Worrying: anti-Semitic incidents increase by 83% in 2023 in Germany

The incidents antisemites increased in Germany in 2023 by 83% compared to the previous year, with 4.782 cases registered, which is equivalent to 13 each day, the Federal Association of Research and Information Centers on Antisemitism (RIAS) reported this Tuesday, which warned against a normalization of this phenomenon.

In a press conference to present its annual report, Bianca Loy, scientific manager of RIAS, stated when commenting on this sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents, that More than half occurred after the massacre carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas in Israel on October 7.

Thus, while in the first nine months of the year an average of 215 incidents per month were recorded, in October alone there were more than 1.200, and between October 7 and the end of the year, 2.787, more than in all of 2022, with 2.480.

He added that the Hamas terrorist attack constituted a motivation for anti-Semitic behavior and after October 7, this anti-Semitism came from the environment of those affected, whether at work, in educational centers or on the internet.

Violent incidents also increased significantly, especially towards the end of the year, with around two-thirds of all cases of extreme violence, attacks and threats taking place after 7 October.

According to Loy, 951 Jews were affected by anti-Semitic incidents last year.

For the first time, antisemitism related to Israel was the most common form of antisemitism and accounted for one in every two incidents.

In many cases, well-known anti-Semitic stereotypes were updated and applied to the massacres of Hamas already the war in the Middle East, and in this context Violence against Jews was justified, relativized or denied, while comparisons with Nazism became increasingly normalized.

Furthermore, the majority of incidents that can be attributed to a specific background fell for the first time on anti-Israel activism, which played a central role in particular in the rallies because “mobilizes and unites very different political spectrums through the rejection of the Jewish State.”

False information also had its importance in the mobilizations, for example, after the dissemination of false information about a missile attack on a hospital in Gaza on October 17.

Likewise, with respect to October 7, there were more incidents than in the rest of the year attributable to an Islamist and also left-wing “anti-imperialist” background, although In some federal states, right-wing extremism continues to prevail as the main reason for cases of anti-Semitism.

The executive advisor of RIAS, Benjamin Steinitz, warned, for his part, that eight months after October 7 there is a threat of a normalization of anti-Semitic expressions and added that Jews perceive their environment as hostile and much of society and academia as lacking empathy and unsupportive.

He added that the RIAS report should be understood as a wake-up call that the State has a responsibility to ensure that Jews can safely participate in life in society, but stressed that it is up to everyone. "put a stop to the normalization of anti-Semitism.”

Schools and universities must also protect their Jewish students and combat discrimination, because otherwise the fundamental right to education is in danger, he warned.

Agencies contributed to this Aurora article.