Incidents and Controversies
This list of antisemitic incidents in Europe provides readers with an overview of incidents and controversies all over Europe. It is definitely not complete and to some extent unbalanced, i.e., some countries are better represented than others. However, that does not mean antisemitism is more virulent in countries that are more present in this list; it is simply better monitored there. You can help improve monitoring by reporting incidents that have occurred in your country to the Forum.
Vilnius, Lithuania: Antisemitism in the Lithuanian media
April 21, 2009.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has recently noticed an increased level of anti-Semitism in Lithuania, with some members going so far as to worry that another Holocaust may happen.
Simonas Aperavicius, chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, said that the media is one of the primary platforms of antisemitism. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said that he noticed these occurrences and proclaimed that such publications are not be tolerated.
Source: www.baltictimes.com, 04-21-2009» Read more.
Berlin, Germany: 53 Jewish Cemeteries Desecrated
April 20, 2009.
The German authorities have recorded 53 antisemitic incidents related to attacks on Jewish cemeteries. Twelve of theses cases were resolved by the police. This was included in the formal response to the parliamentarian request of Petra Pau (Die Linke). Source: www.petrapau.de , 20-4-2009» Read more.
Hadera, Israel: Swastikas drawn on delivery from Lithuania
April 20, 2009.
Drawings of swastikas, tanks and a long-nosed figure were found in a delivery of boards from Lithuania sent to the Hadera Fruit Company. The supplier apologized and promised to fire workers responsible for the drawings
Source: www.ynetnews.com , 04-20-2009» Read more.
Kiev, Ukraine: Ukrainian Holocaust memorial vandalized
April 19, 2009.
Swastikas and antisemitic graffiti were smeared in paint on the Holocaust memorial near the village of Voskresensk, in the Nikolayevsky region, where some historians say more than 8,000 Jews were murdered in 1941.
The graffiti, which included “Death to Jews,” was painted in German and Russian. Representatives of local authorities washed off the graffiti.
Source: www.jta.com, 04-19-2009» Read more.
Saint Denise, France: French Holocaust memorial defaced with swastikas
April 11, 2009.
French Autorities reported that the Drancy Memorial Site has been defaced with painted swastikas. According to the Police the swastikas were found on a train car and pillar that are central to the Drancy memorial site. Drancy was used during the Holocaust as a transfer camp to send thousands of Jews to the extermination camps.
Source: www.haaretz.com, 04-11-2009
Berlin, Germany: Swastika Scrawled on College Walls
March 30, 2009.
A swastika and an SS rune sized one square meter were discovered on the wall of a lecture auditorium at a college in Berlin. Smaller symbols associated with the Nazi regime were found on a table.
Source: www.tagesspiegel.de, 03-30-2009
Hannover, Germany: 14 percent of German Teens Say Jews Deserved Holocaust
March 20, 2009.
A study of the Hannover based Criminal Research Center revealed that more than 14 percent of German teenagers believe that Jews must have deserved to be persecuted in the Holocaust. "Youth as Victims and Perpetrators of Violence," a poll of 44,610 German students, also found that about one in every twenty German teenage boys belongs to a far-right group. The survey also found that far more 15 year old German teens belong to extremist groups than to mainstream political youth clubs. In some towns or cities, membership in far-right groups is as high as 10 percent, while in others it is virtually nonexistent.
Source: www.jta.org , 03-20-2009» Read more.
Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Synagogue Vandalized
March 19, 2009.
Several window panes of a synagogue on Edinburgh were smashed in an attack in which nobody was injured. Two men were charged with the incident and had to appear before a court. As a reaction to the attack the Scottish Islamic Foundation offered to provide security at the synagogue to their “strength of feeling on this matter”, as stated in a letter written by the Foundation’s chairman, Ken Imrie.
Source: news.scotsman.com, 03-19-2009
Moscow, Russia: Relative of Israel’s First President Beaten
March 17, 2009.
Tatyana Bogotyreva who is a distant relative of Chaim Weizmann was injured when a tenant attacked her overnight as she slept in her Moscow apartment. The tenant broke into her room at night demanding that she fix the television and used antisemitic slurs. Bogotyreva went to the hospital with several bruises.
Source: www.jta.com, 03-17-2009
Schwerin, Germany: NPD Leader Investigated after Expressing Antisemitic Sentiments
March 14, 2009.
The leader of the NPD – parliamentary group of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Udo Pasteurs is being investigated by German authorities after having expressed anti-Semitic sentiments at a party. He called Germany a “Judenrepublik” (republic of jews) and used other anti-Semitic expressions.
Source: www.welt.de; www.spiegel.de 03-14-2009» Read more.
Malmö, Sweden: Davis Cup Tennis Match Sparks Riots
March 07, 2009.
Davis Cup match between Sweden in Israel sparked riots as dozens of protestors of an anti-Israel demonstration attacked police officers with stones and flares and trying to enter the arena in which the game was taking place. Almost no spectators were allowed to the match – officially due to security reasons. Malmö’s mayor noted, however, that no match would be played against Israel, if it were up to him. He considered it a “provocation against the Arabs living in Malmö”. Almost one quarter of Malmö’s inhabitants are Muslims mostly from Arab countries.
Source: the weekly Standard, 03-13-2009
Warren/Müritz, Germany: Swastika at memorial site
March 03, 2009.
A commemorative engraved stone at the memorial site of the former synagogue in the town of Warren/Muritz was smeared with a swastika and the letters ANSW.
Source: www.nordkurier.de » Read more.
Fürstenzell, Germany: Antisemitic Leaflets distributed into mailboxes
February 26, 2009.
Supposed Neo-Nazis distributed antisemitic leaflets to mailboxes in the Bavarian village of Fürstenzell. The leaflets “warned” Germans that millions of Jews would soon leave Palestine and enter into Germany. They were subsequently called to arms in order to defend themselves against this invasion. The letters included images of swastikas and other Nazi symbols.
Source: www.abendzeitung.de» Read more.
Hertfordshire, England: Schoolchildren in Racist Bus Attack
February 26, 2009.
Jewish pupils have been subjected to a physical and verbal antisemitic assault on a bus home in the English county of Hertfordshire. One pupil was elbowed in the face. The assaulters were supposedly boys from year seven to nine. They slapped the children, unprovoked, in the presence of adults. The police are investigating the incident and are dealing with the matter as a racist incident.
Source: www.thejc.com, 02-26-2009
London, England: Religious Jew Attacked
February 17, 2009.
In January, 32-year old Michael Bookatz was attacked by two men on his way home, leaving him with a bloody nose. The men stamped on him and kicked him as revenge for what happened to the Palestinians in Gaza, they said. The attack is one of over 250 assaults on Jewish targets in the UK since the beginning of the year, the Community Security Trust reports - a non-governmental organization which monitors anti-Semitism in Britain.
Source: www.cnn.com, 02-17-2009
Paris, France: French Jew Attacked in Parisian Metro
February 15, 2009.
Three men attacked Michael Benhamou in the metro on his way home early this year. After using racial slurs they threatened to kill him and started beating him. Benhamou suffered a broken nose. He had to spend four days in the hospital with fractures in his face. The assailants fled the scene and police found no trace of them.
Source: www.ynetnews.com, 02-15-2009
Vienna, Austria: Teacher Calls For Boycott of Jewish Companies
February 12, 2009.
A teacher for Islamic religious instruction at a secondary school in Vienna called for a boycott of companies which he perceived to be Jewish. He handed out a list of international companies and asked his students not to buy any of their products. The Austrian Ministry of Education demanded his suspension.
Source: AFP, 02-12-2009
London, England: Foreign Minister Aide Arrested Over Anti-Semitic Comments
February 09, 2009.
Rowan Laxton, a top aide to British Foreign Minister David Miliband, was arrested after allegedly making strongly anti-Semitic remarks at a gym on January 27. The diplomat and Middle East expert was reported to have shouted “Fucking Israelis, fucking Jews” amongst other things while watching news reports on Israel’s military incursion in Gaza. He was released on bail and continues to work as usual as head of his department.
Source: www.ejpress.org, 02-09-2009
London, England: Heightened Police Patrols in Jewish Neighborhoods
February 08, 2009.
Police patrols have been stepped up in Jewish neighborhoods following the most intense period of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in Britain in decades. Incidents registered include violent assaults in the street, hate emails and graffiti threatening “jihad” against British Jews, the Community Security Trust reported.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk, 02-08-2009
Utrecht, Netherlands, Anti-Semitic Protestors Sentenced
February 08, 2009.
Two protestors were found guilty of shouting “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas” during a demonstration in Utrecht a month before. Similar slurs were shouted at a demonstration in Amsterdam on January 3 which received widespread coverage. Dutch parliamentarian Harry van Bommel of the Socialist Party marched at the front of the parade and called for an intifada against Israel.
Source: www.IsraelNationalNews.com, 02-08-2009
