One year ago, on October 7, 2023, Hamas perpetrated the largest and most brutal massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, a premeditated and executed slaughter of men, women, children, the elderly, and even infants. Rapes, beheadings, mutilations, cold-blooded murders, and abductions. The scenes of such atrocities shocked even seasoned soldiers who rushed to assist the devastated population in southern Israel.
Despite this, many rejoiced and celebrated the massacre, deeming it “resistance” or justifying it as a defensive action. Mohammad Hannoun, for example, the leader of Italy’s Associazione Palestinesi (Palestinian Association), referred to the massacre in a statement made to Italian television, as “legitimate self-defense” during a Palestinian demonstration in central Milan held a mere three days after the attack.
Hannoun’s comment is just one of many expressions of hatred toward Israel that multiplied throughout the West immediately after the massacre and well before the IDF began its ground operations in Gaza. For those espousing these views, Israel should not have even reacted. Indeed, Israel should not even exist, as highlighted by one of the popular slogans at “pro-Palestinian” demonstrations: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” clearly calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.
The disingenuous pretense of anti-Zionism has now been thoroughly exposed. As the World Jewish Congress has shown, anti-Zionism is simply a form of antisemitism, denying the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland and disregarding the historical and archaeological evidence of the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel. For too many, anyone supporting Jewish self-determination and the existence of the State of Israel is automatically labeled a “Zionist,” and therefore an “enemy.” This paves the way for violent actions against Jews in both Israel and the diaspora.
This toxic blend of antisemitism and anti-Zionism has dominated pro-Palestinian demonstrations throughout the West, from Canada to Australia, from the United States to Europe. University campuses have become strongholds of anti-Israel hatred, in some instances escalating beyond chants and slogans to violence against Jews. At the University of Pittsburgh, two Jewish students were assaulted by pro-Palestinian thugs after the yarmulkes they were wearing identified them as Jews.
In Britain, just one month after the October 7 massacre, Edward Isaacs, the president of the Union of Jewish Students, reported an unprecedented spike in assaults on Jewish students. Britain’s Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 67 antisemitic incidents from October 7 to November 3, 2023, across 29 campuses, compared to 12 during the same period in 2022. According to the BBC, which is far from being pro-Israel, this represents a significant increase in antisemitic incidents.
The CST also recorded 5,583 antisemitic incidents from October 7, 2023, to September 30, 2024, representing a 204% increase from the 1,830 such incidents reported the previous year. These are the highest figures recorded since the center began operations in 1984.
Following a similar pattern, in France, the Ministry of the Interior and the Jewish Community Protection Service reported 1,676 antisemitic acts in 2023, compared to 436 the previous year.
An independent public body fighting discrimination in neighboring Belgium reported 91 antisemitic incidents between October 7 and December 7, 2023, compared to 57 for the entire year of 2022.
According to data collected by Italy’s Osservatorio sicurezza Contro gli Atti Discriminatori (Observatory for Security Against Discriminatory Acts), 406 cases of antisemitism were recorded from October 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024, a figure that later rose to 456 following new incidents.
These are just the official numbers, but we can safely assume that not all incidents of slander, spitting, intimidation, and insults are recorded or reported.
Across Europe, imams have glorified Hamas and spread antisemitic propaganda. Protesters have hoisted black flags and Hezbollah flags and called for the destruction of Israel. The double standard has sometimes risen to the absurd. For example, in London, pro-Israel demonstrators were confined to a small fenced-off area while, just ahead, a procession of Islamists, left-wing extremists, and Israel-haters marched freely. Why were only Israel’s supporters prohibited from demonstrating?
Similarly, a Met Police officer near a pro-Palestinian demonstration in London threatened Gideon Falter, an activist from the “Campaign Against Antisemitism,” with arrest simply for his “openly Jewish appearance”– Falter was wearing a yarmulke. At Heathrow Airport, customs officers harassed some passengers arriving from Israel on an El Al flight.
Returning to Italy, in Milan, on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Italian student Mihael Melnic displayed a sign from his apartment window reading “Free Gaza from Hamas.” At the same time, the street below had become the scene of yet another unauthorized pro-Palestinian demonstration. Melnic, subjected to insults and threats by protesters, later received an intimidating visit from two police officers. They entered his apartment, identified him, and unsuccessfully tried to confiscate his sign. Melnic later gave an interview to The Times of Israel recounting the incident.
In Padua, Israeli student Jasmine Kolodro was summoned to the police station for displaying an Israeli flag near a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
These are alarming episodes, especially considering Forza Italia Senator Maurizio Gasparri’s assertion on October 1, 2024, that antisemitism is present in both journalism and security apparatuses.
The situation for Jews in Spain has also worsened. The Spanish Jewish community has expressed deep concern, and Jewish university students are afraid to attend classes.
In reality, the spread of antisemitism since October 7, 2023, is merely the evolution of a pre-existing “sick seed” that had already taken root throughout the West, just awaiting a trigger to erupt in full force.
The attacks on Jewish museums and schools in Belgium and France a decade ago during the so-called ISIS phase were a clear signal of what was to come. As was the 2014 assault on a Paris synagogue, which was met by the triumphant remark “the party’s over,” from no less than Davide Piccardo, coordinator of Coordinamento delle Associazioni Islamiche di Milano (Coordination of Islamic Associations of Milan) – a convert to Islam, and now the editorial director of the Islamist Italian-language website La Luce News.
It is notable that in France, the imams Mohamed Tataiat, Hassan Iquioussen, and Mahjoub Mahjoubi, after repeatedly coming under fire for spreading virulent antisemitic rhetoric, were eventually expelled earlier this year.
In Italy, too, the antisemitic atmosphere is quite dire. According to the Osservatorio Antisemitismo (Observatory on Antisemitism), Prime Minister Meloni’s government’s “let them vent” approach has led to blacklists, calls to mark the homes of “Jews and Zionists,” parades with signs portraying “Zionist agents,” defacing of Jewish elementary schools, pro-Hamas and antisemitic sermons in mosques, and the publication of antisemitic caricatures .
To make matters worse, the Shia Islamic center “Imam Mahdi” in Rome announced a commemoration for Hassan Nasrallah on October 3. The threat of antisemitism is becoming ever more serious, and a further escalation is likely unless the authorities intervene, even if belatedly.
As long as the distinction continues to be made between “antisemitism” and “anti-Zionism,” instead of the latter being recognized as an expression of the former, the antisemitism unleashed after the October 7 massacre cannot be addressed with the necessary intellectual clarity.
It is also important to remember that the Iranian regime oppresses and persecutes not only its own population but also the Lebanese, using Hezbollah—an organization that, until recently, had a more powerful army than that of Lebanon itself. All of this is met by international silence, with voices raised only when Israel defends itself. This, too, can be understood as antisemitism.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the movement
