Report: Anti-Semitic incidents in Berlin at record high since October

DPA
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A Star of David hangs on a wall in the prayer room of a synagogue. The number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded by an research centre in Berlin has risen to an all-time high since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. David Inderlied/dpa
A Star of David hangs on a wall in the prayer room of a synagogue. The number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded by an research centre in Berlin has risen to an all-time high since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. David Inderlied/dpa

The number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded by an research centre in Berlin has risen to an all-time high since the attacks by Islamist Hamas group on Israel on October 7.

The Research and Information Centre on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) in Berlin counted a total of 1,270 such insults online as well as physical threats, attacks and assaults last year, it reported on Wednesday.

This is an increase of almost 50% compared to 2022 and is also the highest number recorded by RIAS in a single year.

RIAS stated: "October 7, 2023 marked a turning point: Anti-Semitism has been much more present in Berlin since then; pre-existing forms of anti-Semitism have become more entrenched and intensified."

Jewish life in the public sphere after October 7 was even more restricted than before, the institute said, while the use of anti-Semitic language on the internet was "more uninhibited."

The number of reported anti-Semitic incidents rose sharply in the last three months of 2023; 62% of all incidents recorded last year occured during that period.

Before the Hamas attack on Israel, an average of just over two incidents per week had been recorded, as in the previous year. From October 7 until the end of the 2023, there was an average of 14 incidents per week, RIAS reported.