Image by iStock

(JTA) — A kosher butcher shop in Basel, Switzerland has been vandalized four times in one month in what local Jews are condemning as an anti-Semitic campaign of intimidation.

In one of the attacks, the unidentified perpetrators removed the letter J from the German-language word for Jewish from a metal sign over the shop, as well as two of the Hebrew-language letters for the word kosher.

In the latest incident, on Sunday, the shop’s window display was shattered, the Swiss-Jewish newspaper Tachles reported Monday.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Leopold Stefansky, the president of the Basel Jewish community, called the incidents “anti-Semitic attacks,” the news website 20Min reported.

Jonathan Kreutner, the secretary general of the FSCI federation of Swiss Jews, told 20Min that the incidents are “generating concern” among members of the community.

Police are investigating the incidents, the news website reported.

Stefansky said the community is considering hiring a security firm and a video surveillance system, “but it costs,” he told 20Min.

In 2016, the Swiss Interior Ministry’s Service for the Fight against Racism published a report that said that Switzerland’s Jews need to pay for their own security costs even though doing so is really the government’s responsibility.

Following an outcry, a motion calling for the federal government to fund the security costs of Swiss Jews, estimated at about $450,000 annually, was adopted by the lower and upper chambers of the Swiss parliament and approved by the government earlier this year.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount