Posted on 07/12/2017 4:59:59 AM PDT by SJackson
Why do half of French Jews want to leave France? Because the recent rise of violent antisemitism has made French Jews justifiably concerned about their personal safety.
A University of Oslo study published in June is one of the most methodologically sophisticated and comprehensive reports exploring the growth of Europe’s antisemitism problem.
Authored by Dr. Johannes Due Enstad of the Center for Research on Extremism, the study documents violent antisemitism from 2005-2015, analyzing seven countries: France, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Russia.
According to the study, many European Jews feel unsafe as a direct consequence of violent antisemitism, and — as a result — one in five Jews in Sweden and the UK, one in four in Germany, and half of the Jews in France have considered emigrating. In 2015, 10,000 Western European Jews departed for a new life in Israel — the largest number leaving Europe since 1948.
The study found that there has been a consistently elevated level of antisemitism in Europe during the last two decades as compared to the 1990s.
French Jews are more likely than German, Swedish and British Jews to have personally experienced a violent attack in the final five years covered by the study. Although the incidence of antisemitism in France is the highest, reports about personal attacks during the study’s final five years in Swedish and German Jews is not far behind. The largest gap in antisemitism is between British Jews and Jews living in Norway, Denmark and Russia.
According to the report, Jews in France and Sweden are more likely to not attend Jewish events or visit Jewish sites because they do not feel safe. More than half of the Jews in France and Sweden avoid wearing, carrying or displaying things that would cause others to recognize them as Jews, according to the study. This behavior does not rise to the same levels in Germany and the UK, but substantial numbers of Jews in those countries also avoid doing things in public that would label them as Jews out of fear for their safety.
Among French Jews, the elevated level of fear probably comes from France having experienced more violent, dramatic and fatal antisemitic incidents than other European countries. The barbarous attack on a Jewish school in 2012 in Toulouse — where three Jewish children and a rabbi were killed — undoubtedly contributed greatly to the insecurity of France’s Jews. Mohammed Merah, the 23-year-old terrorist who carried out the Toulouse attack, said he wanted to kill Jews because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
More recently, the head of the Jewish community of Marseille — France’s second-largest city — told his fellow community members not to appear in public in any way that would identify them as Jews.
And who is responsible for the attacks on Jews in Europe? In every country studied, except for Russia, the perpetrators are disproportionately of Muslim background. A British study cited in the University of Oslo report notes that the proportion of Muslim perpetrators often increases in the wake of “trigger events” in the Middle East.
In what might be considered a clumsy attempt to downplay antisemitism there, German authorities do not classify anti-Israeli incidents as antisemitism. This results in absurdity. If any country should know better, it should be Germany.
The only country in the study where antisemitic incidents are not disproportionately perpetrated by Muslims is Russia, and — according to the study — Jews do not fear to express their Jewish identity when appearing in public there. This appears to perplex the study’s author, as Russia contains both large Jewish and Muslim populations.
Yet, in my view, the issue is easily resolved. In Russia, the large Muslim and Jewish populations live in the same country, but are generally separated by a vast expanse of land. Most Muslims live in the Eurasian Caucasus region, while most Jews live in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. This isn’t the case in the other European countries profiled in the Oslo report.
As Europe receives greater numbers of Muslim migrants, violent antisemitism will continue to rise. And as the philosophy of radical Islam takes hold of more young Muslims, so too will the antisemitism that follows it. The more observant a Muslim is, the more likely that he or she is to be antisemitic, the University of Oslo study notes.
The future for European Jews who want to maintain the distinct characteristics of Judaism in public, and who want to go to synagogue unmolested, is not bright. The unwillingness of European authorities to call antisemitism what it is simply means that Jewish emigration from the continent will likely increase.
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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“The unwillingness of European authorities to call antisemitism what it is”
There you have the moral and intellectual weakness of the elites in the West...
Take up arms. Read Nehemiah. Or Esther.
Even this article doesn’t manage to string the words “Islamic antisemitism” or “Islamic anti-Jewish attacks” together.
Any thinking person with a semi-realistic view of the world knows what is going on here.
More accurately, "The unwillingness of Christians and the West to call Islam what it is - an enemy that needs outlawed and eradicated."
It's not just the Muslims. The Left, both in EU and US, are becoming anti-Jewish as Muslims fight for control of Leftist institutions. Any non-Muslim who wants to retain any position in the Left has to choose sides.
Hitler had a very good working relationship with the Muslims. Hitler is gone, but the Muslims are now an occupying force. The Jewish “problem” in Europe still needs a “Solution” apparently.
That whole “never again” thing really didn’t last long.
Good point.
Nehemiah.. one of my faves. I picture these men with a brick in one hand and a sword in the other and I think that’s a great model of resolute courage. It applies to every facet of life, especially when your faith is tested.
Funny how so many Jews are Leftist, though.
You’d think they were suicidal or something.
Well, you get what you vote for.
Jews need to return to Israel to be closer to Petra when the Abomination of Desolation occurs.
“Mohammed Merah, the 23-year-old terrorist who carried out the Toulouse attack, said he wanted to kill Jews because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “
Jokes on him. The new olim are likely to take up residence in Judah and Samaria, where rents are cheaper and there are plenty of French, British and Americans who already speak the language and know their way around and are eager to help, just as they were helped when they first came.
Jews moving back to Israel...sounds like an end times thing to me.
Fleeing rising anti-Semitism? That sounds familiar, but with a difference. There’s no White Paper restricting Jewish immigration, nor blockade preventing leaky tramp steamers crowded with refugees from reaching the Promised Land, and arresting and interning those who get caught, if they aren’t sunken in international waters first (Struma). Instead, there are commercial airliners, some tiny shuttles with propellers, and some huge sky clippers capable of crossing vast oceans. When they arrive, instead of being arrested and interned, the passengers are greeted enthusiastically at the airport and welcomed home. So, increasing anti-Semitism in Europe? No biggy. Come on home.
Didn’t know that. Thank you.
All of which makes them way smarter than American Jews!
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