2024 has been a year of unprecedented antisemitism on both sides of the Atlantic, manifesting on elite campuses, the halls of international justice, diplomacy, civil society and across social media.
The list could have extended to 100 or more. Beyond #1 which is Iran’s genocidal axis of evil, the 2024 list highlights the growing normalizing of violence against Jews, Israel and the targeting of synagogues and Jewish students on elite campuses; the deadly double standard of U.N. agencies, NGOs, and international courts; and the pernicious influence of antisemitic social media influencers from Greta Thunberg to Candace Owens.
#1 Iran’s Axis of Evil: War Against the Jews
In 2024, Iran intensified its genocidal war against Israel. Iran launched hundreds of drone barrages and hypersonic missile strikes that were defeated with the assistance of U.S. and regional allies. Israel has taken care of the rest. Even as it strives to free 100 hostages still held in terror tunnels under Gaza, Israel has decimated Hamas and crushed Hezbollah, decapitating the leadership of both groups. With Syria’s Assad fleeing to Moscow, the Iranian regime’s ring of fire is gone. Nonetheless, Iran’s war against the Jews continues through its proxies in Yemen who continue to fire missiles at Israel as well as its sponsorship of terror cells throughout Europe whose attempts to murder European Jews have been foiled only by last-minute interception of European police. But Iran’s war against the Jews extends beyond the battlefields of the Middle East and spawns antisemitism and hatred for the Jewish state encouraging protesters on university campuses and on social media. Most concerning, Iran remains a looming threat worldwide, as they have threatened to use their nuclear capabilities against the world’s only Jewish state.
#2 UNRWA: The Problem, Not the Solution
In response to Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA, Sweden announced it will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians but will significantly increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other NGOs. The Netherlands has also said it will end UNRWA funding. It is expected that the U.S. will soon end funding too. It is unclear whether the other 60 donor nations will follow. Prior to Oct. 7, the SWC had been a longtime critic of UNRWA’s pro-war curricula, its failure to recognize Israel’s right to exist in its classrooms, and its promotion of murderous terrorists as role models for generations of Palestinian children. The events of Oct. 7 led to the discovery of hundreds of miles of terror tunnels under Gaza, including UNRWA facilities and brought to light UNRWA’s deep involvement with Hamas including the actions of its staff, many of whom are Hamas operatives or affiliates. Reports indicate that at least 2,440 of the 13,000 UNWRA employees are active in Hamas. In recent months, many UNRWA staff members have posted vehemently pro-Hamas and antisemitic content on the official UNWRA-Gaza Telegram group.
#3 Synagogues Targeted Around the World
Synagogues targeted in 2024 included Sfax, Tunisia; Oldenburg, Germany; Moscow, Russia; Trondheim, Norway; Athens, Greece; Los Angeles, USA; La Grande-Motte, France; Philadelphia, USA; Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and multiple threats and attacks across Canada. Authorities in these countries have been urged to investigate the attacks on Jewish houses of worship as potential terrorist attacks, whether lone wolf-inspired on social media or linked to terrorist groups. In response to these antisemitic onslaughts the Simon Wiesenthal Center designated travel advisories for Jewish travelers to The Netherlands and Australia, while other localities are under review.
#4 ICC and ICJ: Weaponizing the Judicial Process
Israel’s battlefield successes on seven fronts belie the asymmetrical attacks in the halls of diplomacy and international courtrooms, pummeling the Jewish state. Both the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the U.N,’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) have been weaponized to punish Israel and Israeli leaders for the crime of protecting their citizens from more terrorist mass murder. The ICC prosecutes individuals for international crimes, and has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu cannot travel to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, other cabinet members have been targeted, and there is fear that anyone who served in the Israel Defense Forces could be arrested. The ICJ has accepted South Africa’s allegation that Israel’s self-defense is actually genocide. Most recently, Ireland’s President is seeking to change the definition of genocide to ensure Israel will be convicted (see #9).
#5 Prominent Influencers of the Far-Left and Far-Right
Prominent influencers across the ideological spectrum, ranging from left-wing progressives such as environmental justice activist Israel-hater Greta Thunberg (24 million social media followers), to far-right commentator Candace Owens (20 million+ social media followers), have each demonized both Jews and Israel.
Both Thunberg and Owens have utilized their influence to propagate narratives that contribute to the normalization of antisemitism.
Thunberg’s call for Israel, a pioneer in environmental and Green technology, to be expelled from the Eurovision song contest and be boycotted by Stockholm University were followed by her public cursing of Israel. Thunberg even went so far as to link what she calls Israel’s genocide with the issue of fossil fuels; “Today youth and activists from all over the world protested outside the U.N. climate talks in Bonn to highlight the links between fossil fuels and violence like the ongoing genocide in Palestine.” Despite saying “silence is complicity” on social media she has been silent about the 100+ Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in their terror tunnels.
On the other side of the political spectrum, Candace Owens most shocking 2024 posting questioned the veracity of what Nazi “Angel of Death” Dr. Mengele did to innocent Jewish women and children at the Auschwitz death camp during the Holocaust calling it “propaganda” and suggested that education about the Holocaust amounts to “indoctrination” akin to “Soviet tactics.”
Today influencers increase their impact exponentially through social media. Platforms including X, TikTok, Telegram, and Instagram have largely failed to significantly curb, let alone remove, bigotry, enabling the expansion of harmful stereotypes and anti-Jewish tropes. In addition, Telegram and other platforms enabled terrorist groups and their recruiters to call for direct terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews while continuing to post terrorist training videos.
#6 Elite Universities Demonizing Zionism, Normalizing Antisemitism
An investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), found elite universities failed to effectively address the surge of antisemitism on their campuses. “For over a year, the American people have watched antisemitic mobs’ rule over so-called elite universities, but what was happening behind the scenes is arguably worse. While Jewish students displayed incredible courage and a refusal to cave to the harassment, university administrators, faculty, and staff were cowards who fully capitulated to the mob and failed the students they were supposed to serve,” said Chairwoman Foxx. In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Education announced it had resolved its concerns with five UC schools, including UCLA, but anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents persist. Globally, antisemitic attacks soared in the U.K. and universities from across the European Union to Australia saw academic and extremist circles vilify Zionism while pro-Hamas rhetoric endangered Jews on and off campus. Several European universities, including University of Copenhagen and others in Spain, Ireland, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom voted to divest from Israel-linked companies and/or boycott Israeli institutions.
#7 Francesca Albanese: Blaming Israel for Hamas Murdering Jews
Since 2022, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ “Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories” has excused or legitimized mass murdering Hamas terrorists, before and after Oct 7, 2023, while questioning whether Israeli women were raped by Hamas, and accusing Israel of genocide and “colonial erasure.” In August 2024, Albanese declared Israel’s military actions in Gaza akin to the Nazi Holocaust, referring to Gaza as a “21st-century concentration camp.” At a U.N. hearing with SWC officials in attendance, Albanese again spewed her incendiary lies. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, declared that Albanese is “unfit for her role” and that “the United Nations should not tolerate antisemitism from a UN-affiliated official hired to promote human rights.”
#8 NGOs’ Poisonous Agenda
Nongovernmental organizations, including legacy groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have demonized Israel’s reputation and legitimized antisemitism. In December 2024, Amnesty International released a report concluding that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide. Then Human Rights Watch libeled Israel with the screed it intentionally deprives Palestinian civilians in Gaza of water, leading to thousands of deaths. HRW’s Executive Director, Tirana Hassan charged, “This isn’t just negligence; it is a calculated policy of deprivation that has led to the deaths of thousands from dehydration and disease that is nothing short of the crime against humanity of extermination, and an act of genocide.” The SWC documented 12 major lies of omission in the HRW Report.
#9 Presidents Targeting Israel
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler during a speech at the 79th UN General Assembly while reiterating support for Hamas and even hinting at an incursion into the Jewish State, stating “Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must also be stopped by the alliance of humanity.”
While Ireland doesn’t have the military might of Turkey, its anti-Israel moves, led by President Michael Higgins, have enraged Israel, leading to the closure of its embassy in Dublin. Ireland joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, adding it would seek to amend the definition of genocide to fit the Jewish state.
Not to be outdone by Ireland, Gustavo Petro, the President of Colombia – seen accepting a Palestinian flag from anti-Israel fanatic Roger Waters – is recommending that the South African legal team presenting its libelous anti-Israel at the ICJ receive the Nobel Prize. In 12 short months, Petro turned Colombia, Israel’s closest ally in Latin America, into a leader of the global anti-Israel crusade breaking off relations and accusing the Jewish state of acting like Nazis while declaring Israel guilty of genocide but never condemning Hamas.
#10 Israeli Olympians and Other Athletes Targeted
Tensions spawned by the Hamas war were high surrounding a UEFA football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam. Israeli soccer fans exiting the game were attacked by organized rioters, in what was described as a “Jew hunt.” The Simon Wiesenthal Center announced a travel advisory for Amsterdam in the wake of a tepid response by authorities and other antisemitic incidents. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Israeli athletes faced Nazi salutes and antisemitic gestures from some spectators. They also received individual threats via WhatsApp, reportedly linked to Iran which had called for Israel’s ouster from the Games. Israel’s Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar retorted, “We are witnessing attempts by the Iranian regime to intimidate Israeli athletes and carry out psychological terror against our amazing delegation.” Elsewhere, an Israeli Frisbee team was excluded from an international competition in Ghent, Belgium, following an antisemitic incident where “Boycott Israhell Now!” was spray-painted near the field. In November, players from TuS Makkabi, an under-17 youth soccer team in Berlin were chased by a crowd wielding sticks and knives, according to German media reports. Opposing players reportedly yelled “Free Palestine” at the Jewish team, whose players were allegedly spat at repeatedly.
