Sharp increase in anti-Semitism last year; Reports up 305% since Gaza war: CIDI

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands has increased alarmingly since Israel’s war in Gaza, the Telegraaf reports from the annual monitor by the Center for Documentation and Information Israel (CIDI). In the past two years, incidents increased by 305 percent.

Last year, CIDI recorded 421 reports of anti-Semitic incidents, 11 percent more than the year before. “The highest number since CIDI started keeping track of reports 40 years ago,” director Naomi Mestrum told the newspaper, speaking of a “worrying record.” Between 2012 and 2022, CIDI recorded an average of 138 incidents per year.

In public spaces, recognizable Jews are often confronted with verbal abuse, threats, and harassment. Vandalism of Jewish targets increased by 44 percent. “Mezuzahs were ripped off doorposts and Jewish cemeteries and monuments were defaced.”

CIDI does not classify criticism of the state of Israel as anti-Semitism. But according to the organization, the war is often used as a justification for anti-Semitism. Mestrum referred to riots around an Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Amsterdam last year, in which Israeli supporters were attacked by groups of rioters, as “a shocking low.”

The organization also noted that online anti-Semitism is no longer limited to posts about Israel. Last year, almost every reference to Jewish identity or culture provoked anti-Semitic reactions. “Social media algorithms play a major role in strengthening and spreading anti-Semitic ideas more quickly,” Mestrum said. “Therefore, oblige the major platforms to moderate the comments, as is the case for regular media, and stop allowing everything in a delusion of anonymity.”

CIDI called for “strong and consistent government policy” to put a stop to the growing anti-Semitism. “That means investing in education, but also a firm and visible approach to anti-Semitism in schools and social media, stopping subsidies to cultural institutions that exclude Jewish artists, banning terrorist and extremist groups that spread hatred, and implementing a zero-tolerance policy in the criminal prosecution of anti-Semitic crimes.”