World news in brief

(JTA) Silicon Valley tech stands against antisemitism

Heads of some of Silicon Valley’s most recognised technology companies including Google, Twitter, and YouTube are among about 200 technology and business leaders who have signed a letter calling out antisemitism.

The signatories include former Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo, media mogul Ariana Huffington, current Google executives, and chief executives at Bay Area start-ups.

“To be too Jewish in America, or to be a Jew, is still a dangerous mark,” the statement says. “As business leaders, we have a collective responsibility to stand up for the society we want. Today, we stand against antisemitism and violence against Jews. This is true regardless of your views on Israel; this is about protecting people from the injustice of antisemitism and hatred.”

“Too few Americans acknowledge that antisemitism exists [and] events of recent weeks cannot hide the truth,” the letter says, describing the incident in Los Angeles in which Jewish diners were attacked with bottles at a sushi restaurant. The incident is being investigated as an antisemitic hate crime.

According to Jewish Insider, the statement’s primary author is Jordana Stein, the chief executive of Enrich, a private network for industry professionals. Signatories also include cultural and business figures, such as makeup artist Bobbi Brown, former NBA player Baron Davis, and Neil Blumenthal, co-chief executive of the glasses company Warby Parker.

The letter comes as the tech industry grapples with antisemitism in its own ranks. Antisemitic comments made by Google’s diversity head, Kamau Bobb, were found this month in a 2007 blog post in which he said that Jews have “an insatiable appetite for war and killing”. The company later moved Bobb off the diversity position.

Swastika discovered on ark at Frankfurt Airport shul

A swastika was found scrawled on the ark at a synagogue at Frankfurt International Airport in Germany on 11 June, according to the German publication Bild. It’s unclear when the swastika was drawn as the synagogue has been closed for several months due to the pandemic.

A German organisation of Orthodox rabbis condemned the vandalism at the airport.

“It’s simply sad. This hatred of Jews must finally stop,” the Orthodox Rabbinical Conference said, according to Associated Press. “The ugly grimace of antisemitism doesn’t stop even in a highly secured area, at a place of encounter, silence, and stopping, where people from all over the world meet briefly while travelling and are in transit.”

The swastika was discovered less than a week after a fire was set outside a synagogue in Ulm, about 70 miles (112km) northwest of Munich, in what police suspect was an attempted arson attack.

Zionist group ousts rabbi over harassment allegation

The World Confederation of United Zionists (CUZ), one of several groupings within the World Zionist Organization, has let go its secretary-general, American-born Rabbi Dov Lipman, citing his dispute with two women who say he sexually harassed them.

Haaretz, which first broke the story of the harassment allegations, reported on 14 June that the confederation’s chairperson, David Yaari, notified the World Zionist Organization of Lipman’s departure last month after the allegations were made public.

“Given the grave allegations against former MK Dov Lipman, it was decided to part ways in order to focus on CUZ’s vital work within the global Zionist forum,” Yaari told Haaretz.

Lipman, who is from the Washington DC area, is a former Knesset member from the Yesh Atid party.

He denied that he had been fired, saying he had left of his own accord to devote more time to helping new immigrants to Israel settle and assimilate.

Lipman has denied the harassment allegations, which first arose on a private Facebook page. He has sued the two women making the accusations, and they have countersued.

The two women, like Lipman, are members of the modern Orthodox community in Beit Shemesh, a city near Jerusalem. They said the harassment occurred when they and Lipman were part of a movement to push back against Haredi Orthodox harassment of modern Orthodox women and girls in the city over modesty and other perceived religious infractions.

American Jews more concerned about antisemitism

Three-quarters of American Jews said they were more concerned about antisemitism in the country following the fighting last month in Israel and Gaza, according to a survey published on 14 June by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

More than 40% of respondents said they were now more concerned about their personal safety as well than they were before the 11 days of warring. Also, more than half said calling for companies and organisations to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel was “definitely or probably antisemitic”.

According to the recent Pew Research Center study of American Jews, 10% of respondents supported the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.

The ADL poll of 576 Jewish-American adults was taken from 25 May to 1 June by the polling firm YouGov.

Antisemitic incidents more than doubled during and after the fighting when compared to the same time last year, the ADL found. Its tally includes physical assaults, as well as antisemitic and some anti-Zionist harassment and vandalism.

The survey also found that 60% of respondents “witnessed behaviour or comments they deem antisemitic either online or in-person as a result of the recent violence”. More than three-quarters of respondents said they wanted President Joe Biden, congress, civil-rights groups, and faith leaders to do more to address antisemitism.

In addition, more than half of respondents said calling Israel an “apartheid state” was definitely or probably antisemitic, as well as the following statements or actions: calling Zionism racist; comparing Israeli actions to those of the Nazis; saying Israel shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state; and protesting Israeli actions outside an American synagogue.