vonk enemies
EU

Suspicious Minds

EU
Published on 8 November 2023
vonk enemies

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas is also leaving an impact in Europe. Since the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October, and the ferocious response of the Hebrew State in the Gaza Strip, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic acts have multiplied in the European Union, fuelled by a deeply polarised and opportunistic political climate, particularly at the most extreme fringes.

In countries such as the UK, Germany or France – where more than a thousand incidents have been recorded since the beginning of October – the number of anti-Semitic acts has exploded compared to the same period last year. The European Jewish community is not the only group affected by the increase in hate speech and hateful acts. While acts of Islamophobia are much harder to identify, as some countries do not record them as such, they are nonetheless on the rise across the European Union, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).


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