Anti-Semitism
Anti-SemitismiStock

An EU human right watchdog organization has warned that the pandemic has led to a “rekindling” of anti-Semitism across Europe.

COVID-19 has seen conspiracy theories circulating online that blame the pandemic on the Jewish community, according to the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, EuroNews reported.

The organization collected dats from civil society groups across Europe to form conclusions.

It warned that Germany and France have recorded the biggest pandemic-related increases in anti-Semitism.

Recorded anti-Semitic incidents in Germany amounted to 2,351 and in France 339 in 2020.

The European Agency for Fundamental Rights said that a lack of recorded data could be hiding the problem in other countries, such as Poland and Hungary, where data is not kept. In Spain, only three incidents were reported, which it said was unlikely given the large increase in the rest of Europe.

The agency called on EU nations to “step up their efforts.”

"Anti-semitism is a serious problem, but, without data, we do not know how serious it is," the agency said in a statement.

They added: “We will thus be able to better fight against hatred and prejudice" if other countries do their part to keep data on anti-Semitism.

In October, the EU released its first strategy to tackle anti-Semitism and foster Jewish life in Europe.

However, some European Jewish leaders criticized the plan as “not serious,” especially for the absence of a reference to religious freedoms, with bans on kosher slaughter and circumcision being introduced or talked about in EU member states.