Last year marked a peak year for antisemitic incidents globally, with significant surges documented across various countries, a report by the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel revealed.
The report highlighted the primary trends in global antisemitism, comparing 2022 to 2024. The year 2022 was chosen due to its status as a year without exceptional events affecting the level of global antisemitism, unlike 2023, which was significantly impacted by the events of October 7 and their aftermath.
Sunday’s report documented a 288% increase in antisemitic incidents in the United States, peaking in April 2024. In Canada, the situation appears to be even more concerning, as it has seen a 562% increase in antisemitic incidents, of which roughly a quarter were violent.
The WZO and the Jewish Agency presented the report to President Isaac Herzog.
In all surveyed countries, there appears to have been a collective surge in the number of antisemitic incidents relating to anti-Israel and anti-Zionist narratives. About a quarter of global incidents have been directly related to Israeli policy and the Middle East conflict.
Digital antisemitism has risen dramatically in the last year, too, with the term ‘Zionism’ increasingly being used as a cover for traditional antisemitic expressions. This has led Meta to recognize anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism in certain contexts. Social media has been used more and more frequently, especially to spread awareness of anti-Israel protests.
Geographically, these incidents have been spread across many countries, including in regions that had already seen increases in the number of antisemitic incidents in the year prior, such as Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.
However, other countries, including China, Japan, and Taiwan, have also seen the emergence of a “new” antisemitism. This has consisted of increased antisemitic content on Chinese social media platforms, as well as anti-Israel protests and Nazi gestures in Japan and Taiwan.
In South Africa, there was a 185% increase in antisemitic incidents, with clear antisemitic expressions accompanied by calls for boycotts of Israel and anti-Israel propaganda. It is noted that there may be underreporting in South Africa due to a lack of registration and reporting of incidents, and the actual number of antisemitic incidents is likely higher.
Zionism is a new code for expressing hatred towards Jews
Raheli Baratz, head of the Department for Combating Antisemitism at the WZO and author of the report, said: “The 2024 Antisemitism Report reveals a disturbing phenomenon of the development of a new antisemitic language disguising itself behind a veil of legitimacy.
“The 340% increase in antisemitic incidents poses a real threat to the foundations of Western democracy, where the new antisemitic discourse erodes the fundamental values of democratic society and creates cracks in the wall of pluralism and tolerance.”
Additionally, Baratz highlighted the phenomenon in which “anti-Zionism” serves as a modern guise for classical antisemitism. “The data shows that while traditional antisemitic expressions are being pushed to the margins, the term ‘Zionism’ and its derivatives have become a new code for expressing hatred towards Jews,” Baratz stated.
“This is not a coincidence – it is a deliberate change in language aimed at making antisemitism socially acceptable. When a person or organization uses the term ‘anti-Zionist,’ they are often not expressing a legitimate political position but rather are reviving historical antisemitic patterns under a contemporary guise of legitimacy.
“It is important to see the trend of semantic change as a warning light not only for the Jewish community but for any democratic society striving to maintain its values.”