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Campus Antisemitism Higher in Absence of IHRA Definition Adoption, New Report Says
Graduating students rise in support of 13 students not able to graduate because of their participation in anti-Israel protests during the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US states that have not adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism experienced higher rates of antisemitism on university campuses after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel than those that have, according to a new report.
The nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) this week published research showing that the consequences of eschewing the IHRA definition, widely regarded as the best in the world and used globally by hundreds of governments and civic institutions, have been destructive. According to CAM, the six states that have not codified the definition in law accounted for nearly two-thirds — 63 percent — of all antisemitic incidents on campus that have been perpetrated in the last year. An increase in antisemitism, it claimed, was measured even in pro-IHRA states such as New York, where only a “symbolic” proclamation by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has recognized the definition’s utility.
“Any debate over the important and necessity of implementing the IHRA definition of antisemitism, overwhelmingly endorsed and accepted by the Jewish community, should have long been over,” CAM chief executive officer Sacha Roytman said in a press release. “Unfortunately, we are now looking at the direct results of a lack of implementation, and Jews, especially Jewish students on US campuses, are witnessing and feeling the results of neglect.”
In its research, CAM distinguished between states that “implemented” the IHRA definition through action such as legislation and others that “symbolically adopted it.”
IHRA, an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries including the US and Israel, adopted the non-legally binding “working definition” of antisemitism in 2016. Since then, the definition has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and well over 1,000 global entities, from countries to companies. The US State Department, the European Union, and the United Nations all use it.
According to the definition, antisemitism “is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” It provides 11 specific, contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the examples include denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist, and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.
To date, it has been embraced, via legislation or executive order, by 36 US states, including Ohio, New York, Virginia, Texas, Wyoming, and Georgia. However, there have been, across the world, fewer adoptions of IHRA so far in 2024 than in 2023, a fact that CAM described as regrettable given that antisemitism has surged globally during that time.
“Our research has shown that when states adopt and implement IHRA, antisemitism goes down. When they don’t, antisemitism goes up,” Roytman said in Tuesday’s statement. “The facts speak for themselves, and they should embarrass into action any decision maker at the state or federal level that has yet to fully implement IHRA. One cannot talk about fighting antisemitism and disregard the only acceptable tool to do so.”
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, anti-Israel activity on college campuses has reached crisis levels in the 12 months since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. According, to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), higher education saw a “staggering” 477 percent increase in anti-Zionist activity involving assault, vandalism, and other phenomena during the 2023-2024 academic school year.
The report added that ten campuses accounted for 16 percent of all incidents tracked by ADL researchers, with Columbia University and the University of Michigan combining for 90 anti-Israel incidents — 52 and 38 respectively. Harvard University, the University of California – Los Angeles, Rutgers University New Brunswick, Stanford University, Cornell University, and others, filled out the rest of the top ten. Violence, it continued, was most common at universities in the state of California, where anti-Zionist activists punched a Jewish student for filming him at a protest.
“The antisemitic, anti-Zionist vitriol we’ve witnessed on campus is unlike anything we’ve seen in the past,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said last month, after the report’s release. “The anti-Israel movement’s relentless harassment, vandalism, intimidation and violent physical assaults go way beyond the peaceful voicing of a political opinion. Administrators and faculty need to do much better this year to ensure a safe and truly inclusive environment for all students, regardless of religion, nationality or political views, and they need to start now.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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‘Evil Has Suffered a Severe Blow,’ Netanyahu Says After Sinwar Slain
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem on June 5, 2024. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
JNS.org – “Evil has suffered a severe blow,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday night following the confirmation of Hamas terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar’s death in a southern Gaza shootout.
“The man who committed the most terrible massacre in the history of our people since the Holocaust, the mass murderer who murdered thousands of Israelis and kidnapped hundreds of our citizens, was eliminated today by our heroic troops,” the prime minister said.
Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in the northwestern Negev, was shot dead on Wednesday by Israel Defense Forces troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah area, the army confirmed earlier on Thursday.
The Palestinian terrorist leader “was eliminated after hiding for the past year behind the civilian population of Gaza, both above and below ground in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip,” according to the IDF.
Netanyahu noted in his taped video statement on Thursday evening that “one year ago, we celebrated Sukkot. At that exact time, Yahya Sinwar was engaged in the final preparations for the Oct. 7 massacre.
“To the dear families of the hostages, I say: This is an important moment in the war. We will continue with all our strength until all your loved ones—who are our loved ones—return home,” the premier continued.
Netanyahu called on “everyone who holds our hostages” in the Strip to lay down their weapons and hand over the captives, promising that the Israeli military will allow terrorists who surrender to “leave and live.”
“Now it is clear to everyone, in Israel and throughout the world, why we insisted on not ending the war,” the longtime Israeli leader continued. “Why we insisted, despite all the pressure, to enter Rafah, the fortified stronghold of Hamas where Sinwar and many of the murderers hid.”
In a separate statement, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant noted that the Sinwar “joins a long series of eliminations,” including that of Hamas “military” leader Mohammed Deif and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.
“Sinwar died while beaten, persecuted and on the run. He didn’t die as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself. This is a clear message to all of our enemies—the IDF will reach anyone who attempts to harm the citizens of Israel or our security forces, and we will bring you to justice,” Gallant said in a statement released by his office.
Addressing Palestinian terrorists, he continued: “It is time to go out, release the hostages, raise your hands, surrender. Go out with the hostages, free them, and surrender,” Gallant concluded.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi issued a statement on Thursday night after he met with the soldiers who killed Sinwar.
“The troops acted correctly, with professionalism and determination—not because they knew Sinwar was there, but because our soldiers excel in every encounter with terrorists, in all sectors,” Halevi said.
“The boldness, determination and bravery of IDF troops operating in all arenas led us to him and brought about his end. We said we would get to him, and indeed, we got to him,” the general continued.
“We will not stop until we capture all the terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre and bring all the hostages home,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog likewise stressed that “we must act in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages who are still being held in horrific conditions by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
“I commend the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet and the security services for eliminating the arch-terrorist Yahya Sinwar,” the head of state said on social media. “Sinwar, the mastermind behind the deadly October 7th attack, has for years been responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians, citizens of other countries, and the murder of thousands of innocent people. His evil endeavors were dedicated to terror, bloodshed and destabilizing the Middle East.”
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President Biden’s Statement on the Death of Yahya Sinwar
US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
JNS.org – “Early this morning, Israeli authorities informed my national security team that a mission they conducted in Gaza likely killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. DNA tests have now confirmed that Sinwar is dead. This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.
As the leader of the terrorist group Hamas, Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and citizens from over 30 countries. He was the mastermind of the October 7th massacres, rapes, and kidnappings. It was on his orders that Hamas terrorists invaded Israel to intentionally—and with unspeakable savagery—kill and massacre civilians, a Holocaust survivor, children in front of their parents, and parents in front of their children.
Over 1,200 people were killed on that day, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, including 46 Americans. More than 250 were taken hostage, with 101 still missing. That number includes seven Americans, four of whom are believed to still be alive and held by Hamas terrorists. Sinwar is the man most responsible for this, and for so much of what followed.
Shortly after the October 7 massacres, I directed Special Operations personnel and our intelligence professionals to work side-by-side with their Israeli counterparts to help locate and track Sinwar and other Hamas leaders hiding in Gaza.
With our intelligence help, the IDF relentlessly pursued Hamas’s leaders, flushing them out of their hiding places and forcing them onto the run. There has rarely been a military campaign like this, with Hamas leaders living and moving through hundreds of miles of tunnels, organized in multiple stories underground, determined to protect themselves with no care for the civilians suffering above ground. Today, however, proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes.
To my Israeli friends, this is no doubt a day of relief and reminiscence, similar to the scenes witnessed throughout the United States after President Obama ordered the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011.
Israel has had every right to eliminate the leadership and military structure of Hamas. Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7.
I will be speaking soon with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them, to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people.
There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us.”
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Egypt’s Sisi Meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister
FILE PHOTO: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Saad/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday, Egypt’s presidency said in a statement.
The meeting focused on regional developments, with al-Sisi reiterating Egypt’s call to avoid the expansion of conflict and the need to halt escalation to prevent a full-scale regional war.
Araqchi emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to explore prospects for mutual development of relations between the two countries, the statement added.
Araqchi landed in Cairo late on Wednesday for talks with Egyptian officials, the first such visit in years as part of a Middle Eastern tour amid concerns of a wider confrontation in the region with Israel.
Tensions are high in anticipation of an Israeli attack on Iran in retaliation for Iran’s missile attack on Oct. 1. That followed a rapidly spiraling conflict between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Araqchi arrived for “important talks with Egypt’s high ranking officials that will be held tomorrow [Thursday],” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X on Wednesday, after stops in countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Lebanon.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have generally been fraught in recent decades but the two countries have stepped up high-level diplomatic contacts since the eruption of the Gaza crisis last year as Egypt tried to play a mediating role.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty traveled to Tehran in July to attend the country’s presidential inauguration.
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