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Since the Hamas terror massacre of Israeli Jews Oct. 7, the U.S. has been hit with record levels of antisemitic incidents. While authorities are getting to grips with how to effectively deal with it, Western democracies are also dealing with an explosion of antisemitism not witnessed since the Holocaust.
Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom has been rocked by unprecedented antisemitism.
“In the 68 days inclusive between the Hamas terror attack on Israel (Oct. 7) and Wednesday, Dec. 13, CST recorded at least 2,093 antisemitic incidents across the U.K.,” according to the Community Security Trust (CST), the organization responsible for the security of British Jews.
“This is the highest ever total reported to CST across a sixty-eight-day period. CST has been recording antisemitic incidents since 1984.”
In Norway, Oslo Chief Rabbi Joav Melchior echoed the comments of experts and leaders of Jewish communities across the globe that the levels of antisemitism have not been seen since the Holocaust.
“It manifests in statements made against Israel, Zionists and Jews — comments that were not made in the past and would not have been accepted in public discourse without a very strong reaction,” he told the Israeli news outlet Ynet.
France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish community of 440,000, saw a soaring increase of Jew hatred, with 1,676 antisemitic acts in 2023, compared to 436 in 2022.
Jerusalem has long viewed Norwegian governments as strongholds of anti-Israeli policies. Ynet noted that at the Cairo Summit for Peace two weeks after Hamas kidnapped over 240 hostages, including Americans, the Scandinavian country’s foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, was “the only Western foreign minister who condemned Israel without calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza.”
The French media reported in late January that a report from the Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) said, “We are witnessing a rejuvenation of the perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts. Schools are no longer a sanctuary of the Republic.”
French police regulate thousands who gathered for a march against antisemitism in Paris Nov. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish community of 440,000, saw a soaring increase of Jew hatred, with 1,676 antisemitic acts in 2023, compared to 436 in 2022. The Council of Jewish Institutions in France said 25% of the antisemitic acts were “calls to murder” Jews and a third glorified Hamas’ ideology of jihad.
“The explosion of antisemitism globally points to a failure of leadership in higher education, the media of record and in government policy, especially in democratic countries,” said Charles Asher Small, director of the Institute for the U.S.-based Study of Global Antisemitism & Policy (ISGAP).
“For the past several decades, the threat posed by anti-American and anti-democratic social movements has not been addressed, and we keep kicking the can down the road.”
Meanwhile, Rabbi Cooper warned, “If not met with a strong, definitive response from those in power, you will see it [antisemitism] spreading to elementary schools.”
A close-up image depicting the Jewish religious symbol of the star of David inside a synagogue. (iStock)
Traditionally, Ireland has been classified as one of the most hostile European countries toward the Jewish state, according to Israeli diplomats. Irish discrimination against Jews appeared on the basketball court in February when the Irish women’s basketball team refused to shake hands with Israeli opponents because of the war in Gaza. The Israeli team defeated Ireland 87-57.
Spain, with a tiny Jewish population of 45,000 out of a total population of over 48 million, has also been embroiled in rising antisemitism. In October, The Jewish Chronicle reported a synagogue in Barcelona canceled events.
“We’re scared, particularly for our sons and daughters,” a Jewish resident of Barcelona told El Periodico. “Antisemitism is in the air.”
Maxo Benalal, secretary general of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, said soaring Spanish antisemitism was “truly terrifying.”
