Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

Tanqueray managed to get out of prison and secured a scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Technology. She hated attending the school but said she loved the fact that it led her to her real passion for designing clothes and costumes for strippers and porn stars in the old Times Square.

"All I did was gay bars: drag queen contests, Crisco Disco, I loved the whole scene. And I couldnt get enough of the costumes. My friend Paris used to sit at the bar and sell stolen clothes from Bergdorf and Lord and Taylors, back before they had sensor tags," she said in the viral posts, which racked up millions of views and likes on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

"So I had the best wardrobe: mink coats, 5-inch heels, stockings with seams up the back. I looked like a drag queen, honey. One night a Hasidic rabbi tried to pick me up because he thought I was a tranny. I had to tell him: Baby, this is real fish!' the post read.

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'Baby This Is Real Fish': Internet Demands Ex-Stripper With Wild Life Stories And A Knack For Telling Them Get A Book Deal - Blavity

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Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

Israelis Maayan Kline and Ashriel Ashush may look like just another young tourist couple traveling around the United States in a van with their dog, a Belgian Malinois named Benzi. But these are no ordinary tourists. Two of them are also genuine heroes, and one of those heroes is the dog.

A few months ago, they arrived at Chabad of Solano County in Vacaville while traveling in their 2004 Dodge Ram named Nissim (Hebrew for miracles). Their trip through California followed an extended tour of Asia and India that started after they married two years ago.

We were couch-surfing in Vallejo, planning to go to Napa and Sonoma, and we Googled Jewish in the area, and Chabad of Solano County came up, so we called here, Kline said.

Security concerns were the first thing Rabbi Chaim Zaklos said came to mind when he got the call. I was skeptical, even though they were speaking in Hebrew, so I asked if they knew any rabbis, and one they mentioned was a former classmate of mine who is now in Cambodia, Zaklos recalled. He verified he knew them, and all was well.

We had intended to stay just for one weekend, said Ashush, 33, but when we went to start Nissim that Sunday, it wouldnt start, and we came to feel comfortable and welcomed, and that began our extended stay here.

The trio has been a definite conversation starter, Zaklos said. They have been contributing to the community at least as much as were contributing to their journey, he said. And theyve contracted some of the contagious Hasidic joy since theyve been here. They greet visitors with that, and their youthful spirit. We feel this is our small way of showing our appreciation to those who have served our people in the Holy Land.

Kline, 26, actually met Benzi before she met Ashush. She served in a K-9 unit in the Israel Defense Forces, and the dog was trained in explosives and munitions detection. Both were part of a team that searched a captured Iranian ship in the Red Sea in 2014, uncovering a cache of rockets believed destined for Sudan.

Kline trained for nearly a year in the elite Oketz K-9 unit before Benzi was assigned to her. The dog had washed out of the attack unit and joined her in munitions detection. (There are separate K-9 units that train for attack, chases, rescues and finding bodies, she said.)

He was nervous, but it was love at first sight, she said.

She and Benzi were involved in sniffing out hidden ammunition, firearms and underground explosives factories, going into homes and other buildings in the West Bank and sometimes facing residents who were violently opposed to their presence. The first time we were shot at, Benzi pooped, she said.

The Eilat mission on the Red Sea, one of Klines first, began with a phone call on a Friday as she made her way home for the weekend.

Intelligence already knew there were munitions hidden on the ship, among the stuff that was supposed to be there soil, I think, she said. We didnt know if the crew knew and were in on it or not. The navy had captured and boarded the ship the night before, and we needed to determine if the crew were combatants or not, and we had to get there as quickly as possible.

The mission got a lot of attention and a team commendation.

The prime minister and the president came and spoke to us, gave us credit for working so hard, Kline said. It was obvious that we may have saved millions.

When her military service was up, Kline set out to accomplish her childhood dream of traveling the world. She wanted to take Benzi with her, but the army wasnt ready to release him from duty. So she submitted a petition for his release and in the meantime went to Africa, until she finally received word she could take Benzi home.

Theyd tried pairing him with several other handlers and none of them worked out, Kline said. He was too attached to me and me, too so they let me take him. My parents wouldnt let me bring a dog home, so I found a place to live in Jerusalem and got a job at a restaurant.

Thats where she met Ashush, a teacher and massage therapist with Tunisian Jewish roots. The two quickly discovered a mutual love of traveling. Im not satisfied with my small world. I wanted to explore. This is how I learn best seeing the people and the cultures, said Kline, whose father is from Zimbabwe and mother from the U.S. I told Ash immediately that this was my plan, and we decided we would do this together.

The pair made trips to Eastern Europe and it became obvious that this was meant to be, she said. So, two months after we were married, we left.

While traveling through Asia and India, the newlyweds stopped at Chabad houses some 25 of them along the way. In Thailand, Ash ran into someone he knew who suggested he and Kline come to L.A. and stay with him. Thats how they ended up in California, where they were finally able to send for Benzi.

The couple agrees that the where and when of their journey is being directed by a higher power, so they dont yet know when theyll be moving on or where their next stop will be.

This is an amazing journey. Its the people we meet along the road where we find community and inspiration, Ashush said. Hes come to believe that the Jews earthly mission may be to learn how to get along with each other, so we can teach [that secret formula] to the world.

Added Kline: Our journey is about finding the truth for ourselves. And weve found that deep down, most of us all want peace.

Despite their love of travel, they say there is still no place like home.

When we decide to settle down, they said, we will obviously go home to Israel.

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An Israeli couple, a hero dog, and a van that wouldn't start - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

Jews first arrived in what is today Iraq in the sixth century BCE, after the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar sacked Solomons Temple. It was from there that Ezra and Nehemiah led returning exiles back to Jerusalem. It was there that the Babylonian Talmud was debated, compiled, and codified. And it was there, in 1941, that the Farhuda violent pogromleft hundreds of Baghdads Jews dead and thousands injured.

While there were many phases in this 2,600-year-long history, Jews knew numerous prosperous periods in the land between the two rivers. They were politicians, jurists, doctors, businessmen. There was even a Jewish Miss Baghdad.

Today that community is all but gone.

In the prologue, My Heart Is in the East, host Mishy Harman talks to Edwin Shuker, whose family fled Baghdad in 1971, about his hopes for a new Golden Age for Iraqi Jews.

Act I: You Cannot Clap With One Hand. This is a story of daring escapes, ISIS, volunteerism, and the endless human spirit. Oddly enough, it is also a story of the legacy of the Holocaust. While generations of Israeli high school students have visited concentration camps and promisedin sincere voicesnever again, a Jewish grandma from Jerusalem named Lisa Miara made never again the guiding principle of her life. Producer Joel Shupack brings us a tale of one fearless woman who was compelled, because of what happened to her own people less than 80 years ago, to get up and act.

Ari Wenig wrote the original music in You Cannot Clap With One Hand. Joel Shupack arranged the music for the rest of the episode, and for parts of Act I with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Shai Satran and Mishy Harman edited the story, and Sela Waisblum mixed the episode, which was recorded in Jonathan Friedlanders Quality Sound Studio in Jerusalem. The end song is a new cover we commissioned of Boney M.s Rivers of Babylon. It was recorded, arranged, and performed by Shay Perry.

Listen to the full episode here, or download it from iTunes. You can hear all of Israel Storys episodes in English here and in Hebrew here.

Israel Story, the English-language version of the popular Israeli radio program Sipur Israeli, is distributed by PRX and produced in partnership with Tablet.

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By the Rivers of Babylon - Tablet Magazine

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

The Bank of Lithuania is planning to issue a new collectable 10 coin to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of leading 18th century Jewish thinker the Vilna Gaon.

Born in 1720 as Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, the Vilna Gaon was a prominent Jewish adjudicator and the foremost leader of the Misnagdim, a countermovement to the Hasidic movement in eastern Europe. Through his commentary on the Talmud and other texts, he became one of the most familiar and influential figures in rabbinical study since the Middle Ages.

The front of the coin

The coin is set to be released in the second quarter of 2020, and will be the continental currency's first mintage to feature an inscription in Hebrew.

The obverse of the coin bears the symbol of Lithuanian Jews (Litvaks) a stylized menorah representing the community's identification as citizens since the 14th century reign of Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Above it is the denomination (10), below is the inscription LIETUVA (meaning 'Lithuania' in the local language), the year of issue (2020), the hallmark of the creative team and the mintmark of the Lithuanian Mint.

The coin is encircled with the inscription The Year of the Vilna Gaon and the History of the Jews of Lithuania in Lithuanian and Hebrew, as well as the number 5780 - the year in the Jewish calendar that corresponds to 2020.

The back of the coin

The reverse of the coin bears two signs: the Hebrew crown-shaped letter Shin () which in gematria (attributing a numerical value to letters) represents the number 300, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of his birth, and " an acronym for Ha Gaon Rabbi Elyahu, meaning Gaon (Genius) Rabbi Elijah.

Pad-printing technology was used to highlight the abbreviation of his name and the letter Shin.

The bottom of the coin features a symbolic Torah scroll bookending the engraved number 300. The reverse also bears the inscriptions the Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman in the Lithuanian and Hebrew languages.

The new doubloon will be released under the motto "Vil, nor Gaon" - a popular Yiddish phrase common among Litvak families since the times of the Vilna Gaon which roughly translates to If you will it, you too can be a genius and encourages children to achieve their goals.

Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania Yossi Avni-Levy praised the Lithuanian Mint's gesture.

"This is a very beautiful tribute on behalf of the Lithuanian government to the glorious Jewish heritage of Vilnius on the 300th anniversary of the Gaon's birth," said Avni-Levy.

But not everyone is content with this new commemorative initiative, as claims emerge that the hollowed-out menorah symbol on the coin's observe - representing the Lithuanian Jewry - has been appropriated by far-right and neo-Nazi groups in the Baltic state.

Vilnius-based Jewish author and educator Dovid Katz protested the mint's action on Defending History, a web journal combating Holocaust revisionism in Eastern Europe.

"Genuinely good intentions have apparently been undermined by taking bad advice from ultranationalist quarters and in some cases, their ever-enthusiastic agents and honorees," wrote Katz.

"When the symbol occurs in medieval forms and contexts, in interwar contexts, and today on official government agency emblems, it is benign and legitimate. The point is that in recent years and decades it has been weaponized as a symbol beloved of the antisemitic far-right."

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Lithuania to issue first-ever euro coin featuring Hebrew inscription - Ynetnews

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

On May 4, 1945, five days after Hitlers death, African-American soldiers in the 761st Tank Battalion led the liberation of nearly 15,000 Jewish prisoners at the Gunskirchen concentration camp in Austria.They had sacrificed mightily to get there, suffering heavy casualties during the Battle of the Bulge. Even before arriving in Europe, they had sacrificed, having battled for the right to join combat units reserved for white soldiers.They were true heroes who, in the face of oppression at home, fought to defend oppressed Jews in a foreign land. When the soldiers of the 761st arrived back in America, they were greeted by segregation and Jim Crow. The benefits of the G.I. Bill, which expanded the economic horizons of so many white veterans by offering them housing and higher education, were largely not extended to African-Americans.But unlike before the war, African-Americans were not alone. In the decade after the World War II ended, over 100,000 displaced Jews immigrated to the United States. Fresh in their memories were the faces of their liberators, white and black alike.These survivors were stunned to find a whole race of people treated as second-class citizens in the United States, the country that had ensured the survival of the Jewish people.So began what is now often referred to as the golden age of black-Jewish relations, during which time Jews and African-Americans fought side by side for civil rights. In the 1950s, the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League worked together to combat segregation. Jews notably made up almost half of those who led the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, when hundreds of activists organized to register black voters, and three two Jews and one African-American were murdered by local police connected to the KKK.IN 1965, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, arguably the greatest Jewish theological leader of his era, marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reflecting the powerful alliance that existed between the two peoples. It would be impossible, Dr. King once said, to record the contribution that the Jewish people have made toward the Negros struggle for freedom it has been so great.Though the bonds forged through mutual struggle and suffering were strong, the decades that followed the civil rights movement saw the relationship between Jews and African-Americans fray. Various policy disagreements led to political disconnects, and the resulting gap has left both our peoples vulnerable, as racism and antisemitism have risen around the world.The data paint a grim picture. In 2018, the United States faced a 105% rise in antisemitic assaults, while the overall number of antisemitic incidents in the country remained near the all-time high set in 2017. Hate crimes, particularly those against African-Americans, rose in the United States for the fourth straight year. Indeed, blacks and Jews are targeted at similar rates; 23% of all hate crimes reported in major American cities were against blacks, while 19% were against Jews.Today, cities like Poway, Pittsburgh and Charleston are connected by the shared experience of atrocity, often perpetuated by individuals who hate both Jews and African-Americans. Just this month, the FBI foiled an alleged white supremacists plot to bomb a synagogue in Colorado.We are not idle in the face of these challenges. As current and former Trump administration officials, we spend our days working to advance American interests around the world. Ensuring equal opportunity, equal access, and the right to be who we are without fear of persecution are foremost among our priorities.Nevertheless, there is much more Jews and African-Americans can do to stand together as a united front. Our two groups have a long history of supporting one another during the most trying times, and this moment in history demands a commensurate commitment.It demands a higher level of service from all of us in the name of rejecting hate and combating racial, ethnic and religious intolerance.It demands that those of us who have enjoyed the freedom to embrace our identities lift up those around America, and around the world, who have been less fortunate.And it demands that we unite around our shared history as we work together to ensure that our heritage is preserved ledor vador, from generation to generation.Its time for Jews and African-Americans to renew our proud tradition of mutual support that sustained our peoples through some of historys greatest challenges. By joining forces, championing each other, and leveraging our combined power to speak and stand up for whats right, we will ensure that future generations enjoy a world free of bigotry and persecution.Paul Packer is the chairman of the United States Commission for the Preservation of Americas Heritage Abroad, a federal agency that protects and preserves historic sites of significance to American citizens. Dr. Kiron Skinner served as US President Donald Trumps former director of public planning at the State Department and is a Hoover Institution research fellow.

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Time to rekindle the tradition of mutual support - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

(JTA) Sacha Baron Cohen will be honored by the Anti-Defamation League for his vision, imagination and creativity.

Cohen, who most recently portrayed the late Israeli spy Eli Cohen in a Netflix series, will receive the International Leadership Award during the civil rights organizations Never is Now summit on anti-Semitism and hate. The summit will be held Thursday in New York City.

The actor, comedian and director, whose political satire films include Borat and The Dictator, will deliver a keynote address.

Baron Cohen has used humor and satire to expose peoples inherent biases by depicting racists, anti-Semites, neo-Nazis, Islamophobes and others as deeply flawed, ordinary people whose prejudices are, ultimately, laughable, the ADL said in a statement. As a celebrity and public figure, hes not shied away from taking on tough subjects off-screen, having recently spoken out about the failure of social media companies to adequately address the rampant racism, anti-Semitism and hate on their platforms.

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ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in the statement that Cohens characters help to expose how common prejudices are in our society and our world.

Theres many ways to combat prejudice, and anti-bias education, exposure and awareness are important tools. But there are other, more unorthodox ways to fight hate, Greenblatt said. Sachas hilarious characters fall into that latter category. They push envelopes. They cross boundaries. They evoke stereotypes and tropes, but for comedic effect.

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Sacha Baron Cohen To Be Honored By ADL For His Vision, Imagination & Creativity - Jewish Week

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

British Jewish actor Sacha Baron Cohen will receive the International Leadership Award by the Anti-Defamation League for his use of comedy to expose racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, The Jewish Chroniclereported on Tuesday.

The actor, comedian and director, whose films include Borat and The Dictator, will accept the award at ADLs annual Never Is Now summit taking place on Nov. 21 in New York City. He also created and starred in the political satire cable-television show Who Is America? that aired on Showtime for one season.

In it, he played the fictional Erran Morad, an Israeli anti-terrorism expert, member of theIsraeli military and former Mossad agent.

Baron Cohen has used humor and satire to expose peoples inherent biases by depicting racists, anti-Semites, neo-Nazis, Islamophobes and others as deeply flawed, ordinary people whose prejudices are, ultimately, laughable, the ADL said in a statement. As a celebrity and public figure, hes not shied away from taking on tough subjects off-screen, having recently spoken out about the failure of social-media companies to adequately address the rampant racism, anti-Semitism and hate on their platforms.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement that the actors fictional and satirical characters have made us laugh at the kinds of hatred and prejudice that under normal circumstances would be no laughing matter.

Greenblatt added, Theres many ways to combat prejudice; anti-bias education, exposure and awareness are important tools. But there are other, more unorthodox ways to fight hate. Sachas hilarious characters fall into that latter category. They push envelopes. They cross boundaries. They evoke stereotypes and tropes, but for comedic effect. In the end they help to expose how common prejudices are in our society and our world.

The actor most recently starred in the Netflix miniseries The Spy as real-life Mossad agent Eli Cohen.

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Sacha Baron Cohen to receive award for use of comedy to expose racism, anti-Semitism - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

Lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday on a pair of bills that could result in the revamping of the states flag and seal. Its one of several bills supported by indigenous people up before a legislative committee.

Critics say the states flag and seal are symbols of white supremacy.

The image of a Native American holding a bow and arrow with a disembodied arm wielding a broadsword above the figure has been in place on the state flag and seal since the late 18th century. Indigenous people and others also have taken issue with the motto written in Latin, which translates to, By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.

Jean-Luc Pierite, of the North American Indian Center of Boston, said the figure on the flag and seal is a composite and an inaccurate representation of native peoples.

We dont deserve to be memorialized as nameless composites, Pierite said at a rally outside the State House on Tuesday. This doesnt do honor to us, and it does a disservice to the complete history of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The bills Pierite and others support would create a special commission to be tasked with developing a more appropriate seal and flag. Faries Gray, Sagamore of the Massachusett Tribe of Ponkapoag, said theyve been fighting for 400 years to be honored.

Were so grateful that there are people here not just indigenous people but other people from different nationalities that are coming to support the indigenous agenda, because the indigenous people cant get it done because the systems stacked against us, said Gray.

Among those non-indigenous people supporting the bill is state Sen. Jo Comerford, of Amherst, who said it may be among the most important bills the Legislature will consider.

I suggest that we have a responsibility to tell the truth about the ravages of colonization, which continue to take their toll today, Comerford told the Legislatures joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight.

Tell the truth about the pain embodied in our state flag and symbol. Tell the truth about the values that we hold dear and want representing us embodied in a new seal and a new motto, she added.

Similar bills have been filed in the past, but have failed to gain any traction. Supporters hope this coming year the 400th anniversary year of when the Pilgrims first encountered the Wampanoags in Plymouth will be different.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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Critics Say Mass. Flag And Seal Are Symbols Of White Supremacy - New England Public Radio

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

Photo by Isabella Castillo | The State Press

"Dear State Press, you've got mail." Illustration published on Friday, March 3, 2017.

Earlier this month, The State Press published an opinion piece calling on ASU clubs to sign a resolution supporting the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The resolution would also prohibit signees from collaborating with student organizations that express support for the state of Israel. In response to this, ASUs College Libertarians and College Republicans would like to publicly announce that we, as student organizations, will not be signing this resolution.

We recognize that this is part of a larger, more complex issue and that there are good-faith arguments on every side. We believe that each individual has a right to choose where they stand on this issue. But as two different political clubs on campus who believe in peace, liberty and freedom, we feel the need to explain the three primary reasons why we will not be signing this resolution nor supporting this movement.

Firstly, the calls for a boycott of Israeli products wholly misses the mark. If the goal of BDS is to send a message to the Israeli government, a boycott of goods made in Israel will directly hurt the citizens of Israel long before the government feels any real effects.

Additionally, the calls for sanctions against Israel continue this trend, considering the mountains of evidence that suggest sanctions are largely ineffective. Instead, the BDS movement seems to be more so aimed at delegitimizing the state of Israel rather than trying to influence change. We do not believe that refusing to acknowledge the very existence of either party will do anything to pacify the conflict at hand.

Secondly, BDS and their often aggressive tactics have the unintended consequence of discouraging any negotiations toward peace in the region. This is why the current president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, a supporter of a two-state solution, said in 2013 that Palestinians do not support a boycott of Israel.

Finally, it is important to note that the Anti-Defamation League has said that many of the founding goals (and) strategies employed in BDS campaigns are anti-Semitic.

Both of our clubs strongly condemn anti-Semitism of all forms. There is no reason to support a cause that actively marginalizes ASUs rich Jewish community. This is not to mention the recent uptick in anti-Semitic activity on campus.

As such, our student organizations will not be signing onto any such resolution, and we will continue to work tirelessly to fend off anti-Semitism on all fronts. We urge other organizations and students of all sides of the aisle to join us in this effort to stamp out hate and promote civil dialogue.

Sincerely,

David Howman, President, ASU College Libertarians

Joseph Pitts, Vice President, ASU College Republicans

Editors note: The opinions presented in this letter to the editor are the authors and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors. This letter to the editor was submitted by David Howman, president of the ASU College Libertarians and Joseph Pitts, vice president of the ASU College Republicans.

Reach the authors at david.j.howman.44@gmail.com and jdpitts4@asu.edu.

Want to join the conversation? Send an email toopiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 500 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.

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Letter to the Editor: College Libertarians and College Republicans oppose BDS movement - The State Press

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Posted By admin on November 21, 2019

(Illustrative) A member of Berlins Jewish community speaking to journalists at the trial of a Syrian immigrant who assaulted a man wearing a kippah. Photo: Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke.

The Anti-Defamation Leagues survey of antisemitic attitudes released on Thursday covers over 9,000 respondents in 18 countries across four continents. As well as probing the extent of more traditional antisemitic beliefs Jews exercise too much financial power, Jews are more loyal to Israel than their own countries the survey also examines new areas of concern like the BDS movement and attitudes to Jews among European Muslims.

Here are 10ADL findings on global antisemitism in 2019 that stand out:

Antisemitism levels are stable in western Europe, but increasing in eastern Europe and parts of the southern hemisphere.

On both sides of the continent, antisemitic attitudes are pervasive. But in eastern Europe, the percentage of people who continue to believe in one of the most enduring and pernicious antisemitic myths is little short of alarming. Asked if Jews exercised too much power in the business world, 71 percent of Hungarians, 50 percent of Russians, 56 percent of Poles and 72 percent of Ukrainians answered in the affirmative. Meanwhile, 52 percent of South African respondents think that Jews exercise too much power in international financial markets, with 50 percent of Argentines and 38 percent of Brazilians believing the same.

November 21, 2019 1:30 am

Muslim respondents in Europe are more amenable to Holocaust denial than are non-Muslims, but less amenable than Muslims in the Middle East.

Thirty percent of the European Muslim respondents to the ADL survey said that the Nazi Holocaust was a myth or greatly exaggerated, compared with 64 percent of respondents in the Middle East and North Africa who gave the same response to an ADL survey of 2014. In terms of attitudes to Israel, the ADL survey suggests that outright enmity towards the Jewish state is not as pronounced among European Muslims as is commonly believed. Asked if they believed that Israel had the right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people, 40 percent agreed, while 30 percent said they had sympathies with both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Economic antisemitism prevails among a majority of European Muslims.

Its not just some Christians who believe that Jews exercise disproportionate power over the global economy. Asked if Jews exercised too much power in the business world, an overall 56 percent of European Muslims agreed that they did. In France where deadly antisemitic violence has been motivated by the belief that Jews are wealthy 61 percent of Muslim respondents concurred that Jews were too powerful in the economy. And whereas the hoary trope about Jews controlling the US government is declining among European non-Muslims, among Muslims in five out of the seven western European nations surveyed, 50 percent or more believed that stereotype to be true.

Belief in conspiracy theories is rife.

Antisemitism goes hand in glove with conspiracy theories which assert that true power in the world is in the grip of invisible forces. In Spain, 58 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that much of our lives are being controlled by secret conspiracies arranged by powerful groups, while in France and Germany, the figures were 52 percent and 37 percent respectively. Presented with the same statement, 62 percent of Russian respondents concurred.

Dual loyalty, financial power, Holocaust exploitation: the three most prevalent antisemitic stereotypes.

Dual loyalty the accusation that Jews are more loyal to Israel than their own countries is the most common antisemitic belief, followed by the conviction that Jews exercise too much power over the global economy and the more recent trope that Jews talk too much about the Holocaust. 70 percent of Polish respondents agreed that Jews talked too much about the Holocaust, while 62 percent of Spanish respondents said that Jews were more loyal to Israel.

Antisemitism is a serious problem on both the left and the right.

While antisemitism crosses ideological lines, in most countries, people on the ideological right are more likely to believe in a majority of the anti-Semitic stereotypes tested, the ADL noted. Belgium and the Netherlands are the exception here anti-Semitic beliefs are more common on the left.

Respondents in most countries dont believe that their governments need to do more to combat antisemitism.

Despite documented rises in antisemitic violence in Europe, the United States and Latin America, only a minority of respondents to the ADL survey supported increased government action against the problem in their respective countries. In Germany, where the federal government has appointed a national commissioner to combat antisemitism, only 30 percent of respondents supported greater state intervention, while in France, where antisemitic outrages rose by more than 70 percent in 2018, that number was just 21 percent.

The influence of the BDS movement is in decline even as antisemitism rises.

This is the case in every country, bar South Africa (see below). Support for the economic and cultural boycott of Israel was expressed by 15 percent of British and 10 percent of French respondents, while in seven countries the Netherlands, Canada, Hungary, Argentina, Austria, Germany and Ukraine the call to boycott Israel received the backing of less than 10 percent of respondents.

In Austria and Germany, nearly one in three respondents agree that the behavior of Jews is what causes antisemitism.

Thirty-two percent of German and 31 percent of Austrian respondents concurred that people hate Jews because of the way Jews behave a worrying level of agreement in the two countries that served as the birthplace of national socialism less than a century ago.

South Africa displays high levels of both antisemitism and support for the BDS movement.

In South Africa, where the ruling ANC has pursued a rabidly anti-Israel foreign policy, hostility towards Israel and Jews is growing, increasing the countrys ADL index score by nine points. In terms of the BDS movement, 38 percent of South African respondents expressed their support a full 20 points above the next country on the list, Belgium. But the problem in South Africa is wider than the BDS movement alone, the ADL survey suggests. In a country that has been plagued by anti-immigrant violence in recent years, 41 percent of South Africans believe that Jews want to weaken our national culture by supporting immigrants coming to our country. When asked about dual loyalty, 60 percent of South African respondents said Jews were more loyal to Israel than to South Africa.

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ADL's 2019 Survey of Global Antisemitism: 10 Things We Learned - Algemeiner

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