Since the murderous terror attack by Hamas on October 7, the world has witnessed an increase in antisemitism of hundreds of percentages.
On Monday, during a briefing at the United Nations hosted by the Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN, the Israeli Mission presented data on the topic to UN ambassadors and senior diplomats.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan and Israel’s Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism Michal Cotler-Wunsh addressed the event. Data on extremist elements on the Dark Web and their connection to the rise in antisemitism and the connection between antisemitism and anti-Zionism from a study by the Ruderman Family Foundation and the Network Contagion Research Institute were presented.
Noa Fay, a student at Columbia University, shared her personal testimony regarding the state of antisemitism at her school.
Ambassador Erdan said, “It is our responsibility to ensure that no Jew lives in fear! But words are not enough, today we must act! Governments, universities, internet companies, all of us. When we see antisemites tearing up posters of kidnapped children, we must find them, report them, and demand that they be fired. When university presidents refuse to condemn terrorism and violence against Jewish students on campus, we must act to replace them and keep our children away from such institutions. Condemnations of antisemites are not enough. We must fight back together. There must be a clear price for hate crimes and only together can we stop the deteriorating situation.”
“We ask ourselves how people allow themselves to be proud of their hatred of Jews and spread it in the streets and on social networks. The answer is clear: even the General Assembly and the Security Council did not condemn Hamas. The anti-Semites around the world listen to the UN, they listen when the Secretary General shows ‘understanding’ for the massacre, and they witness that the UN does not even condemn the Nazi crimes of Hamas. They watch the inaction of the UN as Jewish mothers and babies are kidnapped by terrorists. And they learn that when Jewish blood is spilled, the international community is silent.”
Ambassador Erdan wore the yellow patch at the briefing and clarified, “I wear this patch as a symbol of determination and strength! Israel is strong and Israel will win. We must remember the price of silence in the face of evil. The patch is a reminder of the disgraceful silence of the UN.”
Noa Fay said, “At school we learn about you - about the ambassadors at the UN, about the importance of the organization. Some of us dispute its importance today. Prove to us, to the students who were brought up to look up to you as an organization that deals with order and justice, prove that you are indeed what you claim to be. You are the adults, and if you don't intervene, I fear for my generation. Because if this institution of leaders from all over the world doesn't intervene, who are my children supposed to look up to?”