‘Anti-Semitism in Brazil’ report exposes troubling data

The Brazilian Israelite Confederation (Conib) has released its first ever report on anti-Semitism in Brazil, revealing a worrying increase in anti-Semitic incidents across the country. The report’s findings are based on complaints received by a hotline set up by the Department of Community Security (DSC), affiliated with the Israelite Federation of the State of São Paulo.

Throughout 2022, the hotline received 385 reports classified as relevant cases of anti-Semitism, 283 of which fell into three categories established by Conib: racism, Holocaust denial or trivialization, and Nazism. The latter accounted for slightly more than half of the complaints.

The report’s authors noted that the majority of incidents occurred online, with the exception of Nazism, which was mainly associated with offline occurrences such as Nazi symbols and flags being painted or displayed in public spaces. Conib highlights one significant incident in which the entrance to São Paulo’s Jewish Museum (which reopened in late 2021) was desecrated with a painted swastika. The vandal in question then gave a Nazi salute, which was caught on the museum’s security cameras.

The Conib report also offers a number of examples of online anti-Semitism, much of it in messaging groups or images posted on Telegram.

During a turbulent and heated 2022, Brazil’s far-right brought Nazism into the public discourse, conflating it with an issue of free speech. In February, a famous podcaster argued with two lawmakers that a Nazi party should have the right to exist in Brazil — and that people should have the right to be “anti-Jewish.”

But condoning Nazism is a crime in Brazil that goes beyond freedom of expression.

According to the Federal Police, there were more investigations into condoning Nazism in 2019 and 2020 than there were in the previous 15 years combined.

As for Conib’s report, the authors noted a sharp rise in anti-Semitism in Brazil with the advent of social media. They plan to produce further editions of the report to chart the progress of antisemitism over time.

• #racism