22% of hate crimes in Europe in 2019 targeted Jews, according to new report

A new report has shown that antisemitic incidents accounted for a total of 22% of all recorded hate crimes last year in Europe, despite Jews comprising less than 1% of the population.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) published its annual report on hate crimes across the continent. The data provided within the report, titled “2019 Hate Crime Data”, is from 5,952 incidents recorded in Europe, Russia and Central Asia.

Antisemitic acts comprised 1,311 of the incidents in the report. The category is the second-largest figure of incidents after the 2,371 incidents in the broader racism and xenophobia category.

Several of the reported incidents included extreme violence against Jewish victims, insults and derogatory terms, and vandalism or criminal damage in numerous countries.

The ODHIR maintains its figures are not entirely definitive and therefore may be significantly lower than the number of hate crimes committed and recorded in Europe.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.