A group of rabbis was intimidated last Tuesday when she took a walk in Eindhoven. Jewish spiritual leaders and teachers from all over Europe were in the city for a conference.
“We were soon spit, among others by young people cycling through the group,” says Simcha Steinberg of the Jewish municipality of Eindhoven De Telegraaf. “They also shouted texts such as ‘cancer jews’, ‘Hamas, Hamas, all Jews on the gas’ and ‘Free Palestine’. Very intimidating.”
Steinberg, who is also rabbi from the Dutch-Israelite main synagogue Brabant, says that there were enforcers present and that the police were nearby. “The incident happened on Tuesday at the end of the afternoon, around a quarter past five, near the Witte Dame Library. It concerns five to six people who were guilty of it.”
Not one -off
According to Upper Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, who was also present, it was not a one -off incident. At several times the group would have had to deal with intimidation by different groups of people.
The rabbis want to report to the municipality. But that has not yet succeeded because the right contact person had not yet been reached. “But they take it seriously,” says Steinberg. “This is about safety.”
The conference of the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE) took place in Eindhoven from Monday to Wednesday. The RCE organizes meetings more often for European rabbis on Jewish law, culture, customs and contemporary challenges.
War in Gaza
The number of anti -Semitic incidents has increased considerably in Europe since the terror attack of Hamas on October 7, 2023 and the war in Gaza. In the Netherlands, the number of anti -Semitic incidents reported has increased since those events by 818 percent, according to figures from CIDI (Center for Information and Documentation Israel).