Report: 2021 was worst year in decade for antisemitism around the world

A new report has found that 2021 was the worst year for antisemitic incidents when compared to statistics over the past decade.

The Antisemitism Report for 2021 is published by the World Zionist Organisation and the Jewish Agency and coincides with Holocaust Remembrance Day which takes place on 27 January.

The report found that 2021 was “the most antisemitic year in the last decade,” the two organizations said in a joint statement, “but at the same time, this year no Jew in the world has been murdered on antisemitic grounds.”

The average number of antisemitic incidents reported in 2021 was more than ten per day, the report found.

“However, the actual number of incidents was significantly higher, since many are not reported by the victims out of fear, and due to the lack of surveillance and prosecution of local authorities and law enforcement agencies,” the statement said.

The UK recorded a 49% increase in the first six months of 2021, with 1,308 incidents compared to 875 in the same period in 2020. This spike is linked with the conflict between Israel and Hamas which took place in May 2021.

Europe was the leading continent in the number of antisemitic incidents during 2021, with close to 50 percent of all incidents globally taking place there.

Within the US, New York recorded a 100% increase in the number of antisemitic incidents in 2021, with 503, compared to 252 in 2020. In Los Angeles, there was a 59.2% increase in the number of antisemitic incidents in the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period in the previous year, LAPD data cited in the report showed.

Alongside anti-Semitism statistics, the report also looked at how things were changing around Holocaust education.

“Despite the grim statistics, this year we have also seen a little light emanating in various forms, such as the adoption of the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] working definition of antisemitism by many countries, Holocaust education laws passed, laws passed to prevent the use of Holocaust symbols, and of course in the war on BDS,” the report concluded.

“It is the duty of every country to provide its citizens with security and to protect them in every event that takes place on its land, including the Jewish community,” said Raheli Baratz-Rix, head of the Department for Combating Antisemitism and Enhancing Resilience at the World Zionist Organization. “At the same time, the State of Israel will always continue to be an anchor for every Jew who desires it.”