Peter Martino
The survey, conducted by
Professor Mark Elchardus also showed that Islamic anti-Jewish feelings
are widespread among all socio-economic and ethic groups, regardless of
whether the pupils are from richer or poorer families, or whether the
parents consider themselves moderate or traditionalist. This leads to
the conclusion that the anti-Jewish sentiments are caused by Islam, and
not by socio-economic factors.
Belgium, your average European country, sits the middle of Western
Europe, between Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands. This small
country of 11 million inhabitants houses both the headquarters of NATO
and the European Union. If one wants to know what life is like for Jews
today in Europe, the situation in Belgium is a significant measure.
As it happens, the situation is pretty bad. And
worsening.
Last year, anti-Semitic abuse and violence rose by 30 percent, with 88
documented complaints, compared to 62 in the previous year. Because many
victims do not complain, the actual number of incidents is definitely
higher. The Belgian trend mirrors the situation in neighboring France,
which saw anti-Semitic attacks rise to 614 in 2012 from 389 in 2011. The
most serious incident was the
murder of a rabbi and three Jewish schoolchildren by an Islamic fanatic in Toulouse in March 2012.