Antisemitic incidents increased sharply from 2020 to 2021 and followed an already substantial increase in demonstrations of Jew-hatred seen between 2019 and 2020, according to a new report by Tel Aviv University researchers.
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The researchers from the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Humanities found antisemitic incidents rose sharply in a number of countries including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Australia.
According to the report, this increase was the result of the rise of the far-Right and far-Left, both of which have become increasingly popular online.
Conspiracy theories, which grew increasingly popular during the coronavirus pandemic, and the Israel Defense Forces' Operation Guardian of the Walls in the Gaza Strip, both contributed to the spike in antisemitism, the researchers found. In this context, the researchers noted the anonymity of the Dark Web allowed radicals of all kinds to share antisemitic content unhindered.
The Islamic Republic also played a role, the researchers said, through its significant financial investment in the promotion of antisemitic and anti-Israel content online, in particular in Latin American countries and the US.
The researchers relied on data from dozens of reports compiled around the world as well as data from law enforcement agencies, media organizations, and various Jewish groups for their report.
So, for example, in New York, the researchers found that Jews had been the target of 214 hate crimes in 2021 compared to 126 in 2020. Seventy-nine antisemitic crimes were reported in Los Angeles in 2021 compared to just 40 the previous year. The US saw 251 hate crimes committed against Jews in the three weeks in which the IDF carried out its May 2020 operation in Gaza.
According to a survey by the American Jewish Council, 2.6% of US Jews were the victim of physical antisemitic attacks over the last five years. According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic propaganda from white supremacist groups increased 27% between 2020 and 2021 and 113% between 2019 and 2020. The findings are particularly troubling as, in general, the dissemination of white supremacist propaganda is on the decline.
France reported 589 antisemitic incidents in 2021, which was a 74% increase over 2020 but a 15% decrease from 2019, according to a joint report by the country's Jewish Community Security Service and Interior Ministry.
In May 2020, Canada saw a record-breaking number of physical antisemitic attacks, according to the B'nai Brith Canada organization. Sixty-one such incidents were reported in May 2021. In total, 266 antisemitic incidents were reported in that country, a 54% increase over 2020.
According to police in Germany, the European country recorded 3,028 antisemitic incidents in 2021, which was a 28.8% increase over 2020 and a 49% increase over 2019. In the UK, the Community Security Trust reported 2,255 antisemitic incidents, a 34% increase over 2020 and a 24% increase over 2019. Physical attacks on Jews increased by 78% in the UK between 2020 and 2021.
German police further noted a growing trend of anti-vaxxers comparing their situation to that of Jews in the Holocaust which resulted in the trivialization of the Holocaust.
In Australia, 447 antisemitic incidents were reported in 2021, a 35% increase over 2020 and a 21.5% increase over 2019.
Professor Uriya Shavit, who heads the Tel Aviv University's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, noted: "Something isn't working. In recent years, immense resources have been invested in the struggle against antisemitism, but the number of antisemitic incidents is on the rise. The easy thing would be to say that we need more laws and more funds, but what is really needed is the bold and comprehensive evaluation of the efficacy of existing strategies of action."
He said: "The Russian war crimes, which are being carried out through the cynical desecration of the memory of the Holocaust, teaches us that some of those who declared their commitment to the struggle were not serious about it and did not internalize the lessons of World War II.
"The Jewish world must come to its senses and understand that the struggle against antisemitism and the struggle toward the democratic-liberal order are the same struggle," he said.
Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry founder Professor emeritus Dina Porat added: "During the coronavirus and the lockdowns, in which people were holed up in their homes and in front of their computers, exposure to conspiracy theories that thrive on the internet, including the accusation the virus was created and spread by Jews and Israel when the lockdowns were removed, increased."
According to Porat, "Some of those who were poisoned for a long period of time by these theories emerged more aggressive and bitter while continuing to be influenced by the lies they internalized."
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