Jewish media outlets pen open letter to combat anti-Semitism as Hamas and Israel conflict rages
9 November 2023, 09:54
Jewish media outlets from around the world have written an open letter to tackle anti-Semitism during the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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More than 30 news outlets have signed the open letter as incidents of anti-Semitism rise across the world.
Led by the Jewish News in London, the statement reads: “We’re witnessing raw hatred against Jews in cities across the globe… And yet, what we’ve seen so far isn’t even our worst fear.
“Our gravest concerns lie in what the future might hold.”
The letter cites multiple examples of anti-Jewish sentiment around the world, including in Dagestan where a mob “ran towards planes on a runway to check passengers’ passports, hunting for disembarking Jews.”
The letter goes on: “In Sydney when authorities lit the famous Opera House in Israel’s colours, a crowd sang ‘Gas the Jews’.”
“In London, red paint was daubed on Jewish school doors and the Wiener Holocaust Library.”
Earlier this month a record number of hate incidents against British Jews were reported, according to an antisemitism charity.
It has been described as the ‘worst wave of hate incidents in modern times’.
More than 1,000 incidents have been recorded after the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, according to the Community Security Trust (CST).
Since 7 October, 1,019 hate incidents have been recorded across the UK, the date Hamas launched a series of attacks on Israel that left 1,400 dead, and more than 200 people taken hostage.
The figures include 47 assaults, with other incidents including the targeting of children and schools.
In the same period last year there were 160 antisemitic incidents, meaning there had been a 537% increase, according to CST data.
The letter adds: “Clearly not everyone marching under the Palestinian flag fantasises about our deaths or the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state… please try to understand that whether it’s one person, 100 people or 10,000, the chilling impact of seeing so many people echo and excuse hateful chants is profound.”
