European Jews brace for antisemitic attacks spurred by Gaza conflagration

(JTA) — As the body count in hostilities between Israelis and Palestinian rises, so do fears that European Jews will be targeted in a phenomenon that many here call “the import of the conflict.”

That’s what happened when Hamas and Israel exchanged blows in 2014, triggering the worst wave of antisemitic violence in Europe since the Holocaust in terms of its prevalence and scope.

That summer, dozens of men, most of them from Muslim background and some of them coming from a large pro-Palestinian rally, besieged a crowded synagogue in Paris. For long minutes, Jewish men held the crowd at bay as the attackers hurled heavy objects at them, including pieces of furniture from a nearby café.

A dozen synagogues, most of them in France, were torched. And in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, rioters smashed the windows of multiple Jewish-owned businesses, producing an aftermath that for some evoked Kristallnacht, the 1938 pogroms that presaged the Holocaust.

Jews faced attacks, too, when Israel battled Hamas in 2009, and during the intifada that began in 2000, which triggered the first major outbreak of antisemitic violence in Europe in connection with the Israeli-Arab conflict. Hundreds of attacks were documented, including the torching of synagogues.

Already there are signs that the current round of hostilities may be spilling over into Europe. Earlier this week, Israeli flags were torched outside two German synagogues. About 200 people in the city of Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany, marched on Wednesday toward a local synagogue shouting “shitty Jews.” And graffiti including the words “free Palestine” was spray-painted on another synagogue in Spain.

In London, a pro-Israel activist was kicked in the head amid chants of “f***ing Jews” at a small counterdemonstration near a massive rally Tuesday to protest Israel’s military response in Gaza.

European Jews brace for antisemitic attacks spurred by Gaza conflagration

https://www.jta.org/2021/05/13/global/european-jews-brace-for-antisemitic-attacks-spurred-by-gaza-conflagration/amp