Anti-Semitic incidents in Germany: from graffiti to arson attempts, Last year they grew by almost 83%. On Tuesday, the RIAS monitor said the figure had increased following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

About half 4,782 reported anti-Semitic incidents were related to anti-Israel activity. and many of them involved relativizing or denying the Nazi Holocaust, which, according to the RIAS, killed 6 million Jews.

Although Antisemitism is on the rise around the worldis a particularly sensitive issue in Germany, where Jewish institutions are under heavy police protection.

Some critics, including prominent German-Jewish intellectuals, argue that this has resulted in German authorities and the media insufficiently distinguishing between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel and, as a result, limiting freedom of expression.

A week after the Hamas attack, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed the idea of ​​Israeli security as the “reason for the state” or a matter of German national interests.

In its report on antisemitism, the RIAS mentioned incidents such as the destruction of Israeli flags flown in solidarity with Israel after 7 October. In another case, scribbled “Liberate Palestine from the Zionists” the words “Save Israel” and a Star of David were scrawled on the toilet door.

Felix Klein, a government official tasked with coordinating the fight against anti-Semitism, said the trend had accelerated even before October 7, thanks in part to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He also noted that many incidents may be related toRecent Muslim community in Germany and called on Muslim associations to raise their voices further.

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Anti-Muslim incidents in Germany have also increased in the past year. CLAIM, a network of NGOs that monitors Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred, reported Monday.

Reuters