Study: Islamic extremists, leftists most threaten European Jews

A comprehensive study released this month, titled “Antisemitic violence in Europe,” provides insight into the the continent’s growing anti-Semitism problem and the perpetrators of anti-Jewish attacks in France, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Russia.

The University of Oslo Center for Research on Extremism finds that Islamic extremists, followed by left-wing extremists, are the most common perpetrators of anti-Semitic crimes, according to a survey conducted among the countries’ Jewish populations.

Respondents in France, Sweden, Germany, and the UK “most often perceived the perpetrator(s)” of an anti-Semitic attack to be “someone with a Muslim extremist view.”

— Jubal E. Harshaw (@alimhaider) June 24, 2017

The study quashed the theory promulgated by some “anti-Zionists” that somehow anti-Semitic violence is caused by Israel and its occasional clashes with its Arab neighbors. The university study found that there is no “direct causal link” between Arab-Israeli feuds and the rise of European violence against Jews, but it sometimes acts as an enabler of violence for individuals who already hold extremist views.

The climate of anti-Semitism in European countries has forced Jews there to flee to Israel and America. Last year, 5,000 Jews left France for Israel. When surveyed, one-third of European Jews said they were considering leaving Europe.

As the Jewish population in Europe continues to decline, Muslim populations continue to surge. This is largely due to two factors: Islamic migration into Europe, and the fact that Muslim families have over three children per couple. In 2015, some 1.3 million migrants arrived in Europe from the Middle East and North Africa.

An ADL global survey found that 74 percent of individuals in North Africa and the Middle East hold anti-Semitic attitudes. A Pew global attitudes survey found similar results. In Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, and the Palestinian territories, less than five percent of those surveyed had “favorable views” of Jewish people.