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ADL Bombshell Survey: Palestinians Top Global Anti-Semitism Index

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Worldwide denial in a picture. Photo Credit: ADL
Worldwide denial in a picture. Photo Credit: ADL
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has released their massive, global survey on anti-Semitism.

The ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism surveyed 53,100 adults in 102 countries and territories in an effort to establish, for the first time, a comprehensive data-based research survey of the level and intensity of anti-Jewish sentiment across the world.

The survey, funded by New York philanthropist Leonard Stern, found that more than one-in-four adults, 26 percent of those surveyed, are deeply infected with anti-Semitic attitudes. This figure represents an estimated 1.09 billion people around the world.

The overall ADL Global 100 Index score was measured by a percentage of respondents who answered “probably true” to six or more of 11 negative stereotypes about Jews. An 11-question index has been used by ADL as a key metric in measuring anti-Semitic attitudes in the United States for the last 50 years.

said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “The data from the Global 100 Index enables us to look beyond anti-Semitic incidents and rhetoric and quantify the prevalence of anti-Semitic attitudes across the globe. We can now identify hotspots, as well as countries and regions of the world where hatred of Jews is essentially non-existent.”

The survey constitutes the most comprehensive assessment ever of anti-Semitic attitudes globally, encompassing 102 countries and territories in seven major regions of the world and accounting for about 88 percent of the world’s total adult population.

Available through an interactive web site at http://global100.adl.org, the survey will give researchers, students, governments and members of the public direct access to a treasure trove of current data about anti-Semitic attitudes globally and how they vary widely along religious, ethnic, national and regional lines.

The survey also ranks countries and territories in numerical order from the least anti-Semitic (Laos, at 0.2 percent of the adult population) to the most (West Bank and Gaza, where anti-Semitic attitudes, at 93 percent, are pervasive throughout society). The United States falls near the bottom half of the list with 9 percent.

“The level of anti-Semitism in some countries and regions, even those where there are no Jews, is in many instances shocking,” said Barry Curtiss-Lusher, ADL National Chair. “We hope this unprecedented effort to measure and gauge anti-Semitic attitudes globally will serve as a wake-up call to governments, to international institutions and to people of conscience that anti-Semitism is not just a relic of history, but a current event.”

At the same time, there are highly encouraging notes in the ADL survey.

In majority English-speaking countries, the percentage of those with anti-Semitic attitudes is 13 percent, far lower than the overall average. Protestant majority countries in general have the lowest ratings of anti-Semitic attitudes, as compared to any other majority religious country. And 28 percent of respondents around the world do not believe that any of the 11 anti-Semitic stereotypes tested are “probably true.”

Respondents were asked a series of 11 questions based on age-old stereotypes about Jews, including classical stereotypes about Jewish power, loyalty, money, and behavior. Those who responded affirmatively to six or more negative statements about Jews are considered to hold anti-Semitic attitudes. The margin of error for most countries, where 500 respondents were selected, was +/- 4.4 percent. In various larger countries, where 1,000 interviews were conducted, the margin of error was +/- 3.2 percent.

Among the major findings of the ADL Global 100 Index:

Only 54 percent of those polled globally have ever heard of the Holocaust. Two out of three people surveyed have either never heard of the Holocaust, or do not believe historical accounts to be accurate.

The most widely accepted anti-Semitic stereotype worldwide is: “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country/the countries they live in.” Overall, 41 percent of those surveyed believe this statement to be “probably true.” This is the most widely accepted stereotype in five out of the seven regions surveyed.

The second most widely accepted stereotype worldwide is: “Jews have too much power in the business world.” Overall, 35 percent of those surveyed believe this statement to be “probably true.” This is also the most widely held stereotype in Eastern Europe.

Among the 74 percent of those surveyed who indicated they had never met a Jewish person, 25 percent harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. Of the 26 percent overall who harbor anti-Semitic attitudes, 70 percent have never met a Jewish person.

30 percent of respondents believe Jews make up between 1 to 10 percent of the world’s population. Another 18 percent believe Jews make up more than 10 percent of the world’s population. 16 percent responded less than 1 percent. (The actual number of Jewish people as a percentage of the world’s population is 0.19 percent.)

“When it comes to Holocaust awareness, while only 54 percent of those polled had heard of the Holocaust—a disturbingly low number—the numbers were far better in Western Europe, where 94 percent of those polled were aware of the history,” Mr. Foxman said. “At the same time, the results confirm a troubling gap between older adults who know their history and younger men and women who, more than 70 years after the events of World War II, are more likely to have never heard of or learned about what happened to the six million Jews who perished.”

Please visit http://global100.adl.org for the entire results of the survey.

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