Washington D.C., Apr 28, 2018 / 15:30 pm
A drastic uptick in anti-Semitic harassment in the West has left many Jews feeling threatened, to the point where many have either fled their home countries or relocated within them, a new report finds.
The report, published by Tel Aviv University's Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, found a worldwide 9 percent decrease in violent anti-Semitic attacks from 2016 to 2017. However, this decrease coincided with a significant increase in harassment of Jews in the United States and many countries in Europe.
"A certain corrosion of Jewish communal life has been noticed, and Jews suspect that anti-Semitism has entered a new phase: expressions of classic traditional antisemitism are back, and for example, the term 'Jew' has become a swear word," the researchers wrote, according to The Times of Israel.
"(O)nce there are Jews who do not participate in Jewish traditional gatherings, or do not appear in the public sphere identified as Jews, the ability to live a full Jewish communal and individual life is jeopardized," they added.