By JULIA BAIRD
Here's a startling poll: one in eight Britons think Jews talk about the Holocaust to get sympathy, while one in four believe Jewish people "chase money more than others". Nuts, right? But it's not just isolated, foolish talk.
Last year there was a 35 per cent increase in the number of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia.
Those who endured the hell, 'do not want our past to be our children's future'
A rabbi was attacked near a Jewish boarding school in Britain. Synagogues in France and Germany were firebombed. In Paris, radical Islamists killed Jews at a kosher supermarket as part of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
The 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was an arresting reminder that the sickening recent resurfacing of anti-Semitism across the globe must be aired, understood and fought. It's not just a question of remembrance but vigilance.
As Roman Kent, an Auschwitz survivor, told the memorial gathering in Poland, those who endured the hell "do not want our past to be our children's future".
More than 1 million people died in that concentration camp alone between 1940 and 1945, mostly Jews. As @therealBanksy pointed out on Twitter, if we were silent for one minute for every person killed in the Holocaust, we would be mute for 11 years.
And yet the demons of hate are stirring. Also at the memorial film, director Steven Spielberg said "anti-Semites, radical extremists and religious fanatics" were again carrying out hate crimes, and Jews were once more facing the "perennial demons of intolerance".
Similarly, at the UN's first global anti-Semitism forum this month, Canadian MP Irwin Cotler argued: "We are witnessing a new, sophisticated, global, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism, reminiscent of the atmospherics of the 1930s, and without parallel or precedent since the end of the Second World War."
In Europe, thousands of Jews are selling homes, packing bags and migrating to Israel for fear of violence. In 2015. What on earth is going on?
The global data on anti-Semitism is unclear; numbers fluctuate and comparing countries is fraught. For a long time, in Europe it was in decline. It should also be noted that the Pew Foundation 2014 Global Attitudes survey found in Europe there was more hostility towards Muslims and Roma than Jews.
The data does show, though, that the average level of expressions of anti-Semitism is higher now than in the 1990s and has risen since last year. In 2013, the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights canvassed the experiences of Jewish people in eight countries and three quarters thought anti-Semitism had worsened in the past five years.
In Australia, there has been a marked increase in harassment of identifiably Jewish people in public. One consistent trend is a spike in attacks on Jewish communal buildings – and people – when conflict breaks out in the Middle East. The recent disputes in Gaza have underlined this. This suggests we have a particular responsibility to be careful when it comes to discussion of Israeli-Palestine conflicts.
It is absurd to accuse anyone who criticises the policies or actions of Israel of anti-Semitism. It is wrong to shut down debate or belittle those who are genuinely concerned about victims of violence. But caution not to consciously or unconsciously revive prejudice while doing so is crucial.
There are few events in history as unfathomable as the Holocaust. And few re-workings of history that are as intellectually dishonest and morally dangerous as the attempts to downplay it. And while remembering the mass graves, the terror and barbarity of World War II, we must not forget that the greatest of crimes begin with slurs, hatred and common prejudices that are not quashed.
With what researchers have called a movement of anti-Semitism from the fringes to the mainstream of Australian society, we must ask if there has been a broader acceptance, or lack of questioning, of a casual anti-Semitism. Or whether hateful remarks involving stereotypes about money, or media, or movies, for example, too often go unchecked.
Let's think about some of the most shameful ravings of the past few years from public figures who should know better. John Galliano was filmed slurring his love for Hitler, "gassing" and dislike of "dirty Jews" in a Paris bar.
Several years ago a drunk Mel Gibson told a police officer "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world". (He has since apologised.)
Oliver Stone lamented "Jewish domination of the media". Charlie Sheen called his manager a "stooped Jew pig". This is not alcohol or ignorance or random foolishness, it's bigotry.
If it's not isolated, it needs to be countered. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff says: "There is a small but enduring minority who perpetuate outdated stereotypes, either through ignorance, bigotry or a combination of both.
"It can manifest in dinner-party conversations, in the schoolyard, on the sports field and on talkback radio. There is a need to identify it and call it out – as we should do with all forms of racism and discrimination."
Surely no one can argue with something history demands: stamp out ugliness when you see it.
In Sydney, Jewish school kids were monstered by teens who threatened to cut their throats on a bus while yelling "Heil Hitler". Hitler placards and T-shirts were sported at rallies here and elsewhere as people chanted "Jews, Jews to the gas"; swastikas were sprayed on buildings, Facebook pages identified Jewish people and provided their location to aid attackers.
The 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was an arresting reminder that the sickening recent resurfacing of anti-Semitism across the globe must be aired, understood and fought. It's not just a question of remembrance but vigilance.
As Roman Kent, an Auschwitz survivor, told the memorial gathering in Poland, those who endured the hell "do not want our past to be our children's future".
More than 1 million people died in that concentration camp alone between 1940 and 1945, mostly Jews. As @therealBanksy pointed out on Twitter, if we were silent for one minute for every person killed in the Holocaust, we would be mute for 11 years.
And yet the demons of hate are stirring. Also at the memorial film, director Steven Spielberg said "anti-Semites, radical extremists and religious fanatics" were again carrying out hate crimes, and Jews were once more facing the "perennial demons of intolerance".
Similarly, at the UN's first global anti-Semitism forum this month, Canadian MP Irwin Cotler argued: "We are witnessing a new, sophisticated, global, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism, reminiscent of the atmospherics of the 1930s, and without parallel or precedent since the end of the Second World War."
In Europe, thousands of Jews are selling homes, packing bags and migrating to Israel for fear of violence. In 2015. What on earth is going on?
The global data on anti-Semitism is unclear; numbers fluctuate and comparing countries is fraught. For a long time, in Europe it was in decline. It should also be noted that the Pew Foundation 2014 Global Attitudes survey found in Europe there was more hostility towards Muslims and Roma than Jews.
The data does show, though, that the average level of expressions of anti-Semitism is higher now than in the 1990s and has risen since last year. In 2013, the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights canvassed the experiences of Jewish people in eight countries and three quarters thought anti-Semitism had worsened in the past five years.
In Australia, there has been a marked increase in harassment of identifiably Jewish people in public. One consistent trend is a spike in attacks on Jewish communal buildings – and people – when conflict breaks out in the Middle East. The recent disputes in Gaza have underlined this. This suggests we have a particular responsibility to be careful when it comes to discussion of Israeli-Palestine conflicts.
It is absurd to accuse anyone who criticises the policies or actions of Israel of anti-Semitism. It is wrong to shut down debate or belittle those who are genuinely concerned about victims of violence. But caution not to consciously or unconsciously revive prejudice while doing so is crucial.
There are few events in history as unfathomable as the Holocaust. And few re-workings of history that are as intellectually dishonest and morally dangerous as the attempts to downplay it. And while remembering the mass graves, the terror and barbarity of World War II, we must not forget that the greatest of crimes begin with slurs, hatred and common prejudices that are not quashed.
With what researchers have called a movement of anti-Semitism from the fringes to the mainstream of Australian society, we must ask if there has been a broader acceptance, or lack of questioning, of a casual anti-Semitism. Or whether hateful remarks involving stereotypes about money, or media, or movies, for example, too often go unchecked.
Let's think about some of the most shameful ravings of the past few years from public figures who should know better. John Galliano was filmed slurring his love for Hitler, "gassing" and dislike of "dirty Jews" in a Paris bar.
Several years ago a drunk Mel Gibson told a police officer "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world". (He has since apologised.)
Oliver Stone lamented "Jewish domination of the media". Charlie Sheen called his manager a "stooped Jew pig". This is not alcohol or ignorance or random foolishness, it's bigotry.
If it's not isolated, it needs to be countered. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff says: "There is a small but enduring minority who perpetuate outdated stereotypes, either through ignorance, bigotry or a combination of both.
"It can manifest in dinner-party conversations, in the schoolyard, on the sports field and on talkback radio. There is a need to identify it and call it out – as we should do with all forms of racism and discrimination."
Surely no one can argue with something history demands: stamp out ugliness when you see it.
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