No matter which European country: hostility towards Jews is not a marginal phenomenon, anti-Semitic stereotypes are becoming increasingly widespread. Political scientist Nina Scholz has compared all recent studies. She devotes a separate section to anti-Semitism among Muslims, because the values here were significantly higher across the board.
The fact that anti-Semitism in Europe has risen dramatically is reported by all Jews throughout Europe. The other Europeans share their opinion, and in some cases they back it up with their own anti-Semitic prejudices. This is one of the central findings of political scientist Nina Scholz’s research on the most important anti-Semitism studies.
On behalf of the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF), she examined nine studies and a report by the Jewish Community Vienna on anti-Semitic incidents that were carried out in Germany, Austria and the EU from 2017 to 2020. A separate section is dedicated to anti-Semitism in Muslim communities, partly because the ÖIF requested it and partly because typical anti-Semitic images of the enemy are much more pronounced there.
Most studies confirm the findings of the others. 89 per cent of Jews in Europe have suffered anti-Semitism on the internet, followed by hostility on the street or in squares (73 per cent), in the media (71 per cent) and in politics (70 per cent). . 35 percent of all Jews in Europe have heard the accusation o misusing the Holocaust for their own purposes, 36 percent of all Austrians actually think that Jews do that.
The claim “Jews have too much power” has been heard by 43 percent of all Jews surveyed in Europe. In Austria, 39 per cent agreed with the statement: “Jews dominate the international business world”, according to a study commissioned by the Austrian Parliamentary Directorate and based on 2128 interviews. Among Turkish- and Arabic-speaking interviewees, the figures were 63 and 64 per cent respectively.
The excessive power of the Jews is an essential component of all anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Its prevalence varies depending on the group of people. In a youth study, “only” 15 per cent of all young people without a migration background agreed with the statement; among migrant young people, the figure was significantly higher. An Austrian study among Muslim groups showed: 62 percent of all Syrians, 61 percent of all Austro-Turks (among the second generation still 46 percent), 55 percent of people from Iraq and Afghanistan think that Jews have too much power. The approval was significantly lower among Muslims with a Bosnian (26 percent) and Iranian migration background (18 percent).
“This significantly higher approval of anti-Semitic statements by people who themselves or whose ancestors immigrated from a majority Muslim country applies to all studies,” Scholz notes. A worldwide survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League showed similar results for Austria and significantly higher approval of the allegedly too great power of Jews in Muslim countries – about 69 percent in Turkey, 56 percent in Iran.
89 percent of Jews in the EU witnessed an increase in anti-Semitism between 2013 and 2018, 63 percent of them a strong increase, 26 percent a weak increase. In Austria, the figure is also high, but significantly lower: 33 per cent of Austrian Jews see a strong increase, 42 per cent a weak one. This was the result of a 2018 survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA study for short) among 16,395 Jews in twelve EU survey countries. Jews in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands see anti-Semitism as the biggest problem.
The cross-section of the European population shares this assessment, albeit to a lesser extent. 50 percent – that is, every second European – also considers anti-Semitism to be a problem, 15 percent of them a major problem. 36 percent have also noticed an increase in anti-Semitism. At the same time, however, 77 per cent say they have no Jewish friends or acquaintances, which is why they are less directly affected by this problem. These results were revealed in 2018 by the Eurobarometer study commissioned by the EU Commission, which directly relates to the findings of the FRA study presented earlier. It surveyed 27,643 people in 28 EU Member States.
All study results show a particularly strong increase in anti-Semitism on the internet. A study of the comment sections of German online quality media showed: in 2007, 7.51 percent were still anti-Semitic. By 2017, the proportion had risen to 30.18 per cent. The choice of words in particular shows an increasing radicalisation. Israel-related anti-Semitism is the second most common variant. It can be clearly distinguished from legitimate criticism of Israel by demonisation, delegitimisation and double standards. It likes to use terms of anti-Semitism to refer to Israel (“plague”, “cancer”, etc.).
“All studies of recent years show that anti-Semitic attitudes are widespread in society far beyond extremist political fringes,” Scholz underlines. The permanent crisis in which Europe has found itself since the financial crisis of 2008 could play a role in this. After all, for a millennium and a half, hostility towards Jews in Europe has been particularly effective in crisis situations and times of upheaval, as the Austrian cultural historian Friedrich Heer noted as early as 1967.
Scholz also notes that wherever Muslims or people from Islamic countries or their children are surveyed, their answers are “characterised by significantly higher levels of anti-Semitism”.
https://exxpress.at/saemtliche-studien-belegen-antisemitismus-ist-in-europa-massiv-gestiegen/