Rising anti-Semitism causes European Jews to hide faith

(JNS.org)—A new survey shows that many European Jews hide their faith due to fear of anti-Semitism. The online poll by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights reveals that 27 percent of all respondents blamed rising anti-Semitism across the European continent on Muslims. About the same percentage of respondents blamed anti-Semitism on individuals with left-wing political convictions, and 19 percent blamed those with right-wing beliefs.

“Preliminary findings already show that three-quarters of respondents feel that anti-Semitism has [gotten] worse in the past five years, particularly as [it] concerns anti-Semitic comments and hate speech online,” the report said.

About half of the 800 respondents from Sweden said they hide their faith in public, according to Swedish news website The Local.