Anti-Semitism: one in Three Jews is Considering Leaving Austria

Kurier, July 11, 2024

German original: https://kurier.at/politik/inland/juden-eu-antisemitismus/402923550

According to a recent report, 80 percent of Jews feel threatened by the growing anti-Semitism in the EU.

The vast majority of Jews in Europe continue to be affected by anti-Semitism in their daily lives.

This is the conclusion of a survey by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which was conducted before the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Israeli army offensive in the Gaza Strip.

80 percent of respondents believe that anti-Semitism has increased in the five years prior to the survey. Among the participants in Austria, 76 percent felt the same way. For the year prior to the survey, 38 percent in this country reported having been the victim of anti-Semitic hostility – similar to the EU average. Five percent were also attacked in that year.

Security concerns in public

These experiences lead many people to feel compelled to conceal their Jewish identity in public. In Austria, 29 percent of Jews never wear Jewish symbols in public because of security concerns. Among all study participants, the figure was as high as 48 percent. For 66 percent (EU: 76 percent), this was at least occasionally the case.

70 percent of those surveyed felt that they were at least occasionally held responsible for the policies of the Israeli government because of their Jewishness (EU: 75 percent). Three-quarters of the study participants across Europe felt the same way.

The FRA report at a glance:

• Increasing anti-Semitism: 80% of respondents believe that anti-Semitism has increased in their country in the five years prior to the survey.

• Hate on the internet: 90% of respondents have been confronted with anti-Semitism online.

• Anti-Semitism in public: 56% of respondents were confronted with anti-Semitism offline by acquaintances and 51% encountered anti-Semitic content in the media.

• Anti-Semitic harassment: 37% of respondents said they had been harassed in the year prior to the survey because of their Jewish identity.

• War in the Middle East: 75% of respondents said that they were held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government because they are Jews.

• Living in hiding: 76% conceal their Jewish identity at least occasionally.

• Emigration: Almost half of the respondents (45%) had thought about emigrating in the five years prior to the survey. In Austria, the figure was 31%.

"Jewish life severely restricted"

"Europe is experiencing a wave of anti-Semitism, partly fueled by the conflict in the Middle East," warns FRA Director Sirpa Rautio in a statement on the report. "This greatly restricts the possibility of a safe and dignified Jewish life."

It is the third FRA report on anti-Semitism. For this, around 8,000 Jews from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary were surveyed in the first half of 2023. According to the EU agency, 96 percent of Jews in the EU live in these 13 countries. In Austria, 363 people were interviewed. The agency estimates that the Jewish population in this country is 13,650.