The number of anti-Semitic acts of violence in this country has been increasing since October 7, 2023. There is a system behind this, says an extremism expert. The trail leads to organized crime.
Berlin – The triangle on the house wall glows blood red. The message: Anyone who lives here is a potential target of the terrorist organization Hamas. The symbol appears more and more often in Germany, including several times in June at the Humboldt University in Berlin. The sentence: “Kai will pay” – Kai will pay. This refers to Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, who has recently repeatedly spoken out vehemently against pro-Palestinian demonstrations and anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism: More attacks since the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023
Since October 7th and the Hamas attack Israel at war. And Since then, anti-Semitic acts of violence have increased in this country. Not only Jews, but also “people who work to protect Jewish life are in danger,” explains Alexander Ritzmann in an interview IPPEN.MEDIA. He is a consultant at the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in Berlin and has now published a guide for security authorities, among others. With its help, key figures in anti-Semitic movements can be identified. Because behind anti-Semitism there is a targeted agenda in which organized crime (OC) is also involved, says Ritzmann.
“The guide is intended for all authorities, institutions and people who are involved with security concepts to protect Jewish life in Germany,” said the expert. To effectively combat anti-Semitism in Germany, political decision-makers and authorities should, as a first step, focus on key actors in order to clarify anti-Semitic structures, says Ritzmann.
Pro-Palestine rallies: “Hamas attack on Israel celebrated as a legitimate act”
Pro-Palestinian rallies that took place shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel a year ago could provide initial clues. “On October 7th and 8th there were no air strikes against targets in Gaza. Israel fought terrorist attackers in its own country. Those who celebrated the Hamas attack these days or described it as a legitimate act of resistance need to be looked at more closely,” said Ritzmann. There is a high probability that there are key players in anti-Semitism among them. “And they potentially pose a great danger to Jews in Germany.”
Study on anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitic prejudices are widespread in society regardless of religion or origin. This was recently shown by a study by the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf and the University of Passau on behalf of the NRW Anti-Semitism Commissioner Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and the NRW Ministry of the Interior.
► According to this, up to 24 percent of those surveyed have anti-Semitic attitudes in various forms.
► Almost half of all respondents want to draw a line under history when it comes to the Holocaust.
► According to the study, an anti-Israel worldview is particularly pronounced among young people.
At that time, the focus was primarily on the Palestinian organization Samidoun. The organization, founded in the USA in 2012, describes itself as a “solidarity network for Palestinian prisoners”. “But left-wing extremist and right-wing extremist groups have also legitimized or relativized the mass murder in Israel,” said the expert. “There are familiar faces and groups that have been coming up again and again for years when it comes to anti-Semitism. Once you have identified these, it is a starting point for effectively clarifying and combating these anti-Semitic networks.”
Anti-Semitic networks have connections to organized crime
According to experts, these networks often have contacts with criminal structures. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, authorities have observed that radical Salafists and so-called clan criminals have been joining forces for some time to recruit young people on social media. And anti-Semitic institutions apparently commission criminals such as rocker gangs to do their dirty work. “Iran is said to have hired Hells Angels in Sweden and Germany to carry out attacks against Jewish people,” says CEP advisor Ritzmann. There were probably similar cases in France too.
The problem: These connections are often not discovered by the security authorities, says Ritzmann. The police authorities are often forced to concentrate on individual perpetrators and cannot always uncover entire networks: “The state security department, for example, looks at politically motivated crime, the organized crime area looks at financial crime. The fact that there are connections here is usually not recognized.” He therefore advocates that the authorities work more closely together.
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