Former Surrogate Promoted Terrorist Organization, Called Zionism “Racist”

​(Washington, D.C., March 10, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:  
 
We call on presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to terminate his campaign’s relationship with Phillip Agnew, who was named this week as a senior adviser to the Sanders camp.
 
Agnew’s activist organization, Dream Defenders, has promoted to children the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been a U.S.-designated terrorist organization since 1997. He called Zionism “racist, exploitative and exclusionary” in a 2015 interview with Ebony Magazine and is a proponent of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
 
Agnew’s so-called “rebellion curriculum,” which is aimed at children in 6th to 11th grade, refers to Israel as “occupied Palestine” and speaks approvingly of the goals of creating a communist party and liberating “Palestine.” He participated in a trip to Israel that included meetings with Omar Barghouti, the founder of BDS, and a former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization.
 
It is unacceptable that someone with this history of anti-Semitic and pro-terrorism statements was given a role on any presidential campaign. In his statement naming Agnew as an adviser, Sanders noted Agnew’s expertise on race and inequity. It is possible to address social inequity in this country without espousing anti-Israel vitriol.  
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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(Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:   
 
We commend the Austrian parliament for unanimously passing a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, including the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The resolution is a strong symbolic statement against all forms of anti-Semitism, including anti-Zionism.
 
The resolution was introduced by the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s center-right People’s Party, but we are encouraged by support for the resolution from other political parties, including those in the opposition. Support for Israel should be a nonpartisan political issue in every country.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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(Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:   
 
We commend Bulgarian authorities for preventing a torch-carrying march attended by neo-Nazi groups from taking place last weekend. The annual demonstration is named after anti-Semite and Nazi ally General Hristo Lukov, whose Union of Bulgarian National Legions movement supported the deportation of more than 11,000 Jews from Macedonia to the death camp Treblinka.
 
Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the far-right demonstrators had to limit their rally to laying wreaths at Lukov’s home, rather than marching. The court decision, as well as the cooperation of senior Bulgarian government officials, is a victory for the Bulgarian Jewish community.
 
A survey released by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) last year found that 85 percent of Europe’s Jews believe anti-Semitism is the biggest social or political problem in their society and 30 percent had been subjected to anti-Semitic harassment.  It is vital that European governments ensure the safety and security of their Jewish communities.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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(Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 24, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:   
 
This year’s Aalst Carnival generated more abundant and offensive anti-Semitic displays. B’nai B’rith demands that all political authorities overhaul this celebration. While organizers claim no group is spared mockery, insults and humiliation, it would seem that the worst of this horrifying, hateful behavior falls squarely on stereotypical tropes against Jews.
 
B’nai B’rith is aware that the carnival is rooted in the Middle Ages, when Jews evidently were a primary target for such hatred. But the Middle Ages are long gone. The lessons from this dark time should be taught, but not as comedy. In modern times, this village celebration is a global event with 21st century technology. The “rabbi kits,” hook-nosed masks, sidelocks and massive black hats are not only disrespectful, they are not entertaining because they are offensive.
 
Mocking religious Jews identifies them as targets for ridicule, abuse and hate. Surely there are ways to celebrate the ignorance of the Middle Ages other than portraying Jews as vermin. B’nai B’rith is deeply concerned about the messages this carnival sends to current and future generations.
 
Flemish authorities have failed to act, instead further instigating vitriol. Aalst Mayor Christoph D’Haese and Jan Jambon, minister-president of the Flanders region, maintain their support of the parade. They reject any notion that these displays are anti-Semitic. UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) understood the offensive characterizations of Jews by de-listing the event in December 2019. Jambon understandably backs this display of hate as he has been criticized for giving a speech at a celebration of former Flemish Nazi collaborators, not to mention his ties to people affiliated to neo-Nazi organizations.
 
B’nai B’rith commends vocal opposition to the event, notably from UNESCO, the European Commission, members of the European Parliament and countless civic organizations. Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès has said the carnival “damage[s] our values and the reputation of our country.” Regional political party DéFI has equated the event of amounting to “incitement to hatred” given its hateful imagery and slogans.
 
A recent Fundamental Rights Agency Survey reports 87 percent of Belgian Jews perceive anti-Semitism as a serious problem nationally; 67 percent avoid wearing Jewish symbols out of fear of being attacked.
 
While checks on the festival are a necessary first step to overhauling this festival, the long-term solution requires a concerted effort to deconstruct the root biases that prompted the festival displays in the first place.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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(Washington, D.C., Feb. 11, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:  
 
We call on music, film and media festival South by Southwest (SXSW) to remove an interview with former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters from its schedule of events. Currently, Waters is scheduled to give a sit-down interview with documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. The musician is listed as one of the festival’s keynote speakers.
 
Waters is an avowed anti-Semite with a long history of demonizing Jews and Israel, which he refers to as a “racist apartheid regime” and a “theocracy.” He is a prominent advocate of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and blames “the Jewish lobby” for objecting to his views. His shows have featured an inflatable pig marked with a Star of David, which he refused to apologize for.
 
By cloaking his anti-Semitic beliefs in anti-Israel invective, Waters apparently believes he has carte blanche to spew anti-Jewish tropes. It is unconscionable that Waters be given any platform to air his anti-Semitic views, much less the chance to be a keynote speaker at a major music festival. SXSW should remove him from its lineup immediately.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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B’nai B’rith Had Expressed Disappointment in MLB ads Promoting Waters
 
(Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:  
 
In response to a letter from B’nai B’rith expressing concern that musician Roger Waters was given an advertising platform on Major League Baseball (MLB)-affiliated media channels, MLB reached out to B’nai B’rith to assure us that ads promoting Waters have run their course and there are no plans to schedule any more ads on the MLB platforms.
 
MLB also noted that it had no anti-Semitic intentions by running these ads.
 
Waters is an avowed anti-Semite with a long history of demonizing Jews and Israel.
 
In our original letter, we stated that “Roger Waters has performed while displaying a large inflatable pig prominently marked with a Star of David.  He participates in the discriminatory, anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and castigates other musicians for performing in Israel.  He has blamed “the Jewish Lobby” for intimidating anti-Israel critics like him.  And he has falsely labeled the Jewish state a “racist apartheid regime” and claimed Israel is guilty of “ethnic cleansing.”
 
Read B’nai B’rith’s letter to MLB here. 
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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(Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2020)— B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:  
 
B’nai B’rith is calling for the dismissal of Portuguese newsmagazine Sábado cartoonist Vasco Gargalo, who published anti-Semitic images in the month before International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
 
“Demonization of the State of Israel is not acceptable political or social commentary, it is in fact modern day anti-Semitism, and the images of a crucifixion on the Star of David perpetuate the world’s oldest hate,” we wrote in our letter to the publication.
 
The cartoons demonized Israel by comparing the Jewish State to Nazi Germany and invoking Nazi imagery to characterize Israelis, both of which fall under the internationally accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s definition of anti-Semitism.
 
In the first cartoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing a coffin with a Palestinian Authority flag into an oven. The German phrase “Arbeit macht frei,” which translates to “Work sets you free,” was infamously inscribed on the gates of Auschwitz. Gargalo’s second cartoon showed a Black politician being crucified on the Star of David.

We fully respect freedom of expression and free speech, but these age-old anti-Semitic tropes — blood libels — are hateful and shameful. No more!
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Read our full letter here.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org

(Washington, D.C., Jan. 17, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:  
 
We are deeply disturbed by the vandalism at a Jewish cemetery in the town of Shoumen, Bulgaria. The perpetrators toppled and broke gravestones and damaged the cemetery’s fences.
 
This attack is part of a disturbing trend of desecration of Jewish cemeteries across Europe. In February, vandals painted swastikas on headstones in the French village of Quatzenheim. Vandals damaged 59 gravestones in Námestovo, Slovakia, in December. German attackers knocked over 40 Jewish gravestones, spray-painting some of them, in December.
 
A survey released by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found that 85 percent of Europe’s Jews believe anti-Semitism is the biggest social or political problem in their society and 30 percent had been subjected to anti-Semitic harassment. More must be done to fight anti-Semitism in Europe. It is vital that European states ensure that European Jews feel safe.
 
We trust and expect that the perpetrators of this appalling act will promptly be arrested and tried for their crimes. In addition, we call on all European Union member states to implement the action plan to combat anti-Semitism developed by B’nai B’rith International, the European Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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(Washington, D.C., Dec. 23, 2019)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:

In a shocking act of anti-Semitism, anonymous vandals damaged 59 gravestones last week at a Jewish cemetery in Námestovo, Slovakia. The graves were knocked down and smashed. Although the extensive damage must have been the work of multiple people over a long period of time, no witnesses have come forward. In a letter to the Slovak ambassador to the United States, Ivan Korčok, B'nai B'rith called on Slovak authorities to investigate and find those responsible for the crime.

In our letter, we emphasized that “these vicious acts of vandalism come at a time of a global spike in anti-Semitic acts worldwide. Jewish communities depend on the active cooperation and support of national and local governments, together with law enforcement agencies, to protect the community against such incidents, and to vigorously pursue the perpetrators." 
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The embassy responded this week with the news that Slovak police have begun investigating. “You rightly underlined the need for national and local governments as well as law enforcement agencies to cooperate with the Jewish communities to protect them against such incidents, and to vigorously pursue the perpetrators. I cannot agree more," the embassy wrote in its response. "We surely have to join forces and step up efforts – in criminal justice and especially in education."

“With regard to the barbaric act in Jewish Cemetery in Námestovo, I would like to inform you that the investigator of the Slovak Police Department have already launched the process of criminal prosecution for criminal offense of defamation of the last resting place with the upper limit of the penalty rate of 5 years in prison. I strongly believe that the authorities will be able to find offenders of this shameful act soon and punish them according to the law.”

We trust and expect that the perpetrators of this horrific act will promptly be arrested and tried for their crimes. In a time when European Jews feel increasingly unsafe due to rising anti-Semitism, it is imperative that we confront and stamp out anti-Semitic hate wherever it is found. 
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2019)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
It is with deep sadness and anger that we condemn the attack on Nessah synagogue in Beverly Hills on Shabbat. Police are classifying the shocking attack as a hate crime.
 
In the early hours of Saturday morning, a vandal broke into the synagogue, overturned furniture and damaged religious objects.
 
The synagogue was founded by Persian Jews who fled the 1979 revolution in Iran. It is unthinkable that they should have to face religious persecution in the United States.
 
Whether in Brooklyn or Beverly Hills, local officials and law enforcement must protect citizens and institutions. Being able to worship or walk on the street without fear or intimidation should be a given.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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