Date of Award
Winter 12-2014
Degree Name
Master of Arts (AM/MA)
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
Since the ending of World War II and the Cold War, anti-Semitism has been prevalent within Western Europe even though the political atmosphere has tried to dissuade and even punish those that harbored such views. The rise of anti-Semitism in Western Europe in contemporary times as evolved into a dangerous atmosphere for Jews in regards to their human rights, their freedom, and their safety.
In this paper, the question of why anti-Semitism is re-emerging will be addressed as well how it is being tackled by the respective countries in which it is prevalent. Poland, Hungary, Greece, France, and Germany are used as case studies to parse out instances of anti-Semitism in Europe, what they mean for both Jews and non-Jews, and what they mean for the European Union and the global community as a whole.
The research conducted relied on news reports detailing anti-Semitism and also statistics that measured the amount of anti-Semitism in each country profiled. The news reports and statistics were compared to one another and anti-Semitism was measured through various ways including the number of attacks both physical and verbal, online and virtual based attacks, protests that incited hate toward Jews, political parties that favored anti-Semitic platforms, and the role of the media in reporting anti-Semitism.
The result of the research concludes that anti-Semitism is again on the rise as many factors are found to be contributing such as the Global Recession of 2008-2009, discordance by citizens of profiled countries within the EU, and feelings of anti-Semitism that have laid dormant since the end of World War II. The conclusions this paper makes are that Western Europe still has time to stamp out the rampant anti-Semitism that has been growing in recent years. There must be a full-fledged effort to address the contributing factors of anti-Semitism by using the media, the state, the global community, the church, and various factors of society and government in order to make anti-Semitism not only unattractive but also an unviable stance.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Repps Hudson
Committee Members
Marvin Marcus, Andrew Sobel
Recommended Citation
Eftink, Johnathan, "The Rise of Anti-Semitism in Post Cold War Western Europe: The Effect on Current Jewish Populations in Europe, Jewish Human Rights, and the Role of the Jewish Religion Within Western Europe" (2014). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 16.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/16
Included in
International and Area Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Jewish Studies Commons
Comments
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7TM7836