In the past year, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in France has increased dramatically. The Jewish umbrella organization spoke of an “explosion” of anti-Jewish acts since the beginning of the Gaza war. Belgium also registered a strong increase.
In Belgium and France, the number of anti-Semitic incidents increased dramatically after the start of the Gaza war. In France, the Interior Ministry and the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ) registered 1,676 anti-Semitic incidents last year. In 2022 there were 436.
The Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif), the country’s main Jewish advocacy group, said as many anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the three months after the conflict began on October 7 as in the previous three years overall. Last year, almost 58 percent of incidents were directed against individuals. This included physical violence, threats and gestures.
“Perpetrators are getting younger and younger”
The number of anti-Semitic acts in schools has exploded. “The perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks are getting younger and younger,” the council said. “School is no longer a sanctuary.”
October 7th “acted like a catalyst of hate by activating latent anti-Semitism,” said Crif President Yonathan Arfi. In addition, the inhibition thresholds have fallen.
Hate messages and Holocaust denials
In Belgium, the independent anti-discrimination agency Unia said it had received 91 reports of anti-Semitism in the two months after the start of the Gaza war, compared to 57 in all of 2022. In most cases these were hate messages, mostly on the Internet, but also on the Internet public space.
The number also includes Holocaust denials, beatings, graffiti and the desecration of dozens of graves in a cemetery near Charleroi. During the same period, Unia said it registered eight cases of discrimination or hate speech against people of Palestinian or Arab origin or against Islam.
In the wake of the Gaza war, an increase in anti-Semitic acts was recorded in numerous countries. At the same time, there was also an increase in Islamophobic acts.