In November, the Israeli government
launched an attack on the European
Union, accusing it of anti-semitism. The trenchant criticism focussed on two concerns. Firstly, that the EU had suppressed a report indicating that there had been a marked rise in anti-semitism across Europe in the past three years, apparently blaming this on Europe's Muslims. Secondly, a poll conducted by "Eurobarometer" reported that 59% of Europeans saw Israel as the greatest threat to world peace.
Israel's prime minister Arial Sharon made clear what he saw as the real basis of the problem on the 24th November, when he stated that the growing Muslim population of Europe (17 million) was "endangering the life of Jewish people", linking this growth to the Palestinian Intafada since 2000 to explain a rise in anti-semitic incidents.
The EU has stated that the withdrawal of the report by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia was because it wasn't sufficiently evidence- based and that it would be reworked and released this year. It has also been suggested that the methodology was wrong - failing to properly distinguish between Israelis and Jews.
If the latter were true, of course, it would totally distort the conclusions and wrongly ascribe anti-semitism to many Muslims, by conflating it with criticism of Israel.
Any judgement on the competing claims is impossible without access to the report and information as to how it was compiled. But it would be wrong to presume that because some of the reasons for withdrawing it may have been valid or because of Sharon's Zionism and the racism of his comments that the question of rising anti-semitism needn't be addressed.
There is no agreement as to the rate at which anti-semitic attacks are on the increase in Britain. For instance in February 2003 the Guardian reported a 13% rise in 2002 whereas Searchlight magazine noted a 260% increase over the period 200I-2. But the consensus seems to be that it is on the rise.
There were a number of very serious incidents last year - including the daubing of swastikas on gravestones in July and the desecration 386 Jewish graves in Plashet, East London in August.
This mirrors developments Europe, with November being particularly bad.
Two synagogues in Turkey ject of suicide bombings, the tating arson attack on the Jewish school in Paris 21 gr desecrated in a Jew..i plo Kent and the Hillock Hebri synagogue near Man ste an arson attack.
In Germany Christ De Hohman claimed tha was no worse than the actic Russian revolution -recting the anti-semit co. a plot between Bolshevi reviving one of the i holocaust.
across ere the subwas a devascaz Hatorah SLOnES WeIC Chatham in ongregation
damaged in at Mir Mark : Nazis did / Jews in the susly resury theory of The head of Germany's special forces, I Jews and General Reinhard Guenzel, was then sacked
ons for the for praising the MP for his "courage" in
speaking out.
the Ethnic
Cleansing of
JERUSALEM The barbarism of the Zionists must not become an excuse for anti-semitic racism
whole at work. communities. black neighbours. xenophobia. nICM poll published by ewish
A Chronicle this year found that one
in seven believed that the scale of the Nazi holocaust against Jews is exaggerated, nearly 20% said a Jewish prime minister would be less acceptable than a member of any other faith and 18% thought that Jews have too much influence.
Whilst the findings were highest among the older age group, worryingly the 18-24 year age group were also disproportionately more anti-semitic than the population as a
But the evidence published is far from supporting the assertion that this prejudice can simply be laid at the door of the Muslim community. The rise also has to be examined in the context of long-term political processes
Over the past ten years a social and political polarisation has spurred the growth of a far right, with an anti-semitic ideology, which has made electoral gains across Europe - not simply countries with a substantial. Muslim
Examples include Switzerland, where the People's Party increased it's share of the vote from 5.2% to 26.6% between 1999-2003, and Norway, where the Freedom Party improved its share of the vote in regional and municipal elections last September.
n Britain a Mori opinion poll in January
this year showed disturbing evidence of
a long term increase in the proportion of the population holding racist attitudes. In the poll, 41% of white people did not want
Race and immigration were ranked the most important issue (ahead of crime, defence and the economy by 29% of respondents, compared to less than 10% a decade ago. Racist scapegoating was reflected by a finding that immigrants were similarly being blamed for a variety of ills - including job insecurity and lack of welfare
Such are the fruits of seven years of New Labour's neo-liberalism and anti-immigrant
In the circumstances, the clearest evidence is required before rising anti-semitism can be disentangled from other rightist racist ideologies on the increase as stemming from a different source (Muslims).
Great care must be taken to avoid wrongly ascribing this to a Muslim community that is bearing the brunt of racist attacks, discrim-