Why the resurgence of anti-Semitism?

BERLIN – Swastikas in a Jewish cemetery in France. An anti-Semitic political campaign of Hungary's far-right government. A group of lawmakers Labour Party in the UK, they gave up this political movement because of a rooted anti-Semitism. At a Belgian carnival, inflatable figures of floating Orthodox Jews were sitting in bags of money. All this has happened only in recent months.

The increase in the number of such incidents in Europe and the United States shows the resurgence, in the twenty-first century, of an old prejudice that, with different approaches, merges ideologies that do not coincide. This occurs in the context of increasing global economic uncertainties, from the focus on the discourses of race and national identity and a deep polarization between the left and the right in Europe and the United States on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"There is a common ideological pattern," said Günther Jikeli, an expert on European antisemitism at the University of Indiana. "We consider that the world is in a bad situation and that what keeps it from becoming a better place is the Jews."

Anti-Semitism has become part of the Venn diagram of current politics, in which the far right may coincide with sectors of the far left, the radical Islamist periphery of Europe and Europe. even the politicians of the two main parties of the United States.

This confluence is new, say the experts, as well as the emergence of an Israeli government that collaborates with far-right allies who praise Israel, though they encourage anti-Semitic prejudices in their homes. country.

"This creates a very confusing environment in which the situation is less clear than in the past," said Samuel Ghiles-Meilhac, expert in Jewish history at the Institute of History of Present Time, a research group financed by the French government.

Studies suggest that anti-Semitic attitudes may not be more prevalent today than in the past, especially in Western Europe, where Holocaust commemoration has become a ritual for most governments.

Despite this, intolerant people seem to have become more cheeky. "It is disturbing because it means that it has become normal to act in an anti-Semitic way," said Jikeli.

This includes acts of violence. In 2018, France recorded a 74% increase over the previous year for antisemitic incidents, with more than 500 attacks, including the murder of a Holocaust survivor on his own. home. President Emmanuel Macron said the increase was the worst level of anti-Semitism since the Second World War.

In Germany, during the same period, violent anti-Semitic attacks – 62 of them – increased by 60%, while all antisemitic crimes increased by almost 10% to 1646, according to government statistics.

According to polls, nearly 90% of Jews believe that anti-Semitism has increased in their country over the past five years all over Europe, the popularity of the far right has increased due to economic uncertainty and fear of migration. of the European Union.

"Currently, the dominant European and American political clbad, including presidents, heads of government, and prime ministers, do not hesitate to openly link or adopt anti-Semitic messages and memes," said David Nirenberg, Dean of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago and expert in Jewish history. "The electoral utility of anti-Semitism is new to me, again flexible and therefore dangerous again," added Nirenberg.

Far-right parties often portray Jews as a cosmopolitan threat to national identity, particularly in areas where the stereotype has been used historically. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has succeeded in representing Jewish billionaire George Soros as a secret instigator of Muslim immigration.

In Poland, a far-right newspaper sold to Parliament published the title "How to Detect a Jew", as well as the denunciation of a historian investigating Poland's complicity with the Holocaust.

On the far left, some politicians have linked Jews to the failure of capitalism and conspiracy over their alleged control of the global economy. These complaints are now heard by the radicals of the movement of yellow vests in France.

President Donald Trump embodies the contradictions of the moment. Trump has openly courted white nationalists by claiming that they have "very honest people" in their ranks, even though they marched in style Ku Klux Klan, making the Nazi salute with his arm outstretched and chanting slogans like "Jews will not replace us".

At the same time, the President praised his close relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and offered his unwavering support to Israel, as was clearly demonstrated by the transfer of the United States Embbady to Jerusalem, despite the fact that no agreement has occurred. with the Palestinians.

Not surprisingly, there is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in a time of prolonged political and economic instability, according to historians and badysts, when citizens of diverse political and cultural traditions seek easy explanations for sudden injustices and complex.

Stefanie Schüler-Springorum, head of the Antisemitic Research Center in Berlin, said Stefanie Schüler-Springorum, just as she was an instant scapegoat at a time of concern over social changes or global economic problems.

The Israeli government led by Netanyahu, with a growing tendency on the far right, is a point of divergence for the different strands of contemporary anti-Semitism.

Far-right political figures such as Orban approached Israel, while the anti-Semitic left repudiated it. Both groups are motivated by the same motive: they perceive Israel as a country that has done its best to preserve its religious and ethnic character at the expense of a Muslim minority.

The main difference is that Orban, the prime minister of another small country struggling to preserve his ethnic identity, considers Israel's behavior as a virtue, while his leftist critics, such as the Supporters of the Labor Party leader in the UK Jeremy Corbyn, in general, they do not see it that way.

"Corbyn said that Israel was a state that violated human rights in an extremely bellicose manner and defended its integrity at all costs to the detriment of Muslims," ​​said David Hirsh, a sociologist at Goldsmiths College of University of London, and Corbyn detractor. who is campaigning against the academic boycott of Israel. "But I suspect that the far-right peoples have exactly the same image of Israel: it's a belligerent country that defends itself against Muslims."

Netanyahu and Orban focus on domestic politics: antipathy of liberal voices, malaise of Muslim minorities and willingness to work with the far right.

Like Orban in Hungary, Netanyahu has pbaded legislation that goes against the civil society organizations that receive funds from abroad. His government banned non-Jews from exercising their right to self-determination and eliminated Arabic as one of Israel's official languages.

Although Netanyahu's relationship with Orban is at odds with some people in the Jewish diaspora, they may not bother Israelis as much, said Yossi Shain, a professor of political science at Tel Aviv University.

Orban supports Israel's right to exist, while some critics are perceived by some Israelis as people who "degrade Israeli nationalism and its right to exist," said Shain, author of next book on the subject.

"Also, for Israelis, it is the core of anti-Semitism in the modern era".

Aurelien Breeden collaborated on this report in Paris.

* Copyright: c.2019 New York Times Press Service