Global Antisemitism
We stand for Israel. We resist antisemitism. Hatred toward Jewish people has old history. We want you to be aware of this dangerous “virus”. Antisemitism is the Soul-killing sickness in our world. Below you will find several insights form different sources.
Antisemitism is the Soul-killing sickness in our world
Mitch Glaser and Oliver Melnick
“Anti-Semitism is on the increase…and enlightened people are not immune to it.” These words, written in 1945 by the renowned British author George Orwell in an essay titled “Anti-Semitism in Britain,” might just as easily have been written in 2005.
Richard Jinman, reporting on February 11, 2005, in the English newspaper “The Guardian,” wrote:
The number of abusive or violent attacks on Jewish people in Britain reached record levels last year, according to figures released yesterday. A total of 532 “anti-Semitic incidents”-defined as malicious acts on Jewish people or property-were recorded in 2004…. The figure was a 42% increase on the 375 anti-Semitic incidents recorded in 2003 and considerably more than the previous record of 405 in 2000. Among the 532 incidents were 83 physical attacks (up 54% on the previous year), four of which were life-threatening.1
This widespread ignorance has fertilized the soil from which a fresh crop of “Jew hatred” has begun to spring, not only in England, but across all of Europe.
A Spreading Virus
Just as a virus has the power to mutate and reemerge in a more stubbornly pervasive form, the latest waves of anti-Semitism seem to be taking hold and spreading at an ever more alarming rate. One measure of this is the firebombing of a synagogue in Lugano, Switzerland, this past March-the first incident of its kind there in decades. The fire, which was accompanied by another arson targeting a Jewish-owned shop, destroyed the synagogue library.
Regretfully, we are used to reading about such destructive acts in France and Germany – but Switzerland? Dr. Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, stated that the “…firebombings of the Synagogue of Lugano and a nearby Jewish shop are testimony to the ever-rising anti-Semitic violence in cities where, since World War II, attacks on Jews were thought to be taboo.”2
The World Jewish Congress, which keeps a close watch on such matters, has this glum assessment of the present situation: “Anti-Semitism in Europe has risen exponentially in the recent years…[and] is at a level unseen since the end of the Second World War.”3 According to the WJC, a report just issued by France’s National Advisory Committee on Human Rights indicates that ethnic and religious-based incidents of violence in France have reached their highest level since 1994-including a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2003-2004 from 601 to 970.
The Anti-Defamation League, which was founded in 1913 and is one of the most important monitors of anti-Semitism worldwide, issued an open letter to Dominique Perben, the French Minister of Justice. Written by Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s National Director, the letter says, in part,
The recent report of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights indicating that anti-Semitic incidents increased dramatically in 2004, not only in number but in severity, is extremely disturbing…. It is good that France is addressing the problem of anti-Semitism. It is now critical that sufficient action is taken to make a difference on the ground to ensure that the Jews of France will feel completely secure in their country.4
Why is This Happening?
In an article written late last year for the U.S. Department of State, Edward B. O’Donnell, Jr., Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, observed:
What we are seeing today in Europe is a perverse combination of the new and the old. The old is the ancient strain of European anti-Semitism….The new is the complex mixing of ethnic groups in Europe since the end of World War II….This is a variation of the classic warning about new wine in old wineskins. The new population mix…is having difficulties adjusting to the new situation into which it has been thrust. It lashes out at the very society of which it seeks to be a part. One of the results has been repeated attacks on Jewish community facilities and on individual Jews.5
These comments demonstrate uncommon insight, for they draw the connection between the past and present. In other words, the ancient prejudices are reemerging, dressed up in modern clothing. However, the root causes have not changed. Jealousy, fear, and religious bigotry all have their part to play. But underneath it all is the same hatred engendered by our adversary, Satan.
Do these troubling developments mean that an overwhelming or even a simple majority of Europeans hate the Jews? The polls seem to indicate not. Even in France, most people disapprove of anti-Semitism. However, there is absolutely no doubt that this minority of haters has recently felt far more emboldened. One of the most important reasons for this is the rise of hostility against the Israeli government and the media’s torrent of criticism against Israel.
What Can We Do to Getting involved
So, we learn, we pray, and then we speak up, though not necessarily always in that order. Learning is a continual effort; prayer is as often as necessary and speaking up occurs whenever there is a reason to voice our support. Speaking up will go a long way in rebuilding bridges between Christians and Jews that have been burned over the last 2,000 years.
A simple phone call or email to your local synagogue or Jewish community center to voice your support of the Jewish community will mean a lot in times of trouble. Christians might even consider volunteering to repair or clean up damages on Jewish property because of acts of antisemitic vandalism.
For churches that have an outside marquee, it is very easy and quite effective toshow support for the Jewish community relating to a tragedy such as a hostage situation or even a killing. Even outside of a reaction to a tragedy, churches can always display a “Happy New Year to our Jewish friends” or “Happy Passover” or “Happy Hanukkah” at the appropriate time. If the Jewish community organizes a rally in support of Israel or to fight antisemitism, now is the time as Christians to participate and show your support.
Every year, on January 27th, the whole world commemorates the horrors of the Holocaust by observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day and you may participate to the event and show your support. Or like in Latvia you may participate to the local National Holocaust Memorial Day, or you may even organize local March of life event in your city cooperating with local Jewish representatives and Christian communities as shown in other areas on these pages.
It is our duty as human beings to remember the Holocaust, share its history with the future generations, and speak up against those who deny that it ever took place. The lessons learned from the Holocaust say much about evil and human nature. We need to be reminded every day about the possibility of such a catastrophe to reoccur. Yet, in the midst of all this, our God is all-powerful and all-loving.
“In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63:9).
Jewish people in the EU
EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030)
The first-ever EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030) is an ambitious and comprehensive strategy adopted by the European Commission on 5 October 2021. Generations after the end of the Shoah, antisemitism is worryingly on the rise, in Europe and beyond. Antisemitism is incompatible with Europe’s core values. It represents a threat not only to Jewish communities and to Jewish life, but to an open and diverse society, to democracy and the European way of life. The European Union is determined to put an end to it.
European Jews and Jewish communities have been contributing to the social, political, economic, scientific and cultural development of Europe for over two millennia and are an inextricable part of Europe’s identity. Today, Jewish life across Europe is vibrant again; there are around 1.5 million Jews in the EU.
With this strategy, the Commission is determined to significantly step up the fight against antisemitism to ensure a good perspective for the future of Jews in Europe
Holocaust Encyclopedia
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/antisemitism
The word antisemitism means prejudice against or hatred of Jews. The Holocaust, the state-sponsored persecution and murder of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945, is history’s most extreme example of antisemitism.
In 1879, German journalist Wilhelm Marr originated the term antisemitism, denoting the hatred of Jews, and also hatred of various liberal, cosmopolitan, and international political trends of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often associated with Jews. The trends under attack included equal civil rights, constitutional democracy, free trade, socialism, finance capitalism, and pacifism.