Germany declares sharp increase in anti-Semitism
(MENAFN) Germany experienced a significant 77% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to a report by watchdog group RIAS. The surge has been linked to collective blame directed at Jews over Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
The report, released on Wednesday, documented 8,627 anti-Semitic incidents in 2024, up from 4,886 in 2023. RIAS noted that the scale and nature of these incidents resembled the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, with the Gaza war serving as a justification for many anti-Semitic expressions.
“For Jews in Germany, anti-Semitism continues to be a part of daily life,” the report emphasized.
RIAS highlighted that much of the rise occurred within anti-Israel activism, recording 5,857 related incidents at protests, through posters, stickers, and in educational institutions. Direct attacks targeting Jews and Israelis nearly tripled over two years, from 331 cases in 2022 to 966 last year. Cases linked to right-wing extremism also reached a record high of 544 since 2020.
The report detailed eight severe personal attacks, 186 assaults, and 300 threats, alongside vandalism of Holocaust memorials and anti-Semitic graffiti. Germany’s federal police, which track only criminal offenses, reported a 20.7% increase in anti-Jewish crimes with 6,236 incidents in 2024.
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews, described the report as reflecting a daily reality marked by growing hostility and hatred toward Jews, urging better police and judicial training to tackle these issues.
Anti-Semitism Commissioner Felix Klein, who had previously linked the rise in incidents to Germany’s expanding Muslim population, said the Gaza conflict has become a pretext for anti-Semitic actions. He lamented the normalization of such hatred and called for intensified efforts to combat it.
Germany is home to approximately 125,000 Jews.
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