Anti-Semitism on the rise during pandemic, EU says
Anti-Semitism has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, particularly online, a new EU report said on Tuesday, but data gaps make it difficult to gauge how serious the problem really is.
In addition to the old lies resurrected, “new anti-Semitic myths and conspiracy theories that blame Jews for the pandemic have emerged,” according to the report.
“Anti-Semitism, especially online, has increased during the pandemic,” says the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report.
At the same time, the agency’s own research showed that anti-Semitic acts were systematically underreported.
The lack of data on the issue made it more difficult to resolve the issue, according to the report.
The report based its findings on a review of official data compiled by EU member states and what it called unofficial data collected by civil society organizations.
There were no official data available for two Member States, Hungary and Portugal.
Rights groups in Germany have noted the link between rising anti-Semitism and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first months of the pandemic, the Berlin Department for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) said 44% of the incidents it recorded were related to the coronavirus.
A federation of Jewish communities in the Czech Republic recorded 874 incidents in 2020, up from 694 the previous year.
Almost all of them were published in the media or online and many concerned anti-Semitic conspiracy theories specifically related to the pandemic, according to the report.
“Anti-Semitism is a serious problem,” FRA director Michael O’Flaherty said in a statement presenting the report.
“But without the data, we don’t know how bad it is.”
EU countries should encourage the reporting of such incidents and improve recording and data collection, he added.
“With this, we will be better able to fight against the hatred and prejudice against the Jews.”