Europe’s anti-Semetism Rises

Visitors to the Israeli cities of Netanya and Eilat take immediate notice of the frequency with which French and English (British) are heard in the streets.  In the larger Israeli cities, one hears a variety of different European languages being spoken.  Jews are once again fleeing their countries in the wake of the resurgence of anti-Semitism. Europe has apparently ended its moratorium on this foul bigotry. Since the 1980s, incidents have been steadily increasing. 

The question that one must ask is whether what is happening is the result of Israeli governmental policies, or are they simply an excuse for the renewal of hatred and violence against Jews.  Two millennia of anti-Judaic hatred taught by the Catholic Church cannot be completely reversed in short 45 years – despite the meaningful changes made by the Church following the Second Vatican Council and Nostra Aetate. When one adds to the mix the approximately 52 million European Muslims, with their radical Islamic teaching and violent Koranic verses against Jews, the result has been a growing rejection of any guilt related to the murder of six million Jews perpetrated by European Christians.There are some European governments, though, that are increasing their vigilance against anti-Semitic hate crimes.  For example, in the Netherlands, the Digital Journal reported on June 23, 2010, that “Dutch police will be using ‘decoy Jews’ to try and catch anti-Semitic attackers in Amsterdam. Law enforcers will be disguised in Jewish religious dress to entice those engaging in the hate crimes.”  However, France, under former President Jacque Chirac, had chosen denial.  On January 14, 2002 he responded angrily to Oliver Guland, editor of France’s largest Jewish newspaper, Tribune Juif, demanding he “stop saying that there is anti-Semitism in France. There is no anti-Semitism in France and, moreover, there are no anti-Semites in France.”  According to Guland, Chirac said that stories about anti-Semitism in France were just “rumors.” 

While it would appear that the worst anti-Semitic attacks on Jews occurred during the second Palestinian Intifada (2000-2004) — mostly by Muslim youth, but inspired by the unholy alliance of European Islamists, radical leftists and extreme neo-Nazis — anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate crimes continue to occur in Europe.  The BBC reported on June 24, 2010 that “German police are investigating the stoning of a Jewish dance group trying to perform on the street in the city of Hanover.” According to YNET News, on June 28th, two young Israelis were attacked by a Palestinian in a Berlin nightclub. Police were reportedly “probing whether the assault by a man who identified himself as Palestinian was anti-Semitic.” In Sweden last August, an article published in the largest daily newspaper Aftonbladet implied that the Israel Defense Force kills Palestinians to provide the medical establishment with organs.  Curiously, the Swedish media denounced the story as anti-Semitic, while the Swedish government refused to comment on the article, claiming legal factors prevent them from condemning it. When the Swedish ambassador to Israel published a condemnation of the text in an article, she was forced to retract it.