Antisemitic incidents slightly increased in Switzerland in 2021, Swissinfo.ch reported on Sunday, citing the Federal Commission against Racism's annual report.
Who is most discriminated against?
According to the report, the most common types of discrimination were xenophobia, with 218 cases, racism against black people, with 207 cases, anti-Islamic discrimination, with 53 cases and anti-Arab discrimination, with 51 cases.
Additionally, the report added, 41 incidents of anti-Asian racism, such as insults, degrading characterizations and disparaging statements, were flagged last year.
The link between antisemitism and COVID-19
Regarding antisemitism, 31 incidents were flagged, with the FCR adding that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in anti-Jewish ideas, including Holocaust denial and trivialization, Swissinfo said.
This past February, Swissinfo added, Jewish organizations warned about an increase in COVID-19-related antisemitic conspiracy theories and attacks targeting synagogues in the country.
The Swiss government announced an increase in funding for security at Jewish and Muslim places of worship, the Swissinfo report said.