A record number of antisemitic incidents, ranging from verbal and online
threats to assaults, were recorded in Austria last year, a non-governmental
organization said in a report
published on Thursday.
The number of cases rose slightly in 2016 to 477 from 465 the previous
year, when the figure had jumped by roughly 200, the organization, the Forum
Against Antisemitism said.
The report follows a finding by Austria’s BVT domestic intelligence service
a year ago that incidents involving xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism
were on the rise in the small country that was swept up in Europe’s migration
crisis and where the refugee influx has become a hot-button issue.
The report said that cases involving insults and threats had increased
by a third to 24 last year, while those involving the internet fell by a
quarter to 153. Those involving letters and phone calls rose 7 percent to 198,
and those involving damage to property rose 36 percent to 68.
There were seven assaults, up from two in 2015 but below the nine
recorded in 2014.
Increased awareness and reporting was one of several factors that
explained the eight-fold increase in incidents recorded since 2006, but there
was also a weakening stigma associated with antisemitic views, the group that
compiled the report said.
