Jewish Group
Related: About this forum(Jewish Group) The Old Scourge of Anti-Semitism Rises Anew in Europe
For years, Europe maintained the comforting notion that it was earnestly confronting anti-Semitism after the horrors of the Holocaust. It now faces the alarming reality that anti-Semitism is sharply on the rise, often from the sadly familiar direction of the far right, but also from Islamists and the far left.
The worrisome trend was underscored by a report issued by the German government this month showing that anti-Semitic incidents in Germany had increased by almost 20 percent in 2018 from the previous year, to 1,799, with 69 classified as acts of violence. The most common offense was the use of the swastika and other illegal symbols; the rest ranged from online incitement and insults to arson, assault and murder.
Of the total, the report attributed 89 percent of the incidents to the far right. Germany, like many other European nations, has seen a resurgence of a neo-fascist right, but much of the recent reporting in Germany on the rise of anti-Semitism has focused on hostility to Jews among Muslim migrants. A European Union survey conducted in 2018 likewise found that among German Jews who had experienced anti-Semitic harassment over the past five years, 41 percent perceived the perpetrators of the most serious incidents to be someone with a Muslim extremist view.
Whatever the reasons for the discrepancy, the message from the German government is that anti-Semitism is not largely an imported problem, as far-right groups often maintain as justification also for their Islamophobia.
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still_one
(92,190 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,956 posts)Nor is the rise of anti-Semitism in this country. The fact that anti-Semitic tropes, dog-whistles, and imagery are used by both sides, and defended by both sides, depending on the target and who made the comment/image, it is unsurprising that anti-Semitism is on the rise. When Jews even join in the use of anti-Semitism (not as a rhetorical device), but especially in defending anti-Semitic uses, then it shows how bad it has become.
grossproffit
(5,591 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,956 posts)Sadly, too many Jews refuse to see themselves or other Jews as a real minority, and one worthy of protection, until it is too late, or almost too late. Of course, I have lots of disgust for those who are Jews only when it comes to Israel and denying anti-Semitism, and sadly, again, there are MANY...too many...of those types around too. And, we can't forget the "some of my best friends are...", "I have Jew relatives...", and those others who say shit about Jews that they would never fucking say about other minorities, or if they did, would find their asses in a sling.