Many European countries have registered a rise in reported antisemitic acts and rhetoric since the outbreak of the war. Reports show physical and verbal attacks towards Jewish people have risen sharply in the western European nations since the Israel-Hamas war began back in October,
Euronews reports.
The number of antisemitic acts registered in France and Belgium rose sharply since Hamas' attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, according to figures released on Thursday in both countries.
In France, data from the interior ministry and the Jewish Community Protection Service watchdog showed that some 1,676 antisemitic acts were reported in 2023 - compared to 436 the previous year.
According to the Council of Jewish Institutions in France - the country’s main Jewish interest group - the number of antisemitic acts in the three months that followed the 7 October attack equalled those of the previous three years combined.
In neighbouring Belgium, an independent public body fighting discrimination said it received 91 reports related to the Israel-Hamas conflict between 7 October and 7 December last year, compared to 57 reports for the whole of 2022.
Most of the reports were remarks or acts considered as antisemitic, including cases of Holocaust denial, the independent Unia organisation said. In 66 cases, it was clear the target was Jewish.
Most of the cases involved hate messages, more than half of them online, but there were also comments made in public areas. Unia is also collaborating with the public prosecutor’s office and Belgian police in nine cases of assault and damage, it said.
The report cited cases of beatings, graffiti and the desecration of dozens of graves in the Jewish section of a cemetery close to the city of Charleroi.
