Expressing their opposition to Israeli military operations, antisemites targeted an Israeli resident living in Volos, central Greece. More specifically, on the outer wall of his house, they drew swastikas, even writing: "Jews are the same as Nazis."
"We are living an absolute paranoia, and now we feel fear," a person close to the Israeli who became the target of anti-Semites told Proto Thema. The victim of the attack filed a lawsuit against the perpetrators.
It is noted that incidents targeting Jewish communities have taken place in the last month in many Western countries.
In Austria, a fire broke out in the Jewish section of the Vienna cemetery, while the walls were covered with anti-Semitic symbols. After the outbreak of war, anti-Semitic incidents in Austria increased by 300% compared to the same period last year.
A large increase has been reported in other countries as well. For example, 240% more incidents in Germany and 320% in the UK.
A few days ago, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that more than 850 anti-Semitic acts had been recorded across the country in the three weeks since October 7.
It is recalled that a mural about the Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki became the target of vandals last month. The unknown assailants graffitied the mural and wrote slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Jews = Nazi”.
The mural is a commemoration of the Holocaust with the symbolic story of a young child of Jewish origin from Thessaloniki and his life shortly before the Occupation and transfer to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
In the past, the mural had once again been the target of vandalism by far-right extremists, who had painted Nazi symbols.
Islamophobia, anti-Semitism rises in EU amid Israel-Hamas war: EU Official
Hate speech targeting Muslims and Jews in Europe is rising as the conflict between Israel and Hamas rages, a European Union official tasked with combating Islamophobia has warned.
“We’ve seen a very clear rising trend of anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Semitic narratives. This hate speech ranges from microaggressions to clear threats and we’ve observed most of it happening on social media platforms,” Marion Lalisse told Al Jazeera.
“The hatred towards Muslims in particular, has to do with negative stereotypes considering Muslims as a monolithic group involved in violence. Such biases are spread across EU nations.”
Lalisse said research is needed on how Europeans are being educated on Muslims and Islam.
“I grew up in rural France which was very diverse and I was taught about the Muslim religion and culture of the people who follow this faith, in a manner which didn’t portray them as threats,” she told Al Jazeera.
“So in my role of combating anti-Muslim hatred, we are funding projects related to the remembrance of the past and analysing how history books in schools and universities in Europe portray Muslims.”
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel one month ago; the current Israeli death toll exceeds 1,400.
After October 7, Israel in retaliation launched a massive bombing campaign of Gaza, in what it says is an effort to crush the Palestinian group that rules the strip. Gaza is one of the world’s most densely populated areas. To date, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, many women and children among them.
Anti-Semitic crimes are being recorded in several European countries.
But besides the UK, other European countries have not published statistics on reported Islamophobic incidents, which have also been increasing since October 7, according to Human Rights Watch.
“This suggests they do not record hate crimes against people perceived to be Muslim. Lack of data impedes effective policy responses to such hate crimes,” the rights group said in a statement.
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