Record Number of Anti-Semitic Incidents Reported in Schools, Including Swastika Flag Incident – RTV Drenthe

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NOS News•yesterday, 10:44 PM•Adjusted yesterday, 11:52 PM

The Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) recorded a record number of anti-Semitic incidents last year. Anti-Semitism increased alarmingly, especially in schools, says the CIDI. Five times as many incidents were reported there as the year before.

The CIDI received 1,550 reports, of which 379 met the definition of anti-Semitism. That is almost 2.5 times as many as in 2022.

By anti-Semitism, CIDI refers to expressions that are insulting to Jews as a population group. This does not include criticism of Israel.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents increased sharply after the Hamas terror attack on October 7, but an increasing trend was already visible before that. Until October 7, there were almost as many incidents as in 2022.

Increase in schools

CIDI calls the increase in schools the most worrying. Jewish students were verbally abused, threatened, bullied and sometimes abused by fellow students because of their Jewish background.

The CIDI received stories from Jewish students who were forced to change schools, stayed home for long periods of time out of fear, or even changed their surname. Anti-Semitic incidents occur in schools across the country.

According to the CIDI, there is a lack of knowledge and decisiveness among teachers to tackle the issue and create a safe climate at school.

Also online

Jewish institutions, organizations and individuals received a lot of hate mail and individuals received texts via WhatsApp such as “drop dead cancer Jew” and “they forgot to gas you”.

Online anti-Semitism is not included in the figures, but the CIDI also received many more reports of this. According to the CIDI, anti-Semitism on social media, including in the form of complet theories, can partly explain the increase in anti-Semitism at school.

Teach more

Commenting on the figures, outgoing Minister of Justice and Security Yesilgöz says that young people need to learn more about, for example, the persecution of Jews in the Second World War, both at school and at home.

Schools are already obliged to teach children about the Holocaust, “but what we hear a lot is that teachers find it very difficult,” she says in a talk show Op1. According to her, support from the school board is very important. The education inspectorate also has to “get to work” on it, according to Yesilgöz.

But the minister also says that it should not depend on schools whether children learn something about the consequences of hatred of Jews. “It has to start at home.”

Hatred of Jews is a punishable offense and Yesilgöz says that perpetrators are indeed caught and convicted. Although she hears in the Jewish community that fewer and fewer people are willing to report the crime, because they feel that nothing is happening anymore. She says she wants to raise this with the police and the judiciary.

2024-04-08 21:52:59


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