On Friday 9 November, on the 80th anniversary of the “Night of Broken Glass”, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) again highlighted the limited nature of reporting by member states on anti-Semitic incidents on their territory.
The updated FRA report brings together data collected from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2017 and shows that the reporting of such incidents is not always effective. This leads to under-estimation of the extent, nature and characteristics of anti-Semitism as it exists within the Union today.
The report indicates that, in eight EU member states (Spain, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, United Kingdom and Sweden), the official data reported on incidents of an anti-Semitic nature were not available for 2017.
Among the countries covered, Germany – ranking first with 1,504 anti-Semitic incidents reported – is followed by France (311) and the Netherlands (284).
Nonetheless, such figures should be viewed cautiously. In addition to the lack of data available which makes comparison difficult, other factors must also be taken into account, such as the size of the Jewish population in any given member state, and the willingness and ability of victims to report such incidents and to place their trust in the national authorities.
On 10 December this year, the FRA will publish the results of its survey on how the problem is perceived by the EU’s Jewish community itself (see EUROPE 12018).
“Despite the horrors of the past, recent developments show that anti-Semitism is still present in our society”, the Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova said with regret in a statement published on Thursday 8 November in which they speak of the recent attack against a synagogue in Pittsburgh (USA) (see EUROPE 12127).
“We cannot allow our society to suffer from collective amnesia. We have a duty to continuously teach our young generations about this and how to tame Europe’s inner demons – so that nobody forgets”, they said.
The Council of Europe, for its part, is expected during the JHA Council on 6 and 7 December to adopt a declaration on “the fight against anti-Semitism and the development of a common approach in relation to security, to better protect Jewish communities and institutions in Europe”. (see EUROPE 12132). (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)