As a result of the massive importation of Africans and Muslims, Jews and non-Jews in Europe increasingly fear for their safety.
REPORT: With the Jewish New Year fast approaching, a new survey reveals that 85 percent of European Jews will not bring their children to Rosh Hashanah services due to growing concerns for their safety.
First reported by Israel’s Channel 2, “most European Jews are afraid to reveal their religion,” according to the poll conducted by the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) in 179 Jewish communities across Europe.
U.S. Jewish publication the Algemeiner reports that “European Jewish organizations are concerned over these statistics, according to the report, because they further demonstrate the negative effects of the rise in antisemitism and nationalistic fervor across Europe, as well as the increasing level of Islamic immigration to the continent, on Europe’s Jewish communities and the participation of their members in communal activities.”
“Rabbis and many community leaders from across Europe are, unfortunately, reporting an increase in Jews who are refraining from all public identification with their Judaism,” Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the head of the European Jewish Association, told Channel 2.
“Most young people whose parents avoid identifying as Jews do not retain a connection to the Jewish people and their homeland,” he explained.
Margolin added, “We are dealing now with a pincer movement. On the one hand, we see repeated waves of anti-Israel harassment, which is really anti-Semitic expression. On the other hand, especially in light of what has already been seen in many Islamicized cities throughout the continent, we are faced with a murky wave of nationalism and zenophobia.”
The RCE survey also revealed that 70 percent of Europe’s Jews completely avoid disclosing their religious identity.
These numbers represent a significant increase compared to this time last year.
A joint poll conducted by RCE and the European Jewish Associations (EJA) in September 2014 revealed that 40 percent of European Jewry hid their religious affiliation and 70 percent do not attend High Holiday services.
Sharp increases in anti-Semitism and Muslim migration to Europe have contributed to the rise of European Jewry moving to Israel, an event known as “making aliya.”
