Since the war began in Gaza following the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, there has been a steady rise in incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in many countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and other countries.

United State

Incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the United States have included violent attacks and online harassment.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations reported that it received 774 complaints about incidents motivated by Islamophobia and bias against Palestinians and Arabs in the period following the war in Gaza, and explained that this is the highest rate since 2015.

The figure is almost three times the average number of complaints for 2022 compared to the same period.

The Council also noted that an 18-year-old Palestinian was assaulted in Brooklyn, along with death threats received at a mosque, and the stabbing death of a 6-year-old Muslim child in Illinois. The American authorities said that the perpetrator targeted him because he was an American of Palestinian origin.

While the Anti-Defamation League indicated that its preliminary data showed a 388 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in the period from October 7 to 23 compared to the previous year.

It reported 312 incidents, including harassment, vandalism and assault. She added that about 190 of them are directly related to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Anti-Defamation League said the complaints included violent private messages on the Telegram platform and rallies “at which the League found strong explicit or implicit support for Hamas and/or violence against Jews in Israel.”

France

As for France, French Minister of Justice Eric Dupont-Moretti announced on Sunday, October 29, that more than 400 people had been arrested on charges of “anti-Semitism” since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

Moretti's statements came a day after a massive demonstration in Paris, in which thousands of people participated in support of the Palestinian people, despite the issuance of a security ban decision upheld by the judiciary. A large police force prevented the march of demonstrators from marching from Châtelet Square in the center of the French capital.

Drawing the Star of David on the walls of some homes in which Jews live in the suburbs of Paris also sparked a great wave of condemnation, because it brought to mind this practice that occurred during the rise of Nazism in Germany.

Britain

London Police announced that anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic hate crimes have increased in light of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. She noted that 218 anti-Semitic attacks were recorded in the British capital between October 1 and 18, compared to 15 such attacks in the same period last year.

She added that the number of Islamophobic crimes increased from 42 to 101 in the same period. Police reinforced their patrols throughout the capital and in religious schools and places of worship after the Hamas attack.

Among those arrested was a man arrested on suspicion of defacing posters of missing Israelis, while another man was charged in ten incidents of anti-Islamic graffiti at bus stations.

In this context, the British government stressed that there should be “no tolerance for anti-Semitism or the glorification of terrorism” on the streets of Britain.

She recalled that supporting Hamas is a crime in Britain and that public expression of support for the Palestinians, including carrying the Palestinian flag, is not a criminal offence.

Germany

Germany witnessed a series of anti-Semitic incidents following the October 7 attacks launched by Hamas on Israel and the Hebrew state's response with violent bombing of the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, October 29, thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin in support of Israel, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to put an end to the incidents of anti-Semitism that have been increasing in the country since the outbreak of war between the Hebrew state and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

The police reported that about ten thousand demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in solidarity with Israel and to denounce anti-Semitism, noting that the organizers estimated the number of participants at 25 thousand.

Addressing the crowd, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, "It is unbearable for Jews today to live again in fear, especially in our country." He continued, "Every attack on Jews and Jewish institutions is a disgrace to Germany. Every attack fills me with shame and anger."

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had sent a similar message when he participated in the inauguration of a new synagogue in the city of Dessau, and stressed that there must be “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in Germany.”

Schulz added that Germany "will defend and protect Jewish lives," expressing his shock at the spread of anti-Semitism "all over the world, and shamefully also in Germany."

As part of the hostilities, some Jewish homes in Berlin were marked with the Star of David symbol, and attackers threw two Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in the city.

The German Chancellor stressed that we must not turn a blind eye "when Jews are not safe on the streets of Germany, when homes are stained with Star of David symbols, and when synagogues are firebombed." He also called on his citizens to show solidarity with the country's Jewish population and ensure their safety, and condemned the incidents that occurred during pro-Palestinian marches.

Germany has strengthened the protection of Jewish institutions throughout the country, considering it its responsibility to protect Jewish life since the Holocaust.