World
Nearly half of French Jews tell their children not to reveal religion in public
A new report says that antisemitism 'often conceals itself behind the mask of human rights and egalitarianism'
October 4, 2022 11:05
A new report says that antisemitism 'often conceals itself behind the mask of human rights and egalitarianism'
October 4, 2022 11:05Nearly half of French Jews tell their children not to reveal their religion when in public, an alarming new report has said.
The report, entitled “Annual Assessment: The Situation and Dynamics of the Jewish People,” was published in September, and documents an increase in antisemitism across Europe and the US from both left and right due to shifts in national politics and geopolitical events.
It claims that, in France, antisemitism comes from the "extreme left fringe" that has surged in recent years. This antisemitism "often conceals itself behind the mask of human rights and egalitarianism."
It adds: "The Jewish state is frequently described by activists in these movements as the last bastion of colonialism, an evil entity that should be dismantled. This is often accompanied by age-old antisemitic tropes, creating a hostile environment for Jews.”
The report says that 20 per cent of French Jews have been physically assaulted, 37 per cent feel insecure, and 45 per cent of Jewish parents "ask their children not to disclose their religion".
However, it does note that during the 2021 Israel-Hamas conflict, the French government "adopted a preemptive policy to prevent attacks on Jews", which it singles out as a "positive exception".
The report was compiled by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), a Jerusalem-based non-profit organisation with the aim of promoting and securing the Jewish people and Israel.
It states that young Jews around the world, particularly in the United States, are "lowering their Jewish-Zionist profile in an attempt maintain their social status among their non-Jewish friends."
"American college campuses remain hotbeds of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist activity, putting Jewish students on the defensive," it adds.
In the UK, 18 per cent of Jews said they feel unwelcome, and many said that they feel little or no support in fighting antisemitism from “progressive left circles”, which the report attributes to a a neo-Marxist “conceptual framework” in which Jews are perceived as white and incapable of experiencing racism.
“This framing is an obstacle to fighting antisemitism and contributes to significantly to failures to recognise and stand against antisemitism among the broader left."
In August, the Community Security Trust (CST) warned against complacency as it reported that in the first half of 2022, it recorded the fifth most antisemitic incidents since it began tracking them in 1984.
Germany is also noted as a country of significant concern. 40 per cent of Jews said they have been “disadvantaged, marginalised, or threatened in one way or another over the past year", and it noted survey results showing that at least a quarter of Germans have antisemitic beliefs, some of which are related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on Jewish communities is also discussed at length. The JPPI describes President Vladimir Putin's record on antisemitism as "mixed", noting "strong personal ties" with Jews and public appearances with Jewish community representatives.
The JPPI says: "Russian Jews are not particularly concerned by contemporary antisemitism, with only 16 per cent considering it a very serious issue and 39 per cent rating it a serious issue in Russia today."
However, it also expresses concern over the "national narrative" that fails to "differentiate by religion or ethnicity among the millions of victims of Nazi aggression", which "severely impacts the possibility of memorialising Jewish suffering during the Holocaust".
Social media is also an area of major concern: "Social media continues to constitute a pivotal platform for the dissemination of antisemitic discourse, ideology, and tropes, and for antisemites to interact with one another. The actions taken by the social media networks against this phenomenon to date have not reduced it significantly.
"Only a coordinated international effort can press the platforms to set norms to diminish the hate speech they host."
The group concluded that antisemitism would continue to be a problem facing European Jews in the coming years, and called on Israel to work with international organisations to fight it using "clear and measurable" goals and objectives to fight it.