New Report: Antisemitic Violence in Europe Mostly Perpetrated By Muslim Extremists

I can’t say I am surprised in the slightest. You need only have seen those recent Al Quds day protests to feel the same way. No doubt the Israel haters will claim this proves only that antisemitism is caused by Israel. Not so, concludes the report.

The increase around the turn of the millennium coincided with rising tensions in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, marked by the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000. Nonetheless, the connection between events in the Middle East and acts of violence against Jews in Europe is vague. First, the number of reported attacks on Jews does not always increase when the conflict in the Middle East flares up. Second, even though some attacks on Jews in Europe do occur in the wake of events in the Middle East, there is no direct causal link between Israeli government actions and subsequent attacks on Jews in Europe. Antisemitic attitudes and violence propensity are likely necessary conditions to trigger such attacks. In other words, events in the Middle East provide individuals in Western Europe who hold antisemitic views and are prone to violence with an occasion to attack Jews.