Jewish life in Europe unsustainable

[cronus]

http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewis ... ble-350545

European Jewish Congress: Amid rising anti-Semitism, Jewish life in Europe unsustainable

Normative Jewish life in Europe is unsustainable,” European Jewish Congress President Dr. Moshe Kantor said on Sunday. Presenting the results of a study on worldwide anti-Semitism in 2013 by the eponymous Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, Kantor cited increasing anti-Semitism and rising “fear and insecurity” as factors leading to a European Jewish decline.

Citing a November study by the European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights which showed that almost a third of Jews in several European countries are mulling emigration, Kantor asserted that “Jews do not feel safe or secure in certain communities in Europe.”

“According to that survey, almost half of the Jewish population is afraid of being verbally or physically attacked in a public place because they are Jewish and 25% of Jews will not wear anything that identifies them as Jewish or go near a Jewish institution for fear of an attack,” he said.

“European governments must be pressed to address this issue with utmost urgency.”

A third of Jews polled in the FRA study refrained from wearing religious garb or Jewish symbols out of fear, and 23 percent avoided attending Jewish events or going to Jewish venues.

While 66% reported anti-Semitism as having a negative affect on their lives, 77% did not bother reporting abuse or harassment. Almost a third were mulling emigration as a response to heightened anti-Jewish sentiment.

The countries facing the worst anti-Semitism are Hungary, France, Belgium and Sweden, the ministry asserted, quoting the FRA study.

The FRA came under fire from Jewish organizations as well as the state of Israel for dropping a working definition of anti-Semitism from its website last year.

Kantor said that he believes that it is easy to ignore hate and incitement when there are no “direct victims” but that such manifestations of anti-Semitism can easily be converted into action.

“We received a stark lesson two weeks ago in Kansas City that there are many dangerous anti-Semites out there who just need the trigger and the opportunity to transfer their hate speech into violent action,” Kantor said, referring to a recent shooting at a Jewish Community Center in the United States.

(continued, Europe is not in Kansas anymore?)

[Svartalf]

Good and good riddance to bad population
(Actually, in France, the most antisemite population is muslims, go figure, I guess it's one of those family disputes)

[cronus]

Actually Slate fizzes on the fire a tad. Might be some crying wolf going on....?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/saletan/2014 ... other.html

[Svartalf]

The Jews cry wolf every time they see the shadow of an excuse.

[cronus]

The Jews cry wolf every time they see the shadow of an excuse.

You haven't had the Germans in again have you?

[Svartalf]

No, I jusst live right by the oldest Jewish quarter in Paris, People in black with black hats are a daily sight for me, and I know there's a Jewish major holiday when I see police vehicles parking in the neighbourhood.

[cronus]

No, I jusst live right by the oldest Jewish quarter in Paris, People in black with black hats are a daily sight for me, and I know there's a Jewish major holiday when I see police vehicles parking in the neighbourhood.

Black hats. Nothing like that here. A Bishop walks past the end of the street on his way to the local cathedral someday's. His hat isn't really a hat though.

[Svartalf]

Black jacket and black hats are the uniform of Lubavitsch Jews, or maybe the whole haredi/hassidic branch of them, and they have a major yeshiva right by my home, less than 100 yards.

[pErvinalia]

If "anti-Semitism" means "anti-Semitism" then this is worrying. But I'd have to be convinced that it is actually anti-Semitism. Considering a lot of Jews think criticism of Israeli government is anti-Semitism, I'd need more info.

[JimC]

If "anti-Semitism" means "anti-Semitism" then this is worrying. But I'd have to be convinced that it is actually anti-Semitism. Considering a lot of Jews think criticism of Israeli government is anti-Semitism, I'd need more info.

There can be considerable overlap between the set of "Anti Zionist" and the set of "Anti Semitic"...

As well as the more general racist set...

[pErvinalia]

Yeah. It's just that the more vocal Jewish groups tend towards hyperbole in their descriptions of "anti-semitism". I'm not even going to read the article to find out. They've cried wolf one too many times for me to care that much. If real nasty shit starts happening, then I'll step up to the plate.