Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have been fighting in European cities for two weeks, amid a large police deployment in front of synagogues and mosques and under the political slogan of “zero tolerance” towards hate crimes. In London, incidents of anti-Semitism in the last two weeks have soared by 1,350% (from 15 to 218) while cases of Islamophobia have increased by 140% (from 42 to 103).
In France, with the largest Jewish community in Europe, there have been 320 “acts of anti-Semitism” and 180 arrests for incidents ranging from threats made at the entrances to synagogues to graffiti such as the one that appeared on a stadium in Carcassonne: “Kill the Jews in a duty.”
In Germany, police are investigating the throwing of two Molotov cocktails at a mosque in Berlin last Wednesday, although there were no injuries or significant material damage. The Central Council of Jews has meanwhile denounced the appearance of stars of David painted at the entrances of houses as an “act of intimidation” in various parts of the city.
The tension is also very evident in the Jewish quarter of Rome, where the 80th anniversary of the raids and deportations to Auschwitz was celebrated precisely these days. In Milan, graffiti with swastikas and graffiti such as the one written at the entrance to a hospital has appeared in the last two weeks: “Jewish murderers, to the crematorium.”
The Golders Green neighborhood in London, recently visited by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, has also become a fortress after the appearance of graffiti saying “Free Palestine!” in several Jewish establishments. In Camden, a man was arrested this week for tearing down posters of children kidnapped by Hamas within hours of being posted.
In New Malden, south London, police arrested another man allegedly responsible for several graffiti, this time directed at the Arab community at bus stops, according to The Guardian. The British capital recorded more than a hundred incidents of Islamophobia in just two weeks, compared to 42 last year in the same period.
“The conflict is having a direct impact on London with abhorrent cases of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism,” said Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan. “There is understandable fear in our communities. This week I have heard alarming stories, from women afraid to go out in a hijab to parents worried that their children may be identified as Jewish because of their school uniform.”
Three schools in north London have temporarily closed their doors due to lack of security. Two other schools, in the Shomrim Stamford Hild neighborhood. They woke up this week with red paint on doors and windows. Scotland Yard is investigating the incident, recorded by security cameras, which captured the moment when a hooded man vandalized the school on Monday night.
More than a thousand police officers were deployed this Saturday in central London for the second large pro-Palestinian demonstration, after the march held last week and which concluded with half a dozen arrests and several confrontations with the police in Trafalgar Square. More than 100,000 people have called for an end to the war.
Despite the drastic recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior, Suella Braverman, the chief deputy commissioner of Soctland Yard warned in advance that waving a Palestinian flag or chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” cannot be considered “illegal” unless it is directed directly against members of the Jewish community or in the vicinity of a synagogue.
Secretary of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick meanwhile issued a harsh warning: “Foreigners who are detained for committing anti-Semitic acts or for supporting Hamas will have their visas canceled and will be expelled from the United Kingdom.”
