BICOM

A report by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University states that violent antisemitic incidents around the world fell by 27 per cent in 2011. The study found 446 reported acts of violence, vandalism and “direct threats” to Jews around the world in 2011, compared to 614 the year before. This is the second consecutive year that the research centre has counted fewer global violent antisemitic attacks.

The biggest drops in reported hate crimes against Jews were recorded in the UK, France and Canada. According to the authors of the report, the reasons for the decline in the number of major violent incidents are not clear. “They may include the absence of a major confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians, such as Operation Cast Lead in 2009 and the Mavi Marmara flotilla in 2010.”

However, despite the fall in violent attacks, the report notes the “the continuation and escalation of harassment and incitement” against Jews. According to Prof. Dina Porat, who heads the centre, “what we saw was not the violence of 2009, a peak year, but we estimate that the general feeling [of European Jews] is one of being insulted by the mayors in London or Malmo. Antisemitic views are not only found in fringe or radical groups. It has infiltrated the mainstream and it creates an atmosphere that you cannot count.”