Anti-Semitic attacks rise worldwide in 2018, led by U.S., west Europe – “Jews in some countries feel they live in a state of emergency”
By Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Gareth Jones
1 May 2019
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Anti-Semitic attacks worldwide rose 13 percent in 2018 from the previous year, with the highest number of incidents reported in major Western democracies including the United States, France, Britain and Germany, an annual study showed on Wednesday.
Those incidents included the deadliest attack ever against Jews on U.S. soil, in which a gunman who stormed the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh yelling: “All Jews must die,” killed 11 Jewish worshippers on 27 October 2019.
“The most disturbing development, that keeps continuing and intensifying since 2016, is that Jews in some countries feel they live in a state of emergency, because of the continuing rise, most notably in Western Europe and North America, in anti-Semitic manifestations,” the study said.
Last Saturday, a 19-year-old gunman opened fire on Sabbath worshippers in a Southern California synagogue, killing one woman and wounding three other people.
In the United States, the study noted among other factors, far-right groups and increasing hostility on campuses toward Jewish students who support Israel as fuelling anti-Semitism there.
While far-right supporters often see Jews as “a cosmopolitan foreign agent” threatening national identity, far-left groups sometimes blame Jews for economic uncertainties and tensions caused by globalisation.
In Britain, where 68 anti-Semitic attacks took place, the study blamed the impact of Brexit – which has helped fuel a rise in xenophobic nationalism – and what it called “virulent anti-Semitic opinions, disguised as anti-Zionism” expressed by the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.
“For the first time in their long history British Jews, who feel they lost their political home, question their future in Britain,” it said. [more]
Anti-Semitic attacks rise worldwide in 2018, led by U.S., west Europe: study
Tendencies and Developments in Antisemitic Manifestations, 2018
By Dina Porat
1 May 2019
Ça suffit!
Enough is enough! These two words in French express the feeling among Jews, individuals as well as groups and communities, who were exposed during 2018 and the beginning of 2019, to antisemitic manifestations, which they perceived as having increased in intensity and frequency. Known former taboos had been crossed: “Jews to the gas!”, and “death to Zionists!” were slogans heard more than once, as if reflecting a notion that it is the very existence of Jews, Jewish communities and the Jewish state that arouse hostility.
The year 2018 witnessed the largest number of Jews killed (13), compared to previous years (though it should be noted that that the murder in Pittsburg in October was registered as one – most unfortunate – case); an increase in almost all forms of antisemitic manifestations in the public space as well as in the private one; and a sense of emergency among Jews in some countries, regarding their security and their place in their respective societies.
- The number of the major violent cases monitored by the Kantor center team has increased by 13%, from 342 to 387.
- The countries with highest number of cases are the US (over 100 cases), the UK (68), France and Germany (35 each), Canada (20) Belgium (19) the Netherlands (15) and Argentina (11). It should be noted that the numbers of cases in Eastern Europe have been much lower, for a number of years, in comparison to Western Europe, going down from 12 in the Ukraine to a few in the other countries.
- The main modus operandi remain cases of vandalism (216, 56%), threats (89, 23%) and weaponless means (55, 14%). These numbers show that while the use of weapon and arson is in lower numbers, most of the attacks are against people and their property. Indeed, at least 138 people were attacked (36%), private property was damaged (104 cases, 27%). The reason is that persons and their property are less protected than synagogues (47 cases, 12%) and community centers (22, 6%). Cemeteries and monuments are still a traditional target: 76 cases, 19%.
Numbers pinpointed by the Jewish communities and governmental agencies are monitored according to different criteria, that vary from one country to another, and are thus not comparable. They most often include all types of cases, from the major violent ones, to harassment, insults, minor threats, verbal assaults, Holocaust denial and social media shaming. Let us emphasize that these, the insults and harassment and shaming hurt more than the actual violence, for they create the atmosphere and set the tone.
A few examples: In Italy 197 cases of all types were registered, a 60% increase; in South Africa – 62 incidents, 25%. In the U.K. – 1652 documented incidents, a rise of 16%. In France a 74% rise, from 311 to 541 incidents was recorded. In Australia – 366 cases, a rise of 59%. A 22% rise in New York, was noted by the city police.
A sense of emergency? The most disturbing development, that keeps continuing and intensifying since 2016, is that Jews in some countries feel they live in a state of emergency, because of the continuing rise, most notably in Western Europe and North America, in antisemitic manifestations.
As a result, Jews started questioning and doubting their association with places and societies they have lived in for long, sometimes for centuries. This year, Jews in Scotland, for example, consider leaving the country.2 This sense of turning gradually to an outsider is coupled with an ominous feeling of insecurity that reached its peak in October, after the murder of 11 elderly Jews in the Pittsburgh Tree of Life – Or LeSimcha Synagogue.
The normalization and mainstreaming of antisemitism in public forums, debates and discussions is manifested in all media channels, most notably the social networks. Antisemitism is no longer an issue confined to the activity of the far left, far right and radical Islamists triangle – it has mainstreamed and became an integral part of life. “Antisemitism in France in 2018 is daily […] not one day [passes] without an antisemitic act,” asserts the report of the French Ministry of the Interior and the SPCJ (Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive). According to the surveys (see below) most Jews, about 75-80 percent, do not report the antisemitic manifestations that they experience – they are too many and too frequent to handle.
Mainstreamed as well is the growing use of of antisemitic terms in anti-Zionist discourse, and the disproportionate hostility directed against the Jewish nation-state, which resumes Jewish characteristics. “All the stereotypes of classical Judeophobia are projected onto the Jewish state… and Israel-related hate is becoming a politically correct form of antisemitism.”3 One may add that Israel is rejected as a nation state, and that the European post-colonial guilt feelings have led, as historian Alexander Joffe claims, to the opposite of nationalism – to self-flagellation, selfpunishment, by letting into Europe mass immigration, mainly Muslim.4 Yet, there are other reasons: The impact of the Holocaust; the issue of human rights and minorities protection; and finally, the European demographic severe problems.
- A host of recently conducted large scope multi-national surveys corroborated and highlighted the perceptions expressed by Jews. FRA, the Fundamental Rights European Union Agency conducted a survey in 12 EU countries, interviewing 16,500 Jews;5 the CNN interviewed 7000 Jews and non-Jews;6 and the Eurobarometer conducted 23,640 face to face interviews in the 28 EU states, that complemented the FRA survey.7 They leave no room for doubt: the perceptions of Jews as well as of non-Jews are that antisemitism is on the rise in every aspect of daily life. 85% answered that it is by far the Jews’ most serious problem in the FRA survey; 40% answered that the Jews in their countries are endangered by racist violence in the CNN poll; and 89% answered that antisemitism had recently increased in the Eurobarometer survey.
- The surveys and reports, and the wide media coverage they got, give antisemitism a certain status, that of an acknowledged problem to be dealt with on a public, local and multi-national levels. Substantial budgets have been allocated in order to carry out these surveys (23,640 face to face interviews!). They certainly reflect reality, however, is it possible that the massive exposure had in turn an impact on the perception of the situation, since they unanimously depict it as worsening and threatening. Moreover, the interviewees are asked about their perceptions, a wide notion that is very difficult to define and to quantify. There is always a danger that such an effort, invested in Jews only, would cause resentment. There are surveys conducted on other minority groups, but they do not get the same public attention, as if they are less important.
Authorities and governments have recently acknowledged antisemitism as a severe problem, so that antisemitism and its implications were put during 2018, and more so during the first months of 2019, on the agenda of both local and international authorities. There is a growing awareness among governmental agencies that are responsible for the well-being and security of their Jewish citizens of the need to confront the situation, and prevent further deterioration.
Given this situation, political, civil and religious leaders have been repeatedly addressed and requested to act urgently, through education, information, legislation and enforcement, and by setting standards of leadership, that match the declared values of their respective countries. Consequently, workshops and conferences, encounters and media footages, concluding with declarations and promises regarding antisemitism have almost become the order of the day, as part of the efforts to tackle the problem. […]
Right wing parties and movements have gained more political impact and public support due to the immigration crisis. They consider Jews a cosmopolitan foreign agent that constitutes a threat to national local identity, and keep accusing them of being the driving force behind the arrival of immigrants to Europe. East European governments, most notably Poland, Hungary and Lithuania, continue to promote forcefully a positive national historic narrative, according to which their population never cooperated with the German occupier during World War II. On the contrary, they fell prey to German cruelty, and extended a helping hand to the other victims, their fellow Jews. This national ethos is a source of constant conflict with the local Jewish communities that are trying to set the record straight, and are accused of promoting a distorted narrative, by constantly inflating their neighbors’ guilt. In Eastern Europe, antisemitic violence comes in small numbers, yet thrives in the social nets, in Russia for instance, where classic antisemitic accusations against Jews are widespread; Jews are constantly depicted as a negative factor, and antisemitism is used as a political tool, most notably in election campaigns and over conflicts, such as in the Crimea and the Ukraine.
In Western countries, where both democracy and capitalism proved debatable, the far-left regards Jewish alleged world power as responsible for the failures of global economy. Jews are being blamed for globalization that increases economic uncertainties, and the man-in-the-street’s anxiety over being left alone to cope with powers he cannot identify or control. Moreover, in both sides of the European continent, as well as in other parts of the world, Jews and especially Jewish communities, are perceived as immune against economic crises and unaffected by them. They are perceived as well organized, a people that knows how to pull political strings in his favor.
- The Brexit that polarizes the British society and politics, and its repercussions in the Labor party, whose leader voices virulent antisemitic opinions, disguised as anti-Zionism. For the first time in their long history British Jews, who feel they lost their political home, question their future in Britain.
- The deepening social and economic crisis in France, where tens of thousands of protesters, nicknamed the Yellow Vests, took to the streets in November, enabling antisemites and anarchists to come to the fore; the presence of a strong far-right party, coupled with a strong presence of immigrants from Muslim countries, most of whom unintegrated, while the Jews are a source of envy, undermine the security of the Jewish community.
- The growing rift between the two major parties in the US, in which the attitudes towards Israel and to the Jews play a major role; the hard choice that Jewish students have to make, between manifesting their national identity and support for Israel, and their wish to be part of the environment that criticizes them for that; the presence of extreme right groups, and the violent attacks they perpetrated, are a source of grave concern and uncertainty among Jews.
- The opposition to Angela Merkel’s immigration policy undermines stability, strengthens the far-right that feeds on the fear and economic worries that immigration evokes and raises the question whether antisemitism among the newcomers has enhanced overall antisemitic tendencies. [more]
