Neo-Nazi rally in Budapest
Photo: Reuters
ADL: One in four adults 'infected with anti-Semitism'
In first global survey of anti-Jewish attitudes, Anti-Defamation League attempts to gather data-based research on anti-Semitic sentiments across the world.
More than one in four adults are "deeply infected with anti-Semitic attitudes" according to the results of a global survey released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League – a figure which represents an estimated 1 billion adults worldwide.
“For the first time we have a real sense of how pervasive and persistent anti-Semitism is today around the world,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.
The survey discovered that 41 percent of those surveyed agreed that "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the countries they live in" –a long-standing anti-Semitic accusation – and 35 percent believed that "Jews have too much power in the business world."
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The results of the ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism revealed that two out of three people surveyed had either never heard of the Holocaust or did not believe historical accounts of it are accurate.
The ADL surveyed 53,100 adults in 102 countries and territories, in an unprecedented effort to have data-based research on "the level and intensity of anti-Jewish sentiment across the world."
According to the report, which ranked countries and territories in numerical order based on the spread of anti-Semitiic attitudes through the population, Laos was the least anti-Jewish country in the world with only 0.2 percent of the population harboring negative attitudes towards Jews.
On the other end of the scale were Gaza and the West Bank, where anti-Semitic attitudes, scored at 93 percent, are rampant throughout society.
“The level of anti-Semitism in some countries and regions, even those where there are no Jews, is in many instances shocking,” said Barry Curtiss-Lusher, ADL National Chair. “We hope this unprecedented effort to measure and gauge anti-Semitic attitudes globally will serve as a wake-up call to governments, to international institutions and to people of conscience that anti-Semitism is not just a relic of history, but a current event.”
The large-scale poll was made possible by a generous donation from New York real-estate mogul Leonard Stern. Respondents were asked a series of 11 questions based on age-old stereotypes about Jews, including classical stereotypes about Jewish power, loyalty, money and behavior. Those who responded affirmatively to six or more negative statements about Jews are considered to hold anti-Semitic attitudes.
