Since the massacre of over a thousand Israeli civilians by Hamas on October 7th, the number of antisemitic incidents across Europe has increased drastically as arson attacks have been seen in Austria and Germany, along with Italy, where stones dedicated to victims of the Holocaust were set on fire in Rome.
The two stumbling stones, stones bearing a brass plaque with the names of victims of the Holocaust, dedicated to Michele Ezio Spizzichino and Amedeo Spagnoletto, were damaged earlier this week by unknown vandals who apparently tried to set them on fire, Il Giornale reports.
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri commented on the alleged attack, saying, “Rome condemns this outrage against the stumbling stones,” while Rome’s Chief Rabbi told Italian media that “for us Jews, it is a fault to live and dare to defend ourselves.”
Elsewhere, a pro-Palestine protester tore down the Israeli flag from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which is also based in Rome.
Antisemitic incidents in Italy have not been limited to Rome. Swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti were seen along the Darsena docklands in Milan. In both Milan and Turin, posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas were also torn down.
The Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation says that between October 7th and October 30th, at least 42 cases of antisemitism have been reported across Italy.
The Israeli Ambassador to Rome, Alon Bar, has also spoken out about the surge of antisemitism sweeping the country, saying,
The Anti-Semitism Monitoring Centre in Milan has recorded a significant increase in cases of anti-Semitism in Italy. In some cases, in some spaces, including universities, Israeli students who are Jewish citizens felt intimidated.
Antisemitic incidents have been surging, particularly in countries with high populations of Muslim immigrants, such as Germany, where a synagogue in Berlin was the target of an attempted arson and where antisemitic incidents have more than doubled compared to the same period last year.
The vast majority of antisemitic incidents, according to the Federal Association of Research and Information Centres on Anti-Semitism (Rias), have been anti-Israel in nature.
On Thursday, November 2nd, German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck released a statement condemning the rise in antisemitism, saying,
Anti-Semitism is not to be tolerated in any form, in none. The extent of the Islamist demonstrations in Berlin and other cities in Germany is unacceptable and needs a tough political response.
Habeck singled out the Muslim community, stating that too few Muslim associations have distanced themselves from antisemitic rhetoric and from the actions of Hamas.
The Green politician also surprisingly spoke out about antisemitism among the Left, stating, “Anti-colonialism must not lead to antisemitism,” adding, “In this respect, this part of the political Left should review its arguments.”
To those who do carry out antisemitic attacks, Habeck was clear on the need for criminal prosecution, also threatening migrants with deportation if they carry out such crimes.
“Anyone who is German will have to answer for it in court. If you’re not German, you also risk your residency status,” Habeck said, adding, “Anyone who doesn’t have a residence permit provides a reason to be deported.”
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has also made moves to ban the activities of Hamas and the Samidoun association, a pro-Palestinian organisation, for spreading antisemitic propaganda.
“With Hamas, I have today completely banned the activities of a terrorist organization whose aim is to destroy the state of Israel,” Faeser said Thursday.
Samidoun, whose German branch is set to be dissolved due to Faeser’s new order, commented on the ban, saying the German government was “partners not only in the defamation and dehumanization of the Palestinian people but [in] the murderous war crimes and crimes against humanity of the occupation regime.”
“The Palestinian people’s will to live in freedom, to resist their occupier, and to obtain their rights will not be killed by murderous bombing raids or German political repression,” they said.
Several German citizens have been killed or kidnapped by Hamas since October 7th, including Shani Louk, who had been seen on the back of a truck on October 7th with Hamas militants. It was unclear if she had been killed until October 30th, when Israeli military forces claimed to have found part of her skull, with Israeli President Isaac Herzog claiming she had been brought back to Gaza and beheaded.
The Jewish community in Spain has also expressed concern over growing levels of antisemitism, with the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE), Isaac Benzaquén, claiming the level of antisemitic incidents is at a level not seen in years.
He stated:
What is happening in these last few days has not been experienced in the history of our country for many years. The fact that a group of people tried to enter the synagogue in Melilla when they were praying is something that had never, ever happened and could never be thought to happen. Melilla is an example of the coexistence of religions for many years, practically since the birth of the city.
But, unfortunately, hasn’t ended there. In Barcelona, they entered a hotel hurling antisemitic, anti-Israeli proclamations over the fact that the hotel is owned by an Israeli citizen. There has been graffiti on a synagogue in Madrid, and Jewish houses have been marked with a Star of David stating, ‘A Jew lives here.’
It has also happened in cars. And I have just been told that in Ceuta in a warehouse of a person who is also Jewish, graffiti appeared that says, ‘Jews out, murderers and free Palestine’.
We are certainly keeping a close eye on developments as they unfold.
France, which also has a high population of Muslims, has seen its own wave of antisemitic incidents, from 60 or so Stars of David being spray painted on Paris homes where Jews allegedly live to bomb threats to twenty Jewish schools in the Île-de-France region.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has claimed that France has recorded at least 857 antisemitic incidents since October 7th, more than double the number of all of 2022, and made over 430 arrests in connection with the various incidents.
