FBI: 70% of religious ‘hate crimes’ in US directed against Jews

The headlines this last month have been overwhelming. It has been hard to separate domestic antisemitism issues from anti-Israel sentiment. Indeed, the Anti-Defamation League reported recently that for the first time most antisemitic acts in the United States were related to anti-Israel and anti-Zionism positions.



Of course we will all have different opinions on the Israel-Hamas War, how its being waged, how it’s being reported. We all have freedom to speak out and advocate for our positions.

What is absolutely unacceptable is abusing, attacking, hurting Jewish Americans (any Jews outside of Israel) for the decisions by Israel’s government. That is blatant antisemitism.

This month’s headlines continue to show that Jewish Americans themselves are divided on questions of the war. Quickly peruse Israeli news outlets – like Times of Israel, Haaretz, and the Jerusalem Post – and see that Israelis are divided on if to rescue the remaining hostages, if to continue the war, how to send aid to Gazans (only the most extremists are against sending aid).

Please continue to pray for the end of the war, justice for the hostages and displaced Gazans, healing for the broken in both Israel and Gaza.

These headlines are presented as a snapshot of what our Jewish neighbors are thinking and feeling and to provide data as you pray about these issues. CMJ USA does not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in these articles.

😮FBI: 70% of religion-based 'hate crimes' in the US in 2024 were directed against Jews (All Israel)

🫨The podcasters making antisemitism Christian again (The Forward)

📉Americans’ support for Israel in Gaza plummets to record low, new Gallup poll finds (JTA)

Just 8% of Democrats now support Israel’s actions in Gaza, down from 24% a year ago.

😓As images from Gaza spread, US rabbis wrestle with war’s morality from the pulpit (JTA)

More than a thousand rabbis have signed a public letter demanding Israel stop “using starvation as a weapon of war”

• For Jews who have supported Israel, famine in Gaza may be a breaking point (Jewish Chronicle)
  The ‘troubled committed’ are facing a crisis — which means that Israel is, too
  
• A new collection of Yiddish songs casts Israel as the ‘evildoer’ in Gaza (JTA)
  “Lider mit Palestine” draws on Jewish music traditions to express solidarity with the Palestinians and opposition to the war

⁉️NYT admits emaciated Gaza child used in famine article had 'pre-existing health problems'(All Israel)

Foreign Ministry says decision to use misleading image was done ‘without journalistic ethics’

• NY Times front-page image of emaciated Gaza toddler sparks backlash, then an editors’ note (JTA)
• German newspaper reveals that infamous Gaza aid photos were staged to control the narrative (All Israel)

🗣️A rabbi walked into a convention of Lutherans — and lamented their ‘one-sided’ resolution on Israel (JTA)

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, drew a standing ovation with his call for unity

💵American Jewish Committee donates $25K to Gaza church damaged by Israeli strike (JTA)

The donation marks a rare gift from a mainstream U.S. Jewish group toward Gaza Palestinians while Israel is at war in the enclave

💵Citing ‘the Jewish imperative’ to act, UJA-Federation pledges $1M for Gaza aid (JTA)

The donation from New York’s Jewish federation will go to IsraAID, an Israeli disaster relief organization that operates abroad.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏽How believers are responding to trauma in Israel (All Israel)

'The trauma …is an open lesion getting injured over and over again'

📣In first, Arab League nations condemn Oct 7, demand Hamas leave Gaza; also  call for 2-state solution (All Israel)

Arab League, EU & 17 other nations call for Palestinian state in 1967 borders

• Hamas: Palestinian state recognition ‘fruits of Oct. 7’ (JNS)
  
  

😔Anti-Israel activists show true colors by targeting teenage Jewish athletes (Jewish Chronicle)

It is antisemitism and it is unacceptable

😱Auschwitz ‘my 0% unemployment plan,’ GOP California gov hopeful says (JNS)

"Auschwitz is not a prop," the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum told Kyle Langford.

• California governor candidate calls Auschwitz 'solution for homelessness,' sparks criticism (JPost)
• Snopes fact check
  

🕎He grew up Christian. Now he’s sleeping in the synagogue that sparked his conversion (Forward)

In a small Ohio town, a shuttered sanctuary sparked one man’s conversion — and a mission to preserve America’s overlooked Jewish past

🎬Roman Polanski’s Dreyfus Affair movie ‘An Officer and a Spy’ finally opens in the US (Jewish Chronicle)

Dreyfus doesn’t shine but the lessons of the affair do, write two scholars about the long-delayed movie.