Disdain towards Jews is a characteristic for many 30 year olds, especially in the northern part of the country. This datum is derived from a survey conducted by the IARD-Swg Research Institute in Trieste, commissioned by the Presidents of the Autonomous Regions of Italy Conference.
More than 2 out of 10 young people maintain antisemitic sentiments. However, half of all Italian youth, both boys and girls (47%) feel a “deep sympathy” towards Jews. This datum is derived from a survey conducted by the IARD-Swg Research Institute in Trieste, commissioned by the Presidents of the Autonomous Regions of Italy Conference, and was presented during a parliamentary deliberation concerning xenophobia and racism, which took place in 2010.
In the “Antisemitic Spectrum”, 6% identified themselves as antisemites, and so resistance applied against Jews tends to be of a more extreme nature. Amongst those who sympathize with the Jews are added 31% of subjects who defined their attitude towards the Jews as “moderate”.
However, 71% of Italian young people have never maintained direct contact with Jews. In the “Antisemitic Spectrum”, this datum peaks at 76%, and a large portion of these young people declared that they had no contact with Jews as they never had the opportunity to initiate such relations. Only 7% of the aforementioned have deliberately avoided relationships with Jews.
Among young people with antisemitic leanings, and who have maintained relations with Jews (24%), 30% stated that their encounter with Jews was a negative one. However, 32% indicated positive sentiments following the encounter, while 38% were did not describe their encounter by neither of the above.
Most “Antisemites Below 30 Years of Age” are male (60%) and can be attributed to all age-groups from 18 year-olds onwards. As for geographic distribution, it appears that disdain and resistance towards Jews are more prominent in the northern part of the country as opposed to other regions, and these characterize 43% of all young Northerners. Almost 60% of these subjects were students or academicians.
A large part of these sentiments of disdain and resistance derives from the perception that Jews are more loyal to their culture and religion than they are to the country they live in. Amongst those surveyed, 38% were from the “intolerant” sub-population and 51% from the “radical antisemite” sub-population. 21%, however, were not sufficiently convinced that Jews had a negative effect on Christian culture.
Expressions of intolerance by those surveyed under 30 are manifested by certain instances of imperviousness to certain situations, and especially towards the concept of maintaining romantic relationships with Jewish partners (51% for women, 48% for men).
Furthermore, 38% of antisemitic young people disclose negative sentiments when working for Jewish employers, as opposed to 29% who would concede to the presence of a Jewish co-worker. A more tolerant attitude would describe the sentiments towards residing alongside Jews. 35% of those surveyed considered such proximity a positive matter, and 29% indicated their willingness to share the same table with them.
