CICAD publishes its annual report analyzing antisemitism in French-speaking Switzerland.

174 antisemitic acts recorded in 2018, including 2 physical attacks.

Social networks concentrate the vast majority of the acts listed in this report, ie 64%.

A trend observed for several years. The media in general concentrates 24% of the figures.

Main vectors of antisemitism

– The far right: renewed and intensified activity in 2018 by these groups in the various French-speaking cantons, France and Italy.

– In the age of fake news and “re-information” sites a considerable number of antisemitic comments on the internet have found their source in conspiracy, particularly in far-right circles, Islamists as well as so-called “dissent” movements. 21% of the recorded acts relate to the Jewish conspiracy theory.

– The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains one of the permanent sources of antisemitism. The Nazification of Israel and anti-Zionism concentrate 29% of the acts.

– Holocaust denial is still a reality in Switzerland. 26% of the recorded anti-Semitic acts relate to Holocaust denial.

– The increasingly frequent banalization of antisemitic speech under the guise of “joke” and public discourse.

The year 2019 has not started under better auspices. The French pseudo-humorist Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, in his last “show” at the Théâtre de Marens in January, crossed a red line that CICAD does not intend to accept without acting. As a result, CICAD has filed a complaint against Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala on February 7, 2019, following his recent Holocaust denial.

Recommendations

Education, prevention while promoting mobilization must be the tools to fight against racism and antisemitism. Several recommendations made by CICAD are detailed in this report. CICAD presents a number of detailed recommendations in this report, including the granting of authorization to organizations so that they can deal with this phenomenon through the criminal law against racism (Section 261bis CP).

It is essential for Switzerland to adopt the definition of antisemitism. The definition of IHRA has become a guide for many European countries.

Every anti-Semitic act is an attack on our liberties and on our collective conscience, and requires taking of clear public positions.

Switzerland is not an “ island” saved from the rise of antisemitism as registered in Europe, even if it is expressed in less violence than in other countries.

You can see the report and its summary, as well as the actions recorded directly, by clicking the links.

Brandlift_CICAD_Rapport_Situation_Antisemitisme_2018-compressed.pdf