Calls for US to do more as antisemitic acts skyrocket in Europe: 'enormously painful'
On Nov. 7, an anti-Israel mob set out on a "Jew hunt" through the streets of Amsterdam following a soccer game against a visiting Israeli team in what Israeli President Isaac Herzog termed an ‘antisemitic pogrom.’
When the angry mob was done hunting down and violently assaulting Jews and Israelis, five victims were hospitalized. Rioters continued to protest following the attacks setting a tram aflame on Nov. 11 and intensifying the spotlight on antisemitism throughout Europe.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox News Digital that his organization "put a travel advisory on Amsterdam in the immediate aftermath of what happened." Cooper explained that the Simon Wiesenthal Center only takes this action "very rarely" and after serious deliberation.
TRAM SET ON FIRE AS AMSTERDAM RIOTS RAGE ON
"Theoretically," Cooper added, "you can slap a travel advisory on almost every place in Western Europe." As Cooper explained, "the establishment has never stepped forward in any really major way across Europe to safeguard their Jews and guarantee their rights and their religious freedoms."
Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, there has been a staggering increase in antisemitism across Europe. In May, citing data from the World Zionist Organization, Ynetnews reported an 800% increase in antisemitic incidents in Sweden over the previous year, as well as a 680% increase in Spain, a 450% increase in the Netherlands, a 442% increase in the UK and a 433% increase in France.
Events in Amsterdam appeared to be a flashpoint for further hate. On Nov. 10, Belgian authorities arrested five individuals after calls appeared on social media for a "Jew Hunt" in the Jewish Quarter of Antwerp, according to the Jerusalem Post.
In Greece in mid-November, protests featuring pro-Palestinian activists became so volatile that the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry advised Israelis to avoid the Embassy and certain other areas and to remove identifying symbols, the Jerusalem Post reported. Far from the first anti-Israel demonstration in Greece, in June, nine Europeans were under consideration for deportation following "disruptive anti-Israel demonstrations" at the University of Athens School of Law.
The Jerusalem Post reported that an under-17 youth soccer team in Berlin was "chased and assaulted" on Nov. 7 by a knife- and stick-wielding crowd screaming, "Free Palestine." The Times of Israel reported that fewer than two weeks later, the Berlin Chief of Police told Jewish and gay residents to "be careful" in neighborhoods with high populations of Arabs. "Unfortunately, there are certain neighborhoods where there are mostly Arab people who also have sympathy for terrorist groups," she explained.
The expansion of at-risk groups in Berlin echoes the warning words of Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal. As Cooper explained, his organization’s founder readily emphasized, "It often starts with the Jews. It never ends with the Jews."
In the atmosphere of tension and hate, Cooper noted that Jewish Europeans are engaging in "conditioning and self-censorship," removing yarmulkes, or taking the Jewish "chai" symbols from their necklaces. Cooper said that it has "probably been about 15 years since a Jewish person felt comfortable walking to synagogue wearing a kippah in Amsterdam."
Cooper’s concerns are borne out by media reports. As one Dutch Jewish citizen told Ynetnews, Jews visiting the Netherlands should not wear identifying items or "bring Israeli passports." The Times reported in October that many Irish Jews are likewise removing identifying symbols due to an environment of mistrust.
In France, Jewish citizens are removing mezuzahs from their doors, avoiding riding in Ubers, and even changing their names to protect themselves from being identified and targeted with hate when they receive deliveries, according to the Christian Science Monitor. In 2023, France recorded 1,676 antisemitic incidents, compared with 436 the prior year. About 1,200 French Jews began applications to emigrate to Israel in 2023, an increase of 430% from 2022.
As Cooper explained, it is "enormously painful to look across Europe and to see that they give their due deference one or two days a year to dead Jews. They still haven’t figured out in Europe how to live and embrace and celebrate Jewish presence in their societies."
With increased hate in Europe possibly impacting Americans traveling overseas, Fox News Digital asked the U.S. State Department whether it would issue travel advisories warning Jewish Americans of antisemitism abroad.
"We take seriously our commitment to provide U.S. citizens with clear, timely, and reliable information about every country in the world so they can make informed travel decisions," a spokesperson said. "We use standard formats for our Travel Advisories and Alerts to help U.S. citizens find and use important security information easily. We encourage U.S. citizens traveling overseas to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP.state.gov) to receive important safety and security updates, and to make it easier for the U.S. embassy or consulate to contact them in an emergency."
The Netherlands’ Level-Two State Department Travel Advisory, last updated in August, notes threats of terrorism, but provides no information about antisemitic hatred. Neither do advisories for France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, or Greece.
Cooper emphasized that the Simon Wiesenthal Center hopes the incoming Trump administration will "take the fight against antisemitism globally to a new level," making it "part and parcel of American foreign policy, especially in the Americas and in the international organizations for which we fork out billions of dollars every year."