Antisemitism in Europe; What we Need

The geopolitical landscape is changing and not for the better. A rise in social media use and antisemitic content online has led to coordinated violent attacks against Jewish people. This worrying trend continues to develop since October 7th.

In the past year, we have witnessed coordinated attacks against Jewish people throughout Europe. Eden Golan, the Israeli Eurovision contestant in Malmö, Sweden, was very lucky to come out last year’s contest unscathed after a series of outbreaks of violence, despite a strong police presence.

In Holland, there was a series of coordinated attacks at an Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv Champions League football match which resulted in a series of violent attacks and pogroms against Israeli supporters, whilst similar events happened in the stands in the Stade de France for an international match between France and Israel.

The coordination of violence and attacks of Jewish owned business has happened in mainstream cities such as Berlin, Istanbul, London, and Dublin, amongst many others too. The Community Security Trust in the U.K has reported 3,528 antisemitic incidents in 2024. These incidents are spread across schools, universities, and places of work.

It is a worrying trend where extremists and some celebrities are encouraging violence. We need to see social media challenged. There is a huge underground network developing on WhatsApp, Tiktok, and X. Social media can be a good place when in the right hands but unfortunately due to state interference from extreme regimes, the reliability of information being spread must be questioned.

These are worrying developments, but they can be challenged. A welcome step last week was the announcement of reducing data privacy in the U.K. which would allow the government to see where and when groups are coordinating on WhatsApp. In Europe, we need greater policing on social media from government to challenge extremists. We need also greater training and funding for the police to tackle co-ordinated activity both online and in person too. 

We need adults in the room and effectiveness to deal with the issues at hand. Talking the talk and walking the walk are very different. For the Jewish community to feel safe, decisions that will have regional consequences in the online world need to be discussed by politicians, diplomats and world leaders. Platform leaders need to be challenged to make the online murky world safe again.

The author holds a degree in history and has strong expertise in marketing and data analysis. Passionate about world politics and the dynamics of social change, they are particularly engaged in addressing the growing challenge of modern anti-semitism.