Jews Are in a Global Emergency

A majority of Americans believe that American Jews are more loyal to Israel than the United States. One-third of Americans...

The post Jews Are in a Global Emergency first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt speaks during the organization’s “Never Is Now” summit at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan in New York City, US, Nov. 10, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

A majority of Americans believe that American Jews are more loyal to Israel than the United States.

One-third of Americans believe that Jews talk too much about what happened to them during the Holocaust.

One-fifth of Americans believe that Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars.

Since 1964, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has regularly conducted comprehensive studies of antisemitic attitudes in the United States.

In our new survey conducted in then J7 task force nations — countries with the largest Jewish populations outside Israel —  we found that nearly 40% of respondents in Europe, Latin America, North America, and Australia endorsed at least six antisemitic tropes like those mentioned above.

So, outside of our Jewish identity, why should this concern us as a society?

The answer is that these beliefs are some of the oldest and most insidious forms of antisemitism, and they don’t just endanger Jews, but threaten the health of democracy as a whole.

The dual loyalty trope, for example, dates back to the days of Judas in the New Testament, when antisemites often accused Jews of being loyal only to other Jews and a distinct Jewish agenda. This resulted in Jews being perceived as untrustworthy, implying they are inherently disloyal or possess dual loyalties.

After the founding of the State of Israel, a modern iteration of this ancient prejudice emerged and persists today: that Jews will always be more loyal to Israel than their countries of origin.

This is starkly illustrated by the mass expulsion of Jews from their homes in Arab countries under suspicion of dual loyalty, as supposed double agents. This suspicion also led to the arrest, murder, or forced expulsion of countless Jews. The Soviet Union was particularly adept at the promotion of this false charge, having conceived a global anti-Zionist movement in the 1950s and 60s, as a way of targeting its own Jewish population, as well as the State of Israel.

Many of those Soviet anti-Zionist tactics and rhetoric have been adopted by today’s anti-Zionists to harass American Jewish college students. Students have faced ongoing protests, encampments, and harassment as a Jew making their way to class.

In our survey, this age-old antisemitic allegation received the highest agreement of the 12 antisemitic beliefs presented. The dual loyalty canard was endorsed by a staggering 56 percent of all respondents across the J7 countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Although antisemitism remained on the fringes of these societies for years, rising slowly and steadily, Hamas’ October 7 massacre in Israel led to a sharp spike of global anti-Jewish hate. These atrocities swiftly breathed new life into ancient antisemitic tropes, with Israel being increasingly demonized, and support of Hamas becoming slowly normalized.

Illustrating this, we recorded that more than 15 percent of respondents in the J7 countries view the terrorist organization of Hamas “very” or “somewhat” favorably, a nightmarish and outrageous figure.

Even more concerning, 26 percent of these respondents belong to Generation Z (born 1997-2012), the next generation poised to shape our future.

Hand in hand with these disturbing findings, our survey unveiled that the trope that, “Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars” has reached an all-time high, rising to 23 percent in Argentina (up from 13 percent in 2019); 19 percent in the United States (up from 5 percent in 2015); 17 percent in France, (up from 3 in 2023); and 17 percent in Germany, up from 4 percent in 2023.

Let’s be clear: these tropes aren’t just isolated thoughts; they represent deeply dangerous ideas about Jews that incite real violence.

For instance, the belief in Jewish control of government led to deadly antisemitic attacks at the synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, as well as the Colleyville hostage crisis. Inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has also contributed to a rise in antisemitic incidents throughout the years.

More specifically, we’ve all witnessed the global spike of anti-Jewish hate that overwhelmed our communities immediately following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. From October 7 until the end of 2023, ADL has documented 5,204 antisemitic incidents in the United States alone — surpassing the total for all of 2022 combined.

As we confront this tsunami of antisemitic hate head-on, particularly in nations with large Jewish populations, it is apparent that this threat to our communities knows no bounds. Whether in the United States or France, and from the streets of Australia to Argentina, this hate spans across continents and seamlessly crosses borders.

Listen to what the data is telling us. We are in a global state of emergency.

To combat antisemitism, we must move beyond theoretical discussions and address it head-on, wherever it manifests. Antisemitic attitudes and endorsement of antisemitic tropes have profound, real-life consequences, leading to discrimination, violence, and the marginalization of Jewish communities. Whether propagated by the far-right or the far-left, whether targeting a Londoner or a New Yorker, antisemitism must be confronted — boldly and without hesitation.

Marina Rosenberg is Senior Vice President for International Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, and a former ambassador and diplomat.

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