The number of antisemitic incidents documented in Swiss French-speaking cantons more than doubled in 2013, a local watchdog said.
The Inter-Communitary Coordination Against Antisemitism and Defamation, or CICAD, documented 151 antisemitic incidents in 2013 compared to 87 in 2012, an increase of 73.5 percent, the group wrote in its annual report, published Thursday.
The vast majority of incidents happened online. CICAD included antisemitic threats and incitement to hatred or violence only in mainstream media with wide readerships, the report said.
In one of the incidents reported, a Jewish family from Pully near Lausanne found a milk carton in front of their home on April 24, with a label that read: “Jews, get out” glued to it.
On Sept. 6, a man approached a Jewish Orthodox family in Geneva and shouted “Heil Hitler” at them before walking away.
On December 13, the user of an email account registered to “Alfred Rosenberg” sent an email to CICAD which read: “The People of thieves and murderers, soon we will fire up the ovens to save the planet from your degenerated breed. Bunch of shits.”
With 33 recorded acts, December was the month with the most antisemitic incidents. CICAD attributed the increase to the banning in France of shows by the anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala.
CICAD said perpetrators could be categorized into four groups: Extreme rightists; Christian religious fanatics; casual online antisemitism and people who are moved to antisemitic acts by events connected to Israel.
