Antisemitic incidents in the Czech Republic rose sharply in 2023, says the Jewish community

PRAGUE (AP) - Antisemitic incidents in the Czech Republic sharply increased last year, with their peak appearing in the final quarter of 2023 following the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, an assault that triggered the war in Gaza, the country's Jewish community said Monday.

In its annual report, the Federation of the Jewish Communities said it registered 4,328 antisemitic incidents in 2023, up 90% from 2,277 in the previous year.

The report said that 1,800 incidents - or 41,59%, of the total - happened in the last three months of the year.

"The Oct 7 was immediately followed by a global explosive wave of antisemitism, which also strongly hit the Czech Republic," the report said.

The bulk of the anti-Jewish hatred, 98%, was expressed online, most of them through social media, it said.

Those included the publication of false, dehumanizing, demonizing, vulgar and conspiracy theories and stereotypes as well as hatred aimed at the state of Israel.

The report, however, concluded the Czech Republic remains a safe country for Jews.

It said there was no physical attack registered for the second straight year. But 18 incidents involved antisemitic threats, harassment and verbal insults, more than double than the previous year. The rest of the incidents included demonizing the Jewish community with conspiracy theories and stereotyping, according to the report.

The Hamas attacks on Israel killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The militants also took around 250 people hostage.

Israel's massive offensive in response has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.