Biden bemoans 'appalling surge' in anti-Semitism amid Gaza war

The Department of Justice probing and prosecuting anti-semitic hate crimes, says US President

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US President Joe Biden departs after attending a mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church, in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday. REUTERS

By AFP

Published: Sun 27 Oct 2024, 3:54 PM

US President Joe Biden on Sunday marked six years since a deadly synagogue attack in Pittsburgh by lamenting an "appalling surge" of anti-Semitism since the war in Gaza started.

In 2018, a rightwing extremist killed 11 Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in the former Pennsylvania steel hub in America's deadliest anti-Semitic attack.

This year's commemoration falls on the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the war in Gaza.

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"One year later, the trauma and losses from that day and its aftermath are not only raw, but exacerbated by the appalling surge of anti-Semitism against Jews in America and around the world," said Biden in a statement.

Biden, whose administration has backed Israel since the start of the conflict, said he had launched before October 7 the country's first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.

"We are aggressively implementing it," he said, adding that his administration had secured $1.2 billion to provide physical security of synagogues, Jewish schools and other non-profit organisations.

The Department of Justice was also probing and prosecuting anti-Semitic hate crimes, he said.

US university campuses were earlier this year roiled by protests against the war in Gaza.

Hamas's October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

At least 42,924 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have since been killed in the Israeli offensive on Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.

AFP

Published: Sun 27 Oct 2024, 3:54 PM

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