Extremism

German intelligence agency first in Europe to publish report on Muslim anti-Semitism

A German internal security agency published a 40-page special study entitled “Anti-Semitism in Islamism.” It is the first time that an European intelligence group has published a detailed report on the subject of anti-Semitism in the Muslim community.

The agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), is tasked with monitoring activities of far-right and far-left extremists, including foreigners, who might seek to undermine Germany’s constitution.

While the paper has been downloaded 1,439 times, an agency spokesperson recently told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Muslim groups haven’t responded publicly to the report.

The report distinguishes between “Islamism” and “Islam.” It notes that due to the German experience with Nazism, anti-Semitism has been historically identified with the far-right. However, it says that over the years it has become clear that extremists on the right are not the only ones holding anti- Semitic views. The report says that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in today’s Germany has become “commonplace” and widespread among the center and socialist left in the country.

Islamists are still more extreme in their views due to religious, geographic and political reasons, the paper finds, noting that all Islamist groups have turned Jew hatred into a cornerstone of their movements.