The annual report on antisemitism worldwide for 2021, published on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, does not convey good news. It informs that with few exceptions, the largest Jewish populations outside Israel witnessed sharp increases in the number of recorded antisemitic incidents compared to 2020.
In several countries, the increase in incidents was substantial also in comparison to 2019, before Covid-19 restrictions on social gatherings were imposed.
The data on antisemitic incidents in 2021 from across the Jewish world is discouraging. While the fight against antisemitism was fiercer than ever on different fronts, several of the countries with the largest Jewish minorities in the world witnessed a sharp rise in anti-Jewish attacks compared to 2020.
It would have been comforting to suggest that the relative increase results from the lifting of Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. The data suggest this may be the case for some countries, but not for others, where the number of antisemitic incidents had also risen compared to 2019. The Israel-Hamas conflict in May 2021, in particular, served as a trigger for spikes in antisemitic incidents.
Not all countries witnessed a rise in antisemitic incidents. Italy, for example, registered a slight decline from 230 incidents in 2020 to 226 in 2021, while in Argentina, figures suggest the total number of incidents in 2021 will be similar to the 507 recorded in 2020.
In several countries with large Jewish populations, including Russia and Brazil, official documentation of antisemitic incidents is lacking, making it difficult to assess the actual situation in those countries. For example, Russia’s SOVA Center for Information and Analysis recorded one antisemitic act of violence and three acts of vandalism in 2021 (the same as in 2020), a questionable figure, to say the least. The SOVA Center ignored the unchecked proliferation of antisemitic content on the Russian social media platform VKontakte (VK).
The report found that:
- In the US, which has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded in both New York and Los Angeles were almost twice that of the previous year.
- In France, the number of recorded antisemitic incidents increased by almost 75% compared with 2020.
- In Canada, a leading Jewish group reported a 40-year record in antisemitic physical violence in one month – August.
- In the UK, the number of recorded physical assaults against Jews increased by 78% compared with 2020.
- In Germany, antisemitic incidents recorded by police were up 29% compared with 2020, and 49% compared with 2019.
- Australia also experienced a sharp rise in recorded antisemitic incidents, with 88 in May alone – the highest monthly total ever.
The report’s authors blame in part reactions to May 2021’s fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for the rise in antisemitic incidents.
That month, Israel and militants fought an 11-day conflict in which 261 people were killed in Gaza, according to the United Nations, and 14 people were killed in Israel.
The report also calls out “the vast reach of social networks for spreading lies and incitement”.
Social media played “an exceptionally alarming role” in antisemitic incidents, it says.
“The data raise concerns regarding the utility of legislation and agreements reached with social media companies on banning antisemitic expressions from their platforms.”
“The gravest concern is the dark web, which shelters extremists and where antisemitic content is freely and openly spread,” it warns, referring to a part of the internet only accessible through special browsing software.
The report also identifies the proliferation of conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic as fuelling anti-Jewish hate crimes.
“Right at the outset of the pandemic in 2020, conspiracy theories began to sprout around the world, blaming the Jews and Israel for spreading the virus,” it says.
“The lockdowns, which glued people to their screens at home, contributed significantly to popularising toxic antisemitic discourse on social networks.
“In 2021, when the lockdowns were gradually eased, antisemites returned to the streets.”
