3 min read
ByJonathan Boyd, Jonathan Boyd
The worrying results of a study on antisemitism in Europe from last week aren't necessarily as bleak as they seem - if looked at with a critical eye, says Jonathan Boyd
December 6, 2018 15:59The survey making headlines over the past week or so is a large seven-country study of attitudes towards Jews in Europe conducted by ComRes for CNN. The reaction to the findings from European Jewish leaders, Israeli politicians, American Jewish analysts and CNN itself can largely be summarised in a single word: “Gevalt!”
I am no longer terribly surprised by this type of response. It has become almost Pavlovian. Whenever any research is released about antisemitism, most commentators seem to make a beeline for the bad news. And in doing so, it’s remarkable how many findings are misunderstood, misinterpreted, or frankly, just missed — particularly those pointing to a counternarrative. Quite why so many people do that probably requires some psychological analysis, and as I’m not a psychologist, it’s best if I don’t go there.
But, as it’s Chanukah — a time of year when we try to let little flickers of light penetrate the darkness — perhaps it’s worth highlighting some of the more positive findings in the study, and the ones that require most careful interpretation.
One finding CNN stressed was that a third of Europeans said they knew little or nothing at all about the Holocaust. Intuitively, that sounds pretty awful. But actually, we have no way of knowing whether that figure is high or low, because we have nothing to compare it with. Is that higher or lower than it was five or ten years ago? A serious assessment of that figure would at least ask that question.
Moreover, there are no parallel data. What proportions know little or nothing about the First World War? Or the Armenian genocide? Or the collapse of communism? The research falls short by failing to investigate. But we should at least be asking the question before throwing our hands up in the air.
And importantly, the survey also found that respondents in all seven countries are highly likely to agree with the statement “Commemorating the Holocaust helps to ensure that such atrocities will never happen again.” More than half of all respondents in each country agree with that idea, and many of the remainder have no view either way. Most remarkably, 80 per centof respondents in Poland agree with it. Yup, Poland.
So yes, a third knows little or nothing about the Holocaust, but over a half believes that it should be commemorated — not only to ensure that it won’t happen again, but also to help combat antisemitism today. And, six times as many people accept Israel’s right to exist than question it, with less than four per cent across Europe questioning it strongly.
So yes, anxieties are rising about antisemitism in Europe among Jews. But non-Jews are noticing, and many are broadly supportive of our needs and interests.
ComRes also asked a question that allowed respondents to situate themselves on a scale measuring their opinions of Jews, ranging from “very favourable” to “very unfavourable.” The proportions registering “very unfavourable” attitudes — known from other research to designate what might be termed ‘hard-core’ or serious, ideological antisemites — are small: they range from between 2.5 per cent (for the UK, Sweden and Germany), to just below four per cent (for Poland and Austria). Hungary is the exception at 8.6 per cent.
And critically, the same data also demonstrate that about 90per cent of people either express a favourable view of Jews, or have no particular view either way. That’s the case in the UK, as well as in Sweden, Germany, France and Austria. Hungary and Poland lag behind a bit, but even in those cases, it’s in the 80 to 85 per cent range.
Moreover, when we compare the CNN findings with research conducted by JPR and CST in November 2016, we find that levels of unfavourability towards Jews in the UK today are almost identical to where they were then. Given the widespread assumption that levels of antisemitism are rising, this measure indicates that there has been no discernible change. In fact, levels of favourability towards Jews appear to have actually improved a little over that period, rising by about four percentage points.
So, it’s not all bad news. Most importantly, to tackle antisemitism, we need to understand it fully and make sure we don’t mistake fears for facts. We do ourselves and our cause a disservice when we fail to read results like this carefully. CNN’s data are helpful, but only if we understand them in all their complexity.
Jonathan Boyd is executive director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR)
