For Jews, the Czech Republic is a “safe country”. But anti-Semitism is growing here too

Author: Vojtěch Berger, HlidaciPes.org

Disturbing reports that anti-Semitism is on the rise have been coming out of Western Europe for years. A significant turn for the worse was last year’s attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists and the subsequent military retaliation. Since then, pan-European surveys have shown a dramatic increase in anti-Semitism, and the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities has similar data. The war in Gaza was reflected, for example, in the entries in the visitors’ books of the Terezín Memorial. As its management says, fortunately, so far only sporadically.

“These entries mention the ‘crimes’ of the State of Israel, which, according to the writers, it is committing as part of its security operations in the Gaza Strip. We also encounter these posts sporadically on our social networks,” summarizes Stanislav Lada, head of the Terezín Memorial’s external relations and marketing department.

However, he stresses that these are isolated incidents: “I could count them on one hand since the beginning of the new wave of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they mention that the state of Israel behaves just like the Nazis and ask why we don’t write about them too.”
The incidents from Terezín are reflected in the much more dramatic-sounding statistics from the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities. In August, the Federation published its report on anti-Semitic incidents from last year.

7th October changed the statistics

In addition to confirming the year-over-year upward trend in anti-Semitic incidents from previous years (last year’s number rose 90 percent compared to 2022, to a total of 4,328 incidents), the report showed an apparent upward break just as Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists in October 2023 and began its retaliatory military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Between last October and December, the average monthly increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the Czech Republic was 254.32 percent, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities. It also warns that its tally of anti-Jewish speech may not, and probably is not, complete.

Shortly before new Czech data on anti-Semitism was released this summer, a Europe-wide survey by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) was published, covering thirteen countries with roughly 96 percent of the EU’s Jewish population. The survey included the Czech Republic and led to similar conclusions.

The survey was conducted before the Hamas attacks of 7th October 2023 and the Israeli military response in Gaza. But the resulting report also includes more recent information on anti-Semitism from 12 Jewish organizations, some of which reported an increase in incidents of more than 400 percent. Some specific data relating to the Czech Republic is worth highlighting.

95 percent have experienced anti-Semitism

Six percent of respondents in the Czech Republic feel discriminated against because of their Jewishness, according to the survey. This is the lowest figure ever among all the countries included in the survey, where the average for the perceived discrimination was 20 percent.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents think the Czech government is fighting anti-Semitism effectively. This is also a good sign for the Czech Republic – the survey average was only 18 percent on the question of satisfaction with government action.

A quarter of those surveyed in the Czech Republic believe that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has had an impact on their sense of security. However, the average across all countries involved in the survey is 62 percent on this question.

27 percent of respondents in the Czech Republic see anti-Semitism as a major problem for their daily lives. The survey average is 84 percent.

43 percent of Czech respondents believe that anti-Semitism in the Czech Republic has increased in the last five years. When other countries are included, this feeling is shared by an average of 80 percent of respondents. 95 percent of Czech respondents say they have encountered anti-Semitism in their daily lives in the year prior to the survey. In all countries combined, in average 96 percent of respondents answered the same question with a „yes“.

A total of 471 people from the roughly 5,000-strong Jewish community registered in Jewish communities and associations in the Czech Republic took part in the survey.

Czech Republic still a “safe country”

Despite the documented increase in anti-Semitism, the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities states in its latest report that “in terms of physical security, the Czech Republic remained a safe country for the Jewish community in 2023”.

“Fortunately, we have not seen a dramatic increase in manifestations of anti-Semitism. These are isolated manifestations that do not question the historical facts of the Holocaust, but criticize the policy of the State of Israel under the influence of current international events,” Stanislav Lada summarizes the impact of the current phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the Terezín Memorial.

“We regret to note that anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions have dramatically increased,” comments the The Council of the European Union in its Declaration against anti-Semitism, adopted in October by ministers of the member states, including the Czech Republic, in Luxembourg.

“I think it would be to the benefit of the cause if this issue were regularly discussed at the Council level,” Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák said after the meeting.