Islamist group Muslim Interaktiv stage an anti-Semitic demonstration in Hamburg, Germany, May 28, 2021. (Screen grab)
Statistics say an average of six incidents targeting Jews happen every 24 hours.
New statistics released by Germany’s federal government on Monday showed no let-up in the number of antisemitic incidents this year, with an average of six incidents targeting Jews every 24 hours.
As of Nov. 5, a total of 1,850 antisemitic crimes had been reported during 2021, the federal government said in response to a data request from Petra Pau, a leader of The Left Party and the vice-president of the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament. The data was gathered from the case statistics of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on politically motivated crime, the news outlet Welt reported.
Antisemitism policy experts expressed the fear that the final toll of incidents in 2021 could exceed that of previous years. In 2019, 2,032 antisemitic incidents were reported in Germany, while in 2020 — a year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown — the total increased to 2,351.
Of this year’s incidents, 35 have involved physical violence, with 17 people injured as a result of antisemitic attacks.
According to Welt, only 930 suspects have been identified. Just five people have been arrested and a further two arrest warrants have been issued, resulting in criticism of police inaction from some politicians.
“The culture of impunity motivates offenders to commit crimes and demotivates victims to report them,” Petra Pau commented. “Antisemitic crimes must finally be consistently prosecuted.”
Additional concern was voiced regarding those incidents that are not reported, which experts believe account for the majority of antisemitic offenses in Germany.
“If the reporting rate for particularly severe antisemitic incidents, such as those involving physical violence, is only 20 percent, the actual extent of antisemitic incidents is much higher than is shown by the figures,” said Benjamin Steinitz, the director of the Federal Association of Research and Information Centers for Antisemitism (RIAS).
“If the trend continues, the total number of antisemitic crimes this year could again exceed the high of the previous year,” Steinitz added.
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