BRUSSELS (AP) – The number of anti-Semitic acts registered in France and Belgium has soared since Hamas’ attacks on Israel triggered the Gaza war, according to figures released Thursday in France and Belgium.
In France, 1,676 anti-Semitic acts were reported in 2023, compared with 436 the year before, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior and the Jewish Community Protection watchdog group.
According to the Council of French Jewish Organizations, France’s main Jewish interest group, the number of anti-Semitic acts committed in the three months after the October 7 attacks was higher than in the previous three years combined. It is said that the number was comparable to that of
In neighboring Belgium, the independent public body fighting discrimination received 91 calls related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas between October 7 and December 7 last year, compared to 57 in all of 2022. announced that it was a case.
According to the independent Unia newspaper, most of the reports were of statements and actions considered anti-Semitic, including instances of Holocaust denial. In 66 cases, it was clear that the target was Jewish.
Most of the incidents involved hate messages, more than half of which were online, although some comments were made in public spaces. The newspaper said Unia was cooperating with the public prosecutor’s office and Belgian police in nine cases of assault and damage.
The report cites instances of beatings, graffiti, and the desecration of dozens of graves in the Jewish section of a cemetery near the city of Charleroi.
“We can therefore say that since October 7, 2023, there has been a clear increase in reports of anti-Semitism,” Unia said. Additionally, from October 7th to December 7th, eight reports of discrimination and hate speech related to the Palestinian, Arab, and Islamic beliefs of the targeted people were received.
Reports of anti-Semitic acts and comments have increased in many European countries since the outbreak of war.
Anti-Semitic incidents reached an unprecedented high in Italy last year, with 216 incidents reported in the last three months of 2023, compared to 241 in the whole of the previous year.
Anti-Semitism Observatory said 454 incidents were reported in Italy last year, the highest level ever reported in the country. That included violent clashes on Saturday between anti-Israel demonstrators trying to protest the presence of an Israeli pavilion at a trade fair in the northern city of Vicenza.
According to the World Jewish Congress, Belgium’s Jewish population is approximately 29,000. Most of the Jewish community in the capital Brussels is secular, but the port city of Antwerp has a large ultra-Orthodox population and is home to Europe’s largest Hasidic community.
In France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, the French Council of Jewish Institutions announced that 57.8% of anti-Semitic acts in 2023 were against individuals. It included physical violence and threatening words and gestures. The group also noted that “the number of anti-Semitic acts in schools is exploding.”
“Perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts are getting younger. Schools are no longer sanctuaries,” he said.
The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 25,400 people have been killed in the enclave and six more have died since an October 7 attack by Gazan militants in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. It was announced that 3,000 people were injured.
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Associated Press writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to the rally.
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