An arson attack was committed against the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte, France on August 24. It left one police officer injured. A shootout also ensued after the suspect set fire to two cars parked outside the synagogue, one of which contained a hidden gas canister, leading to an explosion. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has denounced a surge in antisemitism following a Saturday arson attack on a synagogue in La Grande-Motte in the south of the country. This attack fits into a long line of antisemitic unrest in Europe which is – maybe for the first time in history – rising alongside islamophobia.
A recent report from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Council of Europe’s monitoring body, claims that cases of antisemitism and islamophobia have increased in a number of countries. The results were made public on Thursday, August 22, in advance of the International Day Commemorating Victims of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
According to data gathered by an EU human rights agency, 34% of respondents avoid Jewish events or locations out of fear for their safety, and 76% of respondents throughout Europe admitted to occasionally hiding their Jewish identity. Following the mass stabbing in Southport, England on July 29 and the Hamas attacks on October 7, anti-Muslim sentiment has also increased.
“In several states, the number of antisemitic incidents reported in the last three months of 2023 far exceeded the number usually reported for an entire year and in some cases was much higher,” according to the ECRI.
The study also discovered that after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, there was a “manifold” rise in “hate incidents” against Muslims.
“Muslims received blame for the attack and other attacks in the Middle East, based on stereotyping of whole communities and their perceived connections with the use of violence,” according to the ECRI.
Escalating Antisemitism in Europe
The European Commission on Jewish Relations (ECRI) expressed particular concern over the incidence of antisemitism cases in European schools, characterizing them as hate speech, death threats, vandalism, and physical assaults targeting Jewish individuals.
In July, the Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) of the European Union reported that a “rising tide of antisemitism” is affecting the Jewish community on the continent.
According to Sirpa Rautio, director of FRA, “the spillover effect of the Middle East conflict is eroding hard-fought progress” in the fight against antisemitism.
The highest percentage of Jews across all the countries surveyed, 74 percent, felt their sense of security was affected by the conflict in the Middle East, according to FRA findings.
In Europe, 34% of respondents said they avoid Jewish events or locations “because they do not feel safe,” and 76% said they hide their Jewish identity “at least occasionally,” according to a report by FRA. About 80% of Jews surveyed felt that antisemitism has become more prevalent recently.
In 2023, 4 percent of respondents reported experiencing physical antisemitic attacks within the previous 12 months, a figure that has doubled since 2018. Furthermore, about 60% said they were unhappy with the way their government was handling antisemitism.
The survey was carried out in 13 European Union nations, including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. These nations make up 96% of the Jewish population in the bloc.
Ever since Israel and Hamas went to war over the terrorist organization’s heinous attacks in Israel, antisemitic attacks have rocked Jewish communities throughout Europe.
According to Oskar Deutsch, the head of Vienna’s Jewish community, 167 incidents were reported by Jews in the city in October 2023 alone. This is a “huge” increase for the city’s 12,000 or so Jewish population.
Antisemitism “grew dramatically here in Austria, here in Europe, and all over the world after the seventh of October,” according to Deutsch.
He also mentioned that young children were debating whether or not to attend Jewish schools. “The Holocaust comes back in their mind,” he said of the elderly.
“We don’t want that kind of life,” he said to CNN.
There has been a noticeable increase in antisemitic incidents throughout Europe.
According to French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, there were over 800 antisemitic incidents in France in October 2023—nearly twice as many as there were in all of 2022.
According to the Metropolitan Police, there was a 1,353% increase in antisemitic incidents in London in the first week following Hamas’ attacks on Israel.
Rise in Islamophobia
There has also been an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment, with evidence pointing to a spike after the October 7 attacks. According to French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin in February, there were 242 anti-Muslim incidents in France in 2023, up nearly thirty percent from 2022. France is home to about 6 million Muslims.
In Europe, Muslims have been held accountable for crimes for which there is no proof of “Muslim” involvement in addition to Islamist attacks.
False reports began circulating on social media after the July 29 mass stabbing in Southport, England, which claimed the lives of three children. The rumors claimed that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. This false information led to violent riots that targeted a Southport mosque.
Experts in the field claim that the so-called “migration crisis” of 2015–16 was the pivotal point in the history of Islamophobia’s political exploitation in the EU’s eastern states. The V4 nations banded together to oppose a Brussels directive requiring them and the majority of other EU members to accept a predetermined number of refugees. Despite the low numbers that were suggested, the V4 defied the demands, showing a unity of purpose never before seen in European politics—unlike some other “East European” nations like Estonia. Consequently, Islamophobia emerged as a significant threat to the EU on its eastern flank, compounding the damage caused by the UK’s impending exit and Greece’s financial difficulties. Islamophobia is a symptom of a populist upsurge in the post-socialist East.
