Attitudes Towards Jews as Friends, Neighbors and Fellow Citizens

Selected Surveys:

Almost 25% of Europeans Unwilling to Accept Jews as Family Members or Neighbours

Nearly a quarter of British respondents to a poll on attitudes to minorities in Western Europe said they would be unwilling to accept Jews as family members. The Pew Research Center’s report titled “Being Christian in Western Europe” … contains results from interviews with more than 24,000 randomly selected adults in 15 countries. It was the second-highest highest proportion of naysayers, directly after Italy’s 25%. In Germany, 19% said they would not accept a Jewish relative. In Austria, non-acceptance was at 21%. Spain, Portugal and Ireland also had high non-acceptance levels at 13, 18 and 18%, respectively. In Italy, 12% … said they would be unwilling to accept even a Jewish neighbor. That figure was 10% in Ireland and Portugal, 9% in the U.K. and 8% in Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The statement that “Jews always pursue their own interests and not the interest of the country they live in” received the highest levels of agreement in Portugal and Spain, with 36 % and 31 %. Next were Italy, Belgium and Norway, with 31, 28 and 25% respectively.^[1][1] https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-britain-poll-indicates-23-unwilling-to-have-a-jew-in-the-family/

Pew Research Center 2018:  32% of Armenians, 23% of Lithuanians, 22% of Romanians, 19% of Czechs, 18% of Poles, 16% of Greeks and 14% of Russians would not accept Jews as fellow citizens. While 18% of Poles do not accept Jews as fellow citizens, an even higher percentage do not accept Jews as neighbors (20%) or as members of their families (30%)^[2][2] https://www.israelhayom.com/2018/04/03/poll-20-of-central-eastern-europeans-do-not-accept-jews-as-fellow-citizens/

• ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences): Almost all orthodox Jews surveyed in Switzerland had been subject to harassment in the last 5 years; 50% of all respondents had been harassed online or directly in the last 5 years; 50% had witnessed Jews being threatened or insulted online
• CNN European Poll 2018: 40% of Europeans say Jews at risk of racist violence in their countries
• AJC Survey 2020: 70% of French Jews say they have been victims of at least one antisemitic incident

• AJC Survey 2020: 84% of French Jews under 25 say they have been victims of at least one antisemitic attack^[3][3] https://www.ajc.org/news/ajc-paris-survey-french-jews-non-jews-agree-on-scope-of-antisemitism
• AJC Survey 2020: 73% of the general French public consider antisemitism a problem that affects all French society^[4][4] https://www.ajc.org/news/ajc-paris-survey-french-jews-non-jews-agree-on-scope-of-antisemitism
• Eurispes Survey 2020: “Asked about whether there is a real problem of antisemitism in Italy, 61% of respondents said yes”^[5][5] https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/italy/survey-15-6-per-cent-of-italians-think-the-holocaust-never-happened/
• EU Report 2019: 45% of young Jewish Europeans said they had experienced at least one antisemitic incident in the year prior to the survey taking place^[6][6] https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-nearly-half-of-young-european-jews-victims-of-anti-semitism-in-past-year/

• EU Report 2019: Nearly one in every 25 young Jewish Europeans said they had been the victim of an anti-Semitic physical attack in the past year^[7][7] https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-nearly-half-of-young-european-jews-victims-of-anti-semitism-in-past-year/
• European Survey 2020: “1 in 4 say Israel’s policies make them understand antisemitism”^[8][8] https://www.timesofisrael.com/1-in-5-europeans-say-secret-jewish-cabal-runs-the-world-survey-finds/
• EU Survey 2020: 71% of Jews in Europe have experienced an antisemitic attack^[9][9] https://m.knesset.gov.il/EN/News/PressReleases/Pages/press16920p.aspx
• Austrian Government Poll 2020: 31% of Austrians are antisemitic^[10][10] https://www.timesofisrael.com/austrian-study-finds-31-are-biased-against-jews-and-thats-an-improvement/
• Polish Poll (CBOS, a state-linked pollster): 19% of the respondents agreed that “war is a horrible thing, but it is good that it resulted in fewer Jews in Poland”. 71%, disagreed. Anti-Jewish attitudes were more common in Poland than in any of the other 17 countries surveyed”^[11][11] https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/01/28/one-in-five-poles-glad-wwii-led-to-fewer-jews-in-poland-finds-study/
• EU Report 2019: 80% of the young European Jews who had experienced anti-Semitic harassment — and 51% of victims of anti-Semitic violence — did not report it to the authorities. Across all age groups, victims of anti-Semitic harassment most often described the perpetrator as “someone with a Muslim extremist view.” Nearly one-third of young people identified their assailant in this way, with 21% suggesting the person was “someone with a left-wing political view,” and 14% pointing to “someone with a right-wing political view.”^[12][12] https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-nearly-half-of-young-european-jews-victims-of-anti-semitism-in-past-year/
• Norway: “Hanne Nabintu Herland, a historian of religion, bestselling author accused Norway of being “the most anti-Semitic country in the West”: Representing the Norwegian Embassy in Tel Aviv, deputy head of mission Vebjørn Dysvik rejected the claims yet admitted that his government had work to do regarding anti-Jewish sentiment within Norwegian society: “The degree of anti-Israelism in Norway today on the state level, in the media, in the trade unions and at the universities, colleges and schools is unprecedented in modern Norwegian history,” …. “The powerful individuals that have pushed for these negative and biased attitudes in Norway are today responsible for creating a politically-correct hatred towards Israel that today portrays my country internationally as the most anti-Semitic country in the West.”^[13][13] https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-jerusalem-panel-norwegians-spar-over-israel-and-anti-semitism/

Iceland

A Study of Antisemitism in a Country Without Jews (2019)

Vilhjálmur Örn Vilhjálmsson

“In the globalized twenty-first century, antisemitism in Iceland has grabbed the world’s attention. It stands out as an anomaly in a country that prides itself on its tolerance, its free spirit, and its unequivocal defence of human rights.”^[14][14] https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Vilhjalmur-Oern-Vilhjalmsson-2167383939

• BESA: “Iceland’s attitude toward Jews, both recently and in the past, can be described as wretched”^[15][15] https://besacenter.org/iceland-israel-jews/
• May 15, 2021, Wiesenthal Centre calls on President of Iceland for an End to Jew Hatred in Reykjavik Media^[16][16] https://www.wiesenthal.com/about/news/wiesenthal-centre-calls-on-8.html

ADL Survey: “Do Jews have too much control over global affairs?”

WSJ: “… 56% of Ukrainians, 51% of Hungarians and 40% of Poles believe that “Jews have too much control over global affairs.” (Russians trailed at 29%, perhaps because they believe – correctly –that Vladimir Putin is more powerful than a mythical Jewish conspiracy.)”^[17][17] https://www.wsj.com/articles/anti-semitism-soars-in-eastern-europe-11574812176

(According to the ADL Global 100 Index survey: 72% of Greeks, 60% of Senegalese, 60% of Armenians, 58% of Malaysians, 52% of South Koreans, and 50% of Panamanians and 43% of Chileans also agreed with this trope.)^[18][18] https://global100.adl.org/map

Pew Research Center (2010):

More than 90% of Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese and Palestinians express unfavorable views toward Jews. Only 35% of Israeli Arabs, however, express a negative opinion.

“In the predominantly Muslim nations surveyed, views of Jews are largely unfavorable. Nearly all in Jordan (97%), the Palestinian territories (97%) and Egypt (95%) hold an unfavorable view. Similarly, 98% of Lebanese express an unfavorable opinion of Jews, including 98% among both Sunni and Shia Muslims, as well as 97% of Lebanese Christians. By contrast, only 35% of Israeli Arabs express a negative opinion of Jews, while 56% voice a favorable opinion.”

“Negative views of Jews are also widespread in the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed in Asia: More than seven-in-ten in Pakistan (78%) and Indonesia (74%) express unfavorable opinions. A majority in Turkey (73%) also hold a critical view. Among Nigerians, overall views are split (44% favorable, 44% unfavorable), but opinions divide sharply along religious lines. Fully 60% of Nigerian Muslims have an unfavorable view of Jews, compared with only 28% of Christians.”^[19][19] https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2010/02/04/chapter-3-views-of-religious-groups/

Pew Research Center: Only 2% of Pakistanis hold “favorable views about Jews”^[20][20] https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2011/07/21/chapter-2-how-muslims-and-westerners-view-each-other/

Mehnaz Afridi, American Muslim scholar of Pakistani origin: “Antisemitism is everywhere, like smog that hangs in the air—thick, dirty, and choking. Even in Karachi, where I was born, the Jews are everywhere, although they have not lived there as a community of any size in several hundred years.”^[21][21] https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/7/442/htm

ADL 100 Global 100 Index: “While Muslims are more likely to hold anti-Semitic views than members of any other religion (49% Index Score),…”

…geography makes a big difference in their views. Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa (75% Index Score) are much more likely to harbor anti-Semitic attitudes than Muslims in Asia (37% Index Score), Western Europe (29% Index Score), Eastern Europe (20% Index Score), and Sub-Saharan Africa (18% Index Score).^[22][22] https://global100.adl.org/did-you-know Muslim acceptance of anti-Semitic stereotypes was substantially higher than among the national populations — on average almost three times as high — in the six countries tested: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.  At the same time, the scores for European Muslims were significantly lower than for respondents in the Middle East and North Africa region polled in 2014.^[23][23] https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-global-survey-of-18-countries-finds-hardcore-anti-semitic-attitudes-remain

The Atlantic (2011): “The retired chief of Holland’s major conservative party last month advised Jews who are ‘identifiably Jewish’ to leave the country, because the Dutch state cannot protect them from anti-Semitic violence.”^[24][24] https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/holocaust-education-makes-things-worse-for-jews/339247/

ADL Global 100 Index: In South Africa, 41% agreed with the assertion that “Jews want to weaken our national culture by supporting immigrants coming to our country.”^[25][25] https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-global-survey-of-18-countries-finds-hardcore-anti-semitic-attitudes-remain