Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Urges Recognition of Growing Anti-Semitism

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh condemns the ongoing attacks against Jews by Islamic extremists worldwide, particularly in France and Israel. Additionally, the Federation strongly urges the civilized world to recognize that Islamic extremists are increasingly targeting Jews. Yesterday, five Jews were murdered in Israel by Islamists. In the city of Marseille, France, three people shouted anti-Semitic insults as they stabbed a teacher outside of a Jewish school. One of the attackers was reportedly wearing a T-shirt featuring the Islamic State (ISIL).

"The massacre of 129 innocent people last week in Paris and murder of five people yesterday in Israel is a travesty, as is the attack on an innocent teacher who was stabbed simply for being Jewish," said Cindy Goodman-Leib, Chair of the Community Relations Council. "We are fortunate that the teacher escaped serious injury. The world needs to be aware that the Jews have been specifically targeted in France and around the world by Islamic extremists long before the mass attacks on Friday, and have continued to be a target afterward. After the connected shootings by Islamists last winter at French magazine Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket in Paris, media worldwide seems only to continue to mention the Charlie Hebdo incident with any regularity. The consistent violent targeting of Jews in France and around the world is not a conversation that often makes its way into the public domain, but occurs regularly and needs to be addressed."

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh calls upon governments, government officials and community and religious leaders around the world to condemn these attacks and to recognize that violent anti-Semitism is a crisis. We strongly urge those in power for increased security measures to protect against violent anti-Semitism and hate crimes.