A year after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, the leading organization for Jews in Germany warns of increasing threats to Jewish life in the country.
“The threshold for inciting and carrying out violence against Jews is falling,” Josef Schuster, chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told dpa.
“This is a shocking development that we cannot simply accept.”
Fighters from the Palestinian Islamist Hamas militia and other groups attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 42,000 people, according to health authorities. The figures do not distinguish between combatant and civilian deaths.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Germany are frequent, often accompanied by harsh accusations against Israel. Schuster noted that Jews in Germany are feeling increasingly abandoned, reawakening deep-seated traumas.
There is a “sustained wave of anti-Semitic acts” and a “mechanism of hatred,” Schuster warned. The most common is Israel-related anti-Semitism. Anti-Zionism has once again become socially acceptable as a rallying cry.
“We must sharpen our focus on what people committed to the Jewish community and democracy need to continue their work at all,” Schuster warned.
He said politicians must strengthen the fight against anti-Semitism not just rhetorically, but “concretely through state measures and protective mechanisms.”