MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th June, 2023) Germany's Federal Association of Research and Information Centers on Antisemitism (Bundesverband RIAS) said on Tuesday that the country had seen a record high number of "incidents of extreme violence" in 2022.
"Although the Bundesverband RIAS records a slight decrease in antisemitic incidents in 2022 compared to 2021, in 2022 RIAS offices documented nine incidents of extreme violence � potentially fatal or serious acts of violence. This is the highest number of such cases since nationwide recording began in 2017," the RIAS said in a press release.
According to the statement, 2,480 antisemitic incidents were registered in the country in 2022, compared to 2,738 cases the year before.
The RIAS gave the example of a shooting at the Old Synagogue in the western city of Essen that happened in November 2022. The German Federal Prosecutor General's Office, which is investigating the crime, suspects Iran's Revolutionary Guards of carrying out this attack as well as two other cases of extreme violence.
The motives of 53% of antisemitic incidents remain unclear, with one in five being due to people's ideological belief in conspiracy theories, and another 13% to right-wing extremism, the document said.
