The Jewish Community in Denmark February 22nd , 2024
PRESS RELEASE February 22nd, 2024
Antisemitism in Denmark is at its highest level since the Jewish Community began registering antisemitic incidents over 10 years ago.
The wave of antisemitic incidents has followed the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and there are several serious incidents. Of the 121 registered incidents, there are 20 threats – either in the form of personal death threats or against Jews as a group.
This is shown by the Jewish Community’s assessment of antisemitic incidents in 2023.
“There is an unprecedented increase both in the number of cases and in the severity. If there are still those who deny that we have a problem with antisemitism, it is because they do not want to acknowledge that we have a problem with antisemitism in Denmark,” says Henri Goldstein, President of the Jewish Community, who emphasizes that the numbers are in line with a trend that has been documented – including through the National Police’s statistics on hate crimes. Other studies show that there is an 80 percent dark figure in the reporting of incidents.
“After October 7th, we have seen antisemitism on steroids. It is not the first time that we can observe an increase in antisemitism when the conflict in the Middle East escalates. But this time we have seen a significant escalation, fuelled in no small part by the uncontrolled spread of hatred on social media,” says Henri Goldstein, who emphasizes that all 121 incidents are antisemitism – and not “just criticism of Israel”.
“It is classic antisemitism about Jews being greedy, manipulative, or irrational. It is threats and cases of severe harassment. And it is the “new” antisemitism, where we as Danish Jews are held accountable for the policies of the state of Israel,” says Henri Goldstein, who calls for a fresh look at the government’s action plan against antisemitism.
“We are enormously grateful for the attention of Danish politicians. But we must acknowledge that we are seeing a very violent and rapid development that requires new solutions,” says Henri Goldstein.