New
research published reveals that over the course of 2015 violent antisemitic
attacks against Jews decreased under increased security, but at the same time
there was a serious rise in “institutional antisemitism.”
The
study was the Annual
Report on Antisemitism for 2015 by the Kantor Center for the Study of
Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, and it was released in a
press conference at the university on Wednesday.
Dr.
Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), spoke about the
findings of the study and noted that a substantial decrease in violent antisemitic
attacks was recorded, even as institutional antisemitism rose significantly.
“2015 was a difficult year for Europe
in general and for the Jewish community in particular,” said Dr. Kantor.
Noting
on Islamist terror attacks, he said, “the year began and ended in a sea of
blood and terror, with the massacres at the Charlie Hebdo offices and the Hyper
Cacher in Paris during January and the slaughter of 130 people in Paris during
November.”
“However, the number of violent antisemitic
incidents worldwide decreased quite dramatically during 2015, especially after
the first months of the year, in comparison to 2014.”
Elaborating,
he revealed that 410 violent assaults were recorded in 2015, as compared to a
full 766 in 2014, signifying a drop of 46%.
The
reason for the drop in attacks according to Kantor was the massive deployment
of security to Jewish institutions following the January attacks in Paris.
