Global Antisemitism

Last Report Update: June 10, 2022

2022 AGPI Global Antisemitism Watch   

Australia: According to Australia’s Community Security Groups, Antisemitism rose by 35% in 2021.  Reportedly, Antisemitism increased to 447 incidents from the previous year of 331 incidents.   

Austria:  The Austrian government documented 965 reported antisemitic incidents in 2021, the highest number of such incidents since Austria started tracking them 20 years ago. This represents a 65% increase compared with 2020 when there were 585 reported incidents .   

Belgium: Statistics for Belgium are currently unavailable.  However, in recent years, Belgium has had a number of Antisemitic incidents.  In January 2022, the country expelled an Imam who called for the burning of Jews.  In 2021 Belgian soccer fans were filmed giving Nazi salutes and singing ‘Jews to the gas’. In 2020, 4 men threatened to blow up a train unless “cancer Jews” get off. A now infamous yearly carnival parade in Aalst regularly depicts Jewish people in derogatory fashion.   

Britain: In 2021, Antisemitism increased by 34% in the United Kingdom reported the Community Security Trust. 2,255 incidents were recorded, an increase from the 1,684 incidents recorded in 2020.   The CST reports 173 violent assaults  – one of the highest numbers anywhere in the world.  The highest increase was in May 2021 during the Hamas attack on Israel where 661 incidents were reported – many violent and including hate speech.   2022 Key Developments of Note: • The Church of England has apologized for expelling Jews from Britain 800 years ago, saying its doing so out of concern for Antisemitism.        

Canada: In August 2022, Statistics Canada released a report advising that   

Antisemitic incidents reportedly soared by 47 percent in 2021 making Canada’s Jewish community the most targeted religious minority in the nation when it comes to hate crime. Sadly, attacks on religious minorities rose by 67 percent overall, with the Black community the largest targeted group, quantified under race.    Statistics Canada says that the number of police-reported hate crimes increased 27% to 3,360 incidents in 2021. In comparison to 2019, hate crimes have increased a whopping 72% over the last two years, much of which has been attributed to Covid. However, the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in May of 2021 resulted in hate-crime related assaults on Jewish demonstrators, including on an elderly Jewish person. 

France: Antisemitism increased by 75% in 2021.  One recent study released in March of 2022 and sponsored by the AJC found that 77% of French Jews and 73% of the wider society believe that Antisemitism exists and is a problem. The study also found the Muslim population is more affected by Antisemitic beliefs.  The study found that 62% of those surveyed believed hatred for Israel was the top reason for Antisemitism.   

Germany:  In 2021, German Jews were targeted a record of 3,028 times in Antisemitic attacks, which is a 12% increase from the previous year.  A 2020 report from Germany’s intelligence agency reportedly said that 2,351 antisemitic offenses, including 57 acts of violence, were reported in 2020 — compared with 2,032 and 73 respectively the previous year. The overall figure for offenses has risen steadily since 2015, and the 2020 figure was the highest since counting started in 2001.   The World Jewish Congress found that one fifth of all German respondents held Antisemitic attitudes in its recent study.   

Netherlands: Antisemitism increased by 35% in the Netherlands according to the Hague-based Center for Information and Documentation on Israel. The number of incidents reached a 10-year high of 183 cases in 2021.    

New Zealand: The 2021 Antisemitism Survey of New Zealand found that 63% of respondents agreed with an Antisemitic viewpoint.  The survey also revealed that 21% of respondents agreed with two or more Antisemitic statements, while 6% surveyed held nine or more Antisemitic views.    

United States: In the latest available report by the FBI, in 2020 the Jewish community is identified as the most targeted religious group in the United States, according to country wide police hate crime reports.   There were 676 incidents and 787 offenses committed against 824 Jewish victims.   In 2020, the Jewish community in America is the target of 58% of all religiously motivated hate crime.    According to the ADL, Antisemitism reached an all time high in 2021 with 2,717 incidents – a 34% increase over the previous year and the highest since 1979.