Rial, the non-profit organisation for the research of and information on antisemitism in Luxembourg, recently published their annual report. Within the span of a year, antisemitic incidents increased from 50 to 64. However, officials underlined that not only the number, but more importantly the nature of the incidents should be put in perspective.
Our colleagues from RTL spoke to Rial president Bernard Gottlieb about the insights of the report. He acknowledged that the lack of physical altercations is reassuring, especially given that such incidents often occur across the border in Germany.
Gottlieb also noted that since the beginning of the pandemic, the tendency for populist conspiracy theories has increased again: "This already happened in the Middle Ages when the Black Death broke out. 14th century Jews were accused of having poisoned the water as a result. Now, blame is focused on the pharmaceutical industry, which is allegedly run by the elite and the Jews. 800 years later, and the same mechanism is still in place."
Gottlieb thus deemed it unsurprising that hateful messages are circulating again. Over the past couple of months, the situation has also been drastically influenced by the conflict between Israel and Palestine, as well as the rise of far-left groups in favour of the latter country. In this regard, the Rial president underlined that legitimate criticism should not be confused with demonisation.
As a minority group, Luxembourgish Jews mainly demand political will to condemn antisemitism: "It would certainly help if the police and the justice system would increase their efforts to fight hate speech. Not only in terms of antisemitism, but also against racism or homophobia."
Gottlieb finally underlined the importance of raising the issue in schools and teaching the events of the Holocaust.
