Many Jews in Europe say antisemitism is increasing, particularly on the internet, according to a survey by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).
The survey of 5,847 Jewish people said 66% of those who responded considered antisemitism to be a problem.
Three out of four respondents, 76%, believed antisemitism had increased over the past five years.
The survey was carried out in 2012 in eight countries which are home to about 90% of the EU’s Jewish population.
Respondents in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom were asked to give “their opinions and perceptions on antisemitic trends and antisemitism as a problem in everyday”.
They were also asked about their personal experiences and worries about their own safety and that of family members.
There was particular concern about antisemitism online. About three-quarters of respondents considered that to be a problem which is getting worse.
A British woman in her 50s, quoted in the survey, said she had “experienced more antisemitic comments” since going on Facebook “than I ever have done throughout my whole life”.
She added: “This is very dispiriting. The speed at which hostile comments and misinformation can be passed around is frightening and leads to a sense of deep unease, which may not connect with the day-to-day reality of being Jewish in a diverse society.”
The survey found 29% of those surveyed had considered emigrating because of concerns about safety, with particularly high figures recorded in Hungary (48%), France (46%) and Belgium (40%).
It found one in five respondents had personally experienced at least one antisemitic verbal insult and/or a physical attack in the year before the survey.
Perpetrators of the most serious incidents were described as “being perceived as someone with Muslim extremist views, 27%, left-wing political views, 22%, or with right-wing views, 19%”.
Respondents said the most frequent comments made by non-Jewish people in the UK were: “Israelis behave ‘like Nazis’ towards the Palestinians” and “Jews exploit Holocaust victimhood for their own purposes” (both 35%).
The survey showed significant differences between Western and Eastern European countries.
In Latvia, only 8% said the Israeli-Arab conflict had had a large impact on how safe they felt, but the figure rose to 28% for Germany and was as high as 73% in France.
FRA Director Morten Kjaerum said this reflected differing histories, as well as recent patterns of immigration.
“I think that there is across Europe… a traditional form of antisemitism that goes back in history for a long time,” he said.
“But then we also see a particular sort of antisemitism reported by the respondents, namely the antisemitism which comes out of the conflict in the Middle East. And this is where you have to be careful: when do you have a legitimate critique of whatever your position may be in terms of that particular conflict and when would it be an antisemitic statement?”
The FRA said EU countries should work “urgently” to find effective ways to combat online antisemitism. It called on public figures to condemn antisemitic statements.
The President of the European Jewish Congress, Moshe Kantor, welcomed the survey, but said “the fact that a quarter of Jews are not able to express their Jewishness because of fear should be a watershed moment for the continent of Europe and the European Union.”
“The Jewish reality in Europe is of great concern and the authorities need to deal with incidents of hate and intolerance in a holistic manner, to really combat these manifestations before it is too late.
“We would like to see concrete steps being taken, including creating legislation to specifically deal with antisemitism and racism, bolstering law enforcement agencies and ensure a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism, even, and perhaps specifically, when opinion-shapers and decision-makers engage in these forms of hate,” he said.
Related Publications:
November 2013
Jewish people’s experience of discrimination and hate crime in European Union Member States
Fact sheet
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November 2013
Technical report: FRA survey – Discrimination and hate crime against Jews in EU Member States: experiences and perceptions of antisemitism
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November 2013
Antisemitism: Summary overview of the situation in the European Union 2001–2012
Working & discussion paper
