extremism
Drastic increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Germany
Pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Düsseldorf. photo
© Christoph Reichwein/dpa
They are calling for the annihilation of Israel on the streets and glorifying Hamas’s terrorist attack – since the terrible events of October 7th, anti-Semitism has increased sharply in this country.
Anti-Semitic incidents have increased in Germany since the bloody attack by the terrorist militia Hamas Israel increased dramatically. The Federal Association of Anti-Semitism Research and Information Centers (Rias) has documented 202 incidents nationwide since October 7th – 240 percent more than in the same period last year.
Nine out of ten of the documented incidents were “Israel-related anti-Semitism,” Rias said in Berlin on Wednesday. Israel is blamed for the Hamas massacres, and the state of Israel is demonized and delegitimized. Rias cited the demonstration at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin on Sunday with around 1,000 people as an example. Slogans were shouted that called for the annihilation of Israel and glorified Hamas’s terrorist attack.
Rias: Threats and Attacks
In addition, 21 cases were documented in which rallies and minutes of silence for Israel were disrupted. “In addition to shouting and insults, there was also one threat and six attacks,” said Rias. In Kiel, people were spat on at a solidarity rally. In 33 cases, Israeli flags on public buildings were damaged or stolen. In Mainz, among other places, an Israeli flag was torn down and set on fire.
In addition, Rias recorded fifteen anti-Semitic incidents “in the residential environment” since October 7th. “Residential buildings were daubed with Stars of David, which appeared particularly threatening,” the reporting office noted. Ten such graffiti cases were reported in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia alone. In three incidents it was known that Jews lived in the apartments. These markings are particularly unsettling because of the memory of National Socialism.
Rias is a network of reporting centers where those affected and witnesses can report anti-Semitic incidents. The documentation center is supported by the Federal Commissioner against Anti-Semitism, Felix Klein.