Antisemitism on the rise in Luxembourg and rest of Europe

A survey by the Fundamental Rights Agency says antisemitism is on the rise in Europe. However the third survey of its kind was held before the war in Gaza worsened last autumn, with previous versions held in 2013 and 2018. The report contains information from 12 organisations which collected more recent data on antisemitic incidents with some describing these as having increased by 400%.

Over 70% of survey participants said they concealed their Jewish identity some of the time. 80% said that antisemitism had increased in their country in the five years leading up to the survey, particularly online, and 90% said they had encountered antisemitism online in the 12 months prior to the survey.

Around 40% said they had been harassed in the year before the survey due to their Jewishness, and the majority had been harassed more than once. A third said they tended to avoid Jewish events and locations as they no longer felt safe. More than half of participants said they had concerns about their own and their family's safety.

Increase in antisemitism amid tensions in Middle East 

In general, research by the Fundamental Rights Agency in recent years has shown that antisemitism increases in times of tension in the Middle East. 75% of survey participants stated that they would be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government because they are Jewish.

The report also recommends measures that the EU and member states can use in the fight against antisemitism, including the implementation and funding of action plans, investing in the security and protection of the Jewish population and the fight against antisemitism online. Jews should also be informed more about their rights and encouraged to report antisemitic incidents.

What is the situation in Luxembourg?

Around 8,000 Jewish people from 13 EU countries participated in the Fundamental Rights Agency survey; however, Luxembourg was not included. The charity Rial has been documenting antisemitic incidents in Luxembourg since 2017 and said it had noted a dramatic increase in reported incidents since October 2023.

In 2021, around 80 incidents were reported to Rial, compared to 144 in 2023. In the first nine months of last year, an average of four incidents were reported per month. However, following the Hamas attack on 7 October and the subsequent Israeli military action in Gaza, the rate increased to 30-35 incidents per month.

There are no meaningful judicial statistics on the number of antisemitic incidents in Luxembourg, said Minister of Justice Elisabeth Margue in a recent parliamentary response to CSV MP Laurent Mosar, who queried the statistics provided by Rial.


However, some figures were provided as part of the PANAS (National Action Plan against Antisemitism) presentation in September 2023. In 2022 two people were convicted of downplaying the Holocaust in relation to the coronavirus vaccine campaign in Luxembourg. In general, antisemitic incidents in Luxembourg take the form of hate speech, either through graffiti or social media comments.


In recent years there have been no documented incidents of physical violence, but this observation does not mean there is no need to pay caution to the issue.