Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, raised the findings of Manfred Gerstenfeld’s book, Demonizing Israel and the Jews with Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila on Wednesday.
The Cardinal was an important candidate in the recent Papal election and may become the first Asian Pope.
Demonizing Israel and the Jews documents that 150 million out of 400 million adult Europeans mistakenly believe that Israel is exterminating the Palestinian Arabs, much in the same way the Nazis sought a systemic extermination of Jews.
Rabbi Cooper has also discussed the Dutch aspects of the demonization of Israel, as outlined in the book, in an earlier meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher of the Netherlands and in a recent letter to Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The news follows reports earlier this month that a report by the Advisory Council on International Affairs called for the Netherlands to distance itself from Israel and develop closer ties with Hamas. The Simon Wiesenthal Center responded to the calls with a letter to Rutte, who replied, “I would like to emphasize that the Netherlands is committed to a lasting and peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we will continue to support the peace process wholeheartedly in our foreign policy."
European anti-Semitism has been on the rise over the past few months. A study released ahead of the 75th anniversary of "Kristallnacht", which saw Nazi thugs smash up Jewish businesses and synagogues, found that 66 percent of European Jews considered anti-Semitism "a fairly big or very big" problem in their country, according to a report by AFP.