大象传媒

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.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 order anything, not an Uber, not a taxi, in my real name anymore,鈥� says 20-year-old student Deborah Kogan, who lives in Berlin. 鈥淣ot because I鈥檓 a Jewish activist, but also because my name sounds very Jewish, especially in Germany. So I鈥檓 afraid to get recognised as Jewish.鈥�

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.

鈥淚鈥檓 on a campus that an Arab-Muslim student experienced a hit and run and was told 鈥楩 you and your people鈥�, says Arab American University Lecturer Maytha Alhassen in California. 鈥淗e was wearing a shirt that said in Arabic, Damascus. So that鈥檚 terrifying.鈥�

A co-production between the 大象传媒 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)