Can Jews live in Europe?

[shira]

Can Jews live in Europe?

For increasingly helpless European Jews Israel is the solution, not the problem

Guy Bechor Published: 03.06.09, 01:18 / Israel Opinion

It's hard to believe that this question is being asked gain, but sadly, after 70 years it has emerged nonetheless: Is there room for Jewish existence in Europe? Can Jews continue living as a proud community, in 2009, in that same continent with the terrible memories? The answer, in light of what has been materializing in the past few weeks – yet not only because of this – is negative.

A Jew can no longer walk the streets while displaying Jewish trademarks, or visit Jewish institutions that are not surrounded by police officers and guards; they must remain behind locks and bars, scared for their lives. Meanwhile, those who hide any Jewish attributes and assimilate into society will continue to live – until they face an unpleasant situation with their colleagues, at school, or anywhere else in life.

In recent months I visited and spoke before several Jewish communities in European countries, including Turkey, France, and Britain – even before the Gaza operation. During the trip I saw with my own eyes the miserable Jewish existence. Yes, if they hide the Star of David and the unique dress, and if they agree that their synagogues will look like locked fortresses, like ghettos in fact, and if they are forced to experience threats on the street and hear about the growing number of anti-Semitic incidents – well, we can say that there is Jewish existence; scared, embarrassed, and submissive.

But what about feeling secure in their countries? There is none of that.

<snip>

cont'd here:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3682057,00.ht...

[rockymountaindem]

1. Maybe some valid points there, but that is clearly a recruiting ad for the Israeli immigration min.

[JDPriestly]

7. Probably mostly valid situations.

[DesertFlower]

2. a very sad situation.

[beachmom]

3. I haven't heard anything like this before. Color me skeptical

about this article. Europe is a pretty liberal place. If there is xenophobia, it is against recent Muslim immigrants, not Jews.

[Idealism]

4. I do not believe this to be as out of control as this author thinks.

"their synagogues will look like locked fortresses, like ghettos in fact"

I highly doubt you will find many European Jews who claim their synagogues to be like ghettos. There is a lot of melodramatic flair in this article that does nothing but diminish the actual plight of European Jews at the hands of a few anti-Semites. It is in no way a systematic problem. You see similar isolated incidents with Muslims being persecuted in Europe, but it is not some type of campaign against them, and I know many will take offense to calling their mosques "ghettos" (as there rightfully should be offense taken).

http://www.helium.com/items/977349-european-muslims-fac...
http://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=2535
http://mwlusa.org/topics/rights/religious_persecution_e...
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/europ...

All religions face persecution somewhere in world, be it Jews in Europe, Christians in the Middle-East, or Muslims in America. I do not believe Jews are being singled out in this regard more so than other religions.

[theoldman]

5. I read the article and it sounded like a lot of fear mongering to me.

For some reason it is hard for Christians to believe that there are good and bad Jews. Jews are human and are not perfect. They have radicals in Israel just like we have radicals here in the US.

[JDPriestly]

8. The problem is that it only takes a few extremists to cause terror in

a minority. There has always been a large percentage of Europeans who harbor feelings ranging from distrust to resentment to hatred. The Catholic Church fostered that distrust, resentment and hatred for centuries. Those who hated or distrusted Jews sponsored and allowed the pogroms in Eastern Europe and Russia as well as the NAZI concentration camps. Over the past 40 years, an incredible number of Muslim immigrants from the Africa, the Middle East and Turkey have taken up residence in Europe. Their presence has no doubt added to the threats against Jews. So, yes, I believe that Jewish people may be very, very uncomfortable and feel very unsafe in Europe. I lived there a long time myself, and I believe this to be true based on my experience in gentler times.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. I believe this is in the category of ynet news bullshit. nt

[LeftishBrit]

9. Strongly disagree, at least as regards the UK

I feel very secure here, and I'm not a very confident type of person. Yes, antisemitism exists, as do other forms of racism. But personally I feel much more potentially threatened as a woman, and as a person with very slight disabilities, than for being Jewish.

France has a bit more of an antisemitism problem; nonetheless, I don't get the impression that it's extreme in most places there. Eastern Europe is another matter; there are indeed several countries there where antisemitism is a major problem. I believe that it's a problem in Turkey as well - but it's ambiguous whether that is strictly a Europaean country in any case.

[bemildred]

10. Jews have lived in Europe for thousands of years.

And Turkey is not part of Europe, but Jews have lived there for thousands of years too. Although Turkey does, or at least did, want to be part of the EU. But it's hard to keep up with this guy. Some of this is just bizarre:

Anti-Semitism is a European phenomenon, with millions of Muslims sweeping the continent and turning the conflict with Israel and the Jews into a cause that enables them to reinforce their hold on Europe. The global economic crisis is being exploited in order to incite against the Jews and against the investment banks which the world enjoyed for half a century. Yet now, when we see losses, "Jewish money still rules the world," as the South African deputy foreign minister startlingly asserted.

[Boojatta]

14. "Jews have lived in Europe for thousands of years."

Iraqis have lived in Iraq for thousands of years. Therefore, Iraqis who have left Iraq are simply paranoid. They aren't really refugees.

[bemildred]

15. Oh bullshit.

The question was "Can Jews live in Europe?" The evidence is in, they can. The question was not "Are Jews always treated equitably in Europe" or "Do Jews have absolute security in Europe" or "Can Jews get as Orthodox as they like without annoying anyone in Europe". A large sub-group of all Jews are Europeans, by birth, by culture, by history. In other contexts we are subjected to endless blather about the "Western European Values" of Israel. It's a stupid question, and I just wanted to point out that it's a stupid question. The idea is to suggest better questions, not to deny anti-semitism. If the question is "Is Europe free of anti-semitism?", then of course the answer is no.

[LeftishBrit]

11. Moreover, the author seems to be picking up the anti-immigrant scaremongering of Europe's Right

The implication is that Europe is being overrun by 'millions of Muslims' and becoming 'increasingly Muslim' and that it is mainly Muslims who are threatening Jews.

In fact, most Europaean countries have only a small Muslim population. The highest proportion is I think in France where about 4% of the population is Muslim. In Britain it is about 3%; in many countries much fewer. And Muslim immigration to Europe is decreasing, not increasing. The idea of Muslims 'taking over' Europe is the same sort of pernicious myth, and often promulgated by the same type of people, as the idea of 'Zionists' controlling foreign policy and the media.

It is mostly native, xenophobic Europaeans who are responsible for local antisemitism.

[oberliner]

12. I think your numbers are off

According to the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4385768.stm

(specifically in regards to France)

[LeftishBrit]

13. There is a lot of conflicting info on France; I don't really know why

Perhaps there are a number of non-practicing Muslims? At any rate, 4% is a figure I have seen in several French sources. I've also seen a higher figure of something like 6 to 7 per cent, but the one quoted here seems remarkably high.

In any case, France is a bit exceptional among Europaean countries due to the Algerian connection.

ETA: I think one reason for some discrepancies is that this list seems to include non-citizens (presumably mostly 'guest workers') in its statistics: e.g. they say that 5% of the population of Denmark are Muslims, but that only a small proportion of these are citizens.