"Jewish whore - we will kill you": Antisemitism in Germany emerges from the fringes
Death and rape threats against Jews online, antisemitic codes penetrating new communities, and a struggle over public funding: three publications in Germany reveal how antisemitic hatred is changing shape and expanding.
Antisemitism in Germany continues to penetrate new spaces, from social networks to institutions and projects supported by public funds. Three prominent publications in the German media in recent days point to different dimensions of the phenomenon: death and rape threats against Jews online, the penetration of new antisemitic codes into internet communities not necessarily identified with the far-right, and simultaneously, an attempt by authorities in Berlin to set new conditions for receiving public funding.
In an article published by WELT under the harsh headline: "Jewish whore", "we will hunt you down and kill you" - and the legal system is simply watching from the sidelines, journalist Sarah Maria Sander describes the intensity of the hatred directed at Jews on social networks. Sander, who herself became a target for threats, describes a reality in which antisemitic curses and threats of sexual violence and murder have become part of the online experience of Jews in Germany. According to the newspaper, many of the victims discover that even when they turn to the authorities, the legal system struggles to provide them with effective protection.
"The legal system is sometimes helpless"
The headline of WELT is based on explicit threats directed at Jews online, including "we will hunt you down and kill you". The newspaper summarizes the phenomenon in sharp words: Jews are forced to deal online with "abysmal hatred", including threats of rape and murder, while according to Sander, her experience and that of other victims shows that the legal system is "sometimes helpless" in the face of the phenomenon.
Sander's case also demonstrates a change in the nature of online antisemitism. The threat does not necessarily come from closed neo-Nazi fringe sites, but appears on central social platforms and in spaces where Jews, Israelis, or those who express a pro-Israel position are quickly identified as targets. In doing so, the line between extreme political discourse and a personal, targeted threat is blurred.
At the same time, the site Belltower News, which specializes in monitoring the far-right, racism, and antisemitism, points to another development: the penetration of antisemitic expressions and codes into everyday internet language. The article focuses on the term "Goyslop", an expression originating from extremist forums in the USA that has gained millions of impressions in recent years.
From "fast food slang" to antisemitic conspiracy
The term is composed of the word "Goy" and the English word slop, which means inferior food or "garbage". Initially, the expression was used mainly to describe fast food, sugary drinks, and industrial products. However, according to Belltower News, a conspiracy gradually developed around the term, according to which a "Jewish elite" intentionally provides the non-Jewish population with harmful products in order to weaken it "physically, mentally, and morally".
According to the site, what began as the language of far-right forums in the USA has moved in recent years to fitness, nutrition, masculinity, and communities advocating for meat-eating and a "natural lifestyle". In Germany and the German-speaking space, this is still a relatively early process, but the expression "appears more and more", especially among groups dealing with masculinity and fitness.
The danger, according to the analysis, stems precisely from the fact that the expression does not necessarily sound antisemitic to a user who does not know its origin. "Its ideological source disappears behind a familiar form of network language", it is written. Thus, old antisemitic ideas, according to which Jews control the media, the economy, or society and seek to corrupt it from within, can be adapted to the era of TikTok, Instagram, and memes.
The conspiracy has also expanded beyond food. Streaming services, pornography, computer games, artificial intelligence, and popular culture are presented within the same concept as tools intended to supposedly weaken and control the population. Belltower News defines this as a change in the way digital propaganda is distributed: instead of a long ideological text, a word, meme, or hashtag is enough to activate a whole set of antisemitic ideas in those who know the code.
Without a commitment against antisemitism, no funding
Parallel to the spread of the phenomenon online, the Neukölln district in Berlin decided to take a practical step. According to a report by Junge Freiheit, the district began to condition public funding for social projects on compliance with the definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, IHRA. The decision currently concerns 40 grants given to 24 bodies, with a total volume of about 5.13 million euros. Violation of the condition may lead to the cessation of funding.
The person responsible for the move, district council member from the CDU Hans Refeldt, explained that it is not enough for a body supported by public funds to present a moderate position outwardly, while other activity takes place in its environment. "It is impossible that in a project funded by public funds they will act with restraint, but in the next room there will be room for antisemitic propaganda", he said.
The district itself presents the move as a pioneering step, especially in light of cases where antisemitism in Neukölln was linked to hatred of Israel. However, the decision sparked a political debate. The Greens argued that it creates "ambiguity and legal uncertainty", while the Left Party's candidate for district mayor, Ahmed Abed, called it a "gag order against critics of Israeli war crimes".
