US Senators, representatives condemn antisemitism in wake of attacks
The senators and representatives called on political and religious leaders as well as civil society leaders to "join us in speaking out against this antisemitic hate, now and always.”
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: MAY 22, 2021 12:05Demonstrators take part in an antisemitism protest outside the Labour Party headquarters in central London, Britain April 8, 2018.(photo credit: REUTERS/SIMON DAWSON)
US Senators and Representatives condemned recent antisemitic attacks that have occurred in the wake of Israel's operation in Gaza and recent raised tensions in Israel and the West Bank.“As co-chairs of the bipartisan congressional task forces for combating antisemitism, we are alarmed and deeply concerned by the growing number of antisemitic incidents in the United States, Canada, and across Europe related to the current violence in the Middle East," read a statement from Senators Jacky Rosen and James Lankford and Representatives Ted Deutch and Chris Smith."These disturbing incidents include individuals in London calling for Jewish ‘daughters to be raped,’ a German synagogue being pelted with rocks, an attack on Jewish diners in Los Angeles, fireworks hurled at a crowd in New York City, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent invocation of the blood libel myth---among far too many others," the statement went on to say.The senators and representatives called on political and religious leaders as well as civil society leaders to "join us in speaking out against this antisemitic hate, now and always.”There has been a dramatic uptick of Jews being physically attacked around the world recently.Pro-Israel supporters have been assaulted in recent days in New York, mezuzahs have been vandalized in London, and swastikas comparing Israel to Nazi Germany have been displayed in France. Even Jews with no connection to Israel have been assaulted by pro-Palestinian agitators.Erdogan, who on multiple occasions has made statements widely deemed antisemitic, made a rambling speech in Ankara Monday following a Cabinet meeting in which he used “Jews” and Israelis” interchangeably.“They are murderers, these are murderers enough to kill 6-year-old babies,” he said, the Hurriyet newspaper reported. “They are murderers enough to make women crawl on the ground.”Erdogan, who said President Joe Biden as “bloody hands,” also claimed that “a Jewish prime minister” had told him on a state visit to Turkey that he enjoyed killings Palestinians, adding that “Attacks by Jews on the Al-Aqsa Mosque have turned into a powder keg.”Jeremy Sharon and Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA contributed to this report.
