EU official warns of antisemitism in European society as fears grow over rising Islamophobia – Europe live | Europe

Deborah Lipstadt, the US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said overnight that Washington was “deeply concerned by the dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents”.

“Governments, law enforcement, and community groups in Europe, Latin America, Australia, South Africa, North America, Russia, and elsewhere have reported a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents, rhetoric, and incitement in the past three weeks,” she noted.

Violent incidents throughout the world in October have included harassment of and attacks on Jewish individuals, and defacement of and attacks on Jewish sites.

Targeting Jewish communities with hate, intimidation, or violence in relation to the conflict in the Middle East is intolerable and antisemitic – and without justification. Full stop.

Jewish people around the world should never be held responsible for the words and actions of the Israeli or any other government.

Lipstadt also emphasised that “there is no place for hatred of Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Palestinians, Israelis, or anyone else”.

Daniel Boffey

‘Pervasive and relentless’ racism on the rise in Europe, survey finds

Racism is “pervasive and relentless” and on the rise in Europe, with nearly half of black people in member states surveyed by the EU reporting discrimination, from the verbal abuse of their children to being blocked by landlords from renting homes.

In every walk of life, from schools to the job market, housing and health, a survey by the EU’s rights agency of people of African descent found high levels of discrimination, with some of the worst results recorded in Austria and Germany, where far-right parties have been on the rise.

The survey of 6,752 people of African descent in 13 countries – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden – found 45% had experienced racial discrimination, an increase of six percentage points from 39% in 2016.

In Austria and Germany, three in four of those questioned (72% and 76%) said they had felt discriminated against in the last five years, up from half (51% and 52%) when the same question was asked in 2016.

Read the full story here.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has spoken out after a mob in Russia’s Dagestan region stormed an airport in search of Jewish passengers arriving from Israel.

This is not an isolated incident in Makhachkala, but rather part of Russia’s widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities.

The Russian foreign minister has made a series of antisemitic remarks in the last year. The Russian president also used antisemitic slurs. For Russian propaganda talking heads on official television, hate rhetoric is routine. Even the most recent Middle East escalation prompted antisemitic statements from Russian ideologists.

Russian antisemitism and hatred toward other nations are systemic and deeply rooted. Hatred is what drives aggression and terror. We must all work together to oppose hatred.

Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has spoken out about the incident in Dagestan, calling footage “absolutely terrifying”.

There is real fear amongst our Jewish communities worldwide about the rise of antisemitism.

Mob storms Dagestan airport in search of Jewish passengers from Israel

Andrew Roth

A mob in Russia’s mostly Muslim region of Dagestan has stormed the airport in Makhachkala in search of Jewish passengers arriving from Israel.

In the past day, local people have besieged a hotel in search of Jewish guests and stormed the airport after reports emerged that a flight from Tel Aviv was arriving in the city. Passengers were forced to take refuge in planes or hide in the airport for fear of being attacked.

Local health authorities said 20 people had been injured, including two who were critical. The RIA news agency said nine police officers had received injuries, two of whom were being treated in hospital. The passengers on the plane were safe, security forces told Reuters.

Sixty people were later detained, RIA reported on Monday, adding that 150 of the protesters had been identified.

Video posted to social media showed hundreds of young men, some carrying Palestinian flags or placards denouncing Israel, storming on to the tarmac of the Makhachkala international airport and climbing on to idling planes, attempting to break through the windows.

The riots appear to have been inspired by a number of posts on the social media platform Telegram, where followers were told that a flight from Tel Aviv would be arriving that evening with refugees from Israel.

Some of the signs held by the rioters read, “We are against Jewish refugees”.

Read the full story here.

Antisemitism is deeply ingrained in European society, says EU official

Jason Burke

Antisemitism is a “deeply ingrained racism in European society” that poses an existential threat to the continent’s Jewish community and the fundamental aims of the European Union, an EU official has warned.

Michael O’Flaherty, the director of the bloc’s agency for fundamental rights, said it was worrying that only a third of the general population considered antisemitism a big problem, when there was no doubt “dramatic moments in our societies trigger antisemitic responses”.

He told the Guardian: “It happened with Covid, it’s happening now with the Russian aggression [in Ukraine] – and now it’s happening again. Media and civil society organisations warn of a rise of antisemitism as the crisis in the Middle East unfolds.

“I honestly think that with any big negative issue in our society, you’re going to find antisemitic tropes finding their way in there. It’s indicative of the extent … antisemitism is a deeply ingrained racism in European society.”

O’Flaherty added that it was “also important at this time to be vigilant and condemn all forms of hatred that manifest themselves in Europe, including hatred against Muslims”.

Read the full story here.

Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.

Today we will be delving into concerns about rising antisemitism and Islamophobia across Europe.

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