Authorities and civil society groups in many countries have reported a surge in anti-Semitism since the Oct 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel and subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military.

Here’s a look at how the surge is affecting countries, compiled by Reuters reporters around the world:

United States

Jewish advocacy group, the Anti-Defamation League, reported last week that anti-Semitic incidents had risen by about 400 per cent in the two weeks following the Oct 7 attack, compared with the same period in 2022.

Government officials met American-Jewish leaders on Monday to discuss steps to counter what a White House official described as an alarming uptick in reported instances of anti-Semitism on university campuses.

After a man screaming "Free Palestine" and "Kill Jews" attempted to break into a Jewish family's home in Los Angeles on Oct 25, Mayor Karen Bass said the police would continue to step up patrols in communities throughout the city.

Canada

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Oct 17 of a “scary rise” in anti-Semitism in Canada, citing incidents at a Jewish high school in Toronto, as well as escalating inflammatory language online.

Brazil

Jewish leaders have noticed a rise in anti-Semitic discourse online, and incidents such as graffiti defacing a synagogue in Rio de Janeiro. No instances of physical threats or assaults have been reported.

“We are very concerned. We have increased the security of our institutions,” said Mr Ricardo Berkiensztat, executive president of the Jewish Federation of the State of Sao Paulo.

He said he had seen comments online such as “Hitler didn’t finish, he should have finished killing Jews”.

Britain

London’s police force said there had been a 14-fold increase in incidents of anti-Semitism since the Oct 7 attack.

The Community Security Trust, which collates reports of anti-Semitism in Britain, said the number of incidents in the three weeks following the attack was the highest for any three-week period since it started collecting data in 1984.

France

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday that since Oct 7, there had been 819 anti-Semitic acts. That compares with a figure of 436 for the whole of 2022.

Mr Darmanin said there had been 414 arrests in connection with these cases.

Germany

A survey by civil society observatory RIAS found a 240 per cent year-on-year increase in anti-Semitic incidents between Oct 7 and 15.

Netherlands

No official figures are available yet, but Mr Eddo Verdoner, national coordinator for combating anti-Semitism, said a sharp rise had been observed and anxiety was high in the Jewish community.

He said Jewish parents had reported their children being harassed at school, with comments such as “Hamas were right” and “they should have done it earlier” directed at them.

South Africa

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in October was nine times higher than the average recorded for that month over the past decade, according to Mr David Saks, associate director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.

In one incident, a woman who shared a link to information about a protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza was abused online, including a post that said “we’ll come for her babies next”.

Russia

An angry crowd stormed an airport in the Dagestan region searching for Jews to harm after a plane arrived from Tel Aviv. The president of Russia's Federation of Jewish Communities called on the authorities to harshly punish the organisers behind the mob.

Rabbi Alexander Boroda said the airport riot “undermined the basic foundations of our multi-cultural and multi-national state”.

China

No figures are available on anti-Semitic incidents. On Oct 13, a staff member of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was assaulted and a suspect was arrested.

Chinese social media is awash with anti-Semitic content, including posts suggesting the Nazi Holocaust was justified and likening Jews to parasites, vampires or snakes.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the law prohibits the use of the Internet to propagate hate speech, but there were no discernible efforts by the authorities to curb anti-Semitic activity online. REUTERS