The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today released the results of an unprecedented worldwide survey of antisemitic attitudes. The ADL Global 100: An Index of Antisemitism surveyed 53,100 adults in 102 countries and territories in an effort to establish, for the first time, a comprehensive data-based research survey of the level and intensity of anti-Jewish sentiment across the world.
The survey found that antisemitic attitudes are persistent and pervasive around the world. More than one-in-four adults, 26 percent of those surveyed, are deeply infected with antisemitic attitudes. This figure represents an estimated 1.09 billion people around the world.
The overall ADL Global 100 Index score represents the percentage of respondents who answered “probably true” to six or more of 11 negative stereotypes about Jews. An 11-question index has been used by ADL as a key metric in measuring antisemitic attitudes in the United States for the last 50 years.
“For the first time we have a real sense of how pervasive and persistent antisemitism is today around the world,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “The data from the Global 100 Index enables us to look beyond antisemitic incidents and rhetoric and quantify the prevalence of antisemitic attitudes across the globe. We can now identify hotspots, as well as countries and regions of the world where hatred of Jews isessentially non-existent.”
Made possible by a generous grant from the New York philanthropist Leonard Stern, the ADL Global 100 Indexconstitutes the most comprehensive assessment ever of antisemitic attitudes globally, encompassing 102 countries and territories in seven major regions of the world and accounting for about 88 percent of the world’s total adult population.
Available through an interactive web site at http://global100.adl.org, the survey will give researchers, students, governments and members of the public direct access to a treasure trove ofcurrent data about antisemitic attitudes globally and how they vary widely along religious, ethnic, national and regional lines. The survey also ranks countries and territories in numerical order from the least antisemitic (Laos, at 0.2 percent of the adult population) to the most (West Bank and Gaza, where antisemitic attitudes, at 93 percent, are pervasive throughout society).
“The level of antisemitism in some countries and regions, even those where there are no Jews, is in many instances shocking,” said Barry Curtiss-Lusher, ADL National Chair. “We hope this unprecedented effort to measure and gauge antisemitic attitudes globally will serve as a wake-up call to governments, to international institutions and topeople of conscience that antisemitism is not just a relic of history, but a
current event.”
At the same time, there are highly encouraging notes in the ADL survey.
In majority English-speaking countries, the percentage of those with antisemitic attitudes is 13 percent, far lower than the overall average. Protestant majority countries in general have the lowest ratings of antisemitic attitudes, as compared to any other majority religious country. And 28 percent of respondents around the world do not believethat any of the 11 antisemitic stereotypes tested are “probably true.”
ADL commissioned First International Resources to conduct the poll of attitudes and opinions toward Jews. Fieldwork anddata collection for this global public opinion project were conducted and coordinated by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research. The data was culled from interviews conducted between July 2013 and February 2014 in 96 languages anddialects via landline telephones, mobile phones and face-to-face discussions. Respondents were selected at random and constituted a demographically
representative sample of the adult populations.
Respondents were asked a series of 11 questions based on age-old stereotypes about Jews, including classical stereotypesabout Jewish power, loyalty, money and behavior. Those who responded affirmatively to six or more negative statements about Jews are considered to hold antisemitic attitudes. The margin of error for most countries, where 500 respondents were selected, was +/- 4.4 percent. In various larger countries,where 1,000 interviews were conducted, the margin of error was +/- 3.2 percent.
Among the major findings of the ADL Global 100 Index:
- More than one-quarter of those surveyed, 26 percent, harbor antisemitic attitudes, representing an estimated 1.09 billion adults around the world;
- Only 54 percent of those polled globally have ever heard of the Holocaust. Two out of three people surveyed have either never heard of theHolocaust, or do not believe historical accounts to be accurate.
- The most widely accepted antisemitic stereotype worldwide is: “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country/the countries they live in.” Overall, 41 percent of those surveyed believe this statement to be“probably true.” This is the most widely accepted stereotype in five outof the seven regions surveyed.
- The second most widely accepted stereotype worldwide is “Jews have too much power in the business world.” Overall, 35 percent of those surveyed believe this statement to be “probably true.” This is also the most widely held stereotype in Eastern Europe.
- Among the 74 percent of those surveyed who indicated they had never met a Jewish person, 25 percent harbor antisemitic attitudes. Of the 26 percent overall who harbor antisemitic attitudes, 70 percent have never met a Jewish person.
- Three out of 10 respondents, 30 percent, believe Jews make up between 1 to 10 percent of the world’s population. Another 18 percent believe Jews make up more than 10 percent of the world’s population. Sixteen percent (16%) responded less than 1 percent. (The actual number of Jewish people as a percentage of the world’s population is 0.19 percent).
“When it comes to Holocaust awareness, while only 54 percent of those polled had heard of the Holocaust, a disturbingly low number — the numbers were far better in Western Europe, where 94 percent
of those polled were aware of the history,” Mr. Foxman said. “At the same time, the results confirm a troubling gap between older adults who know their history and younger men and women who, more than 70 years after the events of World War II, are more likely to have never heard of or learned about what happened tothe six million Jews who perished.”
ADL GLOBAL INDEX: ANTISEMITISM BY REGION
The highest concentration of respondents holding antisemitic attitudes was found in Middle East and North Africancountries (“MENA”), where nearly three-quarters of respondents, 74 percent of those polled, agreed with a majority of the antisemitic stereotypes that comprise the 11-question index. Non-MENA countries have an average index score of 23 percent.
Outside MENA, the index scores by region wereas follows:
- Eastern Europe: 34 percent
- Western Europe: 24 percent
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 23 percent
- Asia: 22 percent
- The Americas: 19 percent
- Oceania: 14 percent
“While it is startling to see how high the
level of antisemitism is in the Middle East and North African countries, the
fact of the matter is even aside from those countries, close to a quarter of
those polled in other parts of the world is infected with antisemitic
attitudes,” said Mr. Foxman. “There is only a three-point difference when
you take world attitudes toward Jews with the Middle East and North African
countries, or consider the world without.”
Mr. Curtiss-Lusher added: “We are especially
troubled that the stereotypes about Jews which received the most support
worldwide were those generating dangerous political antisemitism, including the
beliefs that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their own countries, that
Jews have too much power in the business world, or that Jews have too much
influence in finance. These stereotypes are fueled by conspiracy theories on
the Internet, and in some countries it is still politically expedient to
scapegoat and blame Jews for social, economic and political ills by accusing
them of having ‘dual loyalties’ or even of being a foreign enemy in their
midst.”
HIGHEST AND LOWEST COUNTRIES
The ADL Global 100 Index found that antisemitic attitudes vary widely
by country and by region. The 16 countries with the highest index scores of antisemitic
views are all in the Middle East and North Africa. Greece, with 69 percent of
the adult population falling into the antisemitic category, was the highest
country outside of MENA. In other countries in the index antisemitism was
found to be virtually non-existent, particularly in the Scandinavian countries
and in Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines.
Levels of antisemitic attitudes are
particularly low in English speaking countries. According to the ADL Global
100 Index, only 13 percent of
people living in English-speaking countries harbor antisemitic attitudes, which
is half the worldwide average.
The top countries/territories in the ADL 100
Global Index are:
- West Bank and Gaza – 93 percent of the adult population holds antisemitic
views
- Iraq – 92 percent
- Yemen – 88 percent
- Algeria – 87 percent
- Libya – 87 percent
- Tunisia – 86 percent
- Kuwait – 82 percent
- Bahrain – 81 percent
- Jordan – 81 percent
- Morocco – 80 percent
The lowest-ranked countries in the ADL Global
Index are:
- Laos – 0.2 percent of the adult population holds antisemitic
views
- Philippines — 3 percent
- Sweden – 4 percent
- Netherlands – 5 percent
- Vietnam – 6 percent
- United Kingdom – 8 percent
- United States – 9 percent
- Denmark – 9 percent
- Tanzania – 12 percent
- Thailand – 13 percent
“We were profoundly disappointed about the
resilience of antisemitism in many countries where we had hoped to see lower
numbers, particularly some in Eastern Europe that experienced the war and the
Holocaust firsthand,” Mr. Foxman said. “On the other hand, there is a silver
lining in countries such as Denmark, the U.K., the Netherlands and Sweden – all
Protestant majority countries – where we found incredibly low levels of antisemitic
beliefs. The Czech Republic stands out as well as being one of the
lowest-ranked countries in Eastern Europe, with only 13 percent of the
population manifesting antisemitic views. This is a testament to the high
levels of tolerance and acceptance in Czech society.”
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND ANTISEMITISM
Nearly half of all Muslims surveyed around the
world responded “probably true” to at least 6 of the 11 index stereotypes in
the ADL Global 100. Likewise, Christians in Eastern Orthodox and Catholic
countries are more likely to harbor antisemitic views than those in Protestant
countries. Key findings:
- Among Muslims, which comprise 22.7 percent of the world
population, 49 percent harbor antisemitic attitudes. In MENA, the number of
Muslims holding antisemitic attitudes is 75 percent.
- There are substantially lower levels of antisemitic beliefs
among Muslims outside of MENA: with Asia at 37 percent; Western Europe at 29
percent; Eastern Europe at 20 percent; and Sub-Saharan Africa at 18 percent.
- There were substantially higher levels of antisemitic beliefs
among Christians in MENA, at 64 percent, compared with Christians outside of
MENA.
- Overall, 24 percent of Christians fall into the antisemitic
category.
- Other religions polled included Hindu, at 19 percent antisemitic;
Buddhist, at 17 percent antisemitic; and “no religion,” at 21 percent antisemitic.
- Christians in Eastern Orthodox and Catholic countries are more
likely to harbor antisemitic views than those in Protestant countries.
This was true of non-Christians in these countries too, so there are likely
larger factors at work.
