Last week, several terrorist attacks shook Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Liège in Belgium, and West Bloomfield in Michigan, United States. All four attacks occurred at distinctly Jewish institutions—synagogues, Jewish schools, or, in the case of Michigan, at a building used as both a synagogue and a Jewish school. It was easy for the local media in those countries, and to some extent the Israeli media as well, to be shocked but quickly move on to a subject perceived as larger and more important—the ongoing campaign between the United States and Israel against Iran and that between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, these are not two contradictory pieces of news; rather they are closely linked. According to publications in the United States, the assailant from Michigan is a citizen of Lebanese descent who carried out the attack to avenge the deaths of his relatives in Lebanon, two of whom were terrorists in Hezbollah’s rocket force. The three attacks in Europe were carried out by the Ashab al-Yamin organization, which, according to European sources, was established during the recent round of escalation with Iran and is supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to harm Jewish targets in Europe.
Although there were no fatalities in any of the attacks, they all conveyed a sharp and clear message to Jewish communities in Europe and the United States: You are responsible for Israel’s actions, whether you support them or not. Accusing Jews as a collective of responsibility for Israel’s actions is an antisemitic accusation, according to the accepted definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), a definition that all three affected countries have adopted. However, as stated, these attacks occurred only over the past week, and they join dozens of other attacks and incidents of vandalism in many countries aimed at restricting the actions of the Jewish community and at dissuading those who support Israel from doing so. Countries should not treat these events as isolated and context-free incidents but as part of an intense campaign against Jewish communities in the diaspora, which endangers not only the communities but the state as a whole.
Last week, several terrorist attacks shook Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Liège in Belgium, and West Bloomfield in Michigan, United States. All four attacks occurred at distinctly Jewish institutions—synagogues, Jewish schools, or, in the case of Michigan, at a building used as both a synagogue and a Jewish school. It was easy for the local media in those countries, and to some extent the Israeli media as well, to be shocked but quickly move on to a subject perceived as larger and more important—the ongoing campaign between the United States and Israel against Iran and that between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, these are not two contradictory pieces of news; rather they are closely linked. According to publications in the United States, the assailant from Michigan is a citizen of Lebanese descent who carried out the attack to avenge the deaths of his relatives in Lebanon, two of whom were terrorists in Hezbollah’s rocket force. The three attacks in Europe were carried out by the Ashab al-Yamin organization, which, according to European sources, was established during the recent round of escalation with Iran and is supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to harm Jewish targets in Europe.
Although there were no fatalities in any of the attacks, they all conveyed a sharp and clear message to Jewish communities in Europe and the United States: You are responsible for Israel’s actions, whether you support them or not. Accusing Jews as a collective of responsibility for Israel’s actions is an antisemitic accusation, according to the accepted definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), a definition that all three affected countries have adopted. However, as stated, these attacks occurred only over the past week, and they join dozens of other attacks and incidents of vandalism in many countries aimed at restricting the actions of the Jewish community and at dissuading those who support Israel from doing so. Countries should not treat these events as isolated and context-free incidents but as part of an intense campaign against Jewish communities in the diaspora, which endangers not only the communities but the state as a whole.