In 2022, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic (FJC) recorded 2,277 antisemitic incidents. The constant trend of leapfrog growth of antisemitic manifestations which could be clearly seen in the previous periods monitored, thus continued also last year. Compared to year 2021, in which 1,128 antisemitic incidents were recorded, this trend can be labelled as dramatic.
Despite the fact that the number of recorded incidents grew year‐on‐year by more than 100%, like in the previous years, we can affirm that cases of violence motivated by antisemitism are recorded in the Czech Republic only exceptionally. In 2022, no one reported any physical assault to the FJC.
But, in this context, we shall recall again that victims or witnesses of manifestations of prejudicial hatred motivated by antisemitism often decide not to report these acts to relevant authorities, or for various reasons do not wish to give the details of their negative experience. Therefore, although the FJC has analysed only a few violent acts targeted against the Jews, it is likely that the actual number of similar incidents is annually much higher.
In the category of attacks on Jewish property with antisemitic texts, depictions, symbols, etc., two incidents were recorded in 2022, and we can say that the long‐term trend in this area has been more or less stable. In 2018, 2019 and 2021, three attacks on Jewish property were recorded per each year, in 2020, it was only one incident of this kind.
Nine incidents were put into the category of physical aggression threats, harassment or insults of a specific person due to their real or presumed Jewish faith in 2022. There were only a few manifestations of antisemitism, but as compared to year 2021, the increase has almost doubled.
The content of the recorded antisemitic incidents has not gone through any essential change in 2022 as compared to the preceding years. Again, the most prevalent were mendacious, demonizing, vulgar and stereotypical claims and conspiracy theories with antisemitic subtext. A large scale of antisemitic invectives as part of isolated incidents as well as long‐term activity of specific organised platforms, groups and individuals could be observed.
More than one third of the total number of incidents, which the FJC analysed in 2022, originated in the ideological positions of the far right. In the second third of antisemitic incidents, the ideological background could not be clearly determined because the authors or disseminators of these incidents do not declare any extreme political attitudes. But from the ideological point of view, the growth of the total volume of recorded data most clearly showed in the case of the disinformation platforms. Despite the fact that the previous four periods monitored saw a steady increase in this area, in 2022, an over 200% leapfrog increase was documented. While in 2021, 14.4% of all registered incidents originated from the disinformation plat forms, in 2022, these platforms published 24.5% of all antisemitic incidents documented. Due to the increasing disinformation media activity and popularity and to massive acceleration of conspiracy content dissemination, it is not a surprising, but an extremely worrying finding. Disinformation movements contribute to society polarisation and have the potential to act and destroy the fundamental democratic constitutional principles.
