Anti-Semitism: This is how much anti-Semitic crimes have increased since October 7th

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Andrea Despot, Chairwoman of the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future Foundation, Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Semitism

Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa

After Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the number of anti-Semitic crimes in Germany increased significantly.

In the past just over 100 days alone, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has recorded 2,249 anti-Semitic crimes, said the Federal Government's Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, at a press conference on Thursday.

A significant part of this was not committed shortly after the attack, but weeks and months later.

Jews were “attacked, threatened, insulted, put in fear” and anti-Semitic incitement was “publicly spread,” said Klein.

He was shocked that "the shamefully high level" of anti-Semitic acts had largely disappeared from public debate and media reporting.

Jews avoided speaking Hebrew in public, changed Jewish-sounding names when ordering online, and thought twice about going to a synagogue.

A comparison with the entire year 2022 shows how significant the increase in anti-Semitic crimes is. A total of 2,874 anti-Semitic crimes were registered in the twelve months.

The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, said most of the anti-Semitic crimes recorded since October 7 had taken place on the streets.

He was referring to a survey by the Anti-Semitism Research and Information Center (RIAS) up to November 9th.

The reported cases ranged from hurtful behavior, attacks and threats to extreme violence.

“Jewish life has become less visible”

Schuster highlighted the “mental burden on Jews” in Germany.

Many no longer wear Jewish symbols and no longer attend Jewish events or church services for fear of attacks.

"The result is: Jewish life has become less visible."

Currently, Jews encounter primarily Islamist anti-Semitism in their everyday lives.

In addition, right-wing extremist anti-Semitism is the greatest threat because it is the best organized.

“The demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people across Germany against right-wing extremism and the rise of the AfD in the past few days were all the more important,” said Schuster.

Klein also spoke about how anti-Semitism could be combated more effectively.

He advocates a proposal by the lawyer and professor of criminal law at the University of Leipzig, Elisa Hoven, to reform the so-called incitement paragraph 130 of the criminal code.

Hoven and her colleague Alexandra Witting are calling for this to be reworded because the existing wording is “too narrow and sometimes misleading,” as Hoven said in an interview with the University of Leipzig.

The criminal offense of sedition currently requires “disturbing the public peace”.

If inflammatory statements are not directed against people who live in Germany, in some cases this leads to public prosecutors dropping cases "on the grounds that a hate message would not be directed against German Jews, but against Jews living in Israel." , explained Hoven in the interview.

Anti-Semitic codes and ciphers would also be overlooked.

"Statements are then classified as permissible criticism of Israel, although in reality they are clearly anti-Semitic and inflammatory."

The proposal to reform Section 130 is based on an evaluation of more than 300 criminal proceedings for incitement to hatred between 2016 and 2021.

The investigation showed that a large number of cases were closed by public prosecutors because of inflammatory content, often to the great incomprehension of the public, said Hoven.

Klein said in the press conference: "We must end the existing uncertainties that exist in the judiciary when dealing with anti-Semitism."

Andrea Despot, chairwoman of the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future Foundation, also described the effects of anti-Semitism on the work of her foundation since October 7th.

Since then, Jews have canceled participation in the foundation's events due to concerns for their safety.

Since then, projects that deal with anti-Semitism have needed security concepts.

And she highlighted how anti-Semitism is spreading in online spaces.

"Social media campaigns for our projects are being postponed for fear of not being able to stop the flood of anti-Semitic hate speech."

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