Survey Finds Anti-Semitism Decrease In 10 European States

ADL Survey Finds Some Decrease In Anti-Semitic Attitudes In Ten European Countries

Government Actions and Education To Stem Anti-Semitism Seen As Contributing Factors

Berlin, Germany, April 26, 2004 … An opinion survey of adults in ten European countries found some decrease in anti-Semitic attitudes from its 2002 findings, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported today. The survey, Attitudes Toward Jews, Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in Ten European Countries, was released in Berlin today on the eve of an historic international conference on anti-Semitism, convened by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The countries surveyed were: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Two methodologies were used to ascertain the attitudes - one in a group of five countries and another in a second group of five countries. The most significant finding of the poll, irrespective of the methodology, is that there is some decrease in anti-Semitic attitudes in almost all the countries surveyed.

The 2004 results of those who hold anti-Semitic attitudes in the first group of five countries are:

• France – 25%, down from 35% in 2002
• Germany – 36%, down from 37%
• Belgium – 35%, down from 39%
• Denmark – 16%, down from 21%
• U.K. - 24%, up from 18%

In 2004, data from the second group of respondents who hold anti-Semitic views:

• Spain - 24%, down from 34 percent in 2002
• Italy -15%, down from 23%
• Switzerland -17%, down from 22%
• Austria - 17%, down from 19%
• The Netherlands - 9%, up from 7%

<The full press release is available at: http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASInt_13/4483_13.htm >

<The full survey results are available in PDF format at: http://www.adl.org/anti_semitism/european_attitudes_april_2004.pdf >

that what this study celebrates is that in a bunch of countries, only 1/4 to 1/3 of the population are raving bigots...

Still, at least (except in the UK) the trendline is going the right way.

It's hard to believe the numbers are lower than 50% for ANY country outside of Israel.

that you apparently think the bar on hating Jews should be set even lower than it is...

Care to explain why?

The ADL equates any disagreement in the policies of the Israeli government to anti-Semitism. They consistantly deflect criticism in the same way Bush has, by equating dissent with bigotry (or in Bush's case, being unpatriotic).

They have a VERY specific set of criteria used in their surveys and have used exactly those criteria for many years so the comparative surveys could be significantly compared. Perhaps you're not doing your own homework and are trusting the rantings of some people who have ignorant opinions that the present as fact for the ignorant to believe.

I'd suggest going to the download site I listed and read the actual survey and methodology. Then, if you'd like to actually be informed rather than just opinionated, you could download the previous studies (both European and USA studies are posted) and note their meticulous methodology including sample size notations, error ranges and other statistical data used by REAL scientific studies. After that, feel free to get back to us with an informed opinion.

The ADL are also, by the way, one of the leading groups in protecting Moslem-American and Arab-American rights. (Not really on topic but few people know that and have been told some very wierd things about them.)

My bookshelf is stocked with ADL brochures and pamphlets that are nothing but propaganda. My favorite is the one designed for brainwashing high schoolers. It's titled "Advocating for Israel: An Activist's Guide". You know, an organization that is allegedly designed for merely fighting anti-Semitism shouldn't be involving itself in something as political as advocating pro-Israeli policies. It sort of, I don't know, lacks integrity when you bind one with the other, don't you think?

Perhaps you are the one that needs to step outside of his own shoes for a moment and look with a critical eye at the people you support?

Now, care to tell us a flaw in their survey methodology that you've criticized rather than just your self-declared as informed opinions that we're supposed to take as fact?

I've provided the URLs to the latest study. The previous ones are all on the ADL site.

Feel free to provide us with real facts. If you have any that back up your peculiar advocacy of lowering the bar on hatred.

By the way, are there any other groups you'd like to see lower their standards for what is and is not bigotry? Care to tell us what level of bigotry YOU think is right since you're so loudly saying that a group that monitors hatred and has for decades apparently knows less than you do?

Oh, and if you could, make it generic enough that it could be used for measuring hatred of Blacks, Women, Hispanics, Gays, Moslems and other groups that are targets of bigotry since I'm sure you don't want different tolerance for hatred of different groups but if I'm wrong about that, feel free to explain that to us as well.

http://www.adl.org/media_watch/newspapers/20040427-IHT.htm

The original article, which I might add they do not even have a spine enough to link to in order for people to decide for themselves, is a POLITICAL criticism of Ariel Sharon. So why is the Anti Defamation League getting involved?? There's an example for you, and I didn't even have to use the scroll button on my mouse to find it. (I am purposefully not linking the article for you. If you care enough about what an organization that represents your interests is doing, you will find it on your own.)

My problem with the methodology is that it's based on the ADL's own broad definition of the word "anti-Semitism" which they deliberately design to encompass all dissenters of Israeli policy. Your "latest study" was conducted by the most biased organization I've ever done business with, and that includes the RNC! Am I to really respect any so-called "scientific study" that THEY put out?? Please!

I'm not advocating lowering the bar on hatred, I'm advocating lowering the bar on mixing valid political criticism with social illnesses. That sounds to me like playing on people's sympathies in order to control the political debate instead of actually trying to fight the illness of hatred that plagues the world.

You have NO criticism of the study.

You only read what you want to, which explains your support of the ADL to begin with.

Either back up your opinions with fact or retract presenting your slander of a valuable survey.

Here are the questions again in case you can't be bothered reading up a few inches.

Now, care to tell us a flaw in their survey methodology that you've criticized rather than just your self-declared as informed opinions that we're supposed to take as fact?

I've provided the URLs to the latest study. The previous ones are all on the ADL site.

Feel free to provide us with real facts. If you have any that back up your peculiar advocacy of lowering the bar on hatred.

By the way, are there any other groups you'd like to see lower their standards for what is and is not bigotry? Care to tell us what level of bigotry YOU think is right since you're so loudly saying that a group that monitors hatred and has for decades apparently knows less than you do?

Oh, and if you could, make it generic enough that it could be used for measuring hatred of Blacks, Women, Hispanics, Gays, Moslems and other groups that are targets of bigotry since I'm sure you don't want different tolerance for hatred of different groups but if I'm wrong about that, feel free to explain that to us as well.

Long time, no see! What's shaking?

How many posts until I can start a thread?


Do you know the methodology of this survey?

-questions
- sampling technique
- confidence interval
- error
- significance test


These questions and the numbers are far more important than the results, they tell you how gereralizable the findings are and if there is a relationship and if that relationship is statistically significant, otherwise they are a bunch of numbers. What you posted is like posting the results of a Lou Dobbs viewer poll.

The methodology is published on the ADL website including answers to all of the info that you asked. What I presented was the summary data. Most people really doze off when you present the full data.

The ADL has a long history of being very, very precise in using proper statistical methodology in their surveys. It's how you get your surveys to be taken seriously even when people don't like the answers.

I'm an American Jew but I had to ask the hard questions. I just finished a 2 semester statistical anaylsis course

On edit: I looked at the survey results and they do not address statistical significance OR confidence interval or what their sample was. Althought the file was corrupted in some way and I could not view some of the pages; if you could look for that info it'd be greatly appreciated. They could post results with a 90% confidence interval that suggest one thing but if they increased the confidence interval to 95% or even 99% the results could be entirely different. Also is their sample racially or religiously homogenous, meaning are the respondents Muslim? The rise in European anti-semitism is largely due to increasing Muslim populations

they haven't put the methodology page for this survey up on the website yet. As usual, the press release gets out first and the science follows. <sigh>

If you want to get it they're pretty good in sending copies on request and you could get it before their webmaster creates the new page.

I'm really swamped with a couple of consults right now but still drop by on occaision.