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The Persecution of European Jewry

Commentary by Dr. Gerhard Falk

     

 

The Jews of Europe

 

     A recent lengthy article in the widely read weekly German publication Die Zeit was headlined, “There is no future for the Jews in Europe.” This sounds at first like an anti-Jewish diatribe. However, Die Zeit has for years exposed Nazi and anti-Jewish conduct in Germany and is constantly exhibiting articles and historical studies concerning the Nazi period and the barbaric conduct of the German people towards the European Jews at that time. In short, Die Zeit is in no sense guilty of publishing articles detrimental to Jewish interests. Therefore, the discussion concerning the future of the European Jews was based on two undeniable facts.

     The first is the persistence of anti-Jewish hatred in the European population, which continues in the 1900 year old tradition of bleating the same denunciations about Jewish conspiracies and Jewish responsibility for everything “wrong” in this world. Again, Europeans bicker that “the Jews have all the money,” that “the Jews have too much power,” etc. etc. etc.

      The second source of the persecution of the European Jews today is caused by the presence of over 17 million Muslims in Europe. Europe has a population of 830 million. Only 2 million Jews remain in Europe today, so that few Europeans have ever seen a Jew. Yet, the combination of home-grown haters and Muslim haters is gradually driving the tiny Jewish community out of Europe. Many have already left for Israel, so that the Muslims who attack Jews in the streets and also attack Jewish institutions are promoting the opposite of their intentions. More and more Jews move to Israel, creating the need to build more and more Jewish housing, which the Arab terrorists oppose.

     Here are some statistics:

     France, with a total population of 62.3 million, includes 6 million Muslims but only 493,000 Jews. This makes French Jews the target of constant attacks and has begun to lead to a French Jewish exodus to Israel. In Belgium, there are only 42,000 Jews out of a population of 10.3 million, including 400,000 Muslims. A large number of Jews have left Belgium in the last two years for Israel and the United States.

     Germany, with a population of 82.5 million, has 200,000 Jews, who are incessantly harassed by 3 million Muslims and a general anti-Jewish attitude which repeats the age old canards about Jews, clothed mostly in anti-Israel tirades.

     The Netherlands has a population of 16.3 million, of whom 945,000 are Muslims and only 45,000 are Jews. There once was a thriving Jewish community there, which has gradually been reduced more and more because of the Muslim hate attacks.

     The U.K. has 297,000 Jews amidst 59 million inhabitants, of which 1.6 million are Muslims. Attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions are commonplace, making Jewish continuity in the U.K. problematic if not yet impossible.

     Other European countries such as Sweden and Poland with tiny Jewish populations nevertheless have exploded in anti-Jewish hatred in the past few years. Sweden has only 18,000 Jews and a population of 9 million, of whom 300,000 are Muslims. Swedish Jews are leaving that country for Israel, as the Muslims and local Christians make their lives a nightmare.

     Of course, no one should be surprised that Poland continues to preach hate day in and day, out although among the 38 million Poles there are only 50,000 Jews. Yet, the most popular Polish radio station, Radio Maryja, spews hate all day, accusing Jews of every crime known to man.

     Italy has 45,000 Jews and 825,000 Muslims amidst a total population of 58.4 million.

     There are other, smaller countries in Europe with a few Jews and large Muslim populations, so that Die Zeit correctly estimated that there is no future for Jews in Europe. Indeed, the chances of a second European Holocaust are remote. However, the children and grandchildren of the current European Jews can hardly expect to survive economically or socially. Once more it is dangerous to be seen as a Jew on a European street. Once more the European media rant against Israel, meaning Jews, and once more Jews in Europe sit on a powder keg with their bags packed like the traditional “fiddlers on the roof.”

     The beneficiary of all this hate is Israel, whose population is expanding as the area inhabited by Jews in Israel grows consistently. Of course, the enemies of the Jewish people grunt that Jews should not live in Jerusalem or in Samaria or in Judea. It follows evidently that if Jews have no right to live in Jerusalem the Jews have no right to live anywhere else either. Therefore we can justifiably conclude that those who object to the notion that Jews have the right like everyone else to live where they please really mean that no Jew has a right to live on this planet. That is the true cause of the dispute between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Shalom u’vracha.

Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including The American Criminal Justice System (2010).

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