The number of reported anti-Semitic hate crimes doubled from 2022 to 2024, according to the Crime Prevention Council’s new figures.
In its press release, the authority writes that “hate crimes with anti-Semitic motives have increased slightly”.
The synagogue of the Jewish congregation in Stockholm.
Photo: PATRIK C ÖSTERBERG / MEDIABILD
In May 2024, before the Eurovision festival in Malmö, a pro-Palestinian demonstration marched through the city. In a live broadcast from the demonstration on Tiktok, one user wrote:
“Burn Jews Alive”
And:
“Hitler was right about them”
A woman in her 30s is now charged with incitement against a group of people.
The case is included in the statistics on reported hate crimes in 2024 that the Crime Prevention Council published last week.
“Increased slightly”
The publications take place every two years. The new report shows that the number of reported hate crimes with an anti-Semitic motive increased from 111 in 2022 to 217 in 2024. That is an increase of 95 percent, almost a doubling.
Brå’s press release instead noted that reports of hate crimes at school have increased by 31 percent.
“Reported hate crimes at school have increased slightly”, is the headline.
The first paragraph reads:
“The number of hate crimes reported to the police in 2024 is generally at the same level as in 2022. At the same time, reported hate crimes at school and hate crimes with anti-Semitic motives have increased slightly.”
Investigator: Refers to the hate crimes at the school
The wording that the reported anti-Semitic hate crimes “increased somewhat” was first noticed by the Christian newspaper Dagen.
– In the introduction to the press release, we are mainly referring to the fact that the number of hate crimes in schools has increased slightly. In the report, we state that anti-Semitic hate crimes have increased. I understand how you think, but what we have thought is that it is the hate crimes at school that have increased somewhat, says Rahwa Medhane, investigator at Brå, to Dagen.
Previous report: Five-fold increase after October 7
In 2024, Brå published a report that specifically examined the change in the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes after Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.
During the period 7 October to 31 December 2023, Brå identified a total of 110 hate crimes with anti-Semitic motives. That is almost five times as many as the corresponding period the year before.
Unit manager: Proportion of total quantity
Thomas Hvitfeldt, head of unit at Brå, has a different explanation for the wording. He tells Expressen that they wanted to highlight the increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes in relation to the total amount of hate crimes.
The share of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the total increased by 4 percentage points, from 4 percent in 2022 to 8 percent in 2024.
How do you think people should understand that that was your point of departure, given that you don’t phrase it like that?
– That was the preamble to the press release. I don’t know how to make anyone understand that. In the paragraph below, it is stated in exact numbers how big the change is, he says.
