The study examined the number of anti-semitic incidents in seven northern and western European countries (in France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark) in relation to the number of immigrants.
While the roots of the phenomenon are still being debated in western media, most agree that the number of anti-semitic incidents has shown a continuous and alarming rise since 2015.
In France – with a Jewish population of 460,000 – data from the Protection Service of the Jewish Community (SPCJ) showed that violent attacks with an anti-semitic motivation have increased by 28 percent to a total of 92 in 2017, from 2016.
The National Vigilance Center Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA) – a group established by former officers of the French police – warns, however, that in many cases official police reports fail to identify anti-semitic motivations, which is relevant because even the SPCJ takes its data from police statistics.
In Germany, the number of anti-semitic atrocities recorded reached 1,596 in 2014, 1,366 in 2015, 1,468 in 2016 and 1,504 in 2017. Norway only has a small Jewish community and no organization to keep track of anti-semitic attacks, but local surveys – such as a 2011 study commissioned by the Oslo municipality – one third of the pupils of a local Jewish school said they have been subjected to “negative incidents” related to their religion.
The situation is somewhat more complex in Sweden, where part of the anti-semitic incidents are ascribed to white supremacists.
