anti-Semitic attack anti-Semitism Manfred Gerstenfeld

DR.MANFRED GERSTENFELD: BANDWAGON ANTI-SEMITISM AFTER TOULOUSE MURDERS…….

 

This was published yesterday at YNET and republished here with the author’s consent, included are the footnotes not published in the original article.

Bandwagon Anti-Semitism after the Toulouse Murders

Manfred Gerstenfeld

Condemnations poured in after Mohammed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin murdered a Jewish teacher and three children at the Otzar HaTorah school in Toulouse in March. Then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited the school after the murders. He and his challenger, François Hollande — who was subsequently elected President — halted their campaigning for two days out of respect for the victims. The condemnations not only came from France, including from several Muslims, but from all over the world. The King of Morocco even sent a delegation to the school to offer condolences.

Yet, there were also other reactions to the murders. The school received many hate emails and threats soon after. It has recently become known that in the aftermath of the Toulouse massacre, anti-Semitism in France increased greatly. The Jewish community’s protection service, SPCJ documented more than 90 anti-Semitic incidents during the ten days following the murders at the school.

The French Interior Ministry documented 148 anti-Semitic incidents in March and April, 43 of which were classified as violent. This was more than double the figure for the same months in 2011. The last violent incident in April happened in Marseille, where a Jewish man and his friend were assaulted by attackers who said they were Palestinians and wanted to exterminate the Jews. The SPCJ published its report after another violent attack on June 2nd against three Jews in Villeurbanne near Lyon. It stated that these attacks reflected the empathy that some have shown toward Merah. After yet another anti-Semitic attack in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, Interior Minister Manuel Valls attended a religious service there to show his sympathy for the Jewish community.

In the present century, major outbursts of anti-Semitic incidents in Western Europe have usually been linked to developments in the Middle East. This was the case during the second Intifada in 2000, the second Lebanon war in 2006, and Israel’s Cast Lead operation in Gaza in 2008-2009.

These waves of anti-Semitic violence differed greatly from three earlier post-war ones. In the second half of the previous century, there were three upsurges of anti-Semitic violence: the “Swastika Epidemic” (1959-60), one in the late 1970’s–early 1980’s, and one between 1987–early 1990’s. These incidents were studied by anti-Semitism expert Simon Epstein. He concluded that these waves were governed by some autonomous laws. In other words, they were “bandwagon” types of anti-Semitism. Someone initiates the incidents and others unconnected to him carry out additional ones.

The aftermath of the Merah killings may thus indicate a frightening perspective. Not only can developments in the Middle East greatly increase anti-Semitic incidents abroad, but a major act of anti-Semitic violence can also ignite many other similar incidents. The perpetrator of such aggression may thus think that the impact of his crime is not only on those whom he aggresses against but also on others he indirectly causes to be attacked.

There are at least two lessons to be drawn from developments after the Merah murders. One is that sympathy with the Jewish community or with the victims – while very welcome – is overshadowed by the violence coming from an assortment of origins. The most clearly identifiable ones are elements in the Muslim community. This shows that the forces of evil, no matter how small, can often overcome the forces of good.

It is this reality which many are seemingly unable to understand. Much effort is undertaken in Europe to fight anti-Semitism, including through Holocaust education. However substantial the effort made to tell people that anti-Semitism is intolerable, its impact lags behind what evildoers can accomplish in contemporary European societies. Defamation and delegitimization are easy to carry out. Fighting them is extremely difficult.

Another lesson is less transparent. Once a certain narrative has permeated societies, various bandwagon effects increase. The Merah epigones were probably marginal in society. In the mainstream however, other types of bandwagon effects appear in many other areas. For instance: if at dinner parties the dominant dialogue is anti-Israeli, those who want to curry favor with the host or show that they conform to the dominant mood chime in, while those who have pro-Israel opinions may remain silent. Once this type of bandwagon has enough participants, they are often self-sustaining and people get on board for social rather than ideological reasons.

In the academic world, if leading professors of a university department happen to be anti-Israel, junior staff can succeed in their career plans if they adopt their views. The same often goes for students who want to get good grades. Somewhat similar bandwagon effects occur with reporters who write for anti-Israeli TV stations, or with many European newspaper correspondents in Israel. The bandwagon effects against Israel in Europe have never been properly investigated, yet they are likely a major force in the huge bias against it.

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has published 20 books. Several of these address anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism.

Footnotes:

1.) “Toulouse Massacre Encouraged More French Antisemitic Attacks, Report Says,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 4, 2012. For more details, see Communique, Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive, June 4, 2012.
2.) “Three arrested for attacking Jewish man near Paris,” JTA, 11 June 2012.

3.) Simon Epstein, “Cyclical Patterns in Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Anti-Jewish Violence in Western Countries since the 1950s.” Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, Hebrew University, 1993. Analysis of Current Trends in Anti-Semitism.

 

2 Responses

  1. Yes, a whole nation meant to be “Christian” is taking over the EU presidency next (Ireland) and wants goods to be labelled from the “occupied” territories – ie from Judea and SAmaria – what are they reading in those churches? Who do they think Jesus is?…..a good catholic boy??

    The band wagon is a term attributed to Phinchas Barnum of circus fame. This bandwagon also has its freaks and animals and sad clowns.

  2. The Leftist loons keep telling us that we’re not meant to mistrust or hate Muslims just because of the actions of a ‘few extremists’, yet Jews can be freely attacked, so it seems, just because of Israel. When Palestinians say that they want to exterminate the Jews, is this not anti-Jewish? What have Jews living in Europe got to do with the policies of Israel?
    This is typical of the double standards of the Left who despise anything that is decent and moral about human beings. They love Islam because Islam wants to destroy Western civilization, something that deep down all Lefties despise, but they hate the Jews, because Jews are industrious, pioneering and successful. Your average Jew is everything that your average envious Lefty knows that he can never be.
    It also explains why in Europe (especially in France and Sweden) that Jew hatred is on the rise and Muslims can do no wrong, because Europe is controlled by the Left.
    Anti-Semitism is on the increase in Europe and will continue to rise until the Left are giving the kicking they deserve and booted out of positions of high office, positions they obtained in the first place by scheming and political manipulation and not by honest democratic means. The Left can never gain power through election because the majority don’t want them in power in the first place, so they gain power by subversion through non-elected quangos and complicated bureaucracy designed to erode the system from within.

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