Jews faced government harassment in 69 countries and faced harassment by private individuals, groups, or organizations in 92 countries in 2023, according to research by Pew Research Center.
The study explores the levels of social hostilities involving religion in different countries in 2023.
Overall, 55 countries had elevated (high or very high) levels of social hostilities involving religion in 2023, up from 45 the previous year. Countries are rated on two scales: the Government Restrictions Index (GRI), which captures ways that government officials, laws, and policies can impinge on religious freedom; and the Social Hostilities Index (SHI), which captures various kinds of harassment and violence by private individuals and nongovernmental organizations that target religious communities.
The countries with the highest GRI scores were China, Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, and Uzbekistan. Israel was listed alongside Nigeria, India, and Syria as countries with the highest SHI scores.
Spain’s SHI score increased from moderate to high, at least in part due to harassment of Muslims and Jews in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. Pew Research Center said the same for Norway, which also saw an SHI increase at least partly due to an increase in hate speech towards Jews and Muslims after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
As noted, Israel was one of six of the 198 countries and territories covered to have very high social hostilities involving religion in 2023.
The increase to 8.4 points out of 10 (up from 7.1 in 2022) was due to the Hamas massacre. Pew noted that the Hamas attack added to Israel’s SHI score because it was a terrorist attack on Israeli territory committed by an organization whose charter cites religious principles and objectives.
Number of countries with religious harassment
Over the years, the number of countries where religious groups have faced harassment increased from 152 in 2007 to 192 in 2023. That’s out of 198 countries and territories around the world.
Jews, who make up less than 1% of the world’s population, were harassed in 98 countries, up from 90 in 2022.
Pew said the increase was due in part to antisemitic statements from a variety of sources (including social media) after the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.
The study only counts hostile statements toward Jews (as opposed to criticism of Israel) as religion-related harassment.
Except for Jews, all religious groups analyzed in the study also faced harassment in more countries by governments than by private individuals or social groups.
In 2023, Jews faced government harassment in 69 countries and faced harassment by private individuals, groups, or organizations in 92 countries.
Some of the examples provided of harassment against Jews internationally are: Jewish travelers facing hurdles at border crossings in Jordan when they dressed in ways that revealed their religion, and the torching of the historic El Hamma Synagogue in Tunisia by hundreds of rioters.
David Michaels, director of United Nations and intercommunal affairs for B’nai B’rith International, told JNS that “Pew continues to affirm what we know: that social strife has been rising, and that the targeting of individuals on religious grounds has been rising.”
“But Jews are not just another target. Our community has faced exponential growth in harassment, discrimination, threats, and violence, both online and in the real world. This wildly disproportionate victimization in places where Jews are present may generally be the work of ‘private individuals.' But it is often encouraged and also tolerated by governments, and undermines the stability of entire societies,” he said.
“It is past time that this wave of hate is tackled as the toxic scourge it is,” he stated.