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Growing antisemitism: We need Holocaust education for young people

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder writes in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, “History teaches us that if we don't pay close attention, if we ignore the warning signs all around us, if we fail to counter antisemites with the truth, honesty and strict legislation, then in the end, all people will suffer.” Read More... 

#WeRemember: WJC commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Last week’s events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day took on new forms as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn about the many moving displays and creative acts of remembrance from around the world through WJC’s #WeRemember Campaign. Read More... 

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder calls for Congressional action to bar Rep. Greene from House Committees

WJC President Lauder said, “Antisemitism, white supremacy, xenophobia, anti-Muslim bigotry, and all other forms of racial, ethnic or religious hatred have no place in our political discourse and represent the most dangerous elements of society.” Read More... 

World Jewish Congress and Jewish Council of the Emirates celebrate first-ever International Day of Human Fraternity

Commenting on the significance of the occasion, President Lauder said, “The International Day of Human Fraternity embodies the hope for the future that lies ahead, where there is more love than hate, more peace than war, more brotherhood and sisterhood than sectarian strife." Read More... 

OpEd | Commitments made on Holocaust Remembrance Day must also extend to Iranian threats against the Jewish state

“The singularity of the Holocaust forbids us from making frivolous comparisons with Nazism, but in this case the comparison must be made because, it is the undisputed official government policy of Iran to destroy the Jewish people, just as it was with the Nazis,” writes WJC Executive Vice President Maram Stern. Read More... 

OpEd | Antisemitism makes a comeback in Germany

"The ghosts of Germany’s chilling past have never disappeared entirely, as is evidenced by the resurgence of far-right extremism, neo-Nazi activities, and the targeting of Jews in schools and elsewhere," writes WJC Associate Executive Vice President Menachem Z. Rosensaft in Tablet. Read More... 

WebTalk | The Last Million: Europe's displaced persons from World War to Cold War

In a conversation with WJC Associate Executive Vice President Menachem Z. Rosensaft, City University of New York Professor David Nasaw discusses the gripping yet relatively hidden story of postwar displacement and statelessness. Watch Now... 

Biden administration "embraces and champions’" IHRA antisemitism definition, senior official confirms | Times of Israel 

“We must educate ourselves and our communities to recognize antisemitism in its many forms, so that we can call hate by its proper name and take effective action,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Kara McDonald. Read More... 

Swiss Jewish community launches legal action against far-right group for re-publishing Protocols of the Elders of Zion 

Explaining the decision to pursue legal action, Swiss Federation of Jewish communities president Ralph Lewin said, “It is irritating and repulsive that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are still being disseminated." Read More... 

Canadians overwhelmingly concerned by online hate speech  

Ninety-three percent of Canadians are concerned by online hate speech and racism. Nearly half (49%) of the respondents questioned in the survey stated that hateful content is a very serious problem. Read More... 

January 2021: Antisemitism in review 

Among the dozens of concerning incidents and reports were dozens of protesters in the Czech Republic wearing a yellow Star of David to protest the coronavirus vaccine and the desecration of walls of a Jewish cemetery near the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp with swastikas. Read More... 

Parties register slates for upcoming Knesset election

The slates outlining each party's list of candidates in the upcoming election were handed to the Central Elections Committee before the deadline at midnight on Thursday night. Read More... 

Alleged sex offender Malka Leifer extradited to Australia | Australian Jewish News

Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin said, “We welcome the news from Israel that Malka Leifer is now en route to Australia following the completion of her extradition process after many years of delay and deception by Leifer that caused tremendous suffering to her alleged victims.” Read More... 

High Israel contagion rates blur effect of Pfizer shot on virus transmission | Times of Israel

The Health Ministry announced that beginning Thursday, all Israelis aged 16 and over would be able to set an appointment to be vaccinated, dropping the age limit from its previous minimum of 35. Read More... 

Ambassador Dan Shapiro comes home to Joe Biden’s Washington | Table

American Jewish groups imagine the former U.S. envoy as a xxxxxx protecting Israel against Democratic Party radicals—but is that more about hope, or anxiety? Shapiro is likely to be one of the people the next ambassador reports to—and a key player in any new Iran agreement. Read More... 

OpEd | Education about the Holocaust is key to combating conspiracy theories today

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO and Irwin Cotler, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism write, “We need Holocaust education and critical thinking skills that are as powerful as the information devices we hold in our hands. Unfortunately, we are not there yet." Read More... 

OpEd | Luxembourg takes a strong step towards justice - others in Europe should do the same

Chair of the European Alliance of Holocaust Survivors Charles Goerens and World Jewish Restitution Organization Chair of Operations Gideon Taylor write that Luxembourg’s decision to compensate Holocaust survivors “serves as a powerful commitment to celebrate the rich contribution of Jews in Luxembourg and memorialize the horrors Jews suffered during the Holocaust.” Read More... 

OpEd | No more lies. My grandfather was a Nazi.

“The man I had believed was a savior who did all he could to rescue Jews during World War II had, in reality, ordered all Jews in his region of Lithuania to be rounded up and sent to a ghetto where they were beaten, starved, tortured, raped and then murdered,” writes Silvia Foti in The New York Times. Read More... 

Iran state TV airs launch of new satellite-carrying rocket | The Associated Press

Iran says its satellite program, like its nuclear activities, is aimed at scientific research and other civilian applications. The U.S. and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the program because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles. Read More... 

Canada designates 13 additional groups as terrorist entities

CIJA CEO, Shimon Koffler Fogel, issued the following statement: "Regardless of their ideology, be they Islamist, Neo-Nazi, or White Supremacist, these groups fan the flames of hatred and antisemitism to the detriment of us all. We welcome these additions to the list." Read More... 

OpEd | 2021: A promising year for Bahrain and Israel 

“While history was made this past year between our two great countries, in many ways, 2021 will be even more exciting as the impact of the Abraham Accords begins to come to fruition," writes Bahrain’s former ambassador to the United States Houda Nonoo. Read More... 

Secretary Blinken sits down with NBC's Andrea Mitchell

In his first TV interview since his confirmation, Secretary Blinken discussed a range of topics including Iran, saying that said Tehran is “a matter of weeks” away from being able to produce enough material for a nuclear weapon if it continues to breach the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Read More... 

Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed as Homeland Security secretary | JTA

During his confirmation hearing Mayorkas, a Cuban-born son of a Holocaust survivor, stated, "I am profoundly aware of the threat and existence of antisemitism in our country and the world." Read More... 

OpEd | Our shared human fraternity against racism and extremism 

“As we commemorate the first International Day of Human Fraternity this year, let us first take a moment to reflect on the common successes of the human family in 2020. Last year, amid the global pandemic, the world saw fine examples of cooperation and reciprocal understanding,” writes WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps Marcos Roca. Read More... 

5 February 1840 |  The Damascus Blood Libel accusation begins

Following the disappearance of Catholic Capuchin friar Father Thomas, and his Muslim servant, Ibrahim Amaraa rumor circulated among the residents of Damascus accusing the Damascene Jewish Community of murdering the two men and using their blood to make matzah. The rumor led to the arrests and death of innocent Jews. Read More... 

4 February 1936 | Croatian Jew murders Swiss Nazi leader Gustloff 

David Frankfurter, a 26-year-old Jewish Croatian medical student, murdered the head of the Foreign Section of the Nazi Party in Switzerland, Wilhelm Gustloff. Following the murder of Gustloff, Frankfurter walked to a neighboring home, where he asked to make a phone call and then proceeded to confess to police. Read More... 

1 February 2003 | Space Shuttle Columbia explodes upon return to Earth

The explosion killed all seven astronauts on board, including Israeli Colonel Ilan Ramon. Prior to the mission, Ramon consulted with Chabad rabbi Zvi Konikov on how to observe Shabbat in space and joked, “Jerusalem, we have a problem!” Read More...