PRAGUE (AP) — Anti-Semitic incidents in the Czech Republic rose sharply last year, peaking in the last quarter of 2023, following deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, an attack that sparked a the war in Gazathe country’s Jewish community said Monday.
The Federation of Jewish Communities reported in its annual report that 4,328 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in 2023, a 90% increase from 2,277 in the previous year.
The report found that 1,800 incidents, or 41.59% of the total, occurred in the last three months of the year.
“October 7 was immediately followed by a global explosive wave of anti-Semitism, which also hit the Czech Republic hard,” the report said.
The majority of anti-Jewish hatred, 98%, was expressed online, mainly via social media, the report said.
These included the publication of false, dehumanizing, demonizing, vulgar and conspiracy theories and stereotypes, as well as hatred towards the State of Israel.
However, the report concluded that the Czech Republic remains a safe country for Jews.
It said that for the second year in a row, no physical attacks were recorded. But 18 incidents involved anti-Semitic threats, intimidation and verbal insults, more than double the previous year. The rest of the incidents involved demonizing the Jewish community with conspiracy theories and stereotyping, the report said.
The Hamas attacks on Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The militants also took about 250 hostages.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which makes no distinction between civilians and fighters, the large-scale Israeli offensive in response to the terror threat has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians.
