Survey: Antisemitism in Europe Worsened in Last Five Years

Jews - A man walks by graves vandalised with swastikas at the Jewish cemetery in Quatzenhe
FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty

The stain of antisemitism in Europe has grown in the last five years and the situation is predicted to get even worse, a European Union report reveals.

The E.U. Agency for Fundamental Rights announced the results Thursday of a survey of 2,700 European Jews aged between 16 and 34 and found 44 percent have experienced harassment due to their faith and don’t wear clothing identified with their religion because of safety fears.

Although young Jews in Europe are more exposed to antisemitism than their elders — by about 12 percent — the vast majority also declared a strong attachment to their Jewish identity.

“Young Jewish Europeans are very attached to their Jewish identity,” E.U. Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová noted.

“I am saddened that they fear for their security in Europe, do not dare to wear a kippah and some even consider emigrating,” the E.U. official said.

Of those who experienced harassment, 80 percent said they don’t report it — and less than half said their government is adequately protecting them. Just 17 percent said their governments are effectively fighting the problem.

The E.U. report is the second in six months to shine a light on growing antisemitism in Europe.

As Breitbart Jerusalem reported last December,  nearly 90 percent of European Jews feel antisemitism has been on the rise since 2013 and close to 40 percent say they have considered leaving their home countries, a European Union poll — the largest of its kind in the world — revealed.

That poll also showed 30 percent of respondents as having said they were harassed for being Jewish at least once in the past year.

Of those who experienced antisemitic incidents, 30 percent said the perpetrator was “someone with an extremist Muslim view” and 21 percent said the attacker had been “someone with a leftwing political view.”

Of those considering emigration, two-thirds said they would move to Israel.  Jews in France, Britain, Germany and Sweden experienced the biggest jump in anti-Semitism over the past five years.

In Britain, four out of five Jews said antisemitism was a major problem in politics.

Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com

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