To be angry there is so little response to anti semitism and the rise of extremism in Europe?

[VampireSquid]

A quick look at news sites shows an Athens holocaust memorial has been defaced, eight French synagogues attacked, shops have been burnt in a section of Paris with a large Jewish community, cars have been attacked. In Netherlands, there was an ISIS March, including chants of death to the Jews. In Germany, someone has been allegedly arrested for incitement, for yelling 'Heil Hitler'. A Dutch Jew had his house firebombed. In January, people were giving the Nazi salute en masse. A Belgian shop banned Jews from entering. French Jews are fleeing while they feel they still can. A Hungarian ambassador has publicly says Jews enslave mankind, and called them servants of Satan. Berlin has people chanting 'Jews, Jews, cowardly pigs!' and people have been heard, at pro Palestine demonstrations, chanting 'Jews to the gas chambers'.

How are people ignoring this?

[Pinkrose1]

I think this is a discussion about anti Semitic abuse in Europe generally speaking, though I do personally think the actions of the Israeli government has brought a lot of AS to the surface.

To say the Israeli people have suffered comparable casualties is just ridiculous. Any casualty of war or conflict is a tragedy though, but numbers alone are far worse for the Palestinians.

[badtime]

I think it is because in the current situation, the massacres have been very one-sided. Almost all the (few dozen) Israeli casualties have been military personnel directly involved in the conflict, whereas the majority of the almost 1,500 Palestinian dead have been civilians, so many of them children. In the circumstances, being more concerned about the deaths, injuries and general destruction in Gaza seems pretty reasonable.

[BookABooSue]

What about the Israeli children and people who have been massacred?
It's only Israeli military personnel who have been killed so far. Any loss of life is abhorrent but Gaza has suffered much more loss in this current conflict. This really isn't about being PC.

As for the OP, there has been a groundswell in discrimination against minorities and attacks against people perceived as different: Muslims; Jews; gypsies; Roma. They are all witnessing increasing attacks across Europe. I know in our local community there are organisations campaigning for more awareness and changes in legislation regarding some of the increases in discrimination.

Plus, regarding the comment about attending Churches. There is an area of Glasgow where (on certain dates) RC Churches are closed or have a police presence outside because of attacks. It has got better in recent years but definitely within the last 5 years it was still an issue.

[badtime]

Book, In my post where I mentioned security issues at catholic churches in NI, I thought about querying whrther it was also an issue around Glasgow, but I wasn't sure. I know that the sectarianism can be as bad there as in the most volatile parts of NI.

[ReigningQueen]

Its appalling. Uninformed people can't differentiate between the acts of extremists and governments and people who happen to be the same religion. They tar everyone with the same brush. There are so many people now who just want to hate.
Islamaphobia seems to be almost acceptable now on the social media platforms and mainstream media. I wonder if anti-semitism will as well. I really believe that most people, however, are decent people who don't want to tolerate this.

[Patrickstarisabadbellend]

What about the 3 boys who were kidnapped and murdered?

[BookABooSue]

badtime yy it's still an issue in certain parts of Glasgow especially around marching season.

I really believe that most people, however, are decent people who don't want to tolerate this. ReigningQueen I believe this too. It's also cyclical and intolerance always rises in times of economic crisis. If the economies across Europe stabilise then I have no doubt attacks will decrease.

[Pinkrose1]

And the Palestinian teen who was tortured and burned to death?

4 wrongs make nothing right.

[Pinkrose1]

I think AS, homophobia, racism and many other discriminatory behaviours, including some men to women, is ingrained in the human psyche. And certain factors bring them to the surface.

It's without doubt the treatment of the Israeli government to the Palestinians that have provoked this to come to the surface, so it's ingenuous to ignore this fact. It does not make it right and never will but you can't say that the two shouldn't be linked.

Fear and hatred of gypsies, especially Romanian gypsies was very low level but bubbling under the surface too. It only came rising to the surface when the EU allowed gypsy communities to come to Britain.

[ReigningQueen]

Pink rose I agree with you. 9/11 did the same thing for islamaphobia. The media drives a lot of it too.
Since 9/11, there has always been an anti muslim story. If it's not some terrorist atrocity, then it's some random story about how a muslim refused to serve a customer buying bacon in a supermarket or how 85% of Muslims want sharia law in the uk or some other rubbish.
It won't take much more than that to drive anti semitism too.
Sadly, I think we re in for a lot misery as a society in general. Everything is a mess.

[specialsubject]

anti-semitism is always there - thankfully it is not as bad in the UK but to my knowledge for the last forty years (and no doubt more) synagogues have needed extra security, as have Jewish cemeteries. Also at the end of a synagogue service the congregants are always told to disperse quickly.

[halfdrunkcoffee]

PinkRose1 - I never noticed any anti semetism before the Israeli Palestinian wars started

May I ask how old you are? There has been on-off conflict in the region since the 1920s at least.

BookABooSue - there have been three or four Israeli civilian deaths, I think, including an Israeli Bedouin girl (most of the others are conscripted soldiers) - yes, I know it's a tiny number compared to in Gaza.

To get back on topic, perhaps small-scale initiatives to bring communities together would help, like the "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies" thing that is trending on Twitter and Facebook. Just getting people from different communities to meet and realise they have much in common might help, starting with schoolchildren. A lot of the things that have happened might seem small, but we need to tackle any form of prejudice and racism before it escalates.

[kissmyheathenass]

Even this thread which you started re antisemitism in Europe keeps being turned into a discussion of actions of the Israeli govt Exactly.

There are plenty of threads to discuss Israel/Gaza. This thread is about anti-Semitism and it has always been around sadly.

Dh, atheist born into Jewish family in North London, remembers many times he was subjected to casual and not so casual racism.

[BookABooSue]

halfdrunk sorry yy you are right. I meant to type 'mainly' rather than 'only'. There have been three or four civilian deaths in Israel. I think the Bedouin girl was injured rather than killed but her uncle was killed.

[Pinkrose1]

My mother is 65 I am obviously a wee bit younger! Neither of us have noticed any AS, which is not to say it has not happened. Maybe more reporting, social media? Mum was around when landladies would have signs up 'no Irish, no dogs, no n*' which I can't remember. I've seen reports of AS in the news but never witnessed it directly.

Not only that but Palestine was not occupied by Jewish refugees until 1947 so any wars in the Middle East in the 1920s were irrelevant.

My point is that with the more recent wars AS has become more focused on the Israelis treatment of the Palestinians, as in OPs reporting of a Jewish person being told 'go to Gaza'. I seriously do not believe there would be any focus on Jewish communities if Palestine had been partitioned as was suggested by the UN.

However much anyone would like to disengage the war in the Middle East with the rise in AS it just ain't happening.

[halfdrunkcoffee]

Not only that but Palestine was not occupied by Jewish refugees until 1947 so any wars in the Middle East in the 1920s were irrelevant

Jewish refugees arrived in Palestine from the mid-19th century and there had always been a small Jewish presence there. It was part of the Ottoman Empire then run by the British until 1948.

I agree that anti-Semitism is often in response to events there. For example, when Jewish terrorists blew up the King David Hotel in 1946, and also killed some British policemen, Jewish shops and businesses were attacked in Britain.

[Pinkrose1]

As you say a small Jewish presence has always been in Palestine and the Middle East, it is their homeland after all, and I've no doubt their were minor skirmishes, but the major influx of refuges from the Second World War occurred in 1947. Then the number became huge and they fought with the Palestinians who managed to retain only Gaza and the West Bank of their homeland. This war was the start of Israeli aggression towards the Palestinians and the Palestinians resentment and likewise acts if aggression.

It's this background that I think is fuelling AS. The Israelis have build settlements on the west banks and they will eventually drive out the inhabitants. The UN is powerless toothless the Americans back Israel, the Palestinians are bombed and children killed daily. Basically this is seen by any reasonable person as massively unfair. No one can stop it. No one seems to want to stop it

The backlash of AS is because people know the situation is unfair and are helpless to intervene. A few individuals take these frustrations out on innocent Jewish citizens. A few nasty people people use it as an excuse to do the same. It is totally wrong and the majority of people know this.

[halfdrunkcoffee]

Pinkrose1 I will have to go and have a re-read of my books on the history of Israel, but from memory there was large-scale immigration well before 1947 and the UN partition plan was rejected by the Arabs. Anyway, sorry, this isn't a history thread or a Israel/Palestine thread - there are already plenty of those in the 'In the News' section on MN. Agree that it is terrible that people conflate the actions of the Netanyahu government, which seems to have no interest in peace, with ordinary Jewish people in other countries.

[halfdrunkcoffee]

^^Also Gaza and the West Bank were not occupied by Israel until 1967 not 1947.

[edamsavestheday]

The Times of Israel today pulled a blog calling for genocide. Of the Palestinians.

I don't even know where to begin with that one.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

There have been responses in the media and social media, where crimes are committed, it becomes a police matter.

What do you think should be done OP, that isn't happening now?

[Springheeled]

The rise of the far right across Europe (Le Pen, Golden Dawn etc etc), which I think has been exacerbated and aided by the financial crisis, probably accounts for much of it, and much of the islamophobia and anti immigrant rhetoric also. Very easy to pit people against people on the basis of perceived differences- and it's a game politicians and the media are doing across Europe.

Some people have problems differentiating between the state of Israel and it's actions and Judaism. Having been on several protests against the actions of the Israeli govt and military in the past few weeks, however, I must say I have not seen or heard a whisper of anti semitism on those protests.

Me personally, I don't care what colour, creed, sexuality, whatever anyone is and all hate crime is abhorrent. However, while people being who they are is no problem whatsoever by me, I'll happily have a very stiff argument with anyone who wants to defend the ethnic cleansing going on in Gaza or the siege.

[Springheeled]

Or the makers of phones that automatically put an apostrophe in belonging its!!!