Half of People Surveyed by the ADL Don't Know What the Holocaust Is

[DonViejo]

MAY 13, 2014 4:15PM ET / NATIONAL

DANIELLE WIENER-BRONNER

Only 54 percent of the people surveyed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in a massive, global poll have ever heard of the Holocaust. Even more disturbing, 32 percent of these believe the event to have been greatly exaggerated or a myth. That's something worth worrying about.

The ADL published the results today as part of a report on the attitudes towards Jews in over 100 countries. The ADL asked more than 53,000 people across the globe to respond to eleven anti-Semitic stereotypes attributed to Jews, including "Jews have too much power in the business world," "People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave," "Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust," and others. Those questioned were asked to respond with either "probably true," or "probably false." Those who answered "probably true" to six out of the eleven statements were counted as anti-Semitic in the survey, which, among other things, looked at the global breakdown of such attitudes.

Overall, the ADL found that 26 percent of respondents harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. About nine percent of American respondents agreed with six of the eleven statements, and the two that were most often mentioned were "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country/the countries they live in" and "Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust," suggesting that much of the ill-feelings are wrapped up in attitudes toward Israel. A number of European countries, like the UK (eight percent) Denmark (nine percent) the Netherlands (five percent) and Sweden (four percent) had low rates of anti-Semitism and also positively responded to these two statements most often.

Other countries had disturbingly high rates of anti-Semitic respondents. Sixty-nine percent of Greek respondents, 37 percent of French respondents, 45 percent of Polish respondents, 92 percent of Iraqis and, not surprisingly, 93 percent of those in the West Bank/Gaza hold anti-Semitic beliefs.

more
http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/05/half-of-people-surveyed-by-the-adl-dont-know-what-the-holocaust-is/370801/

[SQUEE]

1. When even DU has people that won't differentiate between piracy and genocide

in terms of moral equivalency, I am not shocked.
I guess dead is dead, and how you get there doesn't really matter right..

[LuvNewcastle]

2. I didn't see a list of all the countries surveyed, but undoubtedly some of

those countries have very low Jewish populations, so there are probably a lot of things about Jewish people and Jewish history that they are ignorant of. I live in an area with a very low Jewish population, and while the vast majority of people here know what the Holocaust was, there aren't too many other things that the people here know about Jews, other than what they've heard from the Bible in church. I think I've met maybe 5 or 6 Jewish people in my life (besides the internet). I can understand misconceptions about Jewish people from people who are ignorant about them, but I think anti-semitism is very disturbing when it comes from people who frequently interact with them, such as a lot of Europeans.

Another thing to take into consideration is media exposure. We don't have too many negative stories about Jews in American media, but I'm sure it isn't like that in many other places. There's no telling what they say about Jewish people in Arab media, for instance. People are taught to hate, and there are certain groups who aren't treated well by our media, either.

Finally, the attitudes that many people around the world have about Jews are all tied up with their feelings, for better or worse, about the nation of Israel. I know that Jewish people have a wide variety of opinions about Israel and how it's government conducts itself, but a lot of people don't know that. Too many people think that the Israeli government speaks for all the Jews in the world, when it doesn't even speak for all Israelis. Clearly, the world could use a lot more education about Jewish people, as well as a lot of other groups who are frequently maligned.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Go to the main page for the list of countries.

Last edited Wed May 14, 2014, 03:19 PM - Edit history (1)

http://global100.adl.org/

The survey showed that 74% had never met a Jew (ETA: of those, 25% harbor anti-Semitic feelings). The ones who had never met a Jew were much more likely to harbor anti-Semitic feelings. (ETA: 26% of those who harbor major anti-Semitic feelings, 70% have never even met a Jew.) I saw a survey years ago which was similar but about gays, and those who had never knowingly met a gay person had a higher score for homophobia than those who knew a gay person. To be honest, I don't find that to be much of a "discovery." Fear of "other" is strong in many people, so when said "other" has never been met, there is no personal comparison and the person must rely on the opinions of others.

The media was also mentioned in the survey. For Muslims, opinions of Jews mainly came from the internet, which I must admit was surprising.

Where you get your news matters, especially in the Muslim world. Muslims who get their information about Jews from the internet are much more likely to harbor anti-Semitic views than those who get their information from other sources. Average Index Score by information source among Muslims: Internet 73%, Religious leaders 54%, TV 54%, Newspapers 49%, word of mouth 40%.

The survey also addresses the Jewish/Israel situation with the following questions:

15. In your opinion, is the violence directed against your country’s Jews a result of anti-Jewish feelings or a result of anti-Israel sentiment?

18. Do actions taken by the state of Israel influence your opinions about Jews, or do they not influence your opinions about Jews?

19. (IF INFLUENCE IN Q18) Would you say that the actions Israel takes generally give you a better opinion of Jews or a worse opinion of Jews?

You can check each countries responses to see how people view that question. For the US, the answers were the following:

Do actions taken by the State of Israel influence your opinions about Jews, or do they not influence your opinions about Jews?
7% Major influence; 9% Minor influence; 78% Do not influence; 5% Don't know (volunteered)

Would you say that the actions Israel takes generally give you a better opinion of Jews or a worse opinion of Jews? (ASKED ONLY OF THOSE WHO SAY THE ACTIONS OF ISRAEL INFLUENCE THEIR OPINIONS OF JEWS)
46% Better; 36% Worse; 18% Don't know (volunteered)

In your opinion, is the violence directed against your country’s Jews a result of anti-Jewish feelings or a result of anti-Israel sentiment?
23% Anti-Jewish feelings; 35% Anti-Israel sentiment; 42% Don't know (volunteered)

[okaawhatever]

7. I wonder how the percentages have changed since Bibi has been in office? I know the right wing here

loves him but the left, not so much. I wonder if he's moved the needle on the stats.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Without having a prior survey, there is no way to tell.

While true, some blame Jews for the actions of Israel, it appears most do not. There are two questions directly related to that supposition (as seen above).

[seveneyes]

3. 93 percent of those in the West Bank/Gaza hold anti-Semitic beliefs

That is very disturbing. Especially since they are next door neighbors. They must start teaching hatred at a very young age to have such a majority of citizens holding anti-Semitic views.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. The age graph is the one that concerns me the most.

[okaawhatever]

9. Do kids still read the Diary of Anne Frank in English class? Even those who don't learn or remember

much about history should remember that book. It has a very profound effect on those who read it. I wonder if there's a correlation between English classes not assigning that book and the reduction in awareness?

[Behind the Aegis]

11. I honestly do not know.

I don't have children and haven't asked my nieces or nephews. I was never assigned "The Diary of Anne Frank" when I was in school and the section on the Holocaust was scant, at best. I mainly learned about the Holocaust in Hebrew and Sunday schools and shul. I wonder if there is a reduction in awareness because of the internet and stupid class assignments asking "Is the Holocaust a Hoax?".

[Capt. Obvious]

6. Maybe some just forgot

[RainDog]

8. wow n/t