Surprising results from new 'Anti-Semitic Violence in Europe' report

A new study, "Antisemitic Violence in Europe, 2005-2015," written by Johannes Due Enstad of the Oslo-based Center for Studies of the Holocaust and the University of Oslo and jointly published by both institutions, features conclusions that many would find surprising.

The Gatestone Institute summarizes some of the findings:

  • Examining statistics from France, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Russia, Enstad points out that one of these seven countries "clearly stands out with a very low number" of anti-Semitic incidents despite its "relatively large Jewish population[.]"
  • Absurdly, whenever a perpetrator draws a swastika, the Swedish government automatically considers it a "right-wing" act.
  • Enstad concludes that right-wingers, in all four of the major Western European countries in his study, "constitute a clear minority of perpetrators."  Indeed, "in France, Sweden and the UK (but not in Germany) the perpetrator was perceived to be left-wing more often than right-wing."

The country that "clearly stands out" as having a low number of anti-Semitic incidents?  Russia. 

Examining statistics from France, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Russia, Enstad points out that one of these seven countries "clearly stands out with a very low number" of anti-Semitic incidents despite its "relatively large Jewish population"; the country in question, he adds, "is also the only case in which there is little to indicate that Jews avoid displaying their identity in public." In addition, it is the only one of the six countries in which the majority of perpetrators of anti-Semitic violence are not Muslims. Which country is Enstad referring to? Russia.

That Russia is relatively free of anti-Semitic violence may sound surprising to anyone familiar with the words Cossack and refusenik, but it actually makes sense. Would-be Jew-bashers in Russia know that if they're arrested for committing acts of violence, the consequences won't be pretty. In western Europe, by contrast, the courts are lenient, the terms of confinement short, and the prisons extremely comfortable. And while Muslims know that they are a protected class in Western Europe, able to commit all kinds of transgressions with near-impunity, that is far from being the case in Putin's Russia.

If Muslims do not dominate the anti-Semitic crime statistics in Russia, who does? The answer: right-wing extremists. Although politicians and the media in Western Europe like to talk as if Jews (and others) in their countries are principally endangered by the far-right, Russia is, in fact, the only one of the seven countries in Enstad's study in which that group does play a significant role in anti-Semitic acts.

Jews in France appear to be most at risk for violence.

Nearly 10% of French Jews say they have been physically attacked for being Jewish during the past five years; in Germany and Sweden the figure is about 7.5%, in Britain nearly 5%. Asked how often they "avoid visiting Jewish events or sites" for fear of danger, 7.9% of Jews in Sweden say they do so frequently, followed by their coreligionists in France, Germany, and Britain (where the number is only 1.2%). Asked if they "avoid wearing, carrying or displaying things" in public that would identify them as Jews, 60% of Swedish Jews say they do so "all the time" or "frequently," with, again, France, Germany, and Britain following in that order.

Almost 50% of French Jews have considered emigrating because they feel imperiled in their own country; for Germany the figure is 25%, and for Sweden and Britain it is just under 20%.

Enstad relied on both independent studies and official statistics to compile his report.  He politely questions the "official statistics" from Germany:

Enstad weighs official statistics from all of the countries under examination, but finds that while those from most of the countries essentially jibe with the results of independent studies, those published by both Germany and Sweden are fishy, in some cases betraying an apparent effort by officials to massage the numbers to avoid certain uncomfortable facts. While an independent survey, for example, concludes that right-wing extremists make up a small minority of perpetrators of anti-Semitic violence in Germany, German police statistics blame most such violence on just right-wingers. Enstad, in his polite way, suggests that this discrepancy is the result of "a categorisation problem." 

The report shows that anti-Semitism in Europe – that directly led to the Holocaust – is alive and well and crawling out from under the rock where it has been hiding.

It's only going to get worse.  As Europe becomes more and more Islamized, the kind of casual, nauseating anti-Semitism that most Muslims feel toward Jews will manifest itself in more violence.  Eventually, it's possible to envision a point where most European Jews will either be expelled or leave voluntarily. 

The report is a warning that will probably go unheeded.  History weighs heavily on Christian Europe, and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of anti-Semites who are taught that Jews are lower than dogs and pigs will only exacerbate the problem. 

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