In Banner Year for Anti-Semitism, Hamas Massacre Tops 2023 Global List of Heinous Incidents

JERUSALEM, Israel – In a year scarred by rampant and global anti-Semitism, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center this week published its list of "Top Ten Global Worst Anti-Semitic Incidents of 2023." The list is a daunting one, topped by the October 7th massacre and kidnappings by Hamas against Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.

The publication noted, "They brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis – men, women, and children – including infants. They mass raped women and kidnapped and took over 240 hostages, holding them in underground tunnels, some for over 2 months. The level of brutality included beheadings and mutilations, making October 7, 2023, the worst atrocity perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Nazi Holocaust."

About the attack, the center's Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Rabbi Abraham Cooper, issued a statement reading in part, "While Nazis tried to hide evidence of their crimes, Hamas live-streamed them. What is shocking is the refusal of world humanitarian leaders to call out Hamas' evil crimes against humanity."

Second on the list belonged to Iran and Qatar, which the center called "the paymasters of genocidal terrorists." Iran was spotlighted for financing, aiding and abetting Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shiite terrorists in Iraq and Houthi rebels in Yemen, in addition to Hamas.

Concerning Hezbollah, the authors wrote," (leader) Hassan Nasrallah is no less committed to Israel’s annihilation than his sponsors in Tehran." They added about the other proxies, "Yemen’s Houthis have all but closed shipping in the Red Sea; (and) Iraq, where many key militias are controlled by Iran, passed a law invoking the death sentence on anyone espousing peace with the Jewish state."

Qatar shared the second spot on the list because it "has emerged as the major donor – 4.7 billion dollars, to the “who’s who” of US elite universities dating back to the aftermath of 9/11. The fact that many of these campuses were the sites of pro-Hamas rallies laced with anti-Semitism in the weeks and months after October 7th, cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence."

Third place on the 2023 list went to the United Nations, specifically, U.N. General Secretary Antonio Guterres, Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem and UNRWA (the United Nations Relief & Works Agency).

Of UNRWA, the authors wrote, "Israel’s incursion into Gaza has confirmed what critics have long believed – that UNRWA’s staff is riddled with Hamas operatives and supporters who appropriated parts of UNRWA facilities to store weapons arsenals and launch missiles targeting Israelis."

In fourth place – not a surprise to observers who closely follow its activities – was the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Wiesenthal center rebuked the organization for refusing to heed Israeli pleas for intervention on behalf of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas, and getting involved only when the negotiations involved Hamas prisoners in Israel.

"The so-called neutral international organization was anything but on X, formerly known as Twitter," the authors claimed. "Of the tweets posted on ICRC accounts, more than 75% criticized Israel, while only 7% took Hamas to task." The section on the Red Cross concluded, "To date, the ICRC has failed to explicitly condemn Hamas for its barbaric assaults against Israelis."

Rounding out the top 5 on the anti-Semitism list was the president of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Nihad Awad. The Wiesenthal Center authors pointed out that CAIR bills itself as the foremost U.S. advocate for Muslim civil rights, and that its counsel is sought out by the White House and the State Department.

However, the White House condemned Awad after the Hamas attack for his comments at an American Muslims for Palestine convention. According to the center, " Awad said he was 'happy to see' the people of Gaza 'breaking the siege' on October 7th when Hamas attacked Israel and murdered 1,200 Israelis in cold blood. Awad also described Gaza as an 'outdoor concentration camp.”'

Completing the top 10 on the anti-Semitism list:

--6.  Presidents of elite U.S. schools (Harvard, M.I.T., University of Pennsylvania)

--7.  Oakland, CA"s Unified School District for a K-12 "Palestine" teach-in

--8.  Social media "cesspools of hate, terrorism and anti-Semitic conspiracies"

--9.  Human Rights Watch

-10. Global pro-Hamas protesters for "intimidating Jews and mainstreaming vile anti-Semitism"

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