Anti-Semitism Survey of New Zealand 2021
Anti-Semitism Survey of New Zealand 2021
The Survey of antisemitism in New Zealand 2021 which gauged the views of New Zealanders regarding anti-Semitism highlighted some areas of concern.
The survey, which canvassed just over a thousand New Zealanders to gauge their attitudes, found that 63% of New Zealanders agree with at least one antisemitic view and 6% hold nine or more antisemitic views out of the 18 questions posed to quantify antisemitic viewpoints. The survey was done against a background of increases in antisemitic incidents in New Zealand in the past few years.
Sir Peter Gluckman, who wrote the foreword for the survey, commented:
“This survey shows that classic antisemitism has re-emerged – particularly during the pandemic – as Holocaust denial and has become conflated with conspiracy theories and alt-right politics.
“Another recent trend is the global emergence of left-wing antisemitism. While most forms of discrimination are unacceptable in progressive thinking, antisemitism does not seem to count as racism because Jews can be accused of ‘white privilege’ and hatred can be hidden under a cloak of Zionophobia, or anti-Israel sentiment.
“History tells us that whenever societal cohesion breaks down or is at risk, antisemitic attitudes, memes and actions soon surface,” Sir Peter Gluckman says.
The survey was conducted by Curia Research on behalf of the New Zealand Jewish Council. Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses said that the results of the survey demonstrated that some New Zealanders still believe in stubborn and dangerous myths, or ‘tropes’, about Jewish people:
· approximately one in five New Zealanders, or 17%, believe Jews have too much power in international financial markets
· one in 10 believe Jews have too much control over the global media
· one fifth, or 17%, said they knew virtually nothing about the Holocaust.
· only 42% could correctly identify that six million Jewish people were killed in the Holocaust.
“These falsehoods make Jewish communities a target when people are looking to lay blame for tough times”, said Ms Moses. “History has taught us this hatred doesn’t stop at Jewish communities. It spreads to other ethnic communities.”
Key points that come from the survey are the necessity for further Holocaust education in schools and elsewhere. Additionally, it was clear that the more familiar someone is with members of a different ethnic community, the more positive they are towards them.
“The simplest way to fight racism is to get to know each other and do things together. When communities understand each other, they build trust and are able to put their judgements aside. They can embrace their similarities as well as their differences,” said David Zwartz, Wellington Jewish Council chair and one of the founders of the National Interfaith Forums.
Juliet Moses also thanked the Ministry for Ethnic Communities in funding the survey on behalf of the Jewish Council.
“Many New Zealanders may be surprised to learn the Muslim and Jewish communities have had a close relationship for many years and the 2019 Mosque attacks brought us even closer together. Trust and understanding are the most powerful antidotes to racism,” Juliet Moses says.
You can read the full survey here.
By Val Graham
Image: Jewish bankers from the Canticles of Holy Mary. Codice of Elinor Escorial. Written in Galician-Portuguese in the reign of Alfonso X. 13th Century.