undersökning i belgiska skolor.
Kopplingen mellan antisemitism och
islamism, som vi ser på så många håll,
framgår här (över)tydligt:
The Flemish-language newspaper De Morgen
a survey of Muslim students in Brussels high
schools. The professor who conducted the
survey concludes that half "can be described
as antisemitic which is a very high rate.’’
Five times higher, in fact, then among Flemish-
speaking Belgians, who historically have been
relatively anti-Jewish.
**
Incidentally, what was being measured here
was not antagonism toward Israel but traditional
anti-Jewish stereotypes. No doubt, the former
attitude is even stronger.
**
The anti-Jewish sentiments among Muslims
don't vary depending on education level or
living standards. Obviously, they aren't
getting it from Belgian society.
"The antisemitism is theologically inspired,"
says the sociologist, Professor Mark Elchardus.
"There is a direct link between being Muslim
and antisemitic feelings. Catholics, too, are
negative toward Jews too, but their sentiments
are by far less strong.’’
**I think the following points are reasonable
to assume:
--These students don't learn anything in school
that is going to change their minds. Note that
these are overwhelmingly people born in Europe
and are native-speakers of the local language.
--Regarding the local media, given the hostility
to Israel it is probable that antisemitic
stereotypes and feelings will be reinforced
rather than diminished.
--It seems reasonable to assume that this
statistic basically applies to other European
countries.
--Hostility to Jews is likely to climb as this
sector of the population grows. It is estimated
that about six percent of Belgians today are
Muslims, climbing to ten percent in 2030. However,
the fact that these people are disproportionately
living in big cities increases their influence on
the society.
--Even though only a small proportion of Muslim
immigrants will engage in anti-Jewish violence,
the level will increase sharply.
So will discrimination plus other activities against
Jews grow as these attitudes influence other parts
of society or, which amounts to the same thing,
non-Muslim institutions try to appease that sector
of the population.
--Pretending that this problem doesn't exist and
that only neo-fascist white skinheads exhibit
antisemitism is not going to help deal with this
issue.
--I'll bet that antisemitism and not Islamophobia
is actually Europe's number one "hate" problem
but very few politicians or leaders are going to say
Taimour Abdulwahab
