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Antisemitic Incidents Surged 90% in French-Speaking Switzerland in 2024, New Report Finds
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: IMAGO/dieBildmanufaktur via Reuters Connect
Nearly 2,000 antisemitic incidents were reported in French-speaking Switzerland in 2024, marking a 90 percent increase from the previous year amid the aftermath of the Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to a new report published this week.
The Intercommunity Coordination Against Antisemitism and Defamation (CICAD), a Geneva-based NGO, released its annual report on antisemitism in French-speaking Switzerland for last year, revealing 1,789 antisemitic incidents — the highest number recorded since 2014.
Based on CICAD’s new study, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza prompted a historic surge in attacks on the Swiss Jewish community, with more than half of the incidents (52.5 percent) categorized as “traditional” forms of antisemitism and 14.4 percent linked to anti-Zionism.
In previous years, antisemitic incidents primarily focused on online hate speech. However, the 69-page report identified a “dangerous escalation” of antisemitic acts in 2024, marked by a significant rise in physical violence and threats against Jews, as well as attacks on Jewish property, including homes, businesses, and synagogues.
Last year in Geneva, a 10-year-old Jewish girl was punched in the face, kicked, and had her hair pulled by three classmates who yelled, “There is no place for Jews in the world!” while recording the incident.
In Lausanne, Switzerland’s fourth-largest city, a Jewish man wearing a kippah was attacked in a supermarket. While pushing and hitting him, the assailant shouted, “You are the terrorists!”
According to the report, antisemitic verbal and written threats have also increased, often appearing as graffiti or other forms of property vandalism.
For example, a Jewish family in Lausanne found a threatening message in their mailbox that read: “We don’t want you here — leave before it’s too late.”
In another incident, the office of a Jewish lawyer was broken into, with documents left scattered and the phrase “The world will be purified of Zionists” spray-painted on the wall.
The CICAD also reported an “alarming increase” in antisemitic acts directly targeting Jewish students in schools and universities, including rising Nazi salutes on playgrounds, verbal and physical abuse, and teachers comparing Jews to Nazis in class.
Shortly after the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, purportedly pro-Palestinian demonstrators attempted takeovers of university facilities at several campuses, with participants calling for the eradication of the Jewish state. For example, posters reading “Intifada jusqu’à la victoire” (“Intifada until victory”) were displayed around the University of Geneva campus.
Other incidents included Jewish students being told, “Go back to Auschwitz,” referencing the largest Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust, and “You’re bad at school because you’re Jewish.”
According to the CICAD, the growing security concerns within Jewish communities in Switzerland have turned into a national issue that demands swift action.
The report also found that more than two-thirds (72.1 percent) of all reported antisemitic incidents in 2024 originated from social media platforms, particularly Instagram, Telegram, and X. The study explained that the anonymity and viral nature of these platforms enable the widespread distribution of antisemitic content.
Last month, the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), in collaboration with the Foundation Against Racism and Antisemitism (GRA), released its annual report on antisemitism in German-, Italian-, and Romansh-speaking Switzerland last year.
According to this report, antisemitism in Switzerland reached an “unprecedented level” in 2024, with 221 “real-world” antisemitic incidents recorded. This marked a 43 percent increase compared to 2023 and a 287 percent rise compared to 2022, following the months leading up to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Of all the antisemitic incidents registered in 2024, 11 were physical attacks on Jews, including an attempted murder in Zurich and an attempted arson attack on a synagogue. In contrast, hardly any such incidents were reported prior to the Gaza War.
One of the most notorious recent cases was the Zurich attempted murder, in which an Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed and left with life-threatening injuries by a Swiss teenager, an Islamic State supporter of Tunisian origin.
The post Antisemitic Incidents Surged 90% in French-Speaking Switzerland in 2024, New Report Finds 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.