So far, Europe has had three major phases of anti-Semitism: The first was the long-standing anti-Jewish sentiment that characterized the early Christian church. The second was socialist-based anti-Semitism. This reach its ugly apogee in Germany, when it got blended with ideas about racial purity that led to the gas chambers. Europe is now in its third phase of anti-Semitism, one that is a mixture of old socialist antipathies and new (to Europe) Muslim hostility. Andrew Bostom, who probably knows as much as anyone about Islamic attitudes towards non-Muslims, describes this new wave of Muslim-driven anti-Semitism sweeping through Europe. Bostom first gives just the numbers:
Drs. Kaplan and Small examined the views of 5004 Europeans, roughly 500 individuals sampled from each of 10 European Union countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). The authors’ main publicized results confirmed their (rather commonsensical) a priori hypothesis: anti-Israel sentiments strongly and independently predicted the likelihood that an individual was anti-Semitic in a graded manner, i.e., the more anti-Israel (on a scale of zero to 4), the more a person was likely to be anti-Semitic.
But perhaps an even more striking finding in light of the burgeoning Jew hatred now evident in Europe’s Muslim communities, has until now received much less attention. In a controlled comparison to European Christians (as the “referent” group), European Muslims were nearly eightfold (i.e., 800%) more likely to be overtly anti-Semitic. Furthermore, in light of the Pew Global Attitudes Project data on Muslim attitudes toward Jews in Islamic countries, the Yale study likely underestimated the extent of anti-Semitism amongst Europe’s Muslim communities. Had more poorly educated, less acclimated European Muslims been sampled, the results would probably have been even worse.
His statistic about Paris alone is appalling:
Ten months ago, during a November 14, 2005 presentation at The Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., Stephen Steinlight, former director of education at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, and subsequently director of national affairs at the American Jewish Committee, cited data demonstrating that Muslim youths, or more appropriately, youthful Muslim thugs, engaged in an average of 12 attacks per day on Parisian Jews,
“putting the figures… close to [those] during the days of the Weimar Republic.”
Bostom, of course, doesn’t just present the numbers. He takes the time to analyze the whys of this surge in anti-Semitism. His conclusion is that all the old platitudes about decaying European attitudes and economic realities are inapplicable. I won’t steal his thunder here, though, since it would cheapen the breadth and depth of his analysis and conclusions if I were simply to grab the ultimate paragraphs and stick them in here. If you have the time, you really should read his article yourself.
Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Europe
Until Muslims begin teaching their kids to get with the program, or Jews start teaching their kids to fail, the problem will only get worse. The losers always need somebody (other than themselves) to blame. It’s human nature.
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Book,
You said,
“So far, Europe has had three major phases of anti-Semitism: The first was the long-standing anti-Jewish sentiment that characterized the early Christian church.”
I can’t recall any time in history when Bible believing Christians held an anti-Jewish position.
However there are many instances in the past of the Roman Catholic’s long standing anti-Jewish activity.
Too often the word “Christian” is used when it should be “Catholic” and vice-versa. There is a vast difference between the Bible believing Christian and the Roman Catholic.
Good post, though.
ExP (Jack)
“I can’t recall any time in history when Bible believing Christians held an anti-Jewish position.”
Perhaps the good Jack is correct. They tend to focus on Catholic-bashing.
J
No Catholic bashing..
Just recalling some facts:
The Crusades,
The Catholic support of Hitler’s Nazism,
Recently the Archbishop of Jerusalem condemning “Jewish” aggression,
Not too long ago the official position of the RC Church was that “the Jews killed Christ.” Doctrinally incorrect.
ExP (Jack)
ExP, I’m afraid your facts aren’t. I have never felt today’s Roman church to be anti semitic. I suspect most Roman Catholics feel the same.
Here is a rather long examination of the Catholic Church’s 1998 statement regarding the Nazi years. The essay is written from the JEWISH perspective, by a Jewish scholar, David Novak. ( “David Novak holds the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.”) It’s from an orthodox RC publication called ‘First Things,’ (which I’ve quoted before.)
Here’s one paragraph that summarizes this scholar’s view:
“As regards the Holocaust, the Church feels sorrow and shame about those of her faithful who did not respond properly to Nazism, or who did nothing more than sympathize with what was being done to the victims of Nazi persecution. That sorrow and shame is not because of a mere association of baptized Catholics with Nazis and Nazi sympathizers; it seems to be sorrow and shame that the teaching authority of the Church did not do enough to encourage such persons to resist the evil to which they succumbed. In other words, perhaps the Church did not do a good enough job of teaching the principles of Christianity to many of her sons and daughters. This failure has led the Church to reiterate its condemnations of racism and anti-Semitism.”
I found it a worthwhile read; I learned things.
http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9901/articles/novak.html
What is more important today is what Nelson Ascher writes at Pajamas Media. His essay is a dire warning. It’s also shameful for all of us. And scary (like Bookworm’s post.)
“..the historical roots of the hatred, its psychology and so on are not questions we have the time to analyse, dissect, discuss endlessly nowadays. (And we’re still debating the Holocaust, how and why it happened etc., 62 years after the end of WW2, without having reached anything resembling consensual answers.)
We are spending precious time getting surprised or scared, wondering about the hatred itself, its depth and extension. That’s important, but not what’s most important right now. What we need to understand is that this hatred is being once again used cynically to obtain certain results.”
http://politicscentral.com/2006/08/15/the_uses_of_antisemitism_by_ne.php
Easing, hopefully, back towards the topic, I think envy is at the heart of the problem in Europe, and probably in the middle east as well. That’s what I was trying to suggest in my first comment. Of course there’s no shortage of fear and ignorance in any religion, especially those of the “fundamentalist” variety. Maybe in a few hundred years Islam will evolve into something more stable and tolerant.
With all due respect ExPreacherman, the sad fact is that most groups (including Jews such as Marx or Chomsky) have done the anti-Semitic dance. I admit that I learned the following fact at Berkeley, so it’s suspect, but I was taught that Martin Luther, who opened the floodgates to alternatives to Catholicism originally hoped that, with his emphasis on the Old Testament, he could bring Jews into the Christian fold. When the Jews rebuffed his overtures (and I don’t know whether either the overtures or the rebuffs were polite or crude), he reverted to the medieval Christian paradigm of hostility towards the Jews.
Certainly, throughout time, just as there have been people who hated the Jews, there have been those who respected them — or at least left them alone. When I referred to Christians in my post, I was referring rather generically to any groups that recognize Christ as the son of God and were/are hostile to Jews. I wasn’t too concerned with such group’s doctrinal stances within their Christian faith. I’m just grateful that in the here and now, more and more Christian groups, of whatever doctrinal stripe, are renouncing all hostility towards Jews. My thanks go to those Christians — by which I mean all who recognize Christ as the savior and son of God — who have shown what I view as tremendous grace and wisdom in that regard.
The problem with the Jews have always been that they have had so much success, without the requisite warrior brotherhood to protect all that money.
Civilizations exist in a kind of symbiosis between barbarians and builders. The Jews might be good at building, but they cannot sustain that ability without also the talent at destruction and mayhem. America’s talent is the ability to excell at both reconstruction and destruction. Either before or after the fact.
When I refer to talent, I’m not refering to technology or bombs, but the martial spirit, the warrior ethos, and the ruthlessness of ethics.
People who want to target Jews, must first either co-opt/destroy their protectors, or find a big enough hammer to smash through the defenses (Arab v Israel wars).
One could say that so many people (mostly European and Islamic) hate the Jews because they are, collectively, so successful (”that magnificent tribe”, according to J.R.R. Tolkien). However, so are the Chinese of the diaspora, throughout the world, and you don’t see rabid, intellectually founded anti-Chinese hatred on nearly the scale of that which is directed to Israel and the Jews. I am convinced, after many, many discussions with Europeans (I am a former European), that a fundamental reason that Europe hates Jews is for much of the same reason as so many Europeans hate us Americans: Jews and Americans are defined by their religious values. Inculcated with 200-plus years of secular humanism, Europeans have come to view Judeo-Christianity as “dangerously superstitious” and a sign of intellectual ignorance, even as they recognize Judeo-Christianity’s values as prima facia evidence of how far they have fallen. The mystery, in my mind, is why they don’t express the same antipathy toward Islam. Perhaps it is because they don’t take it seriously (yet), combined with a hefty dose of the “enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Europe is doomed to forever repeat its mistakes because it cannot bring itself to realize that its flaws reside deep in the human spirit.
Your analysis rings true, Danny.
My own American hubris runs contra to the idea of US as ‘the colonials’ (as some English still put it!)
I see Europe as the weakling. I’ve often felt America, Canada, Australia drew the strongest from their respective European parents. The best and the brightest came here.
Who wouldn’t?
I suspect the story of so many Jewish emigrants before and after World War II is one definitive proof.
Well, all I can say is this: The friend who sent to me “The Jewish/Islamic Scorecard” — which I later sent to BW — which she subsequently placed on her blog, this morning (along with another one of her AMAZING commentaries)… well, that friend is a very serious & active Roman Catholic Italian guy, who happens to be a HUGE fan of Jewish culture, ethics, character & courage. He frequently sends similar items which consistently recognize Jews for their special tenacity & contribution to humanity.
I normally tend to agree with ExPreacherman’s postings, here, but not this time. Whereas such a negetive evaluation of Catholicism’s view on the Jewish faith (& Jewish folks, in general) may have held some truth in eons, past — it is very rare, today.
I happen to know a LOT of Catholics & most have “modernized” their faith, even if such a modernized version does NOT similarly flow from the Vatican.
Hopefully, peolple are not equating the childish rantings of a drunken Mel Gibson type — with mainstream Catholic belief!
Perhaps it is because they don’t take it seriously (yet), combined with a hefty dose of the “enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
The commonality between Islam and China is that both will gut you like a fish if you displease them. Islam is even better at this, because they don’tcare about “getting away” like the Chinese are concerned about. Islam always has heaven to escape to, so they don’t care about being caught.
Europe respects that kind of ruthlessness, and submits to such power unconsciously. They criticize America and Israel, not only because we are here to be criticized, but because they are frustrated with their powerlessness over ruthless strong people, so they take it out on strong peaceful people.
People blame whoever is there, once the fear of retaliation is gone. Fear restricts people form blaming their captors and going off on a rant, lest Centanni find himself without a head and some body parts.
To Trish Olsen,
Just to clear the air on my comments:
I said “However there are many instances IN THE PAST of the Roman Catholic’s long standing anti-Jewish activity.”
“IN THE PAST” does not necessarily relate to today. My entire post had to do with THE PAST except the Jerusalem Bishop’s hateful comments.
Hey, some of my best friends are Catholic.. I love to engage them in talk about Salvation in Jesus Christ alone.
ExP(Jack)
“I can’t recall any time in history when Bible believing Christians held an anti-Jewish position.”
That assertion is simply bizarre. Anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination were the norm until recently. And it wasn’t just from Catholics. Protestants were just as guilty. Just as one example, remember Martin Luther’s frothing rage against the Jews?
Unfortunately, I suspect that much of the anti-Christian feeling that European anti-semitism (Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox) instilled in European Jews emigrated with those same Jews to America at the turn of the 20th Century. My own experience suggests that many Jews tned to lump “Christians” into one amorphous mass, not recognizing that many of the Christian denominations they label as Christian “fundamentalist” are very pro-Jewish and anti-theocratic, and also migrated to the U.S. to escape persecution from fellow European “Christians”.
Danny — Do you really think Jews, especially Israeli Jews aren’t aware of the support they have in the fundamentalist community? I’m sure Jews appreciate it, especially when it’s offered without the almost-obligatory attempts to “save” them.
J, Israeli Jews, yes. American Jews, unfortunately for a very significant part, no…especially if they are from the North and Northeastern states, where the late-19th century immigrants from Europe landed. I find that many (American) Jews in my (extensively Jewish) community have only a very vague appreciation of the fact that there are very big differences within the Christian community and still view us with a lot of suspicion. I once sat down with a Jewish friend and listed eight reasons why American Christians supported Israel, none of them having to do with supposed “end-times theology” or “theocracy”. He was blown away…he had absolutely no idea. I should point out that many members within this latter community are also secular and view religious Jews with disdain and suspicion, as well. For some of them, being Jewish and supporting Israel seems to be a badge of shame. It’s sad. Interestingly, the more recent Jewish immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe that I have met seem to have a totally different and more positive view of American Christians. Oh well, enough about generalizations. Lachaim!