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Anti-Semitism Is Back, from the Left, Right and Islamist Extremes

(New York Times) Patrick Kingsley - Accumulated anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and the U.S. have highlighted how an ancient prejudice is surging in the 21st century. Polling suggests that anti-Semitic attitudes may be no more widespread than in the past, particularly in Western Europe. Despite this, bigots have seemingly become more brazen, creating a climate that has made anti-Semitism far more permissible and dangerous. In 2018, France reported a 74% spike over the previous year in anti-Semitic incidents, with more than 500 attacks. President Emmanuel Macron called it the worst level of anti-Semitism since World War II. In Germany over the same period, violent anti-Semitic attacks rose by 60%. Around Europe, almost 90% of Jews believe that anti-Semitism has increased in their country in the last five years, according to surveys by the EU. David Nirenberg, dean of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago and an expert on Jewish history, said, "When French Muslims attack Jews in Paris or Marseille, it is because Islamist discourse has taught them to understand not only the situation of Palestinians, but also the global status of Islam and even their own poverty and marginalization in France, as in some way caused by Zionists and Jews."
2019-04-05 00:00:00
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