Robin Shepherd
(NB: Updates original entry with news of university boycott imposed by Spanish government)
A new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has documented widespread and growing anti-Semitism across mainstream society in Spain. The report, Polluting the Public Square: Anti-Semitic Discourse in Spain, (see link below), reveals a combination of traditional Judeophobic beliefs in the general population alongside extreme anti-Zionist modes of expression in the media.
Polling by the ADL this year showed 74 percent of Spaniards agreeing with the proposition that Jews have too much power in international financial markets, 56 percent saying they have too much power in the business world, 64 percent saying Diaspora Jews are more loyal to Israel than their own country and 42 percent saying Jews talk too much about the Holocaust.
Barely had the report been released when it was announced by Spain’s Housing Ministry that it had imposed a boycott on Israel’s Ariel University forbidding it from taking part in a biannual architectural and environmental competition to design solar powered housing. The boycott was imposed due to Ariel’s location on the West Bank and was justified with reference to European Union guidelines.
Spain, it should be remembered, still occupies parts of Morocco where, despite long standing protests from the Moroccan government, the Spanish occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla remain under Madrid’s sovereignty. However, as I have said many times, an appeal to reason and logic may miss the point when engaging with anti-Zionist bigotry.
In more general terms, it is worth noting that there are only a few tens of thousands of Jews in Spain (30-40,000 by some estimates) meaning that anti-Semitic attitudes are likely to be culturally embedded rather than arising out of prejudiced opinions of Jews that ordinary Spaniards have actually met. Fanatical hostility to Israel in the media is also likely to be feeding such attitudes.
The ADL report highlighted the role of political cartoonists and columnists. Themes centring on the Jews as the chosen people, Israelis as Nazis and the malign influence of Jewish money were of particular concern.
In introducing the report its authors said:
“We start from the premise that not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. But demonization of Israel is. Equating Israel with the Nazi regime is. Attacking Judaism as the evil inspiration for Israeli policies is. These are not just ADL standards, but those of the European Union’s own racism watchdog, included in its working definition of anti-Semitism.”
To read the full report, click here:
To read a report on the Spanish boycott, click here:
http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/spain-boycotts-ariel-college-for-being.html#links
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198174466&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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