We at Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem encourage you to learn about the brand new which officially launched November 2024. The Coalition Against Antisemitism is an association of Christians, Messianic Jews, and others who oppose global antisemitism. CAAS advocates on behalf of Jewish people everywhere who are experiencing unjust hatred and persecution.
CAAS was launched due to the alarming rise of global antisemitism. Antisemitism, according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), is defined as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”1 The coalition agrees with this definition and believes it must take a stand and fight antisemitism in all its forms around the world.
Antisemitism Today
This hatred of Jewish people, expressing itself in both words and violence, has increased dramatically since October 7, 2023. In the first three months alone after Hamas’ attack on Israel, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that antisemitic incidents skyrocketed by 361 percent in the United States, compared to the same three-month period one year prior. In a 2024 press release, ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt confirmed the high incident rate: “The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history. . . It’s shocking that we’ve recorded more antisemitic acts in three months than we usually would in an entire year.”2
This surge in antisemitism is not limited to the United States but has risen on a global scale. Just recently, the city of Amsterdam saw its first pogrom since 1945, as local Arabs and other anti-Israel activists organized themselves using social media platforms to launch a systematic attack on Israeli Jews following a soccer game. They attacked Jewish people with knives, clubs, fireworks, and cars, resulting in five hospitalizations and thirty injuries.3 While arrests were made before and during the soccer match, the police made no arrests during the violent assaults, which took place between midnight and dawn.4 “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again,” King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands said to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.5
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which gathered information from twelve European Jewish community organizations in 2024, reported that antisemitic incidents have increased more than 400 percent since October 7, 2023. According to FRA’s director Sirpa Rautio, “Europe is witnessing a wave of antisemitism, partly driven by the conflict in the Middle East. This severely limits Jewish people’s ability to live in safety and with dignity. We need to build on existing laws and strategies to protect communities from all forms of hate and intolerance.”6
Antisemitism in History
Antisemitism is nothing new; it has been around for millennia. The biblical story of Esther recounts one of the earliest-recorded antisemitic plots to destroy Jewish people through a Persian official named Haman during the reign of King Artaxerxes. The Jewish holiday of Purim celebrates the failure of Haman’s plot.
Similarly, the books of First and Second Maccabees recount the evil ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ attempt to destroy the Jewish community in the land of Israel in the second century BCE. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the Jewish victory over his evil reign.
And sadly, throughout church history, many church leaders have persecuted Jewish people, accusing them of deicide. This persecution intensified during the Crusades when Jewish people were massacred as Crusaders marched to the Holy Land.
The antisemitic writings of Martin Luther in On the Jews and Their Lies likewise fueled the persecution of Jewish people. In his treatise, Luther wrote to the German nobles, counseling them how to fix the problem of the “unbearable, devilish burden of the Jews”:
First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools. . . . Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. . . . Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings . . . be taken from them. Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. . . . Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews.7
The Nazis later used these words of Martin Luther to support their evil crimes during the Holocaust of World War II.
The Coalition Against Antisemitism is dedicated to remembering the failures of the past, particularly the global church’s insufficient response during the Nazi era, and is intent on correcting them so oversights like these do not happen again. The coalition is committed to involving and engaging all who choose to stand with it in opposing this oldest hatred once again rising against Jewish people.
The Coalition will work to actively identify, expose, and address antisemitism—from blatant hate speech and violence to subtle political and social discrimination. It will accomplish these goals through its work in education and awareness, advocacy, community building, and media outreach. To read more about how CAAS plans to oppose antisemitism, click here. We encourage you to join the coalition by signing its founding statement.
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1 “Working definition of antisemitism,” International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, accessed November 15, 2024, https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism.
2 “U.S. Antisemitic Incidents Skyrocketed 360% in Aftermath of Attack in Israel, according to Latest ADL Data,” January 9, 2024, https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/us-antisemitic-incidents-skyrocketed-360-aftermath-attack-israel-according.
3 Dominic Green, “A pogrom in Amsterdam: Why it will spread in Europe and come to a blue-state city near you,” Washington Examiner, November 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine-features/3229916/a-pogrom-in-amsterdam/.
4 “Geert Wilders says no arrests were made during the Amsterdam pogrom,” The Jerusalem Post, November 9, 2024, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-828292.
5 Dominic Green, “A pogrom in Amsterdam: Why it will spread in Europe and come to a blue-state city near you,” Washington Examiner, November 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine-features/3229916/a-pogrom-in-amsterdam/.
6 “Jews in Europe still face high levels of antisemitism,” FRA, accessed November 15, 2024, https://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2024/jews-europe-still-face-high-levels-antisemitism.
7 Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies, 1543, as quoted in Michael Brown, Christian Antisemitism: Confronting the Lies in Today’s Church (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2021), 3.
