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‘Horrifying’: Germany Registers 29 Antisemitic Incidents Per Day Since Hamas Pogrom in Israel
A march against antisemitism in the German city of Dusseldorf. Photo: Reuters/Ying Tang
Germany has registered at least 29 antisemitic incidents per day since the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel — a four-fold increase on the previous year that was labeled “horrifying” in a statement from the Central Council of German Jews.
New data published on Tuesday by Rias, a federally-funded body monitoring antisemitic incidents, counted a total of 994 antisemitic incidents since the Hamas onslaught. Germany is home to a Jewish community of approximately 118,000.
Benjamin Steinitz, the managing director of Rias, told the Zeit news outlet that while the troughs and peaks of antisemitic activity have always been influenced by the situation in the Middle East, the present period marked a “different dimension.”
Significantly, the Rias report demonstrated that false or inaccurate media reporting of the conflict in Gaza directly impacted antisemitic agitation. It pointed out that following the false claim pushed by Hamas that an Israeli strike on Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Oct. 17 killed 500 people, the number of antisemitic incidents almost doubled from an average of 31 over the previous weeks to 61.
The report also noted that 59 of the incidents occurred at the homes of Jewish residents, for example the daubing of the Star of David on the outer walls of a house. In one incident in the southwestern town of Giessen, two men forced their way into the home of a 34-year-old Israeli man who had hung an Israeli flag from his balcony. When the Israeli refused to remove the flag, he was showered with antisemitic abuse before one of the assailants punched him in the face.
In another incident, Cyrus Overbeck — an artist and campaigner against extremism who lives in the city of Duisburg — rose one morning to find that 30 leaflets bearing the image of the Israeli flag had been left outside his studio with the text, “Step on the flag, spit on it, burn it: Free Palestine.” When he walked outside, he was confronted by a “highly aggressive” man wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf who regaled him with antisemitic abuse.
Since the incident, “we only leave the house to go shopping,” Overbeck said.
Daniel Poensgen, a consultant with Rias, told broadcaster DW on Tuesday that the targeting of private homes represented a worrying escalation.
“There are places, such as certain neighborhoods or soccer matches, where Jews say, ‘OK, the mood is aggressive right now, I won’t go there,’” he said. “That’s not possible in your own living environment. The stairwell comes first in an apartment, you have to pass through it every day, and that’s why these incidents are particularly threatening.”
Poensgen also observed that “antisemitism acts as a bridging ideology and brings people from very different parts of the political spectrum together.” He pointed out that “people who actually see themselves as left-wing demonstrate together with Islamists and perhaps also together with right-wing extremists such as supporters of the [Turkish fascist organization] Gray Wolves.”
The number of incidents registered by Rias is notably higher than the 680 registered by the interior ministry since Oct. 7. The discrepancy lies in the fact that Rias registers as antisemitic those incidents that do not necessarily meet a criminality threshold.
In its analysis accompanying the data, Rias observed that many German Jews were removing outwardly Jewish symbols such as kippot and Star of David necklaces before venturing outside. “We also received reports from parents who temporarily stopped sending their children to schools or daycare centers for fear of antisemitic attacks,” the organization said.
The post ‘Horrifying’: Germany Registers 29 Antisemitic Incidents Per Day Since Hamas Pogrom in Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.