BERLIN: Antisemitic incidents in Germany, from graffiti to attempted arson, rose around 83 percent last year, watchdog RIAS said on Tuesday, surging after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Around half the 4,782 recorded antisemitic incidents were linked with anti-Israel activism, with many involving a relativization or denial of the Nazi Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were killed, RIAS said.
While antisemitism has been on the rise worldwide, it is a particularly sensitive subject in Germany, where Jewish institutions are under heavy police protection.
Critics including prominent Jewish-German intellectuals say this has led to German authorities and media failing to differentiate sufficiently between antisemitism and criticism of Israel and as a result curbing freedom of speech.
In the week after the Hamas-led attack, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated the idea of Israel’s security as a “reason of state” or matter of national interest for Germany.
In its antisemitism report, RIAS cited incidents such as the destruction of Israeli flags hung in solidarity with Israel after Oct. 7. In another incident, “Free Palestine from Zionists” was scrawled on a toilet door and the words “Save Israel” and Star of David scratched off.
Felix Klein, the government official charged with coordinating the fight against antisemitism, has said antisemitism was already on the rise before Oct. 7, in part driven by the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD).
The AfD has said Germany, which has a Jewish population of about 225,000, should move on from atoning for its past crimes, with members accused — and in some cases convicted — of using Nazi language.
Klein said many incidents since then could be traced back to Germany’s growing Muslim community, and urged Muslim associations to speak up more against this.
Anti-Muslim incidents registered in Germany also rose last year, the CLAIM network of NGOs monitoring Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred said on Monday.
Israel says around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages seized in the Oct. 7 attack. The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation in Gaza has killed more than 37,600 people, Palestinian health authorities say.
Antisemitism rose more than 80 percent in Germany last year, watchdog says
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Antisemitism rose more than 80 percent in Germany last year, watchdog says
- While antisemitism has been on the rise worldwide, it is a particularly sensitive subject in Germany, where Jewish institutions are under heavy police protection
- Anti-Muslim incidents registered in Germany also rose last year, the CLAIM network of NGOs monitoring Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred said
IAEA board meets over Ukraine nuclear safety concerns
- The war in Ukraine “continues to pose the world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety,” Grossi said
- The mission will assess 10 substations “crucial to nuclear safety,” according to Grossi
VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors on Friday discussed nuclear safety in Ukraine, with several countries expressing “growing concern” following Russian attacks on the power grid.
Energy supplies to Ukraine’s nuclear plants have been affected as Russia has pounded its neighbor’s power sector since the start of its 2022 invasion, prompting fears of a nuclear disaster.
The war in Ukraine “continues to pose the world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said when opening the board meeting.
The extraordinary meeting that lasted four hours was called after 13 countries led by the Netherlands expressed in a letter seen by AFP a “growing concern about the severity and urgency of nuclear safety risks” following a series of attacks.
Ukrainian ambassador Yurii Vitrenko told reporters before the meeting that it was “high time” for the IAEA board to discuss the situation.
A weeks-long IAEA expert mission to Ukrainian substations and power plants is under way and expected to wrap up next month, Vitrenko said.
The mission will assess 10 substations “crucial to nuclear safety,” according to Grossi.
Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov dismissed the board’s gathering as “absolutely politically motivated,” adding there was “no real need to hold such a meeting today.”
Last week, Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power.
Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, occupied by Russian forces since March 2022, has also been repeatedly affected by fighting.
Earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a localized ceasefire to allow repairs on the last remaining backup power line supplying Zaporizhzhia.
The line was damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity in early January.
The Zaporizhzhia plant’s six reactors have been shut down since the occupation. But the site still needs electricity to maintain its cooling and security systems.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear catastrophe by attacking the site.
