Encore: Anti-Semitism plus Islamophobia
Spreads Across Europe
by Dan Ehrlich



The 12 to 15 million illegal aliens reportedly in the United States and the 1.5 million Arabs living within Israel's pre 1967 borders have one thing in common...neither group wants to return en mass to their own ethnic people or lands.

Most illegals in America are Mexicans and glad to be out of the poverty, chaos and violence enveloping their country. They see the US as a hope for a good life and freedom. However, the Israeli Arabs didn't choose to be Israeli or live in Israel. Yet, even amidst growing disquiet over the ongoing Palestinian conflict, a large majority say they wouldn't live anywhere else in the Middle East.

Well, it now appears Jews and Arabs have one more thing in common, besides genes, growing racism particularly in Europe, but also in the USA. The old specter of anti-Semitism is on the rise along with a new social ill, Islamophobia.

But, this is where the two groups part. Islam is the fastest growing religion on the continent, including Russia, with 53 million believers and 15 million in the European Union, alone. Jews, still a small minority, have increased since the Nazi genocide to 1.5 million throughout Europe and Central Asia. France has the largest European Jewish population with nearly a half million.

As in America, there's a growing fear, mainly among the less well educated population, that Muslims will eventually outnumber the locals and take over Europe. Unlike America, they have somewhat of a valid concern, since Europeans are generally indigenous to their lands, yet see themselves being inundated with foreigners. It's almost like the US in reverse.

Western Europe, in particular, has many of the same problems as we do in the US...growing decadence, a loss of faith and low birth rates. Muslims, however, have a long way to go before reaching decadence, are strong in their faith and tend to have lots of kids. And one other thing, as with America, they welcomed these immigrants into their countries as cheap labor.

For their part, as with Mexican illegals and Israeli Arabs, Muslims in Europe and America don't want to go back where they came from.
Euro-Politicians Fear Turkey in EU
Now many Euro-politicians have noticed the growing popular disquiet, but all they can or will do is consider banning women from wearing Islamic dress and put a hold on Turkey's long held desire to join the European Union.

You see, under EU law all member states can live and work in each other's countries. Which means Turkey's 75 million Muslims could move to France or Britain if they desired. Of course, this may not bother Germany very much with 4 million Turks already living in the country.

Talk about irony...here we have a nation that went to such great pains to purify its land of all non Germanic elements that it wound up committing history's greatest mass murder. And, now it has around eight times more non Germanic people there than before WW2.

The Pew Survey of Global Attitudes found that hostile attitudes to Jews were rising all across continental Europe from Russia and Poland in the east to Spain and France in the west. This is in contrast to the US and Britain where unfavorable opinion of Jews has been stable and low for several years at between 7 and 9%.

The survey found that suspicion of Muslims in Europe was considerably higher than hostility to Jews, but that the increase in antisemitism had taken place much more rapidly. "Great Britain stands out as the only European country included in the survey where there has not been a substantial increase in antisemitic attitudes," the survey found. However, London synagogues still have police guards during holiday services.

Antisemitism has more than doubled in Spain over the past three years, with a rise from 21% to 46%, the survey of almost 25,000 people across 24 countries found, while more than one in three Poles and Russians also had unfavorable opinions of Jews.

In the same period antisemitism in Germany and France also rose - from 21% to 25% in Germany and from 12% to 20% in France among those saying they had unfavorable opinions of Jews.
Lower Opinion of Muslims than Jews
"Opinions of Muslims in almost all of these countries was were more negative than are views of Jews," analysts said. While Americans and Britons displayed the lowest levels of antisemitism, one in four in both countries were hostile to Muslims.

While some reasoning can be drawn for Islamophobia in Europe, what could cause anti-Semitism in a region where there are relatively few Jews left after the Holocaust there?

Well, Europe has had a 1,500 year history of anti-Semitism, fostered mainly by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Teachings such as these don't just disappear. Yet, with few Jews around and the world economy resembling the 1930s, a scapegoat is still needed. And its name is Israel where most of the region's Jews now are located.

Europeans, and especially Germans, can't stand chaos and disorder. This, of course, is unlike much of America where disorder and chaos is often deemed chic. So, as the economy declines, and NATO's War of Terror continues, some Europeans will do a Mel and blame the Jews in Israel for the world condition.

I feel some of the resurgence of anti-Semitism is the fault of the so called European liberal media and its often overblown and sensational coverage of the Israel-Palestine Conflict. It's almost as if nothing else in the world is happening when Israel becomes embroiled in a Palestinian issue. America and the UK can be involved in two wars with scores of people being killed, but let Israel jump a Gaza supply ship and its revamp the story rundowns and clear the front pages.

This then stirs up base fears and resentment and can lead to racist actions especially when people don't have the brain power to examine issues through research and common sense.