Adopted at the 2015 JCPA Town Hall
In 2014 and the first part of 2015, there were three deadly terrorist attacks on European Jewish institutions: the Jewish museum in Brussels, a kosher grocery store in Paris, and a synagogue in Copenhagen. In the United States, while the total number of anti-Semitic incidents remains at historically low levels, there were some particularly violent ones in 2014, most notably the shootings at the JCC in Overland Park, Kansas. In that incident, a gunman killed three people while firing on two Jewish facilities.
These fatal attacks took place against a backdrop of aggression against Jews and Jewish institutions, including vandalism and graffiti, verbal and physical harassment of individuals, and anti-Semitic rhetoric as part of public discourse. Sometimes, attempts are made to justify such behavior by referring to Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.
While anti-Semitism exists throughout the world, a number of factors have made the situation in Europe increasingly volatile:
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