Israeli researchers say attacks against Jews spiked in 2014

[webfact]

Israeli researchers say attacks against Jews spiked in 2014
By ARIEL DAVID

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Jewish communities around the world faced an "explosion of hatred" last year, with the number of violent anti-Semitic attacks rising by 38 percent, according to a report released Wednesday by Israeli researchers.

With most of the violence concentrated in Western Europe, Jewish leaders warned that many in their communities are questioning whether they have any future in the region.

The report by researchers at Tel Aviv University recorded 766 incidents — ranging from armed assaults to vandalism against synagogues, schools and cemeteries — compared to 554 in 2013.

Many Jews feel like "they are facing an explosion of hatred toward them as individuals, their communities, and Israel, as a Jewish state," wrote the researchers from the university's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry.

The center releases the report every year on the eve of Israel's Holocaust memorial day, which begins Wednesday at sundown.

The researchers said the increase in attacks on Jews was partly linked to last summer's conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as well as to what they called a "general climate of hatred and violence" fostered by the rise of the Islamic State group in the Middle East.

The report said 2014 was the second most violent year for Jews in a decade after 2009, which also saw a surge in anti-Semitism following an Israeli military operation in Gaza.

The violence in 2014 spiked during the July-August war in Gaza, particularly in demonstrations organized in France, Germany and other countries, during which protesters chanted anti-Semitic slogans, looted Jewish shops and attacked synagogues as well as people identifiable as Jews.

However, researchers stressed that attacks had been on the rise also before the summer and said the controversy over Israel's operation was used as a pretext to attack Jews.

"Synagogues were targeted, not Israeli embassies," said Dina Porat, a historian who edited the report.

The reported incidents do not include the killing of four shoppers at a kosher supermarket in Paris following the deadly shooting at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, since those events occurred in January.

However, the researchers noted that the wave of attacks has continued this year, and that the gruesome acts and propaganda videos of the Islamic State are also encouraging the radicalization of Muslims in the West.

Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing communities across the continent, said Jewish life has reached a "tipping point" in Europe.

"Some are choosing to leave the continent, many are afraid to walk the streets and even more are retreating behind high walls and barbed wire," Kantor told The Associated Press in an e-mail. "This has become the new reality of Jewish life in Europe."

Kantor said that while governments have pledged to boost security for their Jewish communities, they must do more at a pan-European level to share intelligence, toughen legislation and combat pervasive anti-Semitic attitudes in the general population.

"European Jews should not leave out of fear and should push their leaders to defeat anti-Semitism and radical Islamist terrorism," he said.

As in past years, the highest number of attacks was reported in France, which saw 164 incidents compared to 141 in 2013. In Britain there were 141 attacks, up from 95, and in the United States there were 80 incidents versus 55, including a shooting at Jewish sites in Overland Park, Kansas, that killed three people.

Some western European countries saw even greater increases, with the number of incidents more than doubling in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Sweden. The attacks also target individuals more frequently, with 306 cases involving people as victims, a 66 percent increase.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-04-16

[geriatrickid]

I have a hunch that the attacks are coming from a certain demographic all aligned with a certain view of the world.

[Credo]

I have a hunch that the attacks are coming from a certain demographic all aligned with a certain view of the world.

Perhaps I am reading you wrong, but I think it is a little more broad based that just a certain demographic. Judging from the posts here on Thaivisa, and I don't think there are many from that demographic group, I would hazard a guess that one demographic might be more assertive, but there are a lot that are complicit.

Europe needs to do a lot more to protect the Jewish communities living there. But then that hasn't historically been something they have done.

[ezzra]

Attacks and hatreds against Jews are as old as the pyramids in Egypt, you name an army, entity,

empire, and many countries around the world, they all have a go a the Jews, as Jews always made

good, common scapegoat, hatreds and disdains for Jews has unified people all through out history,

nothing much change since than, Jews are still being blamed for every humanity ills, from political to demographic to financials, if there were no Jews to in the world to hate, vilify and despise, someone

would have to invent them....

[Jingthing]

It's a mix.

Generally ...

Islamists

Leftists/progressives who see all Jews as proxy Israeli soldiers

Fascists as in neo-Nazis, etc.

[hard124get]

Every time Israel attacks one of its neighbours, a Zionist publishes a book titled "The New Antisemitism" (or something similar) there is a huge movement who are against apartheid Israel, it has nothing to do with Jews, many of whom are against Zionism.

[Jingthing]

Every time Israel attacks one of its neighbours, a Zionist publishes a book titled "The New Antisemitism" (or something similar) there is a huge movement who are against apartheid Israel, it has nothing to do with Jews, many of whom are against Zionism.

Dude, that is abrasive BS.

When someone paints a swastika on a Jewish fraternity in California, that's just Jew hatred.

Or shooting up children at a Jewish school in France.

Or violently attacking random rabbis on the street.

Or defacing Jewish cemeteries in many countries.

Etc., etc.

If you want to protest Israeli government policies, there are proper ways to do that.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

I have a hunch that the attacks are coming from a certain demographic all aligned with a certain view of the world.

Radical Islamists and their far-left enablers.

[wabothai]

Ulysses,

or all those "normal" people all over the world who oppose Israel for their

brutal stand on the powerless Palestinians.

or all those who question Israel's silence on IS.

or all those who question Israel's politics period.

You call all those anti-semitic thugs who are out to destroy Israel?

You have been brainwashed and need some adjustment.

[hard124get]

Every time Israel attacks one of its neighbours, a Zionist publishes a book titled "The New Antisemitism" (or something similar) there is a huge movement who are against apartheid Israel, it has nothing to do with Jews, many of whom are against Zionism.

Dude, that is abrasive BS.

When someone paints a swastika on a Jewish fraternity in California, that's just Jew hatred.

Or shooting up children at a Jewish school in France.

Or violently attacking random rabbis on the street.

Or defacing Jewish cemeteries in many countries.

Etc., etc.

If you want to protest Israeli government policies, there are proper ways to do that.

As Norman Finklestein explains polls show that the most accepted minority in the western world are Jews. When Israel attacks Gaza, people attack and protest against pro-Israelis who happen to be Jews, this is then deemed to be antisemitic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDSP9lmMQzg

[Scott]

The topic is about attacks on Jews. It is not about Israel. Please stay on topic.

[Clutch]

Maybe the researchers should focus on 'Why'?

[VillageIdiot]

I have a hunch that the attacks are coming from a certain demographic all aligned with a certain view of the world.

Radical Islamists and their far-left enablers.

Those groups may be the most violent and militant, but anti-Israeli sentiments are far more widespread.. It's not just anti-Semitism. It's provoked by the atrocities commited by the State of Israel in the name of self-defence, while really persuing the Zionist goal of Eretz Israel.

Among peaceful people, opposition to Israeli aggression will - hopefully - manifest itself in boycotts and economic sanctions by civilized governments.

[Thorgal]

Quote from OP : "The violence in 2014 spiked during the July-August war in Gaza, particularly in demonstrations organized in France, Germany and other countries, during which protesters chanted anti-Semitic slogans, looted Jewish shops and attacked synagogues as well as people identifiable as Jews."

"But we all rember those Israelis who sit on a hill to watch air strikes on Gaza, some bring drinks and snacks as they cheer the explosions a few miles away.

Nearly all hold up smartphones to record the explosions or to pose grinning, perhaps with thumbs up, for selfies against a backdrop of black smoke.

Or a video with a large crowd of young Israelis, each decked out in designer T-shirts, iPhones, back-packs, and tattoos, can be seen proudly festooning and shouting as they chant en mass, “There’s no school tomorrow, there’s no children left in Gaza! Oleh!”.

From a sociological or psychological analytical perspective, this can only be described as an extremely dark, low point for humanity."

http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/07/30/bloodsport-israelis-gather-watch-cheer-celebrate-over-1200-dead-in-gaza/

Is it a coincidence that terrorist attacks against Jews in Europe from OP (like in Brussels and Paris) followed soon after above media went public ?

Public agression on Jews would be limited with a different PR....

Edited April 16, 2015 by Thorgal

[Wat dee]

Every time Israel attacks one of its neighbours, a Zionist publishes a book titled "The New Antisemitism" (or something similar) there is a huge movement who are against apartheid Israel, it has nothing to do with Jews, many of whom are against Zionism.

Dude, that is abrasive BS.

When someone paints a swastika on a Jewish fraternity in California, that's just Jew hatred.

Or shooting up children at a Jewish school in France.

Or violently attacking random rabbis on the street.

Or defacing Jewish cemeteries in many countries.

Etc., etc.

If you want to protest Israeli government policies, there are proper ways to do that.

And if you wan to see that happening in one place instead of the whole world?Guess where to go? You have to replace jewish and rabbis with ....

[dexterm]

International and social media are ubiquitous now, which creates more immediacy and awareness. The whole world is watching what is done in the name of Judaism.

The OP clearly states the reason for the spike in 2014.

Not that I believe in collective punishments or any sort of bullying based on a person's race or religion.

Edited April 16, 2015 by dexterm

[JingerBen]

International and social media are ubiquitous now, which creates more immediacy and awareness. The whole world is watching what is done in the name of Judaism.

The OP clearly states the reason for the spike in 2014.

Not that I believe in collective punishments or any sort of bullying based on a person's race or religion.

Nor do I... but it is understandable that members of a nationality, race, or religious group will be blamed and held accountable for what are manifestly crimes against humanity and violations of international law.

[Steely Dan]

Maybe the researchers should focus on 'Why'?

Maybe some of our esteemed members should drop the facade. Time and again they show their complete disinterest if Palestinians or Arabs are killed by anyone except Jews. Israel is a pretext for antiSemitism, AntiSemitism is its own motive. Had Israel never existed the periodic flare ups of antiSemitism would be blamed on the blood of Christian children in Passover Mazzos, or a global banking conspiracy. At least Muslims have their so called holy books which are explicit in their antiSemitism. Many of them know no different and view the world through the optic of the Muslim third world. The same excuse can't be used for supposedly educated middle class leftists who have to dishonestly concoct an excuse for their hatred. To top it all they don't even have the guts to get their own hands dirty, hence they enthusiastically import huge numbers of Muslim immigrants knowing full well that their dirty work will be done for them by proxy.

[Jingthing]

Haters gonna hate.

The same old the Jews deserve this because of Israel.

Get a clue.

There has been antisemitism for THOUSANDS of years of the history of the Jewish people.

Why do you think the Zionist movement found traction in the first place?

Sooner or later the majority finds Jews too "different" and either persecutes them, expels them, or commits genocide against them.

History tells us that. It is very clear.

As Netanyahu said to holocaust survivors recently, then we couldn't fight, now we can.

The haters of Jews will always be there as long as there are Jews. They will ALWAYS have an idiotic excuse to "justify" their hatred.

Jews inside and outside of Israel know that.

Yes that DOES mean that in the long run even American Jews aren't necessarily safe as non-Jewish Vice President Biden recently spoke about.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Jingthing

[JDGRUEN]

Jew Haters are small minded people who have to find a scapegoat for their own inadequacies and failures... been that way for centuries ... Envy of Jews and their family cohesiveness and consistent business success - both small and large has made them targets by those who have no motivation - no clue how to do the same thing ...

Petty envy, jealousy - The Jews are there in the community to be envious of and jealous of instead of doing their own hard work, dedication and sacrifice -- the Jew Haters just throw rocks, bash heads and paint the doors of the Jews... Small minded failures are the Jew Haters.

[JingerBen]

Haters gonna hate.

The same old the Jews deserve this because of Israel.

Get a clue.

There has been antisemitism for THOUSANDS of years of the history of the Jewish people.

Why do you think the Zionist movement found traction in the first place?

Sooner or later the majority finds Jews too "different" and either persecutes them, expels them, or commits genocide against them.

History tells us that. It is very clear.

As Netanyahu said to holocaust survivors recently, then we couldn't fight, now we can.

The haters of Jews will always be there as long as there are Jews. They will ALWAYS have an idiotic excuse to "justify" their hatred.

Jews inside and outside of Israel know that.

Yes that DOES mean that in the long run even American Jews aren't necessarily safe as non-Jewish Vice President Biden recently spoke about.

You put the reason for anti-Semitism throughout the ages on the Jews being merely "different"?

If you really believe that, you're delusional.

[Neurath]

Anti-semites, bigots and idiots the world over might very well use Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza as excuses to vent their vile anti-semitism. But just because they do so doesn't mean that those actions in the West Bank and Gaza are justified or that those who oppose those actions are in any way anti-semites or bigots. Gotta be careful though, because if you sleep with dogs you can get flees.

[seedy]

Scott the administrator says we are not allowed to discuss the reasons for the attacks on Jews, (the Jewish state) only that there are some. Quite a narrow discussion.

This is what Scott said -

The topic is about attacks on Jews. It is not about Israel. Please stay on topic.

This is what the rules say -

10) Do not discuss moderation publicly in the open forum; this includes individual actions, and specific

or general policies and issues. You may send a PM to a moderator to discuss individual actions or email

support (at) thaivisa.com to discuss moderation policy.

Please post accordingly.

[cdnvic]

Some/most of you better settle down or a lot of people are going to be losing their posting rights. Stop being so aggressive to each other. I've been watching the same people fight about the same things for years and not a single one of you has ever changed the others' minds no matter how belligerent you got. So settle down. It's not like what you have to say is making a difference.

[Yahooka]

I have a hunch that the attacks are coming from a certain demographic all aligned with a certain view of the world.

Radical Islamists and their far-left enablers.

Those groups may be the most violent and militant, but anti-Israeli sentiments are far more widespread.. It's not just anti-Semitism. It's provoked by the atrocities commited by the State of Israel in the name of self-defence, while really persuing the Zionist goal of Eretz Israel.

Among peaceful people, opposition to Israeli aggression will - hopefully - manifest itself in boycotts and economic sanctions by civilized governments.

The anti-semitism that still exist in Europe has NOTHING to do with Israel.It`s unfortunately been deep rooted both long before,during and it`s still continuing long after the atrocities in WW 2.

[Jingthing]

You put the reason for anti-Semitism throughout the ages on the Jews being merely "different"?

...

(Personal comment in quote intentionally snipped.)

Some background that may be of interest to some. Keep in mind many more people read these forum threads than post to them:

Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics,

and the Catholics hate the Protestants,

and the Hindus hate the Muslims

and everybody hates the Jews.

http://www.aish.com/sem/wtj/82875402.html

Edited April 16, 2015 by Jingthing

[Steely Dan]

Haters gonna hate.

The same old the Jews deserve this because of Israel.

Get a clue.

There has been antisemitism for THOUSANDS of years of the history of the Jewish people.

Why do you think the Zionist movement found traction in the first place?

Sooner or later the majority finds Jews too "different" and either persecutes them, expels them, or commits genocide against them.

History tells us that. It is very clear.

As Netanyahu said to holocaust survivors recently, then we couldn't fight, now we can.

The haters of Jews will always be there as long as there are Jews. They will ALWAYS have an idiotic excuse to "justify" their hatred.

Jews inside and outside of Israel know that.

Yes that DOES mean that in the long run even American Jews aren't necessarily safe as non-Jewish Vice President Biden recently spoke about.

You put the reason for anti-Semitism throughout the ages on the Jews being merely "different"?

If you really believe that, you're delusional.

Now let's go back in time to before the beginning of Zionism. Jews had still been persecuted on and off for centuries. Would you care to suggest what the reasons might have been then and whether or not you consider said reasons valid justifications for antiSemitism?

P.s I suspect there is a strong correlation between rising antiSemitism and economic problems. I put it to you this is far more likely to be down to the human tendency to look for a scapegoat than it is due to the actions of said scapegoat.

[Neurath]

Anti-semitism had it both ways in the late 19th and early 20th century: Jews were both the evil capitalist financiers leading the world to ruin and the atheistic communists destroying freedom, enterprise and individual aspiration. Yesterdays anti-semites are sometimes today's anti-muslims. Feels good to be a part of the in group by pointing the finger at the other.

[up-country_sinclair]

Israeli researchers say attacks against Jews spiked in 2014

Is anyone surprised that this is what Israeli researchers say? I'm not.

What would be more surprising is if Israel researchers had anything to say about certain population which had a spike in the deaths of women and children in 2014.

[Expat1]

Wow, now there is a surprise. Of course, there is, duh. Netanyahu and the Zionist band of renown and their groupies in the US and Europe are demanding that Goys go fight more wars for them, give them more free money, apologize for things that happened 80 years ago that they had no part of and then one wonders why someone is upset by this nonsense. Really? They are getting off light so far IMO. It is unfortunate that the Goy can not tell the difference between Jews and Zionist. Not all Jews are Zionist and not all Zionist are Jews. Most Jews just want to live normal lives without problems, now Zionists on the other hand... Now if the world made a concerted effort to eliminate all Zionists then the world as a whole would be a much nicer place to be in.