Antisemitism in Europe: What if Azerbaijan were an example worth looking at?

From the rise of antisemitism in France to Azerbaijan’s experience of coexistence

In a previous article, I wrote that the level of vigilance regarding antisemitism in France was high. A few weeks later, the figures unfortunately confirm this warning.

In 2025, 1,320 antisemitic acts were recorded in France, representing more than 3.5 acts per day. These acts accounted for 53% of all recorded anti-religious acts, even though Jews represent less than 1% of the French population. Incidents were recorded in 88 of France’s 101 departments. Even more concerning, 126 physical antisemitic assaults were recorded in 2025, compared with 106 in 2024.

France is obviously not the only European country facing this situation. Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium and several other European countries are also seeing strong mobilization by their Jewish institutions in response to the rise in antisemitic acts.

Beyond the figures, one phenomenon deserves our attention: European antisemitism can no longer be considered a marginal phenomenon. It has become a major issue of security, social cohesion and democracy.

It is precisely in this context that a country located thousands of kilometres from Paris deserves greater attention: Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan, a case that raises questions

Azerbaijan is a predominantly Muslim country and yet has maintained close relations with Israel for decades, is home to an ancient and active Jewish community, and regularly presents coexistence between different religious communities as a component of its national identity.

This situation deserves close attention because it challenges an idea too readily accepted in Europe: that relations between Muslims and Jews are necessarily determined by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Azerbaijan’s experience demonstrates that this is not inevitable. A Muslim country can maintain strategic relations with Israel, and a Jewish community can live in peace without being regarded as a foreign presence, but rather as part of the nation’s history.

The Mountain Jews: an exceptional history

To understand this reality, we need to return to the history of the Mountain Jews, the Juhuro, one of the historic Jewish communities of the Caucasus. Their presence in the region goes back several centuries. They developed a distinctive culture, preserving their religion and Jewish traditions while also developing an identity deeply connected to the Caucasus.

The most remarkable symbol of this presence is Qırmızı Qəsəbə, near Quba, also known as Krasnaya Sloboda. Founded in the 18th century, this locality became a major historic centre of the Mountain Jews. The community has preserved its traditions, culture and institutions there. Synagogues and a museum dedicated to the history of the Mountain Jews can still be visited today.

This history has significance far beyond Azerbaijan’s borders because it tells a different story about relations between Muslims and Jews. A story that is not solely one of confrontation, but also of coexistence. This is precisely the history that Europe should know better.

When Muslim identity does not mean hostility towards Israel

One of the most important lessons of the Azerbaijani experience is that there is no automatic relationship between Muslim identity, anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

Relations between Baku and Jerusalem are now deep and multidimensional: diplomacy, energy, technology, security, the economy and strategic cooperation.

This relationship demonstrates that a state can have a Muslim identity while considering Israel a partner.

A necessary comparison with Europe

Obviously, this is not about contrasting an “antisemitic” Europe with an Azerbaijan that would be completely free of prejudice. Such a comparison would be simplistic. We must compare social and political dynamics.

In France, antisemitism has reached a persistently high level. In Germany, the United Kingdom and other European countries, Jewish institutions are also facing a worrying situation.

In France, anti-Israel rhetoric has become an important catalyst for antisemitism: in 2025, nearly one-third of sufficiently documented antisemitic acts contained an explicit reference to Palestine.

As I have already written, this obviously does not mean that every criticism of the Israeli government is antisemitic, because criticism of a government, a policy or a military decision is fully part of democratic debate. When criticism of Israel becomes a means of collectively designating Jews as responsible, or when Israel’s very existence becomes the object of particular hatred, we enter another dimension, and this is precisely where the distinction between political criticism, anti-Zionism and antisemitism becomes essential.

Baku could have been heard more by European Jewry

I believe an important opportunity may have been missed. For several years, Azerbaijan has sought to develop its role as a country of dialogue between different cultures and religions, and in this context Baku could have become a privileged meeting place for European Jewish communities.

The organization of a major gathering of European rabbis in Baku would, in itself, have been an extremely powerful symbol: rabbis from different European countries meeting in a predominantly Muslim country, home to a historic Jewish community and maintaining strategic relations with Israel, would have been an exceptional image. It would have sent a simple message: dialogue between Muslims and Jews is not merely possible; it already exists.

Yet this initiative met with opposition. In 2023, the prospect of a conference of the Conference of European Rabbis in Baku was publicly criticized in particular by French rabbis and Jewish intellectuals.

Part of the French Jewish debate at the time viewed Azerbaijan primarily through the geopolitical controversies of the Caucasus. This was a mistake, because Baku should have been viewed through another reality: that of religious coexistence, the history of the Mountain Jews, and the close relations between Azerbaijan and Israel.

The real issue: recognizing experiences that work

The fight against antisemitism cannot be limited to condemning antisemitic acts once they have been committed. It must also seek to understand why some societies produce fewer interreligious tensions than others, and this is where Azerbaijan is of particular interest. Its experience deserves to be studied from several angles:

The history of the Mountain Jews;

Religious coexistence;

The relationship between Muslim identity and Judaism;

Strategic relations with Israel;

The policy of intercultural dialogue;

And the way these different elements fit into the construction of national identity.

 This is exactly the kind of approach made possible by a systemic geopolitical reading: religion should not be isolated from diplomacy, nor diplomacy from history, nor history from nation-building, because everything is interconnected.

A new stage following the Azerbaijan-Armenia agreement

A new period has opened in the Caucasus with the rapprochement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. On August 8, 2025, the leaders of the two countries signed a joint declaration in Washington paving the way for peace and the normalization of their relations. The foreign ministers also initialled the draft peace agreement between the two states.

This new stage may make it possible to view Azerbaijan differently and could also provide an opportunity to build new bridges between Baku and European Jewish communities, particularly French Jewry.

It is time to rebuild dialogue

I believe it would be unfortunate if relations between certain representatives of French Jewry and Azerbaijan remained marked by misunderstandings and controversies from the past.

French judaïsm is currently facing a particularly significant antisemitic threat. Azerbaijan, for its part, has a distinctive historical experience of coexistence with its Jewish community and maintains close relations with Israel. These two realities could be brought together.

Azerbaijan as a partner for coexistence

Europe is currently seeking answers to the rise of antisemitism and models for combating polarization between communities.

In this search, it should not look only towards Western capitals, but also towards the Caucasus.

The history of the Mountain Jews, the presence of Jewish institutions in Azerbaijan, and the strategic relations between Baku and Israel form a particularly interesting whole. Azerbaijan should not be presented as a perfect model or as an answer to all European problems, but it can instead be regarded as a geopolitical laboratory for coexistence. This may be something that some representatives of French Jewry have not yet fully recognized.

Building tomorrow’s bridges

Following the new historic step achieved in relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, we should hope that a new chapter can also open between Baku and French Jewry. A chapter based no longer on misunderstandings from the past, but on dialogue, mutual understanding and a shared determination to fight antisemitism.

The message could be simple: a Muslim country is not condemned to be an adversary of Judaism.

Azerbaijan provides a particularly interesting demonstration of this, and the history of the Mountain Jews reminds us that this reality is not new: it is rooted in an ancient Caucasian history of coexistence, transmission and belonging.

The fight against antisemitism is not only about combating hatred; it is also about building societies in which Jews are not regarded as foreigners. From this perspective, Baku could be not merely a partner, but a genuine bridge between the Muslim world, Israel, European Jewry and Europe.