Hate against Jews and Muslims

The war in the Middle East between Hamas and Israel continues to cost many lives. It is also increasing tensions and anger around the world.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in protest marches; there are reports of a rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism in some countries; and an increase in hate crimes.

We hear from Muslims and Jews living in the United States and Europe. Some of our Jewish guests say they would feel safer in Israel and the war, than in the country where they currently live.

“I don’t order anything, not an Uber, not a taxi, in my real name anymore,” says 20-year-old student Deborah Kogan, who lives in Berlin. “Not because I’m a Jewish activist, but also because my name sounds very Jewish, especially in Germany. So I’m afraid to get recognised as Jewish.”

Host James Reynolds also hears about the impact of Islamophobia on three Muslims living in Germany and the United States. They talk of how some people perceive them with suspicion, associate them with Hamas and call them a terrorist.

“I’m on a campus that an Arab-Muslim student experienced a hit and run and was told ‘F you and your people’, says Arab American University Lecturer Maytha Alhassen in California. “He was wearing a shirt that said in Arabic, Damascus. So that’s terrifying.”

A co-production between the BBC OS team and Boffin Media.

(Photo: A man holds a placard, as people attend a demonstration against antisemitism organised by the two heads of the French Parliament, as a surge in anti-Semitic offences increased in France, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Paris, France November 12, 2023. Credit: Claudia Greco/Reuters)