Anti semitism in Europe.

[Shlep]

A Chassidic rabbi in Antwerp was stabbed in the neck today. This comes after the shooting (killed four people) which was anti semiticallt motivated, outside the Jewish Museum in May, also in Belgium.

Anti-racism activists in Norway have refused to participate in a Holocaust commemoration because members of the Jewish community were also invited to it, according to a Norwegian blog cited by the International Business Times (IBT).

Shlep, I'm sorry for what happened to your brother, but thank you for starting this thread.

@Louisebrook. It's got to be expected because the economic and political conditions are leading to a rise in neo-Naziism. Slow economic growth means it's easy for unscrupulous politicians such as the French Front National or British UKIP to feed on up the underlying suspicions that monority groups are getting a better deal. They whip up racial prejudice whilst pretending to talk about immigration. Results in a general xenophobia and anti semitism is just part of that.

And in case it's not clear, I am not saying that we have to shrug our shoulders and tolerate it. I am very concerned that we are sleepwalking into a more prejudiced society, seduced by the simplistic messages of parties and agitators promoting narrow tribalism and nationalism

I guess it's because I class myself as a fairly open-minded and accepting person but I just cannot understand how in the 21 century such a thing as racial and religious hatred still exists. I mean really? And anti-semitism especially - have people forgotten what happened in wwll or do they agree with it?

Racial and religious hatred gets worse when there is perceived hardship. When times are good, societies tend to be more tolerant and inclusive. When times are bad ( politically or economically) societies fragment into tribes, close ranks and minority groups become an easy target for blame and hatred. White British are being incited by mainstream fascist groups to blame East Europeans and others for allegedly threatening their way of life. Young Muslims are being incited by a different set of people to attack 'the West' and regard Israel as the threat.

I find this very scary. Not just the anti-semitism but how ethnic groups are just drawing further and further apart.

I am in Paris for a bit and I often come across anti-Jewish messages or messages of solidarity towards Jews suffering awful treatment in the metro/on lampposts. Seen quite a few people taking down related posters and putting up their own stuff in their place. In my gaullist bourgeois extended family (yes, I know, but that's how they describe themselves....) hints of anti-semitism (and some more overt stuff) pop up during conversations which during my teens made me hopping mad, but which I have sadly come across more often now in other supposedly civilised educated people. When I would challenge it they seemed quite surprised/amused like it's totally normal for someone of their "milieu" to think like that. During my childhood at school in the UK (90s/2000s) any hint of racism was just completely stamped out, everyone saw it as totally pathetic and it wasn't tolerated in the slightest. No one I knew grew up thinking anything in particular about Jews- anti-semitism was just some relic that belonged in the past and would never come up again. It is so so weird to think of anyone being anti-semitic now.

Also been informed by an Algerian man that the north African community here hates French people but that I was all right cos I'm English (didn't have the heart to tell him I'm not). Was also told by an Egyptian man that all "Arabs" are bad, that most Parisians are nice but to avoid "Arabs" at all costs. Calling someone from north Africa an Arab is pejorative....

Was also really shocked at how white the uni I go to here is. At my uni in the UK it's so much more diverse which I was really pleased about when I came down from one of the whitest cities in the North. Here in one of France's supposedly most metropolitan cities it's just....mostly white. And I do take that as a sign of segregation.

There is a lot of tension simmering here.

Nobody should be marching freely shouting hate messages! That's the point! Just because one group does it doesn't mean a flag goes up inviting everyone else to do the same.

And anti-semitism especially - have people forgotten what happened in wwll or do they agree with it?

I think we just feel too separate from the past, like 70 years is a long time....but it's really not. We might feel that this is another era, that we have a new relevance now. We can't see past the small details to the bigger picture. If we could (and also cut ourselves off from the emotional responses that cloud our perception of the situation) we would see that despite small differences things are quite similar and it would shock more people.

The anti semitic aggression of today is coming from a slightly different place than 70 years ago. You've only to look at the perpetrators. Today it is largely bound up with Middle Eastern conflict, hatred of the West, hatred of western leaning Israel and Jews as soft target representatives of that state. In the past the motivation was more to do with a more general/ historical social prejudice. That hasn't gone away but I would argue that the focus has shifted.

True, but just like 70 years ago old hatreds can be bent to new political ends.