Jewish Agency Claims Significant Increase in Anti-semitism

Jewish protesters in Austin carry a banner against Zionism (EPA)
Jewish protesters in Austin carry a banner against Zionism (EPA)
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Jewish Agency Claims Significant Increase in Anti-semitism

Jewish protesters in Austin carry a banner against Zionism (EPA)
Jewish protesters in Austin carry a banner against Zionism (EPA)

The number of attacks against Jews has doubled in various countries of the world, especially in the US, France, Britain, Germany, and other European countries since Oct. 07 and the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the Jewish Agency.
The report said the attacks were “anti-semitic,” but it did not address the attacks on Arabs and Muslims in Western countries, who are Semites and are subject to attacks from local extremist right-wing forces.
The attacks against Muslims and Arabs have doubled since Oct. 7 and the Israeli war against Gaza.
The report also did not distinguish between the protests against the Jews and that against war, the massive destruction, and mass killing in the Strip, in an intentional move to portray the Jews as victims and present the attack on Gaza as a defense.
The report, issued on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, reported that 2023 witnessed a 10% rise in attacks on Jews, but these attacks jumped to record proportions with the outbreak of war; it increased by 337% in the US, 410% in France, 512% in Britain, and 320% in Germany.
Globally, the number of attacks increased by 235%.
For example, the report monitored the following events in the United States in 2023: a 1,200% increase in the number of posts on social media calling for violence against Jews and Israelis and a 540% rise in the number of warnings about planting an explosive device in Jewish headquarters.
Polls showed that 54% of Jewish university students in the US said they do not feel safe since the war in Gaza.
It stated that the practices carried out by several young men who participated in the Hamas attack on Jewish towns had devastating effects, leading to a wave of anger worldwide.
But when Israel responded with war on Gaza and terrifying pictures of civilian victims in the Gaza Strip began to spread, demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinians broke out.
As a result, Jews, Arabs, and Muslims were subjected to attacks by extremists.
The Israeli government began to consider public protests against military practices as anti-Semitic.
Israel ignored the protests against its war on the enclave. Many Jews denounced the attacks on Palestinians, raising the slogan “Not in our name,” refusing to wage such a war against civilians in the name of the Jews.



Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
TT

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Türkiye’s foreign ministry said, without providing further details.

Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which led the operation to topple Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, walking ahead of a crowded delegation before posing for photographs.

The two are also seen shaking hands, hugging, and smiling.

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye would help Syria's new administration form a state structure and draft a new constitution, adding Fidan would head to Damascus to discuss this new structure, without providing a date.

Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Türkiye’s MIT intelligence agency, also visited Damascus on Dec. 12, four days after Assad's fall.

Ankara had for years backed opposition fighters looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.

Fidan's visit comes amid fighting in northeast Syria between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast and Ankara regards as a terrorist organization.

Earlier, Türkiye’s defense minister said Ankara believed that Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in the northeast.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the Kurdish fighters.

The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.