The Bavarian Antisemitism Research and Information Center (RIAS) documented 148 antisemitic incidents in Bavaria between October 7th and November 9th. This is an increase of 285% compared to the same period last year.
91% of the documented incidents are related to the Hamas antisemitic massacre and the resulting Israeli military operation in Gaza; 79% can be attributed to Israel-related antisemitism. 30% used motives to defend against the memory of the Shoah, with both forms of antisemitism present in 18% of the cases.
Twenty-four meetings endorsed antisemitic terror, demonized and delegitimized Israel, or otherwise spread antisemitic content. In Munich, anti-Israel counter-demonstrators on the sidelines of a rally shouted in Arabic the slogan “Jews, (…), the army of Mohammed is coming back!” – an antisemitic death threat. 20% of the identifiable incidents had an Islamic or Islamist political background, a striking one Increase of 1% throughout 2022.
RIAS Bayern documented two attacks, eleven threats and nine targeted cases of property damage. 39 incidents occurred online and 109 occurred offline. 124 incidents were categorized as “hurtful behavior,” including 27 gatherings. RIAS Bayern assumes that there are a large number of unreported cases.
“148 antisemitic incidents in one month since the Hamas massacre are an unprecedented explosion of antisemitism since the existence of RIAS Bavaria. Many Jews no longer feel safe in their homeland. Added to this is coldness, a lack of empathy and sometimes a lack of solidarity with previously allies. Those affected by antisemitism are literally mocked,” says RIAS Bayern director Annette Seidel-Arpacı
“The requests for advice and support beyond specific incidents are not visible in the incident numbers. Since October 7th, the daily noise of antisemitism has become a loud rumble. The fact that after the incredibly horrific pogrom in the south of Israel one can seamlessly move on to threatening and attacking Israeli restaurants and Jews in Bavaria once again makes it clear that it doesn’t matter what Israel does or doesn’t do. Israel is ‘the Jew among the states’, ideally excluded from the community of states and always under ‘suspicion’. While it is usually convenient to speak of ‘the Zionists’ so as not to have to say ‘the Jews’, the hostility and attacks of the last few weeks have made it very clear what it is all about – hatred of Jews, both here and towards Israel.” Seidel-Arpacı.
