Since the Hamas attack on Israel in October, hostilities against Jews in Germany have reached a new dimension. The Rias network is calling for society to fight back.
A man wearing a kippah who is attacked in Göttingen with the words: “I’ll rip your little hat off your head.” Someone who asks his neighbor to move her car and then says: “Fuck off, you dirty Jew.”
An Israeli woman who doesn’t get a room in a shared apartment in Cologne because she doesn’t want to distance herself from Israel. These are three of 4,782 anti-Semitic incidents documented by the Federal Association of Research and Information Centers Rias for 2023.
There are more than ever before, around 83 percent more than in the previous year. The increase has been particularly dramatic since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7: 2,787 incidents occurred between then and the end of the year alone. These are “absolutely catastrophic figures,” said the Federal Government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, at the presentation.
Federal government will not accept the situation
“Jewish life is under greater threat here in Germany than ever before since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany,” is Klein’s assessment of the situation. It is a task for society as a whole to contain this and to ensure the security of Jewish people in a robust manner. He called for additional criminal measures to this end. Burning the flags of other countries is already a criminal offense, and the same must apply to calls for the destruction of other countries.
The federal government will not accept the situation, said Klein, while expressing a vision that today sounds like a utopia: “We will not rest in the fight against hatred of Jews until a Rias annual report can be published in which hardly any or no anti-Semitic incidents are recorded.”
Reporting offices in eleven federal states
Rias maintains a network of offices in eleven federal states where those affected or witnesses can report incidents. These include attacks and threats, but also hostility, which are not always prosecuted. The figures therefore differ from the official crime statistics.
In 2023, there were seven incidents of extreme violence, five of them after October 7. These include the attempted arson attack on a synagogue in Berlin and arson attacks on a family’s house in the Ruhr area. In addition, there were 121 attacks, 329 targeted acts of damage to property, and 183 threats.
A feeling of oppression
The vast majority of the incidents, 4,060 in total, concerned “hurtful behavior.” Rias also counts 833 gatherings at which anti-Semitic slogans, banners or speeches were documented. Overall, for the first time, the majority of documented cases were anti-Israeli anti-Semitism, said Bianca Loy, co-author of the report.
The result for Jews is fear, anxiety, and a feeling of isolation. According to a survey by the Central Council of Jews, many participate less often in community life, they feel unsafe on the streets or in trains, and they do not allow their children to attend certain events for safety reasons. All of these experiences remain, said RIAS managing director Benjamin Steinitz. If the Gaza war ends, the “opportunity structure” may disappear, but not these attitudes. “It really is time for everyone, all of us, the whole of society, so to speak, to accept this problem and take a stand against it.”
And what about Islamophobia?
But the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is its policy not also partly responsible for the increase in incidents in Germany, Klein was asked at the press conference presenting the Rias figures. And anyway, what about the hostility towards Muslims in Germany? Just on Monday, the Alliance against Islamophobia and Muslimophobia reported an increase in anti-Muslim incidents and documented 1,926 such incidents for 2023.
Today, another statistic was released: The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency also reported a record number of 10,772 requests for advice. These can include experiences of anti-Semitism, but also of racism or other cases of discrimination. Racism is being expressed more openly, directly and harshly, said Federal Commissioner Ferda Ataman. “We are not only observing a ‘foreigners out’ mood and increasing contempt for humanity when celebrating on Sylt or at folk festivals.” Migrants, people with disabilities and queer people experience this very concretely in their everyday lives.
“We must form alliances”
Exclusion against Jews and against other minorities, does it all belong together in this troubled society? Or is something being unduly mixed up or even relativized in a country that historically has been primarily responsible for the murder of millions of Jews?
Klein answered the question addressed to him as follows: “It is of course also unacceptable when anti-Muslim racism occurs, the numbers have also gone up. The worst thing that could happen is that the fight against one form of discrimination would now be played off against the others. We have to form alliances, and I am very happy that this is working well within the federal government.”