July 4, 2005
Jerusalem - The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on the ambassadors from 25 European Union nations to turn their commitments to fighting anti-Semitism into action. At a meeting in Israel hosted by British Ambassador Simon McDonald, whose government currently holds the rotating Presidency of the EU, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director urged the ambassadors to have their governments take bold and persistent steps against anti-Semitism.
"Despite the good faith efforts of many EU nations to stem the tide of anti-Semitism, millions of Europeans continue to believe the classic canards that have plagued Jews and, unfortunately, have added some new themes to that toxic brew," said Mr. Foxman.
Mr. Foxman reported on a new ADL poll recently released last month at the OSCE conference in Cordoba, Spain which found that 43 percent of Europeans believe that Jews are not loyal to their country and some 30 percent believe Jews possess too much power in business and finance. The survey, Attitudes Toward Jews in Twelve European Countries, found that 53 percent of the 6,000 respondents say that their opinion of Jews is worse as a result of the actions taken by Israel.
"Strong anti-Israel sentiment crosses the line between objective criticism of Israeli policies and outright anti-Semitism. This confirms the new trend in the ancient hatred, a shift from religious to secular, a hatred of Jews that has moved from being against the Jewish people and the Jewish religion to being against the Jewish State," explained Mr. Foxman.
In summing up the poll's findings, Mr. Foxman concluded that "the findings of this survey demonstrate dramatically that individual European governments, the EU itself and the OSCE, all of whom have condemned anti-Semitism and sought ways to counteract it, are significantly challenged to find a formula that will break down the stereotypes that refuse to die."
