“Five different incidents were reported to us,” said Jonathan Kreutner, Secretary General of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), on Tuesday. He confirmed reports in the online new website 20Minuten.
The attacks all took place in the suburb of Zurich-Wiedikon at the weekend. As far as is known, most of the attacks were reported to the police.
“Such a spate of physical attacks on Jewish people, where we have to assume, at least in part, that they only took place because the people were Jewish, is worrying and unusual,” said Kreutner in the 20 Minuten report. Word of the incidents had spread in the Jewish community and caused concern.
More
Anti-Semitism in Switzerland
Anti-Semitic prejudices tend to rise to the surface during crises. Switzerland has a history of this kind of discrimination.
The number of antisemitic incidents in German-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland rose in 2023. A total of 1,130 antisemitic incidents were reported or observed, compared to 910 in the previous year, as reported by SIG and the Foundation against Racism and Antisemitism (GRA) in the spring. According to the latest anti-Semitism report, incidents in Germany increased particularly after the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7. The figures for 2024 will be published by the SIG in the spring.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Politics
In Switzerland, New Year brings ‘burka ban’ and pension hikes
Have you heard something about Swiss diplomacy that you’d like us to fact check?
Not all information circulating about Switzerland’s foreign relations is accurate or well understood. Tell us what you'd like us to fact check or clarify.
Iran and EU discuss nuclear issues, Russia and the Middle East in Switzerland
This content was published on
After meeting with French, German, and British representatives on Monday, Iran continued its talks with the EU representative in Geneva.
This content was published on
Lucerne-based steelmaker Swiss Steel has confirmed it will cut 130 jobs in Emmenbrücke, despite the emergency aid promised by Switzerland’s parliament.
Swiss SGS and French Bureau Veritas eye $35 billion merger
This content was published on
The Swiss inspection firm SGS has confirmed it is in talks with the French company Bureau Veritas about a potential merger of nearly $35 billion.
European committee raises alarm over police violence in western Switzerland
This content was published on
A Council of Europe committee is concerned about police practices in western Switzerland, citing “allegations of physical mistreatment” against detainees.
WEF: Trump to speak virtually, Zelensky to appear in person
This content was published on
US President-elect Donald Trump will attend this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos via video conference. He is scheduled to speak on January 23.
Coop washes its hands of The Body Shop in Switzerland
This content was published on
The Body Shop is facing closure in Switzerland. Retailer Coop is no longer extending the franchise agreement for its cosmetics subsidiary.
Three out of ten Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland have a job
This content was published on
More and more refugees from Ukraine have a job in Switzerland. The employment rate of people with protection status S was just under 30% at the end of 2024.
Swiss private companies invest CHF18 billion in research
This content was published on
In 2023, private companies in Switzerland spent CHF18 billion ($19.7 billion) on their own research and development. This is CHF1.2 billion more than in 2021.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.