Tel Aviv University published its Annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report, which focuses on 2024.
By Rachel Avraham
According to a recent press release, “On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute Democracy, Human Rights and Justice, both at Tel Aviv University, publishes the Annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report, which focuses on 2024. The 160-page report was prepared by 11 researchers. The annual study has been published for a quarter of a century and is considered the most cited and authoritative document of its kind.”
According to the report’s chief editor, Prof. Uriya Shavit: “Around the world, levels of antisemitism remain significantly higher compared to the period before October 7. However, contrary to popular belief, the report’s findings indicate that the wave of antisemitism did not steadily intensify due to the war in Gaza and the humanitarian disaster there. The peak was in October-December 2023, and a year later, a sharp decline in the number of incidents was noted almost everywhere. The sad truth is that antisemitism reared its head at the moment when the Jewish state appeared weaker than ever and under existential threat.”
According to the report, there was “an increase in comparison to 2023 in the total number of incidents in several countries, including Australia, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy and Switzerland, and a decrease in several other countries, including France, Britain, Germany, Mexico and South Africa. New York, the largest Jewish city in the world, saw an increase, and so did Chicago, home to the third largest Jewish population in the United States, and several other American cities with significant Jewish populations, while other American cities saw decreases.”
“The New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) registered more incidents in 2024 compared to 2023,” the report explained. “The two cities have the largest and third-largest Jewish populations in the United States – approximately 1.5 million and 292,000, respectively. In 2024, the NYPD recorded 344 anti-Jewish hate crime reports, compared to 325 in 2023 and 264 in 2022. Of the 344 reported incidents in 2024, 68 occurred between October and December, compared to 159 during the same period in 2023 and 59 during the same period in 2022.”
According to the report, “In Chicago, the CPD recorded 79 anti-Jewish hate crime reports in 2024 compared to 50 in 2023 and 39 in 2022. The number of reported anti-Jewish assaults was six in 2024, compared to nine in 2023 and nine in 2022. Of the 79 anti-Jewish hate crime reports in 2024, nine occurred between October and December 2024, compared to 33 during the same period in 2023 and 12 in the same period in 2022.”
The report claims that antisemitism was primarily focused on university campuses in the United States in 2024: “Among the incidents, in December, a Jewish Columbia University student was assaulted near the university campus by a man who made antisemitic remarks. At the University of Oregon in November, a residence hall on campus was defaced with swastikas and antisemitic flyers slid under residents’ doors while posters supporting Jewish students and Israeli hostages were torn down and damaged. At UC Berkley, riots erupted over a visiting Israeli speaker as pro-Palestinian activists spit on Jewish students and banged on doors and broke windows of the building holding the event.”
According to the report, “In cooperation with the French Ministry of Interior, the Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive (SPJC) recorded 1,570 antisemitic incidents in 2024, compared to 1,676 in 2023 and 436 in 2022.7 Of the incidents recorded in 2024, 157 occurred in October 2024, compared to 563 in the same month in 2023 and 39 in the same month in 2022.”
The report stressed, “One-hundred-and-six antisemitic incidents involving physical violence were recorded in 2024, compared to 85 in 2023 and 43 in 2022. Among the acts of violence was the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie by three boys around the same age who sexually assaulted her while threatening her and making antisemitic remarks.”
As for Canada, the report claimed, “B’nai Brith Canada recorded an increase in antisemitic incidents in 2024. The 6,219 incidents recorded in 2024, compared to 5,791 incidents in 2023 and 2,769 incidents in 2022, are the most ever recorded since B’nai Brith Canada began keeping records in 1982. Of the 6,219 incidents in 2024, 427 were recorded in October 2024, compared to 601 incidents in October 2023 and 264 incidents in October 2022.”
“Among the most serious incidents in 2024 were multiple targeted attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools, and other Jewish institutions,” the report notes. “In May, a shooting attack at the Belz Yeshiva Ketana in Montreal, in which at least one bullet struck the building, followed less than a week after a similar shooting attack in Toronto at a Chabad girls school, Bais Chaya Mushka, where two masked men emerged from a vehicle and fired multiple rounds at the building. Around the same time, across the country, an arsonist attempted to set the Schara Tzedeck synagogue in Vancouver ablaze, causing minor damage to the synagogue’s entrance. In the months that followed, several other synagogues would be targeted with vandalism in the Toronto area, having windows destroyed with rocks.”
According to the report, “Reports by law enforcement and the Community Service Trust (CST) show that while there was a decrease in antisemitic incidents in 2024 compared to 2023 in the United Kingdom, the sustained level of antisemitism remains higher than in 2022. The Community Service Trust (CST) in the United Kingdom recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents in 2024, compared to 4,103 in 2023 and 1,662 in 2022. Sustained levels of antisemitism have been recorded across the UK since the October 7 attack but peaked in October 2023, with 1,389 recorded that month. In comparison, 310 incidents were recorded in October 2024 and 148 incidents in October 2022.”
“The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) recorded 1,713 antisemitic incidents in 2024, compared to 1,200 incidents in 2023,” the report notes. “Between October and December 2024, ECAJ recorded 478 antisemitic incidents, compared to 827 in the same period in 2023 and 122 in 2022. Among the incidents recorded were physical assaults and acts of vandalism, including a group of identifiable Jews having eggs thrown at them as they walked home from Shabbat dinner in Melbourne, the physical abuse of a 77-year-old Jewish woman who was spat on and threatened by protestors at a rally opposing antisemitism in Melbourne, the windows of a synagogue being smashed with rocks in Melbourne, and a synagogue defaced in Hobart. In December 2024, the home of the former president of the Jewish Board of Deputies was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.”
According to the report, “According to its annual report, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) and its Community Security Organization (CSO) recorded 128 incidents in South Africa in 2024, compared to 207 incidents in 2023 and 68 in 2022. This is the third highest level of antisemitic incidents recorded in the country since SAJBD began compiling reports in the 1990s. In October 2024, SAJBD recorded 20 incidents compared to 60 incidents in October 2023 and 10 in October 2022.”
While noting that levels of antisemitism in South Africa remained high in 2024, SAJBD’s Adam Charnas stated to the Report that “the level of antisemitism [in South Africa] remains much lower than other comparable countries, and South Africa remains a safe space in which Jews can identify as Jewish and practice their religion in safety.”
In 2024, there were only 53 antisemitic incidents in Mexico, compared to 78 in 2023 and 21 in 2022. According to the report, “The majority of incidents fell into the category of graffiti, “other”, and verbal and physical threats.” Renee Dayan-Shabot, the Executive Director of Tribuna Israelita, stated: “Expressions of antisemitism have increased in Mexico since October 7. Nevertheless, during this period, good communication and collaboration with government authorities, media, and universities in addressing antisemitic incidents has been maintained.”
The report claims that Greece has a very low level of recorded antisemitic incidents: “According to data from the State Security Directorate’s Department for Social Issues and Combat Against Racism, the Hellenic Police recorded four antisemitic hate crimes and hate speech incidents in 2024, compared to six in 2023 and five in 2022.”
The report also claims that the Czech Republic has a low level of recorded antisemitic incidents: “According to data from the Police Presidium of the Czech Republic, in 2024, there were 30 criminal offenses against Jews in the country compared to 18 criminal offenses in 2023 and 25 in 2022. Of the 30 criminal offenses recorded in 2024, four occurred between October and December of 2024, compared to seven in the same period in 2023 and five in 2022.”
According to the press release put out by Tel Aviv University, “A study published in the report, conducted by Avi Teich, examined the work of law enforcement authorities in New York, Chicago, Toronto, and London between 2021 and 2023 and found that only a negligible percentage of complaints about antisemitic hate crimes – in some cases less than 10% – led to arrests.”
According to Dr. Carl Yonker, Senior Researcher at the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and Academic Director of the Irwin Cotler Institute: “There are unique difficulties in identifying perpetrators of hate crimes, including the lack of forensic evidence in incidents that do not involve physical assault. Some antisemitic incidents are particularly challenging for law enforcers because offenders use phrases whose real meaning can be understood only by those well-informed in their discourse. Nevertheless, much more can be done if the will exists. Education and legislation without enforcement are meaningless.”
