41 per cent of young European Jews have considered emigrating due to anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitic graffiti in Klaipėda, Lithuania WIKI COMMONS PHOTO
Anti-Semitic graffiti in Klaipėda, Lithuania (WIKI COMMONS PHOTO)

Forty-one per cent of some 2,700 young Jews in Europe said in a poll that they have considered emigrating because they do not feel safe in their countries as Jews.

The data comes from an analysis published Thursday of a 2018 survey of over 16,000 Jews conducted by the European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights.

Among young respondents ages 16-34, 45 per cent said they choose not to wear, carry or display distinguishable Jewish items in public because there are concerned about their safety.

The young Jews surveyed come from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Overall, 44 per cent of young Jewish Europeans surveyed said they had experienced anti-Semitic harassment, which is 12 per cent higher than their elders in the survey of more than 16,000 respondents. Eighty per cent of young victims do not report harassment to the police or any other authority, according to the survey.

More than 80 per cent of the young Jewish Europeans declared the strength of their Jewish identity to be high.

Nearly two thirds, or 62 per cent, of young respondents said they have a “strong attachment” to Israel, a proportion nearly identical to their attachment level to their own countries. Only 35 per cent reported having the same sentiment toward the European Union.

“Young Jewish Europeans are very attached to their Jewish identity. I am saddened that they fear for their security in Europe, do not dare to wear a kippah, and some even consider emigrating,” EU commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality Věra Jourová said in a statement.