In Germany, the number of anti-Semitic crimes increased by around 37 percent compared to the same period last year, while the number of Islamophobic crimes rose by around 10 percent. In terms of exact figures, security authorities recorded 765 anti-Semitic and 137 Islamophobic crimes in the first three months of this year, and 558 anti-Semitic and 124 Islamophobic crimes in the first three months of 2023. The data was disclosed by the federal government in its answer to a question from Christian Democratic Union (CDU) MP Christoph de Vries, according to the international V4NA news agency.
Compared to 2022, the numbers have roughly doubled in both areas. Police registered 5,154 anti-Semitic crimes last year, while this figure was 2,641 in 2022. The number of Islamophobic crimes increased from 610 to 1,464. However, only preliminary data are currently available for 2024 and 2023, and figures may change due to delayed reporting or new findings.
In view of growing anti-Semitism, CDU politician de Vries called for concrete, firm action, rather than the constant repetition of empty phrases without any legal consequences. At some demonstrations, for example, slogans incited genocide.
The goal of his parliamentary group is to design a cross-party package of measures together with the parliamentary groups of the governing parties. The members of the Christian Democrats and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) proposed last week, among other things, that the so-called advertising of sympathy for criminal organisations and terrorist organisations be reclassified as a crime.
Felix Klein, the German government's Commissioner for the Fight Againts Anti-Semitism, also sounded the alarm, warning of a continued rise in anti-Semitic crimes in the wake of Iran's attack on Israel.
Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October led to an unprecedented surge in anti-Semitic crime in Europe, and this can be expected to continue after Iran's recent attack,
– Klein told the German press.
Guner Balci, commissioner for integration in Berlin's Neukolln district, also pointed to a clear link between the war in the Middle East and rising anti-Semitism. In her district, a large part of the population sympathises with Hamas and sees it as a kind of liberation organisation, Balci said in an interview. Although this was already the case before the 7 October terrorist attack, it has become even more evident since then. At the same time, the Coordination Council of Muslims in Germany complained in November about the Muslims' exposure to verbal or physical attacks due to the war in the Middle East. There have been dozens of attacks and children and young people are being stigmatised in schools.
Cover photo: The war in the Middle East has also permeated German streets (Photo: NurPhoto via AFP/Ying Tang)
