Attacks on Muslims and Jews persistently high in Germany

Acts of incitement and violence remain at high levels amid the Israel-Gaza war

A German police officer stands guard in front of the synagogue in Frankfurt, Germany, in November 2023. AP Photo

A rapid drumbeat of hate crimes against Muslims and Jews in Germany has continued throughout the Israel-Gaza war, new figures reveal.

Anti-Muslim crimes were 66 per cent higher in the first half of 2024 than in the same period last year, before the war broke out.

They included damage to mosques and acts of incitement that were mostly classed as acts of right-wing extremism. At least 21 people were injured in attacks.

The rate of anti-Semitic crimes was 83 per cent higher than in early 2023, driven by a mixture of right-wing unrest and violence inspired by the war in Gaza.

Dozens of politically motivated crimes against refugees and asylum seekers have also been reported, including almost 70 physical attacks.

The unrest has dismayed political leaders in Germany, where there is particular sensitivity over anti-Semitism and far-right activity in the country that perpetrated the Holocaust.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is threatening people with deportation if they make just one online post glorifying acts of terrorism.

A draft law change means foreigners could be expelled from Germany for praising violence even if they have not yet been convicted by a court.

Street unrest

Domestic intelligence is also monitoring far-right activity such as rallies by anti-Islam group Pegida and the radical youth wing of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

A list of more than 100 marches collected by police includes an AfD youth rally at which it was declared that the fatal stabbing of a police officer in the south-west city of Mannheim in May would have been prevented by “remigration” – a far-right buzzword.

On two occasions, 600 people gathered at demonstrations organised by Pegida that raged against “wars of religion on German soil”. Others protested “against Islamisation”.

About half of the anti-Muslim offences in 2024 have been acts of incitement, such as calls for violence, which can lead to a prison term of up to five years.

Dozens of other crimes included threats, hate-mongering insults, the use of banned symbols and criminal damage, including to mosques.

Mosque threats

There were 21 incidents at mosques in the first half of 2024, including threats of violence, attempts to interfere with worship and the use of banned symbols.

While almost 200 suspects have been identified in connection with anti-Muslim offences, police have made only a handful of arrests.

The crime rate has fallen from the extreme levels of last autumn, when police counted scores of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim acts in the days after Hamas attacked Israel.

The Star of David was daubed on buildings, a Jewish hospital had a window smashed and Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue in Berlin in the first weeks of the war.

Updated figures show there were more than 600 anti-Muslim crimes in the last quarter of 2023, meaning about 1,000 have been recorded since October 7.

In 2024 there have been about 1,500 anti-Semitic acts and more than 400 acts of anti-Muslim hatred, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office statistics.

The figures also show more than 500 crimes against refugees and asylum seekers so far this year, many of which were right-wing acts of incitement.

There were 70 where asylum seeker accommodation “was the crime scene or an immediate target of attack”, including with arson and the use of explosives.

Huge counter-protests against the far right took place in Germany in January after secret far-right talks were revealed on the “remigration” of foreigners.

Refugee housing and immigration offices were also a prime target of summer unrest in England, where race riots reigned for days after the killing of three children.

The UK has likewise seen sharp increases in anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred since October 7, leading to extra policing for mosques and synagogues.