Each year, the surveys continue to show rising anti-Semitism in most of Europe, causing the local Jews to live in growing fear.
By Miriam Kuhlmann
Many European Jews no longer feel safe in their home countries. This is evident from a recent survey conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
A Jewish gravestone is desecrated with Nazi symbols at a cemetery in Dortmund, Germany, – Photo: AP
On average, 76 percent of Jews surveyed across the continent reported a rise in anti-Semitism in recent years, and 29 percent said they are considering emigrating to Israel as a result.
Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they had encountered people who did not consider Jews to be their fellow countrymen. The problem appeared to be most acute in Hungary, France and Belgium, where the number of Jews who had thought about emigration was much higher.
One in five respondents said that they purposely avoid wearing anything in public that would identify them as a Jew. That particular problem was more acute in Sweden, where 34 percent don’t want others to know they are Jewish.
Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, emphasized the importance of this study. The fact that “Jews are no longer able to express their faith because they are afraid should be a turning point for Europe,” he said, calling on European governments to take seriously the results of the survey.
View original Israel Today publication at: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24266/Default.aspx?hp=readmore
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