Merkel Says Anti-Semitism More Widespread in Germany Than Commonly Thought

The German leader vowed to combat the mounting threat of anti-Semitism in her country. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says anti-Semitism is “more widespread” in Germany than some believe and that action is needed to “deal with it – especially among young people… from countries where hatred of Israel and the hatred of Jews is widespread.”

Merkel said on her weekly podcast that anti-Semitism is more “widespread than we imagine, and that’s why we have to make intensive efforts against it,” noting the negative effects of anti-Semitic propaganda online and attempts to combat it.

A new report by the German Interior Ministry found that anti-Semitic crime spiked 25.2% in 2014.

A total of 1,596 anti-Semitic crimes were reported to German police in 2014, a 25.2% increase over 2013. At the same time, crimes against foreigners rose 21.5% to 3,945. Attacks on refugee housing in Germany increased 350% from just 58 in 2013 to 203 in 2014.

They last annual report by the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the European Jewish Congress (EJC) on anti-Semitism found that 2014 was one of the worst years in the past decade for anti-Semitic incidents.

The report recorded 766 anti-Semitic incidents perpetrated with or without weapons, including arson, vandalism and direct threats against Jewish persons or institutions, mostly in Western Europe. Compared with the 554 recorded anti-Semitic incidents in 2013, this consists of a sharp 38-percent increase.

By: The Algemeiner

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