Zenger News publishes a weekly listing of antisemitic incidents recorded by Jewish, pro-Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, as well as international news media. By the Anti-Defamation League’s count, an average of seven instances of varying measure occur daily in the United States. (Dates refer to when the news was reported, not when the events took place.) News items detailing efforts to combat antisemitism and research illuminating anti-Jewish bigotry will also be included.
July 29
Los Angeles officers arrested Ryan Bradford after finding illegal guns and explosives (and Nazi paraphernalia) in his house. A Planet Fitness in Maine banned Christopher Pohlhaus, who leads a neo-Nazi group, for unspecified “clothing”—namely, for wearing a swastika necklace and other items with hateful messages. Last week, New York police officers arrested a man accused of vandalizing a non-Jewish yoga studio, including its mezuzah (see July 28). Jewish House Democrats called to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for “a clear pattern of engaging in antisemitism and extremism” (see July 24).
July 30
Racist and antisemitic fliers were distributed in Marin County, near San Francisco, and spray-painted swastikas were found on cars in Orange County. In Texas, two police officers were fired for drawing a swastika during a meeting and sharing the image. The Campaign Against Antisemitism released a video countering an anti-Jewish video, posted (and then deleted) by someone with nearly 1.7 million YouTube subscribers (see July 21).
July 31
Antisemitic fliers were distributed to numerous communities in Calaveras County near San Francisco. In England, someone painted a swastika on a sign at a beach in the town of Morecambe. In Maine, swastikas were found at a park. In Wisconsin, a group of 10 masked neo-Nazis waving swastika flags disrupted an LGBTQ event and made death threats. Twitch got a “B” and Snapchat an “F” in an Anti-Defamation League grading of social-media platforms’ support for online victims of hate and harassment.
Aug. 1
Ryan Scott Bradford, a 34-year-old neo-Nazi, was arrested in California and faces 30 years on drug charges and for manufacturing “ghost” guns. Hate crimes against Jews are up slightly in Canada. A swastika was painted on a bus-stop advertisement, featuring a woman in a hijab and the text “Toronto for All.” Ye (Kanye West), who has promised Elon Musk not to post anything antisemitic after returning to X (Twitter), has so far only deleted all his prior posts. Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco CAIR chapter who has her own antisemitic history, condemned the antisemitic fliers in Marin County (see July 30). Gab won’t turn over information to the German government about a man who posted antisemitic memes, said its CEO. In Pensacola, Fla., police are investigating a spray-painted swastika on a building. (On July 28, someone threw bricks through a Chabad center synagogue window in Pensacola—the fourth antisemitic incident there in two weeks; one event there made a Combat Antisemitism Movement’s list of “most shocking” antisemitic incidents.)
Aug. 2
In the United Kingdom, a neo-Nazi was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to distributing racist materials, and a man was convicted for sending antisemitic messages to a Jewish sports journalist. In West Virginia, a car was vandalized with a swastika and the message “Die Jew”; “This is just too far. Me and my family, we aren’t even Jews. But we stand up for the Jewish community,” the car owner said. The FBI is investigating the four antisemitic crimes—six, including two acts of swastika graffiti—in recent weeks in Pensacola, Fla. (see July 29). The American neo-Nazi Robert Rundo was extradited to the United States (from Romania) to face charges from 2017.
Aug. 3
More than 800 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2023 in the United Kingdom, according to a report by the Community Security Trust. In California, antisemitic fliers were found on the Iron Horse Trail in Danville and graffiti at a San Francisco playground proclaimed an expletive against Jews with an X-ed out Star of David. Gab users attacked the company’s CEO—who has made antisemitic statements—with antisemitic insults of their own. In Canada, someone scrawled swastikas at a school playground.
Aug. 4
Synagogues associated with the Bnei Menasseh—an Indian community that self-identifies as Jewish, and that the Israeli rabbinate recognizes with conversion—have been destroyed amid a recent wave of violence. The Chelsea Football Club has banned for life a fan, who sent antisemitic messages to a Jewish journalist (see Aug. 2). Eight members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps delivered antisemitic speeches to Muslims in the United Kingdom.
Today in 1944, the Nazis captured Anne Frank.
Produced in association with Jewish News Syndicate
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