Poll Says Anti-Semitism Is Global Matter
(WSJ) – Anti-Semitism runs highest among Muslims, according to a new global survey from the Anti-Defamation League. How does the ADL measure anti-Semitism? What percentage of the global population thinks that the Holocaust is a hoax? WSJ’s Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer.
About a quarter of the world’s population agrees that a number of negative statements about Jews are “probably true,” according to a poll aimed at providing a statistical underpinning to the question of how widespread anti-Semitism is globally.
In the survey to be released Tuesday, which covered 101 countries plus the Palestinian territories, 26% of respondents agreed with at least six of 11 negative statements—what its sponsor called stereotypes—about Jews. The questions included “Jews are more loyal to Israel than [their home] country,” and “Jews have too much power in the business world.”
The poll was sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, a leading organization for fighting anti-Semitism and other prejudice, and funded by New York business leader and philanthropist Leonard Stern. The pollster, First International Resources, conducted 53,100 interviews in 96 languages, and its sponsors said it was the most extensive survey ever on anti-Semitism.
The League said its goal was to create a snapshot of anti-Semitic views in all parts of the world, to find ways to combat it, and to allow future surveys to measure whether, and where, the prejudice is rising or falling.
Abraham Foxman, the League’s national director, said he was taken aback that anti-Semitism remained so prevalent.
“You would think—I would think—that 70 years after the Holocaust, with all the marvels of communication, of greater openness…that it would be low,” said Mr. Foxman, who has worked for the New York-based League since 1965 and headed the group since 1987. “So it’s maybe not shocking, but it’s sobering.”
The only religious group with a higher unfavorability rating in the survey than Jews was Muslims. While 38% rated Jews favorably and 21% unfavorably, both numbers were higher for Muslims, with 47% rating them favorably and 24% unfavorably. In comparison, 62% rated Christians favorably and just 15% unfavorably, the survey found.
