Rising Antisemitism Worries Jewish Communities Worldwide

amsterdam - Incidents of antisemitism have been increasing since October 7, 2023, causing concerns among Jewish communities globally.

Since October 7, 2023, there has been a alarming rise in antisemitic incidents worldwide. Is the genie out of the bottle?

A 22-year-old man of Mauritian origin, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, was arrested in Chicago two weeks ago after shooting at a Jewish man on his way to the synagogue on a Saturday morning. Police confirmed after checking his phone records that he specifically targeted Jews.

A 39-year-old bystander ended up in the hospital due to the shooting. "Fortunately, the victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries. But we know he will have to deal with this for the rest of his life," said local police chief Larry Snelling according to CNN.

Even more shocking was the attempted kidnapping of a Jewish boy in Brooklyn, New York last weekend. Footage showed a masked man approaching a father with two children on the street and trying to take the child. A 28-year-old man living near the Orthodox Jewish family, reportedly struggling with mental issues according to friends, was later arrested. The exact motive is still under investigation.

Antisemitism is on the rise globally compared to previous years, warn organizations such as the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) and the American Anti-Defamation League. Jews are more vigilant on the streets since the bloody attacks by Hamas on October 7 last year. Not all hate speech and incidents are reported by victims, they say.

'7/10' seems to have been the starting point of intimidation, violence, and suspicions - both on social media and in the real world - against Jewish communities worldwide. A quarter of all discrimination reports in the Netherlands in 2023, according to National Coordinator for Combating Antisemitism Eddo Verdoner, were related to antisemitism, even though they represent only a fraction (about 0.3 percent) of the Dutch population. "Antisemitic content generates many clicks, and these companies sell ads around those clicks. They make a lot of money, but that hateful content is poisoning our society. The influence of online hate on our offline world is huge and only growing," Verdoner recently stated.

In Germany, France, and Belgium, according to a survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the situation is even worse. Many Jews say in a survey that they consciously avoid certain areas or do not walk around with, for example, a yarmulke.

A Jewish woman walking in the 19th district of Paris a year after October 7 can speak to this. She was chased by three aggressors who threatened her with a knife and reportedly shouted antisemitic slogans. A 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped this summer in a park near her home by a group of teenage boys allegedly seeking revenge for her origin. These are just a few examples of the widespread anti-Jewish hate actions: nearly 1700 were reported in France in 2023, a tripling from the previous year.

In Amsterdam, after several restless days, a new chapter was added last Thursday night. In chat groups, calls for retaliation actions against 'Zionists' in the capital were already circulating. Tourists were asked for their passports on the street by strangers. Recognizable Israelis were attacked out of nowhere and sometimes pursued all the way to their hotel room, threatened with knives, or thrown into the canal. Similar incidents occurred in Antwerp over the weekend, including an Orthodox teenager.

Israeli journalists found it impossible to work in the days following the Maccabi Tel Aviv match due to loitering groups on the street. "They kept an eye on us, and with the events of recent days in mind, that was truly frightening," said Channel 11 presenter Michal Reshef to De Telegraaf.

It was her third time in Amsterdam, but it felt different. "I have never experienced anything like this in Europe, or in Amsterdam before. I can hardly believe it, but it was terrifying," she said, intentionally avoiding speaking Hebrew aloud on the street with her colleague.

The distinction between 'antizionism,' as pro-Palestinian demonstrators often call their actions, and antisemitism is often a subject of debate when it comes to Israel and the treatment of its citizens. However, these two approaches can also go hand in hand when Jews elsewhere are blamed for the conflict in the Middle East.

"It was not just a reaction to the provocative behavior of some of those fans. It was not just an overflowing anger over the war in Gaza. It was something much darker," columnist Bret Stephens writes in the New York Times about the Amsterdam 'Jew hunt', which, according to him in the current context, 'should no longer come as a surprise' and has nothing to do with criticism of the state of Israel.

Stephens also points to statements by Hamas terrorists themselves on October 7, when one of them proudly called his family in Gaza: 'Dad, I'm calling you from a Jewish person's phone. I just murdered her and her husband, and I personally killed ten more.'

Even Jewish students have found it challenging due to the massive protests that have played out and are happening on university campuses worldwide. There is a 'hostile atmosphere' against anything Israeli, even in the Netherlands, testified several students. "Jewish students are fair game at Leiden University. The fact that there are people glorifying Hamas there is quite a thing," said Jonathan earlier in an interview with this newspaper. "We are all seen as 'Zionists' without exception and bombarded with accusations," student Ethan added. Students in Amsterdam and Groningen also said they felt intimidated by pro-Palestinian activists on their campus.

In the United States, Jewish students have been physically assaulted by the masses. Just last week, the DePaul University in Chicago was targeted: young masked men went after a 21-year-old who allegedly served in the Israeli army.

According to author Bret Stephens, former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, the future of Judaism outside of Israel is at stake. "I am not sure if most Europeans understand what a civilization catastrophe that would mean," he said. "Historically, the fate of societies that become 'Judenfrei' - free of Jews - has not been particularly cheerful."