Why spike in antisemitism in US and Europe after Israel-Hamas war is worrying

A riot at an airport in Dagestan on Sunday night is yet again shining a spotlight on the rise of antisemitism in the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war. As a flight was landing from Tel Aviv in Makhachkala on Sunday night, a mob of hundreds of angry men, many of them holding aloft antisemitic banners, spilled out onto the tarmac of the airport The riot that ensued in the capital of the majority Muslim region in Dagestan saw nearly two dozen injured and around 80 detained with President Vladimir Putin attempting to deflect the blame onto the West. Meanwhile, there has been a worrying rise in attacks on Jews in Europe. Let’s take a closer look at the rise of antisemitism and why it is worrying: Europe sees antisemitic attacks Europe has seen a wave of antisemitic attacks in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel. EuroNews quoted data released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as showing that at least 590 antisemitic attacks have been reported in France since the Hamas attack. The number of attacks – which includes desecrating Israel’s flag, Jewish memorials, threats of violence and death and graffiti – have spiked massively in Germany and Austria by 240 per cent and 300 per cent year over year. Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the chairman of the European Jewish Association, told the website that people are afraid. “We do get a lot of information, a lot of calls, a lot of emails from Jewish people from Europe, both individuals in the institutions, synagogues, schools," Margolin said. “People see in the street that they get much more remarks, many more bad looks, hatred, looks and call for death and physical incitement.”

Berlin has already seen Stars of David painted on doors of Jewish families.

A notable Jewish politico in France received mails containing threats, while an Orthodox Jew was punched in the face in London, as per The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper quoted the Community Security Trust, which has been recording incidents of antisemitism since 1984, as saying that at least 805 antisemitic attacks occurred in the UK in the three-week period following the Hamas attack. [caption id=“attachment_13329352” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A woman cries as she listens to speeches during a demonstration against antisemitism and to show solidarity with Israel in Berlin. AP[/caption] That’s more than the first six months of the year combined. Mirna Funk from Berlin told the newspaper, “I have not left my home in days and my daughter is not going to school." Funk, 42 is an author and the mother of an eight-year-old. She says that while her friends are thinking about emigrating, they now wonder if Israel is secure. “Where should we go?" she wondered. “I have never been so afraid in my life," Anna Staroselski, head of the German Union of Jewish Students, told the newspaper. Staroselski said she uses a different name on Uber to conceal her Jewish origin. Germany’s antisemitism commissioner Felix Klein told The Guardian the attacks put his nation at risk of reverting to its “most horrific times”. “People are shocked to hear news of houses where Jews live being marked with a Star of David,” Klein said. “Because that, of course, rings a bell and brings us back to the most horrific times we had in this country.” Margoli told EuroNews people are now trying to safeguard themselves. “There are many, many people now who will secure their doors, install cameras, change the windows to bulletproof windows,” he explained. “They tried to fireproof doors and yet many people know it is not enough.” Things are no better in the United States where the ADL has reported a 400 percent increase in antisemitic incidents. As per PBS, police were deployed outside Cornel University’s Center for Jewish living after threats to shoot Jewish students. At George Washington University, the anti-Israel slogan “From the river to the sea” was painted on the sides of buildings. Police in New York are looking into swastikas being graffitied. As per CNN, FBI director Chris Wray cautioned that antisemitism was at a ‘historic level’. “In fact, our statistics would indicate that for a group that represents only about 2.4 per cent of the American public, they account for something like 60 per cent of all religious-based hate crimes,” Wray said at a Senate hearing. The airport riot Some local Telegram channels had said before the unrest that “refugees from Israel” were coming to Dagestan. Following some of those posts, a crowd reportedly gathered outside a hotel in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt on Saturday, searching for Israeli nationals staying in the hotel, but left after not finding any. Video and photos on social media showed some in the crowd waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Allahu akbar!” or “God is great,” as they broke into the airport terminal. Some held handwritten banners saying, “Child killers are not welcome in Dagestan” and “We’re against Jewish refugees.” Some rushed onto the tarmac Sunday night and surrounded the jet belonging to the Russian carrier Red Wings, only to find it empty. [caption id=“attachment_13329382” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] People in the crowd walk shouting antisemitic slogans at an airfield of the airport in Makhachkala, Russia. AP[/caption] Others stopped a bus carrying passengers from the flight from Israel, including some children who underwent medical treatment and their parents, and started examining their passports. They eventually let them go after some passengers on the bus who had dual Russian and Israeli citizenship showed their Russian passports, according to Russian media reports. It took the authorities several hours to disperse the mob, which hurled stones at police. The Israeli Ambassador to Moscow, Alexander Ben Zvi, told the RTVI news outlet that no passengers on the flight, which included Israelis, Russians and people with dual citizenship, were hurt. What are experts saying? That warning signs are flashing for all to see. CNN quoted Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, as saying, “Many of us did not expect to see these events unfolding right here America – but the fact of the matter is that it could happen here.” “A mob tearing through an airport in Russia searching for Jews to lynch is terrifying, but it is equally terrifying for a student from Cornell to find on the general message boards these posts to ‘slit the throat of Jews.’”

“This is antisemitism, this is threatening Jews worldwide.”

But others worry that in a bid to stamp out antisemitism, authorities may be trampling free speech in favour of Palestinians. The Guardian quoted Esther Major of Amnesty International as saying, “In many European countries, the authorities are unlawfully restricting the right to protest.” “Measures range from those targeting certain chants, Palestinian flags and signs, to subjecting protesters to police brutality and arrest.” With inputs from agencies