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Global Anti-Semitism: Selected Incidents Around the World in 2012

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December 31, 2012

Argentina

October 19, 2012 — Concordia, Entre Rios - A discriminatory and anti-Semitic message, which included Nazi references, was painted on the front of a public school.

September 6, 2012 — Cordoba - The singer Miguel Vilanova said during a performance that “I am anti-Semitic, but not anti-Jewish” and “the Zionist plan to buy the Patagonia is more than 150 years old”.

September 6, 2012 — Mendoza - During a basketball game, the father of the player Andres Berman was physically assaulted after he criticized anti-Semitic statements by fans of an opposing team.

August 31, 2012 — Santiago - The president of Chile’s Palestine Federation, Mauricio Abu Ghosh, told the radio station Cooperativa that “the Nazis were small fry compared to today’s Zionists, who make up the State of Israel.” He also said, “The Nazis were children next to the actual Zionists as they are incarnated through the State of Israel.”

Australia

February 1, 2012 – Melbourne – “The best Jew is a dead Jew” and a picture of hanged stick figure were spray-painted in a public marketplace bathroom located in the Wantirna suburb of Melbourne.

Austria

August 30, 2012 – Vienna – A rabbi attending a local soccer was greeted by a fan with chants of “Heil Hitler” and a Nazi salute.

Belgium

November 18, 2012 – Antwerp – Demonstrators at an anti-Israel rally chanted “Hamas, Hamas, all Jews to the gas."

October 9, 2012 – Brussels – A synagogue was vandalized by two unidentified male perpetrators who spray-painted “death to the Jews” and “boom” on the wall of the Beth Hillel synagogue.

Brazil

November 20, 2012 – Sao Paulo – Swastika graffiti was found on a wall in a neighborhood where a number of Jewish institutions are located.

Chile

January 21, 2012 — Viña del Mar — A 23-year-old Jewish man was attacked at a party by three assailants who punched him, kicked him in the face, and screamed “F------ Jew” at him.

Canada

April 12, 2012 – Val Morin – Several Jewish-owned summer homes were broken into and defaced with Swastikas and anti-Semitic messages.

Czech Republic

September 26, 2012 – Prague – Vandals knocked over 26 tombstones in a Jewish cemetery south of Prague.

France

December 11, 2012 – Istres – A high school teacher, who had been regularly taunted with anti-Semitic epithets by some of her students, was targeted with an acid bomb.  A bottle containing hydrochloric acid was rolled into the room at 8:30am at the beginning of a class.  A student shouted about a bomb and everyone was able to get out before the explosion.  A catalyst of aluminum had been added, causing the bottle to explode and spray the acid.  One student was hurt.  The police arrested a 19 year-old and are investigating.

December 3, 2012 - Sarcelles - Large swastikas were scrawled on a kosher pizzeria in suburban Paris.

November 29, 2012 - Aix en Provence – A Jewish man heard shouts of “Dirty Jew! Dirty Jew!  We’ll give you a Shabbat shalom!” outside his ground floor apartment door at around 10:30pm.  When he opened the door, three young men of North African descent hit him, kicked him, ripped the mezuzah off his door, spit on him, and urinated on him.

November 17, 2012 - Sarcelles – In this Paris suburb, a young Jewish man left a synagogue and was assaulted by three young men of North African descent, who yelled “Hey dirty Jew!  F--- Israel, we’re going to kill you!”  Two of the assailants punched and kicked him, while the third hit him in the arm with a baseball bat.

October 28, 2012 – Aix-les-Bains – Anti-Semitic fliers referring to Jews as “the main people responsible for the decadence of the White People and the invasion of sub-races” were mailed to town residents.

October 22, 2012 – Paris - A 12 year-old Jewish boy was stand his school bus stop, when two men in their 40s, speaking Arabic, began to insult him and then hit him with their belts.  Passersby intervened and the attackers fled.

October 9, 2012 – Avignon – The plaque at the entrance to the Jewish cemetery, with a Magen David and marked "Jewish Cemetery", was smashed.

October 9, 2012 – Paris – A 19 year old was shot in the arm with a pellet gun as he was leaving a synagogue, leaving him with a bruise.

October 5, 2012 – Seine St. Denis – A family was eating dinner in their sukkah when a group of individuals began chanting and using their hands to make horns on their heads. A few minutes later cobblestones and chunks of asphalt rained down through the top of the sukkah. The family reported hearing: "Dirty Jews, we'll get you - Jews we'll have your skin - Get out of here - Go back home," as well as some words in Arabic. One woman was injured when a stone hit her back.

September 19, 2012 – Sarcelles – A firebomb was thrown into a Kosher supermarket by two masked assailants, causing at least one injury.

September 4, 2012 – Montreuil – “F--- the Jews. F--- the school.” was spray-painted in huge letters at the entrance of the Paul-Eluard public high school in the Paris suburb of Montreuil. The high school is located near a Jewish trade school, ORT Daniel Mayer.

August 7, 2012 – Paris – A 17 year-old Jewish girl was severely beaten by an 18 year-old Arab girl at a mall in a Paris suburb.  The attacker made anti-Semitic insults during the incident, including “Dirty Jew, I’m going to put you in the ground.”  Police at the mall arrested the assailant.

July 20, 2012­ – Paris – A synagogue was desecrated for the third time in 10 days, when vandals threw prayer books and shawls on the floor and shattered the building’s windows.

July 5, 2012 – Toulouse – A 17-year-old student of the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school, where four Jews were murdered by Mohammed Merah on March 19, was assaulted on a train going from Toulouse to Lyon.  The two young men responsible for the attack were arrested.

June 8, 2012 – Sarcelles – An 18-year-old Jew was physically assaulted and had a phone stolen by assailants who were shouting anti-Semitic insults.

June 2, 2012 – Lyon – Three Jewish youth wearing skullcaps were assaulted while walking to a Jewish school for Shabbat services. A group of more than 10 assailants surrounded the youths chanting “dirty Jew,” and proceeded to attack them with hammers and bars, hitting two in the head and one in the arm.

March 26, 2012 – Paris – A 12-year-old Jewish boy was beaten outside the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Paris by youths reciting anti-Semitic slogans. The boy was hit and punched in the back of his head as he left the school.

March 19, 2012 – Toulouse – Four Jews were shot and killed at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school by an armed terrorist on a motorcycle, later identified by authorities as Mohammed Merah. Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 30, and his two children Aryeh, 6, and Gabriel, 3, were killed as they were entering the school premises. Merah then entered the school, continuing to shoot at students and faculty, and eventually set his sights on 8-year-old Miriam Monsonego, the daughter of the school’s principal, whom he chased down and killed. Merah is also believed to be responsible for the killing of three French soldiers the previous week. In a phone call to a French television station, Merah stated that he targeted the Jewish school to avenge the killing of children in Gaza. Reports indicate that Merah traveled to and received training in Pakistan and Afghanistan and identified with the terrorist organization Al Qaeda. He may have also had links to Forsane Alizza, a radical organization that was banned by the French government in January for supporting terrorism. On March 22, following a 32-hour standoff with French police, Merah was killed in his apartment complex.

Germany

November 9, 2012 – Greifswald – On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, neo-Nazis vandalized the city’s Holocaust memorial.

September 3, 2012 – Charlottenburg – 13 Jewish children attending a Chabad School were subjected to anti-Semitic taunts including “Are you Jewish?” by a group of several unidentified youths. One of the perpetrators also spat on the ground in front of the students.

August 29, 2012 – Berlin – A rabbi in visible Jewish garb was physically attacked by a group of youths, causing a head wound that required hospitalization. The rabbi was walking with his six-year old daughter in downtown Berlin when the group asked if he was Jew, and then proceeded to assault him. They also threatened to kill the rabbi’s young daughter.

Greece

October 26­, 2012 – Rhodes – Vandals spray-painted the city’s Holocaust monument with swastikas.

Hungary

November 26, 2012 – Budapest - In a parliamentary session to discuss the conflict in Gaza, ultranationalist Jobbik party member Marton Gyongyosi suggested that members of the Hungarian Parliament who are Jewish or of Jewish origin be counted and registered, “in order to avoid the national security risk caused by the Jews.”

November 19, 2012 - Nyíregyháza – A Holocaust memorial was vandalized.

October 25, 2012 – Budapest – Supporters of the ultranationalist Jobbik political party burned an Israeli flag in front of the city’s main Synagogue.

October 5, 2012 — Budapest — A Jewish community official was physically attacked and insulted outside of a synagogue. Two men were identified by the suspect and detained by local police.

August 15, 2012 – Budapest – A chant of “dirty Jews” ("mocskos zsidók") was heard on the TV broadcast of a soccer match between the Hungarian and Israeli national teams.

July 22, 2012 – Kaposvar – Vandals toppled 57 tombstones in the city’s Jewish cemetery.

June 20, 2012 – Bekescsaba – The entrance to a building currently used as the local synagogue was vandalized with yellow paint.

June 9, 2012 – Nagykanizsa – A large menorah outside the Jewish community’s Holocaust memorial was vandalized.

June 3, 2012 – Székesfehérvár – Several graves in the Jewish cemetery were vandalized.

March 25, 2012 – Budapest – The main Holocaust memorial was vandalized with Stars of David and graffiti that said, “This is not your country, dirty Jews” and “You are going to be shot there” next to an arrow pointing to the nearby Danube river. In December 1944 and January 1945, the Nazi-allied Hungarian Arrow Cross shot about 20,000 Jews on the banks of the Danube and threw them into the river. Just days prior to this incident, a statue of Raoul Wallenberg was vandalized with pigs feet.

Ireland

April 25, 2012 – East Antrim Coast – A 14-year-old boy suffered repeated anti-Semitic attacks from his classmates after it was revealed, during a class on the Holocaust, that his great-great-grandmother was Jewish. The boy was physically assaulted, verbally taunted for being a “Jew boy” and had swastikas etched in his school books.

Italy

December 10, 2012 - Catania, Sicily - Unknown vandals detached a menorah that was set up in piazza Universita, in order to prevent the third candle from being lit.

November 24, 2012 – Genoa - "Israel Nazi state" was painted on the door of the central synagogue.  On a nearby wall, "Free Palestine" was written.

November 18, 2012 - Parma - Red paint was thrown at the front door of the synagogue.

Morocco

August 29, 2012 – Safi – The city’s Jewish cemetery was vandalized when some tombstones adorned with Hebrew writing were removed and others destroyed.

New Zealand

October 19, 2012 — Auckland — Vandals spray-painted gravestones in the Jewish section of the Karangahape Road Cemetery with swastikas and the number 88 (a code used by neo-Nazis to mean "Heil Hitler" with H being the eighth letter of the alphabet).

Peru

August 21, 2012 — Lima - Holocaust denier and neo-Nazi Martín Quispe Mayta, leader of the Andean Peru National Socialism movement, called for the expulsion of Peru’s 5,000 Jews. He said that Jews are to blame for his childhood poverty because Jews control the world economy, and claimed he found inspiration in Henry Ford’s tome “The International Jew” and in Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”

Poland

November 18, 2012 – Lodz – At least 20 tombstones were toppled over and broken in half in the city’s historic Jewish cemetery.

July 3, 2012 – Lodz – Swastikas and other Nazi symbols were painted on the entrance of a synagogue.

June 21, 2012 – Starachowice – Swastikas and symbols of the extremist National Rebirth of Poland party were spray-painted on the entrance of the Jewish cemetery.

April 8, 2012 – Wysokie Mazowieckie – Swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were spray-painted on tombstones and memorial plaques in the Jewish cemetery.

Russia

July 14, 2012 – Rybinsk – A yellow Star of David, a swastika, and "Death to Jews!" were painted on the front door of the Jewish community center.

July 6, 2012 – Irkutsk – A Swastika was painted on the city’s synagogue.

July 5, 2012 – St. Petersburg – Swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were painted a building that houses the Jewish Agency for Israel office. The words “All of you – to Buchenwald” were found on the side of a neighboring building.

Spain

November 18, 2012 – Barcelona - Vandals spray-painted a red swastika and other graffiti on the wall of a synagogue. The graffiti read: “Stop killing Gazas children, Israel kills, Zionist genocide assassins.”

July 22, 2012 – Barcelona – The Star of David and Juden were painted on the façade of two banks.

Sweden

November 30, 2012 - Malmo - Two Jewish women had their home burgled and suffered sustained anti-Semitic abuse. A menorah, Mezuza and prayer book were stolen from their apartment, and their front door and balcony were painted with swastiaks. The women told police they regular encounter anti-Semitism in the city, being frequently called “Jewish whores” and “Jewish pigs”.

September 28, 2012 – Malmo – An explosive device was detonated at a Jewish communal building in the early morning hours. No one was injured, but damage was caused to the building.

Ukraine

November 29, 2012 – Odessa - A large cross was erected on a major square with portraits of the Romanov czarist family.  Attached was a placard saying that the royal family was "brutally tortured and ritually murdered by Jewish savages."  After being alerted, municipal authorities removed the placard.

United Kingdom

July 4, 2012 – London – A Jewish male walking near a Stamford Hill Yeshiva was severely beaten by four assailants and taunted with anti-Semitic epithets.

Venezuela

November 28, 2012 – Merida – Anti-Semitic imagery, including swastikas, was found painted throughout the city.