Study: Despite Rise in Racism, Anti-semitism is on the Decline

Anti-Semitism is on the wane in many countries around the world at a time when racism and xenophobia directed against other groups is rising, according to a study of anti-Semitic trends released this week.

The study, published by the American Jewish Committee and the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research, pointed to a number of trends explaining the decrease in anti-Semitism, including the Middle East peace process and new laws in Europe that criminalize Holocaust denial.

But the concurrent rise in racism and xenophobia directed against other groups should still be a matter of concern to Jews, said Tony Lerman, the Institute’s director and editor of the report.

“Although anti-Semitic violence is only a tiny fraction of racist violence in general, the striking feature of this report is the worsening racist climate in many countries – and this in itself is very disturbing,” he said.

“Surprisingly, the latest racist upsurge has not led to an increase in anti- Semitism,” he said. But he questioned whether the two trends would run in separate directions over the long term.

The fifth annual “Anti-Semitism World Report 1996,” which assesses the racial climate of 61 countries and which was released this week in London and New York, found a lessening of European anti-Semitism of the late 1980s an dearly part of this decade.

But it pointed to a negative trend in the United States, noting a breakdown there of the taboo on expressions of anti-Semitism.

“For decades, this taboo was in place,” the report said. “In recent years, however, the taboo has begun to wear thin, exposing Jews to expressions of hostility that were unlikely to come to the surface at an earlier period.”

“Jewish leaders find it much more difficult at present to find allies in the general community for the struggle against anti-Semitism,” the report added.

“It is a telling sign of where things now stand in intergroup relations in the [United States] that Jews are routinely challenged to `prove’ that Louis Farrakhan is an anti-Semite” despite the numerous times the Nation of Islam leader called Jews “bloodsuckers” and stated that German Jews funded Hitler.

The report found a decrease of anti-Semitism in such countries as Great Britain, Germany and South Africa.

But it noted a rise in anti-Semitic incidents and sentiments in Australia, where such incidents increased by 7 percent during the previous year, as well as Belgium, Sweden and Turkey.

In Sweden, the report found, the neo-Nazi movement is stronger now than at any time since World War II.

The report pointed to the success of the Islamist Welfare Party in Turkey’s general elections in December as being of particular concern to the local Jewish community.

In Russia, the report found, attitudes tended to be more anti-Zionist than anti-Semitic.

A poll released by the American Jewish Committee in April found that most Russians have low levels of hostility against Jews.

A second study released this week, conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University, found that anti-Semitic violence had shown a general decrease worldwide during the past year.

But it pointed to an increase in anti-Semitic rhetoric in a number of countries.

On the Internet, 25 sites were found during the first four months of 1996 that were disseminating anti-Semitic information, the study said.

Dina Porat, who worked on the Tel Aviv study, attributed at least part of the increase to liberal laws in some countries regarding freedom of expression, which created an environment in which anti-Semitic and racist groups could distribute their propaganda.