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African American teenage girls light candles under the names of Nazi concentration camps as people read the names of Jewish Holocaust victims at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington on April 21, 2009 to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Photo: Nicholas Kamm in Washington, AFP Copyright 2009
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TEL AVIV (EJP)--- Anti-Semitism rose in major Western countries throughout 2008, particularly in Germany, Switzerland and Canada, and spiked dramatically in early 2009, according to a survey.
The new survey findings regarding the state of anti-Semitism worldwide were released this week jointly by the European Jewish Congress and the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University, while the Durban II anti-racism conference convened in Geneva and Jews around the world commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day.
The survey also found that without any outside triggers, anti-Semitism remained at high levels even before the onset of the economic crisis or the Israel operation in Gaza.
“What’s more, despite efforts at Holocaust education around the world, anti-Semitic perceptions prevailed and the exploitation of Holocaust metaphors and symbols of the Nazi era rose steadily,” the European Jewish Congress said. .
The survey also found that synagogues, cemeteries and Holocaust memorials were desecrated in 2008 on a weekly, sometimes even daily basis in many European countries.
After dozens of violent incidents, Jewish children increasingly fear being attacked on their way to school or synagogue and need special protection in most European capitals, the survey shows.
The survey's authors estimate that there were close to 1,000 manifestations of all types of anti-Semitism throughout the world in January 2009. The start of the Israeli operation in Gaza on December brought into 2009 a wave of anti-Semitic manifestations throughout the world, the report said.
The economic crisis that began in the summer also triggered anti-Jewish reactions, most notably in Eastern Europe and the Arab world.
“The survey results underscore the dangers of rising global anti-Semitism and the cynical use of Jews and the Jewish State as convenient scapegoats for the world’s ills,” commented Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella organization for Jewish communities in Europe.
He added: “The Durban II conference is a snapshot of the world at large. It is taking place against the backdrop of a global rise in anti-Semitism fueled by the economic crisis. The hate expressed towards Israel and the Jewish people is stoking the embers of long-simmering anti-Semitic canards and Jewish blood libel.”