“Haaretz reports rising anti-Jewish feelings in the US:

“It is disturbing that with all of the strides we have made in becoming a more tolerant society, anti-Semitic beliefs continue to hold a vicegrip on a small but not insubstantial segment of the American public,” he added.

19 percent of Americans who participated in the survey said they thought the statement “Jews have too much control/influence on Wall Street,” was “probably true,” a five percent increase since 2009.

“The stereotypes about Jews and money endure, and the fact that more Americans are now accepting these statements about Jews as true suggests that the downturn in the economy, along with the changing demographics of our society, may have contributed to the rise in anti-Semitic sentiments,” said Foxman.

The survey also found that 30 percent of the respondents believe that Jews are “more loyal to Israel than to America.” Nearly half of all respondents agreed with the statement that Jews “stick together more than other Americans, and 33 percent said they believe Jews “always like to be at the head of things.” And finely, 31 percent of Americans believe “Jews were responsible for the death of Christ.”

The highest level of anti-Semitism in the U.S. recorded by the ADL was 17 percent, reported by the league in 2002.” [compared to 15% of Americans today, or 35 million]

Lila:

If 15% of the population openly admit such thoughts/feelings, it’s a good bet that at least twice as many, if not three or four times, harbor the same feelings without speaking out.

That would be well over half the population. If you eliminate minors, the elderly, the sick, and Jewish people themselves, that means most politically aware adults probably harbor similar feelings, although few will admit them, and most will denounce them publicly, for obvious reasons.

If blog comments are any guide, anti-Jewish feeling is running extremely high, and Jewish leaders who persist in dismissing it as “fringe” or “outlying” are in denial. They should listen carefully and rationally to what they are hearing and lay aside their emotional reactions. 

Can 15% or more likely 40-50% of the literate adult population in the US, many of them well educated and informed (thanks to the Internet), all be bigots, ignorant, and crazy?

Might there not be some vestige, some glimmer, of accuracy somewhere, after all the rancid or bigoted statements are eliminated? 

In Germany, the left has been noticeably radicalized:

“The Left Party’s foreign policy spokesman, Wolfgang Gehrcke, has been accused of attending pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah rallies in Germany, and he also has a track record of making anti-Israel statements to the German media
“Over the years, leading members of the Left Party have also waged an anti-Israel campaign. Left Party deputy Christine Buchholz has been a member of the party’s “Shift to the Left” faction, which supports the “legitimate resistance” of Hamas and Hezbollah in their terrorist attacks against Israel. She has also played down the Iranian threat against Israel

“Left Party Vice President Sahra Wagenknecht, in an interview with Der Tagesspiegel in February 2010, accused Israeli President Shimon Peres of spreading “lies” about Iran’s drive to build nuclear weapons. Wagenknecht and Buchholz were also the only ones to remain seated during a standing ovation for Peres during his Holocaust remembrance speech in the Bundestag.
“But German anti-Semitism is not limited to just the far-left Left Party. A new study published by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a think-tank affiliated with Germany’s Social Democratic Party, reveals high levels of anti-Semitism in Germany and a strong presence of anti-Semitism that is linked with Israel and is hidden behind criticism of Israel.

“The April 2011 report, which is titled “Intolerance, Prejudice and Discrimination: A European Report,” questioned roughly 1,000 people in each of eight European countries. The study found that 47.7% of Germans believe “Israel is conducting a war of extermination against the Jews [sic]. Lila: substitute “Palestinians”

” Nearly 50% of Germans believe “Jews try to take advantage of having been victims of the Nazi era.” More than 35% of Germans agree with the statement: “Considering Israel’s policy, I can understand why people do not like Jews.””A previous poll, “Iraq and Peace in the World,” commissioned by the European Union in November 2003, found that 65% of Germans consider Israel to be the greatest threat to world peace, ahead of Iran and North Korea.”

“In Canada, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) has noted the rise of anti-Semitism in the form of campaigns dubbing Israel an apartheid state. Critics say the charge is only meant to silence critics of Israel and is made by pro-Israeli partisans intent on maintaining the status quo in their favor.