Antisemitism in Spain

Jews in Islamic-occupied Spain, Al-Andalus, were second-class dhimmis who were targeted in pogroms such as the 1066 Granada massacre.

In 1492, via the Alhambra Decree, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ordered the expulsion of an estimated 800,000 Jews from the country, and thus put an end to the largest and most distinguished Jewish community in Europe. The coercive baptisms eventually produced the phenomenon of the conversos (Marranos), the Inquisition, and statutes of “blood purity” five centuries before the race laws in Nazi Germany. From the end of the nineteenth century, Jews have been perceived as conspirators, alongside the notion of a universal Jewish conspiracy to control the world. Following the Soviet revolution and the founding of the Spanish Communist Party in 1920, such “anti-Spanish forces” were primarily identified with the “destructive communist virus,” often considered to be guided by the Jews.[1]

During the Spanish Civil War, the alliance between Franco’s faction and Nazi Germany opened the way for the emergence of antisemitism in the Spanish Right. It was during the 1960s that the first Spanish neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups appeared, such as CEDADE. Later on, the Spanish neo-Nazis attempted to use antisemitic discourse to explain the political transition to democracy (1976–1982) following the death of General Franco. It drew on the same ideas that had been expressed in 1931 when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed — that political turning points could be explained as the result of various “intrigues”. From 1948 until 1986, Israel was not recognized by Spain, and Israel and Spain had no diplomatic ties. In 1978, Jews were recognized as full citizens in Spain, and today the Jewish population numbers about 40,000 - 1 percent of Spain's population, 20,000 of whom are registered in the Jewish communities. The majority live in the larger cities of Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa or the islands.[2] Nevertheless, many of the prejudices cultivated during the Franco years persist in the twenty-first century. Derived from the fact that almost all Spaniards are Catholic, and Spain remains to this day one of the most homogeneous Western countries, Spanish Judeophobia reflects a national obsession with religious and ethnic unity which is based on the conception of an imaginary “internal enemy” plotting the downfall of the Catholic religion and the traditional social order.[3][4]

Data and analysis

Antisemitic events in Spain recorded by the Observatorio de antisemitismo en España, 2009–2011![5]
2009 2010 2011
Internet - 1 2
Media 10 3 7
Attacks on property 4 1 2
Attacks on persons 5 4 2
Trivialisation of the Holocaust - 1 3
Delegitimizing Israel - - 5
Incidents - 1 1
Instigation to antisemitism - 1 2
Legal decisions - 6 -
Total 19 12 30

Surveys from the 1980s and 1990s showed that the Spanish image of the Jews was ambivalent: pejorative stereotypes such as avariciousness, treachery and deicide contrasted with positive evaluations such as their work ethic and their sense of responsibility.[6] In 1998, a survey conducted of 6,000 students in 145 Spanish schools showed a slight increase in racist attitudes compared with 1993 - 14.9 percent would expel the Jews compared with 12.5 percent in 1993.[7] In spring 2002, many EU member states, including Spain, experienced a wave of antisemitic incidents which started with the 'Al-Aqsa-Intifada' in October 2000 and was fueled by the conflict in the Middle East. During the first half of 2002, the rise of antisemitism reached a climax in the period between the end of March and mid-May, running parallel to the escalation of the Middle East Conflict.[3]

According to a September 2008 study published by the Pew Research Center of Washington DC, nearly half of all Spaniards have negative views of Jews, a statistic that marks Spain as one of the most antisemitic countries in Europe. According to Pew, 46% of Spaniards held negative opinions of Jews, more than double the 21% of Spaniards with such views in 2005. Spain was also the only country in Europe where negative views of Jews outweighed positive views; only 37% of Spaniards thought favorably about Jews.[8][9]

In September 2009, the ADL published a special report titled "Polluting the Public Square: Anti-Semitic Discourse In Spain." Following the report, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said, "We are deeply concerned about the mainstreaming of anti-Semitism in Spain, with more public expressions and greater public acceptance of classic stereotypes. Among the major European countries, only in Spain have we seen viciously anti-Semitic cartoons in the mainstream media, and street protests where Israel is accused of genocide and Jews are vilified and compared to Nazis [...] Opinion makers in Spain are crossing the line that separates legitimate criticism of Israeli actions from anti-Semitism, and the results are evident. Our polling shows an alarming rise in anti-Semitic attitudes."[10]

Trends in Anti-Semitic Attitudes in Spain[11][12][13][14][15]
Percent responding “probably true”
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country
Jews have too much power in the business world
Jews have too much power in international financial markets
Jews still talk too much about the Holocaust
  •   2002
  •   2004
  •   2005
  •   2007
  •   2009
  •   2012

According to the "Report on Anti-Semitism in Spain in 2010" which was jointly produced by the Observatory on Anti-Semitism in Spain and a nongovernmental organization called the Movement against Intolerance in 2010, while Spain was mired in the worst economic recession in its modern history, it emerged as one of the most antisemitic countries in the EU.[16] According to a poll commissioned by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 58.4% of Spaniards believe that "the Jews were powerful because they controlled the economy and the mass media. This number reached 62.2% among university students and 70.5% among those who are "interested in politics." More than 60% of Spanish university students said they did not want Jewish classmates. In other polling data, more than one-third (34.6%) of Spanish people had an unfavorable or completely unfavorable opinion of Jewish people. Another interesting finding is that antisemitism was more prevalent in the political left than it is on the political right - 34% of those on the far right said they are hostile to Jews, while 37.7% of those on the center-left were hostile to Jews. Sympathy for Jews among the extreme right (4.9 on a scale of 1-10) is above the average for the population as a whole (4.6). Among those who recognized themselves as having "antipathy for the Jewish people," only 17% says this was due to the "conflict in the Middle East." Nearly 30% of those surveyed said their dislike of Jews had to do with "their religion," "their customs," and "their way of life," while early 20% of Spaniards said they dislike Jews although they do not know why.[17]

During 2010, Casa Sefarad-Israel decided to carry out a detailed sociological study (both qualitative and quantitative), with the following main goals:[18]

The qualitative study showed there has been a decline in traditional antisemitic attitudes, which were still present in some sectors, and an increase in those of a political and/or economic type.[19] According to the quantitative study, in April 2010, 34.6% of the Spanish population expressed an unfavorable opinion on Jews, while 48% expressed a favorable opinion on Jews. It is noteworthy that the unfavorable attitudes towards Jews were at the same level as those regarding other groups addressed, including Orthodox Christians and Protestants. It is particularly significant that as a source of problems in Spain, Jews were considered to be at the same level as were Catholics. The results obtained from segmentation of the study population confirmed the existence of fairly homogeneous attitudes – both favorable and unfavorable – towards all religious groups in general, rather than any differentiated opinion with respect to the Jews.[20] Among the reasons cited by the respondents for expressing unfavorable attitudes towards Jews, 17.5% pointed to Israel’s role in the Middle East conflict, while 31.3% pointed to this factor as the reason why Jews are perceived as creating problems in the world. These findings confirmed that a significant proportion of the negative evaluation of Jews and Jewishness among the Spanish population was due to a perceived association between Jews as a religious group and the State of Israel and its policies. Among the reasons cited by those who consider Jews to create problems in Spain, the most significant one (cited by 11.4% of respondents) was the association with issues that are characteristic of immigration in general. This confirmed that part of the population in Spain viewed the Jews as an alien group, and extended its negative perceptions of this group toward the difference in general, concerning both its origin and its religion. Regarding opinions on Israel and the Middle East, both Israel and Palestine were viewed unfavorably by the majority of the study population. Regarding the perception of the Middle East conflict, 67.2% of those interviewed held both parties to be responsible to some degree. Similarly, the questions on the Middle East conflict produced a majority of results clearly recognizing the legitimacy of the State of Israel.[18]

Antisemitism in the media

Some important elements differentiate the Spanish media from its European counterparts:

During the past decade, historical Catholic antisemitic stereotypes returned in the media when it came to the Middle East coverage. Medieval antisemitic tropes rooted in the religious tradition emerged from time to time in the representation of the Israeli-Arab conflict in the mainstream press. During the years of the Second Intifada and throughout the Lebanon war in 2006, Spanish newspapers and magazines published cartoons in which Israelis, Israel as a whole, or Jewish symbols were linked to the killing of children, themes of vengeance and cruelty, echoing ancient anti-Jewish imagery. Likewise, this merges with newer stereotypes such as charges of sowing disorder, subjugation of others, and the analogies between Israelis and Nazis - sometimes through direct comparisons, while other times through indirect comparisons by referring to "the Palestinian Holocaust" or making an analogy between Gaza and concentration camps or the ghettos.[10][22] For example, on 23 April 2002, the magazine El Jueves (Thursday) displayed on its front page a caricature of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a pig’s face, a skull cap, a swastika and the caption, “This wild animal.” [23]

A contemporary example of Antisemitism in the Spanish Media is the posting of 17,500 antisemitic tweets following Israeli basketball team, Maccabi Tel Aviv's win of the Euro-league on 18.05.2014. Angry Spanish supporters created an expletive antisemitic hashtag in their messages after the match, which briefly became one of the most popular keywords on Twitter in Spain. Twelve Jewish associations filed a judicial complaint after seeing references in some messages to death camps and the mass murder of Jews in the Holocaust. The organizations singled out five people who were identified by their real names on Twitter, accusing them of “incitement to hatred and discrimination” — a crime punishable by up to three years’ jail in Spain.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Jiménez, José L. Rodríguez. "Antisemitism and the Extreme Right in Spain (1962–1997)". The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002 - 2003" (PDF). EUMC. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  3. 1 2 Bergman, Werner and Juliane Wetzel. "Manifestations of anti-Semitism in the European Union" (PDF). EUMC. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  4. ↑ Wistrich, Robert S. "EUROPEAN ANTI-SEMITISM REINVENTS ITSELF" (PDF). The American Jewish Committee. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Antisemitism Summary overview of the situation in the European Union 2001–2011" (PDF). EUMC. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "SPAIN 2003-4". The Stephen Ruth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitim. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "SPAIN 1998-9". The Stephen Ruth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitim. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  8. ↑ By comparison, 36% of Poles had negative views of Jews while 50% had positive views; in Germany, 25% negative versus 64% positive; in France, 20% negative versus 79% positive; and in Britain, 9% negative versus 73% positive.
  9. ↑ "UNFAVORABLE VIEWS OF JEWS AND MUSLIMS ON THE INCREASE IN EUROPE" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Polluting the Public Square: Anti-Semitic Discourse In Spain". ADL. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "European Attitudes Toward Jews: A Five Country Survey - October 2002" (PDF). ADL. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Attitudes Toward Jews, Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in Ten European Countries - April 2004" (PDF). ADL. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Attitudes Toward Jews in Twelve European Countries - May 205" (PDF). ADL. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "Attitudes Toward Jews in Seven European Countries - February 2009" (PDF). ADL. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "Attitudes Toward Jews In Ten European Countries - March 2012" (PDF). ADL. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  16. ↑ The Observatory on Anti-Semitism is an arm of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE)
  17. ↑
  18. 1 2 "STUDY ON ANTISEMITISM IN SPAIN - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY" (PDF). Casa Sefarad-Israel. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  19. ↑ The latter present a tendency towards rationalization and modernization of the stereotypes underlying antisemitic views, largely grounded on the ongoing process of secularization within Spanish society.
  20. ↑ The only group to be negatively rated by a majority of the study population, in every case, was that of the Muslims, both as concerns the levels of unfavorable attitudes and of identification, and of the greater perception of problems created in Spain and throughout the world.
  21. ↑ "SPAIN 2003-4". The Stephen Ruth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  22. ↑ Baer, Alejandro. "Exclusive: Antisemitism in Spain. Old or New?". European Forum on Antisemitism. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  23. ↑ "SPAIN 2002-3". The Stephen Ruth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  24. ↑ http://antisemitism.org.il/article/87476/maccabi-tel-aviv-euroleague-win-leads-antisemitic-tweets

External links

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