Anti-Semitism: Germany sees 10% jump in offences in 2018

Visitors sit while visiting the Holocaust memorial in BerlinImage copyright
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The data revealed a 10% jump in anti-Semitic offences, and a 60% rise in physical attacks.

German officials say there was a 10% increase in the number of anti-Semitic offences recorded last year.

Crime data, revealed on Wednesday, says 1,646 crimes were linked to a hatred of Jews in 2018 – including dozens of violent assaults.

It comes just a day after French politicians spoke out about a sharp rise of incidents in their own country.

French Interior minister, Christophe Castaner, has warned that anti-Semitism is “spreading like poison”.

Over the weekend there were a series of anti-Semitic incidents reported in central Paris – including Swastika vandalism on post-boxes featuring a holocaust survivor’s portrait.

The latest information from Germany was released after a member of the far-left Die Linke party asked the government to provide up-to-date statistics.

Overall, the data revealed a 10% jump in anti-Semitic offences, and a 60% rise in physical attacks.

In total there were 62 violent incidents recorded in 2018 – up from 37 in the previous year.

Jewish groups have warned about the rise of far-right groups in fostering anti-Semitism and hatred of other minorities throughout Europe.

Last year, a survey of thousands of European Jews revealed that many were increasingly worried about anti-Semitism.

Since 2017, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have been country’s main opposition party.

AfD are openly against immigration, but deny holding anti-Semitic views.

However, a number of comments from their politicians, including about the Holocaust, have drawn scorn from Jewish groups and other politicians.

Media captionIn April, a young Jewish man was attacked in Berlin

Last year the German government announced that a specialist team would be sent into German schools to try and combat anti-Semitism.

There have also been calls for special classes about anti-Semitism to be provided for some immigrants.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany said the classes were needed after a large increased in immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

It came after a video went viral showing a man, shouting in Arabic, attacking two Jewish men in Berlin.

Last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it was the responsibility of everyone to have a “zero tolerance” approach to anti-Semitism and other forms of xenophobia.

“People growing up today must know what people were capable of in the past, and we must work proactively to ensure that it is never repeated,” Merkel during a video address to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Anti-Semitism: Germany sees 10% jump in offences in 2018