A total of 30 incidences this year have been reported to the organisation, compared to 26 incidences reported in all of 2018. 

There are some 1,000 to 1,200 Jews in the grand duchy and, although the incidences have not involved physical violence, they tend to involve speech centred on hatred or stereotypes, often on social networks and in response to the Israel-Palestinian situation, according to the chamber of deputies. 

This rise in incidents is in line with the second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU, released by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights earlier this year, which revealed that around 90% of Europe’s Jews experienced a direct act of discrimination, mainly online. However, not all incidents get reported: according to the agency’s director, Michael O’Flaherty, said some 80% of cases are not reported, adding: “Jews are not reporting incidents, and this is very important because it means that official figures, which are based on reporting incidents, in no way correspond with the reality.”

On Monday, RIAL president Bernard Gottlieb and François Moyse, a representative of the local Jewish community, discussed the evolution of the situation in the country at the chamber and pressed for the adoption of a document by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental organisation comprised of over 30 member countries. Luxembourg holds the presidency of the IHRA until 5 March 2020. Members of the parliamentary committee on foreign and European affairs and deputies in the chamber itself will debate the issue. Gottlieb also called on “a new impetus for public action”, for example, like the French initiative Dilcrah.