AntiSemitism World Report 1997 Reveals Declining Levels Of AntiSemitism Around The World; Increased Use Of Internet For Dissemination And Monitoring Of AntiSemitism

American Jewish Committee
Tuesday, 22 July 1997

In most countries today contemporary antisemitism - despite its occasionally violent form - poses little immediate threat to Jewish existence, and Jews feel increasingly secure in the societies in which they live, though concern among Jews about the potential for antisemitic incidents in some countries remains. Additionally, there has been a continued drop in the overall number of recorded antisemitic incidents registered in 1996.

These developments are documented in the just released Antisemitism World Report 1997, a joint publication of the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The volume is being released today simultaneously in New York and London.

Antisemitism World Report 1997 is the pioneering work in its field, having been published annually since 1992. The current edition, covering 1996, provides an authoritative assessment of antisemitic incidents and trends in 6o countries. It includes sections on antisemitic parties, organizations, and movements; antisemitism in mainstream political, cultural, and religious life; Holocaust denial; opinion polls; demographic data; antisemitism in the media; legal issues; and efforts to combat antisemitism.

The 1997 volume highlights Switzerland which came under intense international pressure from Jewish individuals and organizations to explain what happened to Jewish assets deposited before World War II and with gold and other valuables looted by the Nazis and deposited in Swiss banks. The report notes: "There was an antisemitic backlash in response to the allegations, stated and implied, that the Swiss connived with the Nazis or were deliberately less than forthcoming about Jewish assets still held in Swiss banks, but it did not go beyond the general level of antisemitism which currently prevails in Switzerland, and was not as severe as some expected.

"The Swiss banks affair highlights one of the principle features of the context in which antisemitism must be assessed today," the 1997 Report asserts, "and that is the absolute readiness of certain Jewish organizations and prominent Jewish individuals to attack expressions of antisemitism or to reveal the antisemitic pasts of public figures, and to mobilize and demand justice for the almost forgotten wrongs perpetrated against them during the Holocaust - the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, the restitution of Jewish property for example - in the clear understanding that antisemitism may increase as a result. Not only does this indicate a greater assertiveness among the organized Jewish community to stand up for its human rights, it also --2--

shows that those concerned dismiss the impact of their actions on the level of antisemitism as of no significance."

Furthermore, the Report notes that the 1996 issue of property restitution throughout Europe "is bound up with attitudes to Jews. No governments have denied that Jewish claims are legitimate, but some have allowed real or imagined fears of an antisemitic backlash to play a part in the decisions they have taken. Most conspicuous in this regard is Poland.

"Like the Swiss banks and gold issue, property restitution has the potential to produce significant negative responses; indeed in Poland, and elsewhere, some negative reaction was noted and recorded. Nevertheless, despite the way that these issues can feed antisemitic stereotypes - by linking Jews with international pressure groups and money - there has, so far, been surprisingly little additional antisemitism generated."

The Report cautions, however, that this may change in the years ahead in light of further revelations and greater pressure, and the situation should continue to be closely monitored.

Another major feature of the Report examines the increased use of the Internet for the publication and dissemination of antisemitism, although not always achieving the desired effect. "Neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers claim that it presents them with an opportunity to achieve a breakthrough in terms of influencing the wider public. In fact, there is (as yet) no evidence to suggest that 'Internet antisemitism' has the power to mobilize antisemites any more successfully than any other method….It simply poses different problems." What it does present, however, is "a new challenge in respect to the dissemination of antisemitic propaganda.

"Monitoring racism and antisemitism have a new intelligence source," the Report adds, "that was simply not there before. Although extremists sometimes attempt to disguise some of their traffic, they do have a marked tendency to expose themselves….Racist use of the Internet may well have other advantages. Although the Internet is seen as free and anarchic and beyond control, nevertheless, the presence of the racists could bee seen as an unwitting form of self-imposed social control, both because of the conventions they have to adhere to and the fact that they can be monitored."

In terms of antisemitic manifestations, Australia was the only country to register a rise in the number of antisemitic incidents over 1995. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry received 275 reports of antisemitic violence, intimidation, and vandalism - a twelve percent increase over the previous year's figure. Also, in a reversal of the trend a few years back, there has been less physical violence in the form of attacks on persons and property and a greater incidence of graffiti and threats. "The change must partly be a result of improved policing and intelligence work which have forestalled potential violent incidents and deterred extremists from undertaking them."

In its conclusion to its Executive Summary, the Antisemitsm World Report 1997 states: "What is clear from the last six years is that antisemitism does not resonate with significant sections of the public in the way that it once did, that it cannot be used to mobilize anything other than small, extremist, fringe groups, and that one important aspect of the 'new' means of packaging and disseminating antisemitism - Holocaust denial, the Internet, antisemitism dressed up as anti-Zionism - is that they have arisen partly because activist antisemites cannot get their message across in the more traditional forms.

"What we see, therefore, is a transformation in the presentation of antisemitism and in the vehicles used to disseminate it. It is allotted a subordinate position in the politics and ideology of the electorally successful far right. It is channeled through the new globalized, technically advanced means of communication, in order to sanitize it and attempt to evade legal restrictions. It is disguised as pseudo-academic debate in the form of Holocaust denial. And it emanates most threateningly from non-traditional sources - Islamists in certain Western countries - rather than from elements who claim to be defending 'white' civilization and host cultures.

"The evidence of the last six years also shows the importance of countervailing forces. That antisemitism remains unacceptable can be seen in the vast number of initiatives taken in education and the law, by the churches and by international institutions, in new organizations set up to combat racism and antisemitism, conferences and seminars, declarations, commissions of inquiry."

Commenting on the Report, AJC's Executive Director David A. Harris, stated: "We are indeed gratified to see that current trends indicate a decline in antisemitism around the world and that the general population has increasingly little tolerance for this cancerous hatred. But history has surely taught us the importance of carefully monitoring antisemitism and the conditions that breed it. Such investigation is vital not only for the well-being of the Jewish community, but to all societies that value human equality and dignity, pluralism, and a respect for diversity. This 1997 Report, the third such annual publication to result from our collaborative efforts with the JPR, offers thorough and insightful analysis, on a country-by-country basis, on the state of antisemitism today and where it may be in the not-too-distant future. It is an invaluable resource for anyone concerned with understanding and combating any and all forms of antisemitism that exist around the world."

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org