We should express our admiration and respect for countries that don’t have a history of antisemitism, such as Japan, Azerbaijan and Micronesia," prominent Middle East scholar and commentator, lecturer at Bar-Ilan University Mordechai Kedar said in his article in The Jerusalem Post.
The article headlined "Don't turn a blind eye to antisemitism abroad" reports that 46% of violent antisemitic incidents took place in the US, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, and then other countries.
The year 2023 saw a massive 235% spike in antisemitic incidents recorded globally compared to the year before, according to a report published by the Diaspora Ministry, the article says.
The author who especially noted Armenia in connection with the issue said that against the background of the current events, a group of young Armenians marched through the city of Yerevan. It was reported that they paid homage to a monument built in honor of Garegin Nzhdeh – a collaborator of the German Hitlerite regime, who recruited ethnic Armenians to serve in Nazi special services during the Second World War. Their website claims: “We should storm the streets with the slogan ‘Armenia for Armenians’ and show the world that the masters of Armenia can only be pure Armenians.”
"This occurred after the only synagogue in Armenia fell victim to three separate arson attacks. ASALA, an Armenian terror group closely linked to the Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an affiliate of Fatah, stood behind the last two arson attacks and threatened to attack rabbis and Israelis throughout the world, praising Hamas and Hezbollah following the October 7th massacre," the article notes.
The Israeli professor quotes Armenian political scientist Vladimir Poghosyan who said that Jews have no right to exist: "You jackals must be exterminated completely. I say this as someone who has been involved in intelligence all his life, performed operations at the level of your Mossad and even higher."
"He [Poghosyan] added that Israel is lucky that he has not assisted Hamas or Hezbollah: 'If only my intellect worked for Hamas or Hezbollah, not only 1,000 of your people would have been killed. I will consider the destruction of all your people as the highest act of justice.'" the article says.
"As Israelis, we cannot turn a blind eye to the antisemitism that is happening abroad while we are at war at home. We should not abandon the Jews in the Diaspora and should apply political pressure on the United States, France, the UK, Armenia, and other countries with high rates of antisemitism that the local authorities do something in order to protect the local Jewish communities," he noted.
"We should also express our admiration and respect for countries that don’t have a history of antisemitism, such as Japan, Azerbaijan and Micronesia," the author said.
The full article is available here.
