Having trouble viewing this email? Click here July 11, 2022 – 12 Tamuz 5782

By Daniela Gross
 
While a first-of-its-kind index recently released by the European Jewish Association unveils the prevalence of antisemitic sentiment in 12 European countries, a new paper by the Italian-Israeli demographer and statistician Sergio Della Pergola, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, deals with a less expected facet of the phenomenon, which is the actual people perception, advocating to award them a more serious stake in the decision about how to define antisemitism. 
Titled “How best to define antisemitism: A structural approach?”, the study starts from the definitions published by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance - IHRA in 2016 and the Jerusalem declaration on antisemitism published in 2021 stressing alternative definition criteria.
What the two have in common, writes Della Pergola, who in middle August will be the guest of honor at Redazione Aperta, the yearly journalistic laboratory organized by Pagine Ebraiche newsroom, “was that the empirical social sciences were remarkably left out, which constituted a significant drawback to these efforts’ completeness and even relevance. The voices and perspectives of the object and victims of antisemitic hostility were significantly minimized or even ignored”.
Both definitions focus essentially on three major areas of concern, Jewish-related, Holocaust/Shoah-related, and Israel/related, whereas Della Personal suggests “considering a different mode of proceeding in order to reach a more appropriate assessment and definition of antisemitism—bottom-up rather than top-down. This requires empirically considering the perceptions and experiences of antisemitism by real-world Jews—those people who are directly and personally affected and offended by antisemitism”.
To this aim, the author re-analyzes a survey of experiences and perceptions of antisemitism undertaken in 2018 by the European Union’s FRA—Fundamental Rights Agency among Jews in 12 European Union countries. Conducted online, the study covered 16,395 self-identified Jewish respondents in 12 EU countries including all the largest Jewish communities. Overall, 1.6% of the total Jewish population of that area (estimated at 1,041.200) took part in it, and the results, according to professor Della Pergola, suggest a different approach to the main patterns of antisemitism diffusion and perception.
Although in that survey each country displayed a different ranking of the issues, the greatest concern overall appeared to be antisemitism, closely followed by racism, and then by crime level, unemployment, immigration, intolerance of Muslims, and government corruption.
Notably, in Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, the most acute perception concerned antisemitism; in Austria, Poland, Sweden, and the UK it was racism; in Spain and Hungary, government corruption; in Italy, unemployment; in Denmark, intolerance to Muslims.
However, when further analyzed, these perceptions tell something more. As Della Pergola explains, in this, as in other studies of antisemitism, cognitive and behavioral aspects are taken into consideration whereas the affective and emotional are generally neglected. Thus, we come to know about opinions, phenomena and acts but “what a person sensorially feels about the given idea, act or phenomenon, for example anger or fear, passivity or aggressivity, loneliness or solidarity with others and the like” is mostly left out of most standard sociological research. And that even though “in the real life of contemporary Jews these emotions are perhaps the most tangible effect of antisemitism”.

Read more

In Europe, Italy and Hungary have the highest quality of life for Jews. But they are also the countries where antisemitic sentiment is especially prevalent, according to a recent survey by the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research for the European Jewish Association. The index report, released at the end of June and presented at the association’s annual conference in Budapest, is based on a study combining polling data and policy information.
The goal is to create a single quality-of-life metric for Jews in the 12 European Union countries with sizable Jewish communities, combining data about how Jews feel about their safety and how prevalent antisemitism is with government policies. According to the statistician Daniel Staetsky, who wrote the report, the results may challenge preconceptions about which EU countries are most hospitable to Jews. For example, Germany scored high when it came to government policies relating to Jews. But Jews there report a weak sense of security, leading to an overall middling score.
“We welcome statements against antisemitism by European leaders. But more than statements is needed”, pointed out Rabbi Menachem Margolin, head of the European Jewish Association, presenting the study. So the index is primarily a tool “to demand concrete action from European leaders” and to ensure the development of Jewish life.
The European Jewish Association will thus make individual recommendations to each country surveyed. Titled “Europe and Jews, a country index of respect and tolerance towards Jews,” the study ranks the 12 countries surveyed as follows: Italy: 79, Hungary: 76, Denmark: 75, the United Kingdom: 75, Austria: 75, the Netherlands: 74, Sweden: 73, Germany: 72, Spain: 70, France: 68, Poland: 66, Belgium: 60.
Each country was graded on multiple subjects, including the Jewish sense of security, public attitudes to Jews, and the number of Jews who said they’d experienced antisemitism. The grades are based on major opinion polls in recent years, including those conducted by the Action and Protection League, a group that monitors hate crimes against Jews in several European countries, and the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency.

Read more

Lisetta Carmi (1924-2022)

By Eldad Beck*
 
Seventy-five-year-old Florence Pauli had already come to terms that her family wound never be given the title of Righteous Among the Nations, although they saved Jews during the Holocaust from certain death, endangering their own lives. Fast forward to 2022, and their courageous act has been recognized by the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center this week and the family awarded certificates of honor by Israel's ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar.
The 80-year-long journey began during the Holocaust, when the Paulis hid the Israel family – mother Esther, daughter Lucia and son Samuele – for over a year in their attic in the town of Campi Bisenzio, in the Italian region Tuscany. Florence never really sought recognition. Five years ago, she visited the magnificent Florence synagogue with her granddaughter to tell her about Judaism, the Jewish people, and her family's courageous acts during the war. She also spoke with members of the local Jewish community, who were the ones to propose seeking the recognition.

*This article was originally published on Israel Hayom on July 7, 2022.

Read more

In addition to our social media in Italian, Pagine Ebraiche International recently launched its new profile on Facebook. On our page, we share news, photos, and updates. Please take a moment and visit it, and once there, click “Like” or “Follow”. We look forward to bring you great information and connect with you.
We encourage you to comment, ask us questions, or share the content with your friends, family, and co-workers. Join us on Facebook