International Holocaust Day is upon us and an alarming spike in anti-Semitism figures around the world after the October Shiv attack on Israel.
The report, published this morning (Friday) by the Diaspora Ministry together with the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency, reflects a serious picture of the situation on campuses and universities, and a jump of hundreds of percent in the scope of anti-Semitic events around the world in just the last three months: an increase of 512% in Great Britain, 738% in Australia, 400% in France, 800% in Canada, 320% in Germany.
The focus of anti-Semitic events took place this year in the USA with 45% of all anti-Semitic events recorded in the country compared to 39% in Europe as a whole. In addition, last year there was a sharp increase of 33% in the scope of violent anti-Semitic events, compared to 2022, when 6 Jews were murdered in the USA, in Egypt and Tunisia.
How dangerous is social media?
In the past year, there was a 1,200% increase in posts that included violent anti-Semitic content and called for violence against Jews, Israelis and Zionists.
A surge in anti-Semitism: a fascist rally in Rome (archive)
Most of the anti-Semitic discourse on the Internet is of the new anti-Semitism type (74.1%), which is directed against the State of Israel and deals more closely with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Despite the disavowal of its leader, in the months of November-December most of the anti-Semitic content was monitored on the X network (68%) followed by Tiktok, Facebook, Telegram and Instagram by a considerable margin.
In this context, a study found that surfing for at least 30 minutes a day on some of the aforementioned platforms increases the chance that the surfer will hold anti-Semitic attitudes.
Worrying data in Europe and the US as well
In the USA, in the two months following the events of October 7, a 337% increase was recorded compared to the corresponding period in 2022. This period also saw the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents since the documentation of anti-Semitic phenomena in the area began in 1979. Among other things, there were approximately 200 demonstrations in which Anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist expressions or that included support for terrorism. In addition, a 919% increase was found in the amount of anti-Semitic posts in the online space and a 540% increase in the amount of false threats to plant bombs against Jewish institutions and synagogues.
On campuses across the US, there was a 700% increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded on campuses, with 54.5% of Jewish students in the US admitting that they do not feel physically safe on campuses, and over a third of Jewish students in the US are forced to hide their identity. Studies published in the past year It is pointed out that the foreign funding given to universities in the USA, including Middle Eastern countries, primarily Qatar, has a direct effect on an increase in the scope of anti-Semitism and the erosion of democratic values in higher education institutions in the USA.
A new anti-Semitism directed against the State of Israel and dealing more closely with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Photo: AFP
An alarming spike in anti-Semitism was also recorded throughout Europe in 2023 and even more so after October Seven.
In France, more than 1,800 anti-Semitic incidents were reported, four times as many as in all of 2022.
These events included, among others, the stabbing of a Jewish woman - whose house had a swastika painted on it, attacks by boys in the streets, the burning of the doors of Jewish homes and the marking of the Houses of David on Jewish homes in the suburbs of Paris.
In the United Kingdom, in the period since the war began, the highest number of incidents recorded in the country since records began in 1984 - a jump of 512%, compared to the corresponding period in 2022. In Germany, 29 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the country on an average day, compared to 7 anti-Semitic incidents on an average day in 2022 (an increase of 320%).
Jews have not experienced such hatred since the 1930s
Diaspora and Anti-Semitism Minister Amichai Shikli said that "the Jewish people have not experienced such intensity of hatred since the 1930s - then it was the Nazi race theory, which paved the way for catastrophe, and today it is the obsessive hatred towards the State of Israel.
Demonization, delegitimization and double standards, the three D's defined by Natan Sharansky, are the expression of the old-new hatred, which demands to deny the Jewish people their right to self-determination and to present Zionism - one of the most wonderful and righteous national movements in modern times - as a "colonialist and racist enterprise".
"700% increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campuses".
Harvard University, photo: Reuters
"On the seventh of October, a war broke out against the entire Jewish people. Anti-Semitism raised its head in a dramatic way when it manifested itself in all possible ways, from the virtual space to the public and personal space."
This is what the chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Jacob Hagoel, said. "The World Zionist Organization will continue to strengthen the Jewish people.
We are one people, we will continue with the mutual support and guarantee, we will strengthen the Jewish identity and together we will win!"
The chairman of the Jewish Agency, Major General (Ret.) Doron Almog said that "these days, when the spirits of hatred of Jews are stirring all over the world and anti-Semitism rears its ugly head, the emissaries of the Jewish Agency stand at the forefront of action overseas - on the campuses and in the Jewish communities in order to bring the The story of the State of Israel and the values that lead Israeli society through the greatest crisis it is in. These difficult days reveal the beautiful face of the Jewish people. The Jewish communities stand by our side and take part in the task of rebuilding the country."
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us