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U.N. exhibit remembers when the world turned its back on stateless Jewish refugees
(New York Jewish Week) — In 2017, Deborah Veach went back to Germany, looking for the site of the displaced persons camp where she and her parents had been housed after World War II. They were in suspension, between the lives her parents led in Belarus before they were shattered by the Nazis, and the unknown fate awaiting them as refugees without a country.
To her dismay, and despite the fact that Foehrenwald was one of the largest Jewish DP centers in the American-controlled zone of Germany, she found barely a trace. A complex that once included a yeshiva, a police force, a fire brigade, a youth home, a theater, a post office and a hospital was remembered by almost no one except a local woman who ran a museum in a former bath house.
“It was sort of an accident of history that we were there in that particular camp in Germany, of all places, with no ties, no extended family, no place to call home,” said Veach, who was born at Foehrenwald in 1949 and lives in New Jersey. Now, “they renamed it. They changed the names of all the streets. There is nothing recognizable about the fact that it had been a DP camp.”
Veach is part of a now-aging cohort of children born or raised in the DP camps, the last with a first-hand connection to the experience of some 250,000 Jewish survivors who passed through them at the end of the war. To make sure memories of the camps survive them, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the United Nations Department of Global Communications have staged a short-term exhibit, “After the End of the World: Displaced Persons and Displaced Persons Camps.”
On display at U.N. headquarters in New York City Jan. 10 through Feb. 23, it is intended to illuminate “how the impact of the Holocaust continued to be felt after the Second World War ended and the courage and resilience of those that survived in their efforts to rebuild their lives despite having lost everything,” according to a press release.
Residents of a displaced persons camp in Salzburg, Austria. Undated, post-Second World War. (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research)
Among the artifacts on display are dolls created by Jewish children and copies of some of the 70-odd newspapers published by residents, as well as photographs of weddings, theatrical performances, sporting events and classroom lessons.
The exhibit is “about the displaced persons themselves, about their lives and their hopes and their dreams, their ambitions, their initiatives,” said Debórah Dwork, who directs the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the Graduate Center-CUNY, who served as the scholar adviser for the exhibition.
“There’s no point where the residents of these DP camps were just sitting around waiting for other people to do things for them,” she told the New York Jewish Week. “They took initiative and developed a whole range of cultural and educational programs.”
As early as 1943, as the war displaced millions of people, dozens of nations came to Washington and signed onto the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Authority. (Despite its name, it preceded the founding of the U.N.) After the war, the British and U.S. military were in charge of supplying food, protection and medical care in hundreds of camps throughout Germany and Austria, and UNRRA administered the camps on a day-to-day basis.
Early on, Jewish Holocaust survivors — some who suffered in concentration camps, others who had escaped into the Soviet Union — were put in DP camps alongside their former tormentors, until the U.S. agreed to place them in separate compounds. Unable or unwilling to return to the countries where they had lost relatives, property and any semblance of a normal life, they began a waiting game, as few countries, including the United States, were willing to take them in, and Palestine was being blockaded by the British.
Abiding antisemitism was not the only reason they remained stateless. “Jews were [accused of being] subversives, communists, rebels, troublemakers, and the world war quickly gave way to cold war, and with it the notion that Hitler had been defeated and what we have to worry about is the communists,” David Nasaw, author of “The Last Million,” a history of the displaced persons, told the New York Jewish week in 2020.
In 1948 and 1950, Congress grudgingly passed legislation that allowed 50,000 Jewish survivors and their children to come to the United States. The rest were eventually able to go to Israel, after its independence in 1948.
The U.N. exhibit focuses less on this macro history — which includes what became another refugee crisis for the Palestinians displaced by Israel’s War for Independence — than on life in the DP camps.
“The exhibition illustrates how the displaced persons did not shrink from the task of rebuilding both their own lives and Jewish communal life,” said Jonathan Brent, chief executive officer at YIVO, in a statement.
Among those rebuilding their lives were Max Gitter and his parents, Polish Jews who had the perverse good luck of being exiled to Siberia during the war. The family made its way to Samarkand, in Uzbekistan, where Gitter was born in 1943. After the war ended, his parents returned to Poland, but repelled by antisemitism sought refuge in the American zone in Germany. They spent time in the Ainring DP camp, a former Luftwaffe base on the Austrian border, and at a small camp called Lechfeld, about 25 miles west of Munich.
Dolls made by stateless Jewish children residing in a DP camp near Florence, Italy, known as “Kibbutz HaOved.” The dolls are attired in local costumes based on the districts of the Tuscan city of Sienna. (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research)
“I was there until we came to the United States when I was six and a half, so I have some very distinct memories and some hazy memories,” said Gitter, emeritus director and vice chair of the YIVO board. One story he hasn’t forgotten is how his father and a friend were walking through the camp when they came upon a long line of people. “They were from the Soviet Union, so they knew that when there’s a line that it might be of interest.” It turned out to be a line for the lottery that would allow them to get into the United States under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948.
The family came to the United States in 1950, to “pretty shabby lodgings” in the Bronx, before his father bought a candy store and moved to Queens. Max went on to attend Harvard College and Yale Law School, and became a corporate litigator.
Gitter’s brother was born in one of the camps, and the exhibit includes a poster depicting the population increase between 1946 and 1947 at the Jewish DP center Bad Reichenhall. The birthrate in the camps has often been described as evidence of the optimism and defiance of the survivors, but Dwork said the truth is somewhat more complicated.
“There was a very high birth rate among the Jews in DP camps. This is the age group of reproductive age, at 20 to 40,” she said. “However, this image of fecundity hides what was rumored to be a significant abortion rate, too. And women had experienced years of starvation. Menstruation had only recently recommenced. So many women, in fact, miscarried or had trouble conceiving to begin with.”
A chart by artist O. Lec depicts the natural population increase of the Jewish Center Bad Reichenhall, Germany, 1946-1947. There was a very high birth rate among the Jews in DP camps. (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research)
“There is no silver lining here,” she added. “People live life on many levels. On the one hand, DPs look to the future and look with hope; at the same time, they carry tremendous burdens of pain and suffering and trauma and trepidations about the future.”
Veach, a member of the YIVO board, hopes visitors to the exhibit understand that such trauma is hardly a thing of the past.
“I think the real lesson is that history keeps repeating itself,” said Veach, growing emotional. “Basically we have DPs on our border with Mexico, you have DPs from Ukraine. I don’t think people realize the repercussions for these people who are trying to find a place to live. These are good people who are just placed where they are by history.”
Gitter, who like Veach will speak at an event Jan. 24 at the U.N. marking the exhibit, also hopes “After the End of the World” prods the consciences of visitors.
“A lot of the countries, a lot of places, including the United States, would not accept Jews after the war,” he said. “The issue of memory, the issue of statelessness, the issue of finally there was some hope for the Jews in their immigration to Israel and the United States — that part of the story also needs to be told.”
“After the End of the World: Displaced Persons and Displaced Persons Camps” is on view from Jan. 10-Feb. 23, 2023, at the United Nations Headquarters, 405 E 42nd St, New York, Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Entrance to the United Nations Visitor Centre in New York is free, but there are requirements for all visitors. See the United Nations Visitor Centre entry guidelines.
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Jewish cuisine in Warsaw, 1938
ס׳איז לעצטנס אַרויס אַ העברעיִשע איבערזעצונג פֿון בני מערס בוך וועגן דעם פֿאַר־מלמהדיקן ייִדישן כאַראַקטער פֿון סמאָטשע־גאַס אין וואַרשע. דאָס נײַע בוך, „מורה דרך: ורשה היהודית 1938“, דינט ווי אַ מין וועגווײַזער פֿאַר ישׂראלדיקע לייענער פֿון יענעם באַרימטן ייִדישן קוואַרטאַל, באַטאָנענדיק זײַנע באַזונדערע מנהגים, מאכלים, לשון, ליטעראַטור, קולטור און רעליגיע. קיין שום פּרט אין בוך איז נישט אויסגעטראַכט – אַ חוץ דעם וואָס דער וועגווײַזער אַליין איז געשריבן געוואָרן הײַנט, און נישט אין 1938. אָט איז אַ טייל פֿון דעם קאַפּיטל וועגן דער ייִדישער קיך אין וואַרשע.
אינעם ייִדישן קוואַרטאַל פֿון וואַרשע געפֿינען זיך נישט קיין באַזונדערע מאכלים. די ייִדן וואָס זײַנען אַהין געקומען האָבן מיטגעבראַכט זייערע אייגענע שפּײַזן, און דערפֿאַר קאָן מען דאָ עסן אַלץ, הכּל-בכּל. נישט אומזיסט האָבן מיר אַ שם פֿון „וואַרשעווער פֿרעסערס“, און אויך איר, טײַערע געסט, וועט נישט אַרויס חלילה הונגעריקע.
טרינקען טרינקט מען דאָ קודם-כּל די בײַערישע ביר „האָבערבוש און שילע“ (וואָס ווערט פּראָדוצירט נישט ווײַט פֿון דער „גמינע“ — דאָס קהילה-הויז — אויף גזשיבאָווסקע גאַס), און דערצו טרינקט מען פֿאַרשיידענע וואָדקעס און ספּירט. לשם מצוות-אכילה עסט מען דערבײַ הערינג מיט ציבעלע, האַרטע אייער, אייער-קיכלעך (זיסע אָדער געזאַלצענע), וואַסער-פּלעצלעך, געפֿעפֿערטע אַרבעס (געלע) און אַ שטיקל פּינטאָשוו קעז. אין די קאָנדיטערײַען און קאַפֿעען גיט מען קרעם-, שאָקאָלאַדע- און עפּל-טשאַסטקעס (קוכנס), ווי אויך לעקעך.
אונדזער קיך האָט אַ שם געמאַכט מיט אירע שבתדיקע און יום-טובֿדיקע דעליקאַטעסן. אויפֿן וואַרשעווער שבתדיקן טיש וועט איר געפֿינען יויך, גענדז אָדער בעפֿשטיק, געפֿילטע פֿיש (כאָטש מיר האָבן ליב אויך ליטוואַקעס, דאָ זײַנען זיי צימעס זיס). שבת אין דער פֿרי עסט מען טשאָלנט (ד״ה טשונט, אויף אונדזער לשון), קישקע און פֿאַרשיידענע קוגלען און קאָמפּאָטן.
יעדן יום-טובֿ האָט זײַנע אייגענע מאכלים. פּורים, למשל, עסט מען יויך מיט קרעפּלעך, געפֿילטע פֿיש, אייער-חלה, קיכלעך פֿון האָניק און צימרינג, מאַנדלען-קיכלעך, המן־טאַשן, אונגערישן ווײַן און מעד. פּסח עסט מען זיסע מצה-מעל-קיכלעך געטונקען אין ווײַן.
פֿײַנשמעקערס וועלן דאָ אויך געפֿינען די פֿראַנצויזישע קיך מיט אַ ייִדישן טעם. אין אונדזער רעפּרעזענטאַטיווסטן קרוין־רעסטאָראַן, „פּיקאַדילי“, וואָס געפֿינט זיך אויף ביעלאַנסקע 5 (טעל׳ 23-116), לעבן טעאַטער נאָוואָשטשי, דערלאַנגט מען אַ גענדזענעם לעבער, געפֿילטע פּאָמידאָרן, געגליווערטן קאַרפּ, שוואַרצן און רויטן קאַוויאַר (פֿון דרײַ זלאָטעס אַ מיטאָג). אין די מער פּאָפּולערע רעסטאָראַנען (ווי די פֿון י’ עלקענבוים אויף סמאָטשע 27, טעל׳ 77-162) באַקומט איר פֿיש מיט קליסקעלעך, וועמפּלעך מיט קישקע, קרופּניק מיט פֿלייש, קאָטלעטן, זופּן, קלאָפּסקאַלעך מיט פֿערפֿל — און אַלץ פֿאַר איין זלאָטע, מער אָדער ווייניקער. אויך די רעסטאָראַנען „יאַגאָדע“ (טווואַרדע 26, טעל׳ 34-205), „A la minute“, אויף דער שוויינטאָקזשיסקע־גאַס 43 43-341), יעקבֿ אַרבעס, נאַלעווקעס 9 – וועט אײַך גאָרנישט שאַטן.
שפּאָרעוודיקע טוריסטן וועלן הנאה האָבן פֿון פֿאַרשיידענע מיטאָגן וואָס ווערן פֿאַרקויפֿט אין פּריוואַטע דירות. געוויינטלעך וועט איר נישט זען קיין שום שילד; די אינפֿאָרמאַציע געפֿינט זיך אין דער צײַטונג „אונזער עקספּרעס“ אָדער אין די מעלדונגען וואָס ווערן געטיילט צו די פֿאַרבײַגייערס. למשל: אַ מיטאָג פֿון פֿיר שפּײַזן מיט קאָמפּאָט קאָסט דאָ נאָר זיבעציק גראָשן (זאַמענהאָף 26, וו. 11).
די וואַרשעווער אָרעמעלייט עסן נעבעך הערינג, אָדער אַפֿילו שילאַווקעס — פּיצלדיקע גערויכערטע פֿיש. שילאַווקעס קאָסטן אַ פּאָר גראָשן, און מע פֿאַרקויפט זיי אין די הויפֿן (זומערצײַט פֿאַרקויפֿט מען אין די הויפֿן אויך פֿרוכטן און גרינס — בפֿרט אַרבוז און אוגערקעס). אויב איר בלײַבט נאָך הונגעריק מחמת חסרון-כּיס, קאָנט איר עסן „שיריים“ אין איינער פֿון די 400 וואַרשעווער שולן און בתּי-מדרשים.
אויך וועגעטאַריער האָבן דאָ וואָס צו עסן. אין „יענע גאַסן“, די גויִשע וואַרשע, זײַנען פֿאַראַן צוויי וועגעטאַרישע רעסטאָראַנען, אָבער אין דער אמתן זײַנען מיר גיכער מקנא די ייִדישע וועגעטאַרישע רעסטאָראַנען אין לאָדזש און ווילנע („וועגאַ“ און פֿאַני לעוואַנדאָס רעסטאָראַן).
ווי עס איז, וועט איר זען און הערן די בייגעלעך־הענדלערס: ייִנגלעך און מיידלעך, און אַמאָל אויך זייערע מאַמעס און טאַטעס וואָס האָבן נישט קיין אַנדערע ברירה ווי אַרויסצוגיין טאָג און נאַכט אין די גאַסן און פֿאַרקויפֿן צוויי ביז פֿינף בייגעלעך פֿאַר צען גראָשן. זײַט אַזוי גוט און קויפֿט-זשע בייגעלעך, איידער די פּאָליציי וועט קאָנפֿיסקירן זייערע סחורה. אין די קריזיס-יאָרן האָבן אַ סך סוחרים באַנקראָטירט, און זייערע קראָמען זײַנען פֿאַרוואַנדלט געוואָרן אין געשעפֿטן פֿון סאָדע-וואַסער אָדער לאָדעס — קויפֿט זשע אויך פֿון זיי.
די וואַרשעווער ייִדן האָבן ליב צו טרינקן טיי – בפֿרט מיט קאַנדל-צוקער און ציטרין, און אַ טיי פֿון אַ גרויסן סאַמאָוואַר איז ממש אַן עונג-שבת. נישט ווייניקער האָבן מיר ליב צו טרינקען קאַווע און זיצן אין קאַפֿעען. „לעצטנס האָט זיך דער מנהג צו גיין אין קאַוויאַרניעס איבערהויפּט פֿאַרשפּרייט אויך בײַ פּוילישע ייִדן,“ שרײַבט ד״ר א. גליקסמאַן, „און פֿיל אַזעלכע ייִדן, וואָס פֿלעגן אין אַמאָליקע צײַטן גיין בטלען אין בית-מדרש — בטלען איצט אין קאַוויאַרניע אויף אַ ציוויליזירטן אופֿן.“(„היינטיגע נייעס“, 13.1.1936).
די קאַוויאַרניעס פֿון דער גוייִשער וואַרשע זײַנען שיין און עלעגאַנט ווי אין אַנדערע גרויסע שטעט אין אייראָפּע. זיי זײַנען קלאַסישע אָדער מאָדערנע, און אויך די קליענטן זײַנען שיינע און עלעגאַנטע. איין חסרון נאָר: זיי האָבן נישט אַזוי ליב אַז מע רעדט ייִדיש, און בפֿרט אויף אַ קול. איז וואָס? איר האָט דאָך צענדליקער ייִדישע קאַפֿעען, ווי למשל די דרײַ קאַפֿע-קאָנדיטאָרײַען פֿון די ברידער סטודניאַ; די קאָנדיטערײַ בומאָוויטש (רינקאָווע 11, טעל׳ 66-405), אָדער פֿלידערבוים (טוואַרדע 26). זיי זײַנען אפֿשר נישט אַזוי פּרעכטיק ווי „אַדריִאַ“ אָדער „בריסטאָל“, אָבער איר וועט זיך דאָרטן פֿילן אין דער היים. ווי זאָגט מען: „וואָס דאַרפֿסטו ריידן גויִיש, מע זאָל זען אַז דו ביסט אַ ייִד?“ אין אונדזערע קאַפֿעען דערלאַנגט מען נישט נאָר פֿריש געבעקס, נאָר אויך לײַכטע מאכלים, ווי למשל הערינג אין אַ זעמעלע פּוטער.
דאָס ייִדישע וואַרשע בענקט אַ ביסל נאָך די אַמאָליקע ליטעראַרישע קאַפֿעען, ווי למשל יחזקאל קאָטיקס קאַוויאַרניע אויף די נאַלעווקעס, וואָס שלום עליכם האָט פֿאַראייביקט אין זײַן „מנחם-מענדל“. אָבער אויך הײַנט צו טאָג האָבן מיר אַ ליטעראַרישן אָלימפּוס: דאָס איז דער בופֿעט בײַ דעם ליטעראַרישן פֿאַראיין, אויף טלאָמאַצקע 13. און וואָס איז שלעכט מיט טרינקען סתּם אַ קאַווע אין רובענטשיק-קאַפֿע, וואָס געפֿינט זיך אין מיטן דער ייִדישער גאָרטן, ד״ה קראַשינסקיס פּאַרק?
****
לאָמיר פֿאַרענדיקן מיט אַ תּפֿילה פֿון אַ וואַרשעווער ייִדענע, אַז דאָס קוגל זאָל איר געראָטן (אויף איר אייגן לשון):
קיגל קיגל יאַך מאַך דיך געטרײַ,
געטרײַ וועל יאַך דיך מאַכן,
מע זאָל אויס מיר נישט לאַכן.
אין אויוון זאָלסטע שטײַן,
אין מויל זאָלסטע צעגײַן,
גיט זאָלסט זײַן ווי יעקבֿ
און רויט ווי עשׂו.
The post Jewish cuisine in Warsaw, 1938 appeared first on The Forward.
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JD Vance continues to minimize right-wing antisemitism as fringe influencers gain ground
(JTA) — Vice President JD Vance again downplayed the idea that conservatives should safeguard their ranks against antisemitism, a week after his ally Tucker Carlson hosted yet another antisemitic conspiracy theorist on his web show.
Vance’s latest brief comments, made Tuesday during an interview with conservative radio host and CNN pundit Scott Jennings, came in response to Jennings asking, “Does the conservative movement need to warehouse anybody out there espousing antisemitism in any way?”
“No it doesn’t, Scott,” the vice president replied, toward the end of their interview.
Vance continued by asserting that conservatives, drawing on Christian influences, were welcoming of all backgrounds.
“I think we need to reject all forms of ethnic hatred, whether it’s antisemitism, anti-Black hatred, anti-white hatred,” he said. “And I think that’s one of the great things about the conservative coalition, is that we are, I think, fundamentally rooted in the Christian principles that founded the United States of America.”
He added, “And one of those very important principles is that we judge people as individuals. Every person is made in the image of God. You judge them by what they do, not by what ethnic group they belong to.”
Vance’s comments follow a series of similar remarks by the vice president over the past month as major right-wing groups such as Turning Point USA and the Heritage Foundation grapple with the growing influence of Nick Fuentes and other openly antisemitic forces. Vance has also indicated his own skepticism in the U.S.-Israel relationship and stated that stopping immigration is the best approach to fighting antisemitism.
One Jewish conservative analyst still employed with Heritage — after a slew of employees left for a competing group — criticized Vance’s latest comments.
“Need a better answer from @JDVance on why the conservative movement should not tolerate antisemitism than what is effectively the equivalent of @TheDemocrats’ ‘…and Islamophobia’ response,” Daniel Flesch, a Heritage policy analyst for the Middle East and North Africa, posted on the social network X.
Flesch referenced his contention that Democratic leaders’ stock answer to addressing antisemitism is that it must be paired with addressing Islamophobia, rather than treated as its own unique problem.
Among Jewish conservatives’ biggest areas of consternation within the party right now: Carlson, the media figure who has platformed Fuentes and other conspiracy theorists while also maintaining close ties with Turning Point, Heritage and Vance himself. This week in Israel’s Knesset, a lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party denounced Carlson and fellow podcaster Candace Owens by name in an English-language speech.
Last week Carlson continued to fan the flames by hosting Ian Carroll, a conspiracy theorist who has proclaimed “Israel did 9/11”; that “Israel did their best to embellish and enflame the history books” on the Holocaust; and that sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was “working on behalf of Israel.”
Carroll has made inroads in the conservative media sphere for a while. He appeared on Joe Rogan’s mega-popular podcast last year and, in 2024, moderated a campaign event for then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., today President Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services. Carroll’s appearance on Carlson’s show came after both Trump and Vance refused to denounce Carlson for his friendly interview with Fuentes last year.
In their Jan. 2 interview, Carroll and Carlson primarily discussed the 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. Carroll shared numerous conspiracy theories about the events of that evening, during which the shooter also fired rounds at a jet fuel tank stored at a nearby airport.
“And then there’s things happening at the airport that are strange, that there’s some shooting happening at the airport. So it’s like, is this a gang war between the Italian mob and the Jewish mob? Is this a CIA operation that went wrong?” Carroll muses at one point. “Is this, like, a Mossad operation? Any of those things would need to fit the facts.”
Carroll continued, “In lieu of enough facts, you can try to fit a perpetrator to the facts and invent explanations that will work.”
Later in the interview, Carlson muses about Carroll directly to him, “I’ve never seen anybody come to prominence faster, ever, in our world. And that’s led to a lot of speculation that you’re, like, a CIA officer in disguise.”
Carroll then offers, “Or I’m like, Mossad.”
To which Carlson concludes, “My personal explanation is you’re just an amazing explainer and a diligent researcher, and you’re really interested in what’s true. And those are the three qualities that make a successful person in our world.”
The post JD Vance continues to minimize right-wing antisemitism as fringe influencers gain ground appeared first on The Forward.
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EU-Funded NGO Backed Online Platform Targeting Jewish Businesses in Catalonia
Supporters of Hamas demonstrate outside the Israeli Embassy in Madrid, Oct. 18. Photo: Reuters/Guillermo Yllanes Gonzalez
The controversial online platform mapping Jewish-owned businesses, schools, and Israeli-linked companies in Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain, was promoted by an EU-funded non-governmental organization.
On Tuesday, NGO Monitor — an independent Jerusalem-based research institute that tracks anti-Israel bias among nongovernmental organizations — released new information showing that Engineers Without Borders – Catalonia (ESF-C) and Universities with Palestine (UAP) jointly promoted the BarcelonaZ project on social media, identifying themselves as its primary backers.
First reported by the local Jewish outlet Enfoque Judío, the interactive map was launched by an unidentified group claiming to be “journalists, professors, and students” on the French-hosted mapping platform GoGoCarto.
As a publicly accessible and collaboratively created online platform, the map marked over 150 schools, Jewish-owned businesses — including kosher food shops — and Israeli-linked as well as Spanish and international companies operating in Israel, labeling them as “Zionist.”
“Our goal is to understand how Zionism operates and the forms it takes, with the intention of making visible and denouncing the impact of its investments in our territory,” the project’s website stated.
According to NGO Monitor’s newly released report, ESF-C is a European Union–funded NGO running a Youth Internship Program subsidized by the Public Employment Service of Catalonia, with 40 percent co-financing from the European Social Fund Plus — the EU’s primary program for funding employment, education, and social initiatives.
The EU Financial Transparency System shows that ESF‑C partnered on two EU grants worth about $2.8 million from 2019 to 2023 and received at least $164,000 in funding.
Jewish leaders in Spain have strongly denounced the BarcelonaZ initiative, warning that it fosters further discrimination and hatred against the community amid an increasingly hostile environment in which Jews and Israelis continue to be targeted.
“The mapping and boycotting of Jewish businesses in Catalonia is an echo of some of the darkest chapters in history, including the prelude to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany,” the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Director of European Affairs, Shannon Seban, said in a statement.
“The organizers of this initiative put a target on the backs of Spanish Jews, at a time when Jews are being hunted across the globe, as seen so horrifically in Australia just three weeks ago,” she said, referring to the deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, which killed 15 people and wounded at least 40 others.
“Clear incitement to violence of this nature must not be platformed or tolerated by internet companies or government authorities,” Seban continued.
On its website, ESF-C describes its mission as promoting “a fair international society, which does not exclude anyone,” and highlights its commitment to “non-denominationalism and non-partisanship.” Yet, the NGO’s 2024 annual report also asserts that it “cannot ignore the Palestinian resistance, a clear expression of the struggle for freedom of all oppressed peoples.”
In a social media post, the NGO also accused Israel of “genocide” during its defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, describing its platform as “a resource designed to inform, raise awareness, and mobilize the educational and student community in Catalonia.”
“The attacks that began on Oct. 7 have involved water and electricity cuts, the boycott of essential water infrastructure, and the contamination of Palestinian water sources,” ESF-C wrote in an Instagram post, without mentioning the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
“The violation of these basic rights is a key weapon used by the State of Israel to perpetuate genocide,” the statement read.
NGO Monitor also revealed that UAP is a network of Catalan faculty- and student-led anti-Israel organizations that co-sponsored the BarcelonaZ project.
Last year, UAP organized a “People’s Court” at Complutense University of Madrid on what it called the “Palestinian genocide,” with attendance from several terror-linked NGOs and individuals, including Samidoun, Masar Badil, Al-Haq, and Raji Sourani, NGO Monitor reported.
Several community organizations have filed complaints with GoGoCarto, demanding the site’s removal and arguing that it violates French laws against hate speech and discrimination.
Earlier this week, GoGoCarto announced it had removed the BarcelonaZ project from its website after local groups denounced the initiative as blatantly antisemitic and dangerous.