Jew-hate is rife in Europe, new poll reveals
SHOCKING LEVELS of antisemitism across Europe have been uncovered in a landmark survey as Jewish leaders urge governments to adopt a new action plan to combat hate.
Noxious conspiracy theories, appaling claims Jews cannot integrate into society and the equating of Israel with Nazism are revealed in the poll of citizens in 16 countries.
Overt antisemitism was more often found in Eastern Europe, while in Western Europe there were soaring levels of hostility to Israel.
The findings from 15 European Union countries and the UK were announced at a conference of community leaders in Brussels organised by the European Jewish Association (EJA).
Nearly a third of those polled in Austria, Hungary and Poland believed Jews could never fully integrate into society. In Romania, the Czech Republic and France, nearly a third agreed with the claim that a secret Jewish network influences political and economic affairs.
In Greece, an extraordinary 58 per cent also agreed when asked if there was a global Jewish conspiracy, while almost a quarter (23 per cent) said it would be better if Jews left the country.
In Latvia, more than a third (34 per cent) agreed when asked if Jews exploited the Holocaust for their own gain, as did 23 per cent in Germany and 22 per cent in Belgium.
In Poland, 31 per cent of people said they would be unhappy to have a Jew as a neighbour. A quarter of all respondents agreed Israel’s policies made them understand why some people hate Jews.
In Spain, 35 per cent said Israelis behaved like Nazis towards Palestinians, as did 29 per cent of in Holland and 26 per cent in Sweden.
The EJA urged governments to adopt its 10-step plan – dubbed the “10 Commandments” – to protect Jewish life and fight hatred, saying it would have a “significant” impact.
Measures included legal safeguards against moves to boycott Israel, a fine on social media firms that fail to act quickly against antisemitic content, and a ban on the sale of Nazi memorabilia for noneducational purposes.
EJA founder, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said the levels of antisemitism showed how much needed to be done, adding that many European Jews felt forced to “hide their Jewishness”. He said: “Anyone who cares about the future, not just of the Jewish community but of humanity, should be really concerned.”
Regina Suchowolski-Sluszny, president of the Forum of Jewish Organisations in Antwerp, said she had stopped wearing her Star of David in the city in recent years.
“Two years ago, on the bus a young guy tried to take it away and I was hurt,” she told the conference, warning Jewish parents feared sending their children to school. Maurice Niddam, head of France’s Consistoire Israélite de Nice, said shuls were “half-full”, partly due to safety fears. He said communities lacked funds needed to hire full-time security staff.
Elisabeth Buch, head of the Board of the Barcelona Jewish Community, said the city’s community felt “alone” in its fight against hatred.
A thousand people were polled by Ipsos SA in each of the 16 countries between December 2019 and June 2020 as part of the survey commissioned by the Action and Protection League of Europe (APL), an NGO dedicated to combating antisemitism.
APL founder, Chief Rabbi Slomó Köves, stressed that a high prevalence of antisemitism did not necessarily translate into higher hate crime statistics. Some countries, such as Lativia, Croatia and Romania, featured higher rates of antisemitic prejudice despite comparatively low numbers of incidents.
There has been a surge of antisemitic incidents in the UK, particularly in the wake of the latest bout of fighting between Israel and Gaza in May earlier this year.
But the survey suggested that prior to the 11-day conflict Britain had among the lowest rates of antisemitic prejudice, with just six per cent of Britons agreeing that Jews had too much influence, compared to 42 per cent in Greece and 39 per cent in Hungary. Nearly half (47 per cent) of Britons said they agreed that Europe should do everything it could to preserve Jewish religion and culture, though the survey found that 17 per cent in the UK thought that Israel’s politics helped explain why some people hated Jews.
Many are so scared they hide their Jewishness when in public