Israeli Report Says Anti-Semitism Peaked In 2009

JERUSALEM — The findings of an Israeli report released Sunday says 2009 saw the most anti-Semitic incidents in western Europe since World War II.

The report by an Israel-led umbrella of organizations dedicated to the combat of anti-Semitism outlined hundreds of violent incidents in Britain, France and Holland.

It said the number of incidents in the first three months of 2009 in western Europe surpassed that of all of 2008. That followed Israel's invasion of Gaza, which evoked harsh reactions.

In France, for example, there were 631 anti-Jewish incidents in the first half of 2009, of which 113 were violent, according to the report. Worldwide, eight people were killed in attacks last year.

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky pledged to dispatch representatives from the semi-governmental organization to combat what he said was growing anti-Semitism at European universities.

The Israel-based agency deals with immigration and Jewish issues.

____

On the Net: http://www.antisemitism.org.il/

Comments

[Tony Andrews]

08:57 PM on 01/27/2010

There has been rise in anti-semitism in Europe.
There has also been a rise in islamaphobia that far exceeds the anti-semitism.
Both are driven by extreme groups. Most are anti-both, and anti-"anybody who isn't English, Dutch, German, French etc." according to the nationality of the group involved.
What worries me is that those group's support appears to be increasing.
In England, the BNP has been around for years and has put up candidates for elections that had no chance whatever of gaining a seat in parliament, and were regarded as something of a joke (however distasteful).
They now have a realistic chance of winning at least 2 seats in Parliament later this year, and already have a Euro MP.
It really is not pure anti-semitism that is driving these groups.
It is a reaction to loss of jobs and increasing immigration, from people who are feeling disenfranchised by what they see as a politic that excludes their view.
Jews can be easily identified as "other" so they are the recipients of some of those disgusting attentions.
It isn't only Jews and synagogues..
It is also Mosques and asians walking the street. Factually, the attacks against Mosques and asians walking the street are much more prevelant than those against Synagogues and individual Jews.
They are all repugnant.
Most sensible people hate those atrocities, and speak up loudly against them when they occur, but it cannot be denied that they are increasing.

[courtb]

02:44 AM on 01/28/2010

Do you know what's interesting? Jewish and Muslim groups in the UK, especially student groups, put aside their differences last year to campaign against the BNP in the "Hope Not Hate" campaign. The BNP has tried courting the Jewish community during the London assembly elections, touting Pat Richardson (their only Jewish party member) as an attempt to play upon mistrust and animosity between the two communities.

[Tony Andrews]

08:22 AM on 01/28/2010

Yes, there are initiatives like the "Hope Not Hate" campaign, and they are to be loudly applauded and encouraged.
It would be nice to think that they might have even wider influences, perhaps as far as the Middle East?
Nonetheless, extremisms like the BNP are increasing, and I believe they are a very real problem (at least) and dangerous.

[David Rozgonyi]

06:55 PM on 01/27/2010

A little bedtime reading on cause and effect, part I:

http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/0/14B004C3AE39004BC125753900599B5D?opendocument

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1526892.php/World-relief-groups-warn-against-Gaza-blockade-s-effects-on-health

http://www.hopeandplay.org/index.php?option=com_weblinks&view=category&id=22:effects-of-israeli-2009-gaza-incursion-on-children&Itemid=47

[David Rozgonyi]

03:11 PM on 01/27/2010

"george389 I'm a Fan of george389 6 fans permalink

"Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction -- out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East -- is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest."-Thomas Friedman"

Out of proportion?? By many neutral accounts, the dea.th toll from a number of causes directly under Is.ra.el's control such as restrictions of water, movement, healthcare, NGO help, assistance, plus direct incursions have killed more people that Sa .dda.m. We deposed one (and drove a cas.ualty toll every bit as robust), and we supply the other with money and arms. There is only one country in the region with nuc.lear weaponry. Guess which one? The only one who doesn't allow inspectors.

You're absolutely right, it is out of all proportion, but in the reverse direction.

[george389]

04:45 PM on 01/27/2010

Give me a neutral account. Saddam Hussein killed 300,000 of his own people. Now explain to me how Israel is worse. go.

[David Rozgonyi]

05:42 PM on 01/27/2010

Easy enough. Many NEUTRAL international accounts place the number of deaths in Pale.stine easily above that figure, and certainly no less. These numbers are arguably directly and INDIRECTLY the responsibility of the party who keeps Pale.stine on lockdown, preventing aid organizations from operating as they could, roadblocks preventing medical supplies, etc, in addition to high numbers of casualties stemming from military incursions. And we FUND IT and ARM those who are perpetrating this. We've deposed many many people for far less. Actually, though, we also funded sad.dam when it was convenient for us, so maybe I was wrong.

[george389]

09:52 PM on 01/26/2010

"Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction -- out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East -- is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest."-Thomas Friedman

[skialethia]

11:44 PM on 01/26/2010

Thomas Friedman? Not the most impartial judge on the matter. I prefer Richard Goldstone, who's dealt with South African Apartheid, Kosovo, Yugoslavia and Rwanda. That's what I call and impressive resume.

[george389]

12:34 AM on 01/27/2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
.

And i agree with you that Richard Goldstone is a trustworthy guy. And i think he would agree with the above quote and notice your obvious bias. Now the reason for such bias one can only venture a guess as to why you criticize the Jewish state above all others.

Leave it to the viewers to decide i guess.

[skialethia]

11:52 PM on 01/26/2010

Thomas Friedman? Not the most impartial judge on the matter. I prefer Richard Goldstone, who's dealt with South African Apartheid, Kosovo, Yugoslavia and Rwanda. That's what I call an impressive resume.

[courtb]

06:56 PM on 01/26/2010

I would like to thank the posters on this site. No, really. Thank you for showing me that collective punishment is unacceptable against Palestinians, despite their election of Hamas, and yet completely acceptable against Jews who are not Israeli citizens. Thank you for demonstrating that if Israel didn't exist, Jews would be safe in the world just as they have been for the past 2000 years. Thank you for proving that liberal values are dead and that hatred is accepted as long as YOU feel justified.

This is not about bloody Israel. This is about attacks against a class of people. Some are pro Israel. Some are not. Do you think the people who lit synagogues on fire around Europe last winter stopped to ask a show of hands for the Zionists who were members? Of course not. Antisemitism is on the rise once again by many people who truly hate Jews - not Israel but Jews. And because of jerks like you who love to make excuses for them and justify their attacks by pointing fingers at Israel, they are getting away with it and they know it and will get bolder! A man was dragged out of his car in London, in a Jewish neighborhood, and beaten for no other crime than being Jewish. He was not Israeli. How the hell can you people justify that?

*HuffingtonPost, there is no reason for this to be blocked by the moderators. I will keep reposting til one goes through.

[george389]

09:51 PM on 01/26/2010

I could not agree with your post more.

[skialethia]

10:25 PM on 01/26/2010

Don't you think you're over-dramatizing the situation somewhat? There is a big difference between criticism of Israeli policy and anti-Semitism. And when you consider what actually goes beyond criticism and evolves into acts, it pales in comparison to what Palestinians are being subjected to, and that should be the issue here. Correcting this abhorrent oppression against Palestinians will go a long way to improving public perception.

Hatred of Israelis for Palestinians is reflected in polls which indicate that the majority of Israelis approve of the past Kadima policies and Likud´s policies against Palestinians. This indicates that the real discrimination is happening against Palestinians since in 2009 alone close to 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, close to 50,000 were rendered homeless in Gaza alone and hundreds more have been evicted in the West Bank and East Jerusalem while the settlements have expanded further, and this doesn't include the dreadful consequences of the blockade of humanitarian and reconstruction aid on Gaza and other human rights violations.

This is a deplorable situation that warrants outrage and world condemnation. This situation truly constitutes hatred and discrimination against Palestinians.

[george389]

12:41 AM on 01/27/2010

You are entirely, entirely, entirely missing the point. (entirely). If we were to take everything you said as true, (which, taking into acount your obvious bias, generally must be taken with a few doses of salt) your comments still have no relevance to either the article or courtb's point. Regardless of what Israel does, regardless, American Jews, and English Jews, and Greek Jews, have the right to live in their countries without facing discrimination, oppression, and violence against them. The same is true with Muslims here in America and around the world.

But i digress, let your daft vitriol continue...

[courtb]

01:16 AM on 01/27/2010

http://www.viciousbabushka.com/2009/01/brutal-attack-on-jewish-man-in-golders-green.html

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23612225-synagogue-set-alight-during-rise-in-anti-semitic-attacks-in-london.do

http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/attempt-to-firebomb-uk-synagogue-and-other-antisemitic-indidents/

And that is just in England. You are allowed to be outraged at the treatment of Palestinians AND the treatment of Jews in Europe, you know.

[StCuthbert]

04:00 PM on 01/26/2010

Here's the link to the EU's definition:

http://www.european-forum-on-antisemitism.org/working-definition-of-antisemitism/english/

So if you disagree with this definition, feel free to take it up with the EU and Merriam-Webster

[hemara]

04:58 AM on 01/27/2010

Some of that definition is obviously politically motivated garbage, designed to suppress free speech,

[StCuthbert]

10:55 AM on 01/27/2010

Obviously. Clearly, we should leave the definition of anti-Semitism up to you, not up to, say, the Jews themselves?

If you don't like the definition of anti-Semitism, that's fine. But don't pretend it's not real or that what people say doesn't meet the definition. It's not up to you.

[lbsaltzman]

10:48 AM on 01/26/2010

I checked out the website and found it as I expected. Mixed in with genuine incidents of anti-semitism, which are to be deplored, are attacks on legitimate crticism of Israel and Zionism. Sharansky does Jews a great disservice by trying to paint legitimate critics of Israel with the broad brush of anti-semitism.

[GalapagosTortoise]

11:17 AM on 01/26/2010

Please share the link you are referencing so others can read and judge for themselves. I assume this includes the report in question.

[piul05]

01:17 PM on 01/26/2010

Hemara had already posted the link earlier on , but here it is again:

http://www.antisemitism.org.il/

[piul05]

11:26 AM on 01/26/2010

Wait until your post disappears - as mine did.

If people conflate I$raelis and Je&s, they are (rightly, in my perspective) considered anti-Semitic.

But many apologists here for Israel's expansionist policies subscribe to this conflation - i.e. that I$rael represents all Je#s, and vice-versa - because it's a useful tool in silencing genuine criticism.

The way I see it, I$rael does NOT represent all Jews and certainly the I$raeli government does NOT represent all I$raelis.

By painting all with the one brush, they might successfully relieve some of the pressure - but at the cost of throwing the wider community under the bus.

[CigarGod]

01:07 PM on 01/26/2010

Demonize to Mobilize.

[mommamia526]

10:08 AM on 01/26/2010

Zahir Muhsein forgot to mention that not a few of the *Palestinians* are Egyptians, such as the late Arafat. Abbas is a Syrian. Hamas leadership is located in Syria. Khaled Mashaal, leader of Hamas, has not been in Gaza for three years!! Yet, he calls the shots there. Apologists for attacks on individuals, of any origins, ethnicity or religion, have no ground to stand on. This blog is about anti-semitic attacks, propaganda and murder, involving jews, jewish houses or worship and jewish businesses. That is the case because this particular report is about concenterted efforts against .them by jews. It could just as well be about murder against muslim, incitement against specific muslim groups, or other ME religious adherents, such as Bahai. However, those attacks are in other regions and should be reported on by the groups thus targetted. All those various attacks and incitements, however, appear in this time to originate with one specific agressive group of advocates of militant Islam, no matter where they reside. Those who chime in with them ought to be aware that next time they may become the targets. It is not about faith, and it is not about land. It is not about ethnicity and it is not about national origin. It is about murder, armtwisting, forcing others to do as one group decides, and if not, to slander, murder, incite, lie.

[mommamia526]

09:56 AM on 01/26/2010

It is amazing. No matter what is being discussed, the *Palestinians* come on in full force and make it an issue of the *plight of the poor Palestinians*. Anti-semitism and objections to acts of the government of Israel are NOT identical issues. Anti semitism, as expressed in murder of individuals for no reason at all, concentrated effortts to malign jews the world over, defacing of jewish property, businesses, and houses of worship, all over the world, are separate from anything Israeli. After all, the Israeli government represents all sorts of persons, not only jews.

Those who defend terrorism, of any stripe, should be aware that terrorism murders more muslim than any other group. Just this week there was another car bomb attack in Baghdad. Using persons, even one's own children, as live ammunition against individuals, is not self defense, it is not war, it is immoral murder, against any civilization, any religion, even Islam.

PLO, Zahir Muhsein, as reported in the Dutch Newspaper *Trouw*, in March 1977: *There are no separate Palestinians", this is a political ploy to overcome Israel. They consist of Jordanians, Lebanese and Syrians. As Arabs we can not go and conquer Haifa and Tel Aviv, but we can do so as *Palestinians*. As soon as we have conquered Israel we will all go back and be Jordanians again.

[hemara]

11:11 AM on 01/26/2010

Don't mess with words.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_Who_Cried_Wolf

[Mum]

07:07 AM on 01/26/2010

Another incredibly stupid headline. What is the matter with the editors at Huffington Post? Do they HAVE editors at Huffington Post? (I'll be very surprised if this post makes it through moderation.)

There is nothing in the article above that uses the word "peaks." The Israeli agency reports that 2009 "saw the most anti-Semitic incidents in western Europe since World War II." In order to determine that something has reached its "peak" you would have to be looking back in time and have a more than reasonable expectation, based on careful observation and gathering of data, that you were on a course of decline from that peak. Frankly, it would appear to me that the "peak" of anti-Semitism was the Holocaust.

[hemara]

08:13 AM on 01/26/2010

The AP article is badly written and the "report" on which the article is written, available here:

http://www.antisemitism.org.il/

...is APPALLINGLY written.

It's a powerpoint with 37 bullet points and not a single citation or source in sight - I encourage people to download and take a look at it.

Israel's unofficial-official response to the Goldstone Report is probably going to be delivered to the UN on Thursday.

The claim about a new anti-semitism recurs every time Israel comes under international pressure and has since the mid 70s when, after the '73 war, Israel was being asked to leave the Occupied Palestinian Territories by the international community.

[Caru]

09:00 AM on 01/26/2010

Where is it?

[lokipuck]

04:39 AM on 01/26/2010

They must be hated for their freedoms. pssh

[PlayTOE]

02:37 AM on 01/26/2010

Israel's invasion of Gaza evoked harsh reactions because the world had access to near-live video on the damage and deliberate unjustified attacks ongoing through that war.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a You Tube video is worth a hundred thousand words.

Google Earth has EVERY building in Gaza shown in detail. Israel had no excuse for wanton destruction of schools, hospitals and children.

But most of the harsh reactions are anti-war, not anti-Semitic.

[CarlyHope]

09:33 AM on 01/26/2010

SO its okay to murder Jews in France cause you don't like the actions in Gaza?

[TruthFinderToo]

09:55 AM on 01/26/2010

One has nothing to do with the other. An evil is an evil. Please don't deflect. No on on this post is even remotely suggesting that killing anyone in Gaza or Europe is acceptable.

You on the other hand, seem to suggest that killing a Jew in Europe is evil yet killing Palestinians in Gaza is ok. The other point is that as bad as seeing someone killed in Europe is, it is 1400 times worse to see 1400 deaths in Gaza. So the protests should be 1400 time more? Right?

Simple equivalency may not be a rational approach, but it certainly puts thing sin perspective.

[hemara]

11:06 AM on 01/26/2010

PlayTOE said nothing like that, being overly dramatic does not make a convincing case.

[hippie4ever]

02:06 AM on 01/26/2010

I wonder if the Israelis consider all criticism of Israel as anti-semitic?

[Macready]

07:10 AM on 01/26/2010

I think they do . . .reminds me of the bushies . . . all criticism of the Iraq war was anti-American and unpatriotic

[hemara]

08:02 AM on 01/26/2010

Some do, some don't.

If you read any Israeli papers online debate is much more open in Israel than it is in the US.

[JerryLevy]

01:56 AM on 01/26/2010

Much of the anti semitism in Europe is fomented by their anti semitic media. The BBC, France II, Le Monde and much of the main stream press in Europe is virulently anti semitic. Whether it is the Financial Time columnist touting the banking industry in the U.S. being run by Jews, or France II fabricating a story about the Israeli defense forces shooting a Palestinian child (fabricated by a paid Palestinian reporter) or the BBC falsely accusing Israel of using poison gas on the Palestinians, their media engages in constant lopsided and fellacious stories about Israel. Jews also face violence from the Muslim populations in many of the Western European countries. It is not that big of a problem though as a good percentage of believing Jews will be moving to Israel and the U.S. and what will be left will be the secular Jews who really do not even know they are Jewish.

[Londoncall]

07:26 AM on 01/26/2010

Congratulations, you win the prize for the most ridiculous comment so far (and that's saying something.) The BBC is "virulently ant--semitic"? Hilarious. I take it you are not aware of the controversy over the DEC charity campaign?

[Goefel]

10:50 AM on 01/26/2010

as hilarious as it is, this Israeli internet defense is all to common. Check out megaphone desktop tool application. They can't admit that there government is criminal in exploiting the resources of the indigenous population.
They only see themselves as the victim, when they should ask how can we integrate with the world and be a partner of peace.

[hemara]

08:00 AM on 01/26/2010

"...and fellacious stories about Israel."

LOL whoops.

[EuroMom]

02:16 PM on 01/26/2010

whoops, indeed... ... especially together with "lopsided".... was that detail llfted straight from Ms Lwinski's testimony? (no I am not going to bother googling that)
Ah, if only Sigmund had lived to know about the internet....

[Paladin2]

11:22 PM on 01/25/2010

Israel is the most anti-semitic State in the world. Arabs are Semites too dummy.

[Inoku]

12:01 AM on 01/26/2010

Wrong. Arabic may be a Semitic language and culturally Arabs might be Semites, but "anti-Semitism" has never meant anything other than prejudice towards Jews in belief or action. Look it up in any dictionary.

Besides, if you take away "anti-Semitism," we'll all have to go back to the term for which anti-Semitism was coined as polite euphemism: Jew-hatred.

[Rachel Brownlee]

12:35 AM on 01/26/2010

Yes anti-semitism - it was a crime in communist Russia wasn't it?
Wonder why that was?
Heard Christians were open game at the time.

[sizgorich]

01:47 AM on 01/26/2010

Okay, great. So what *do* you call irrational hatred of Arabs? And once you give it a name, will you treat it as the grave transgression you insist "anti-Semitism" to be?