PRAGUE (AP) — Antisemitic incidents in the Czech Republic sharply increased last year, with their peak appearing in the final quarter of 2023 following the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, an assault that triggered the war in Gaza, the country’s Jewish community said Monday.
In its annual report, the Federation of the Jewish Communities said it registered 4,328 antisemitic incidents in 2023, up 90% from 2,277 in the previous year.
The report said that 1,800 incidents — or 41,59%, of the total — happened in the last three months of the year.
“The Oct 7 was immediately followed by a global explosive wave of antisemitism, which also strongly hit the Czech Republic,” the report said.
The bulk of the anti-Jewish hatred, 98%, was expressed online, most of them through social media, it said.
Those included the publication of false, dehumanizing, demonizing, vulgar and conspiracy theories and stereotypes as well as hatred aimed at the state of Israel.
The report, however, concluded the Czech Republic remains a safe country for Jews.
It said there was no physical attack registered for the second straight year. But 18 incidents involved antisemitic threats, harassment and verbal insults, more than double than the previous year. The rest of the incidents included demonizing the Jewish community with conspiracy theories and stereotyping, according to the report.
The Hamas attacks on Israel killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The militants also took around 250 people hostage.
Israel’s massive offensive in response has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
FILE - Tourists visit the Pinkas synagogue in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Antisemitic incidents in the Czech Republic sharply increased last year, with their peak appearing in the final quarter of 2023 following the deadly Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, an assault that triggered the war in Gaza, the country’s Jewish community said Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.
Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.
Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.
Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.
He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”
He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.
Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."
On Saturday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters: “At this point, we can only say for sure that the perpetrator was evidently Islamophobic – we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter for further investigation and we have to wait.”
A German-based organization called Athiest Refugee Relief said the alleged attacker was not a part of the group and claimed that he made “numerous accusations and claims” against it and former board members, which it said were false.
“We distance ourselves from him in the strongest terms," the group said in a statement on its website, adding that members of Atheist Refugee Relief filed a criminal complaint against him in 2019 following “the most foul slander and verbal attacks."
An image taken from a video shows police officers arresting a suspect after car drove into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (TNN/DPA via AP)
A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
