelis and Jews. This virulent incitement has resulted in a wave of terrorism that has claimed the lives of many Israelis.
3. The anti-Semitism scandal plaguing the British Labour Party. After several members were suspended for making anti-Jewish and anti-Israel comments, British Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn ordered an inquiry into allegations of anti-Semitism. The Chakrabarti report oddly, but expectedly, concluded that anti-Semitism was not deeply entrenched or endemic within Labour.  British Prime Minister Theresa May accused the UK’s opposition Labour Party of “tolerating anti-Semitism and supporting voices of hate.”
4. The Iranian government. Iran’s Holocaust denial, symbolised by its Holocaust cartoon competition, anti-Semitic hate speech and repeated calls for the destruction of Israel. Earlier in the year, Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles, one of them with the phrase “Israel should be wiped off the Earth” written on it in Hebrew, and Iran’s Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guard has said that it has over 100,000 missiles in Lebanon alone ready for the “annihilation” of Israel.
5. The U.N anti-Israel obsession, and open expression of anti-Semitism. It is small wonder that outgoing U.N. Secretary Ban Ki Moon has this week admitted that the U.N has shown an anti-Israel bias, stating that the UN has had a disproportionate number of resolutions, reports and committees against Israel.” In 2016, the U.N continued to provide a platform for groups and NGOs that encourage violence against Jews and promote the destruction of Israel. Various ambassadors have used their bully-pulpit to compare Zionism to Nazism and the U.N has named Israel the world’s top violator of women’s rights to name but just a few examples. In November alone, The United Nations General voted on 10 anti-Israeli resolutions, while only three resolutions dealt with the rest of the world. This has led Israel’s ambassador to the U.N Danny Danon to declare that the U.N “is a place where some are not ashamed to spread lies and slander about Israel and the Jewish people.”

IN AUSTRALIA

The surge in anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic expression. In 2016, we witnessed a sharp rise in graffiti attacks, the distribution of Holocaust denial and neo-Nazi flyers at Australian universities, the abuse and victimization of Jewish school students, anti-Semitic posts on the pages of Australian media outlets, the ongoing trivialization of the Holocaust by commentators and cartoonists, and the threats, harassment and physical assaults against Jews.

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:

“It is not surprising the UNESCO’s denial of Jewish history leads our list. But they are not alone. The incidents we have detailed clearly demonstrate that the levels of global anti-Semitism, here and abroad,  are at their highest since the end of World War II, and are often promoted by mainstream organisations such as the UN. The escalation of anti-Semitism in Australia is a cause of concern and alarm.  It means that we are facing enormous challenges in dealing with this burgeoning threat, and that we have to redouble our efforts and raise our voice against this cancer infecting our society and world.”