Anti-Semitism

The Tel Aviv University Center for the study of Anti-Semitism has announced that there was a doubling of anti-Semitic incidents world-wide between 2005 and 2006. This is attributed to the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Most of the incidents occurred in Western Europe - France, England, Holland, Scandinavia, and most were carried out by young Muslim men against identifiable Orthodox Jews. During the same period there was a reduction (12%) in anti-Semitic incidents in the USA as indicated by the Anti-Defamation League. Clearly the USA is a safer place for Jews than Western Europe, although from that point of view Israel is even safer. That may be the reason why there is an increase in the number of French and British Jews making aliyah.
Anti-Semitism is the fundamental cause for Israel to be the pariah state in the whole world. A high proportion (ca. 1/3rd) of UN activities are still devoted to Israel than to any other country. The propaganda of left and right lambasts Israel - if only Israel made concessions to the poor Arabs, then there could be peace in the Middle East, and the whole world. What nonsense! There is no peace because the Arabs by and large don't want peace! PM OLmert has indicated his willingness to meet with a Committee of the Arab League to discuss the so-called Arab/Saudi Peace Plan, that is as it stands no more than a capitulation plan for Israel. So far such a Committee has not been established.

Corrections:
1. The number of Holocaust survivors living in Israel is ca. 250,000 (4% of the Jewish population), not the figure of 80,000 that I quoted in a previous article, which is actually the number of Holocaust survivors living below the poverty level due to lack of financial support. The current Govt. claims that it will correct this deplorable situation.
2. In the end the Vatican representative in Israel, Cardinal Franco, reversed himself and did attend the State Holocaust Memorial ceremony in Jerusalem. He said he had achieved his aim of drawing attention to the offending caption to a photograph of Pope Pius XII in Yad Vashem.
3. Only one school in the UK has so far said that it will stop teaching the Holocaust because of complaints by parents of Muslim pupils, and so far this policy has not been implemented.
4. In listing documentation centers on the Holocaust I should have added the Wiesenthal Center, both in Vienna and Los Angeles, that has played a central role in tracking German war criminals.