Anti-Semitism incidents increased by almost 77 percent

Lahav Shapira had just left the bar in Berlin-Mitte with a friend when a man spoke to him. Is he lahav? Shapira affirmed that a short change of words followed, then the attacker struck suddenly. Shapira went down. When he wanted to straighten up, a kick followed in the face. Lahav Shapira suffered a complex medium -sized fracture and brain hemorrhage. He was in the hospital for a long time and had to endure countless operations.

Lahav Shapira is a Jew. The attacker, a former Shapira fellow student, comes from a Palestinian family. He was recently sentenced to a three -year imprisonment. “The accused acted out of anti -Semitic motivation,” said the judge.

The brutal act of violence in February last year is one of a total of 8627 anti-Semitic incidents that the non-profit association RIAS (research and information center anti-Semitism) documented in 2024. That is almost 24 cases a day and corresponds to an increase of almost 77 percent compared to the previous year (2023: 4886 incidents). The registration office presented its annual report in Berlin on Wednesday.

“The extent and the quality of anti -Semitic incidents in Germany were also very similar to the condition in the first few months after the massacres in October 2023,” the report said. “A relaxation of the situation could not be seen in the period of this report.”

The blows and kicks against Lahav Shapira are a particularly blatant, not everyday form of violence. Rias documents the anti -Semitic incidents low -threshold, even those that are not punishable. There may be supposed little things underneath. But in the crowd, they give an idea of ​​how widespread anti -Semitism is in this country, which hostility and threats of Jews are exposed to every day in Germany.

There is a swastika that was painted in a Hamburg apartment building next to the apartment door of a Jewish couple. There is a smear in an lecture hall at the Chemnitz university: “The thicker of the Jew, the warmer the booth.” There are stumbling blocks that were poured and damaged with acid. And there is a poster on a demo in Düsseldorf that paid homage to the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, which has now been killed. It is considered a mastermind behind the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Rias speaks of eight cases of extreme violence, 186 attacks and 300 threats. There are also 443 targeted property damage and 176 mass letters, such as Jewish or Israeli institutions. Most of them fall into the “hurtful behavior” category, here 7514 incidents were recorded. This means anti -Semitic statements or smearings, posters and stickers – as well as meetings in which, for example, anti -stereotypical stereotypes were spread through speeches. The registration office registered in 1802 of such demonstrations and rallies in 2024.

At 26 percent, “anti-Israeli activism” was the most common political background of anti-Semitic incidents in 2024. At the same time, the registration office with 544 cases has grasped the highest number of anti -Semitic incidents with a right -wing extremist background since the beginning of the nationwide comparison in 2020.

Anti -Semitism, according to Rias, is a “everyday problem” for Jews in Germany. Attacks such as the Israeli Consulate General in Munich or the synagogue in Oldenburg tightened “the already tense security situation and strengthen the feeling of uncertainty”.

“We are very concerned about the development of growing anti -Semitism in Germany,” said Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) to the report. “After the annual cases of the politically motivated crime in 2024 documented a new highest level of anti-Semitic crimes, the Rias annual report now presented shows a similarly threatening picture.”

The increase in anti -Semitic incidents documented by Rias corresponds to the numbers of police crime statistics. Last year, the police authorities registered a maximum of 6236 crimes.