Despite the good news, the total number of incidents worldwide was the highest recorded level in the past 15 years. The severity of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements made by some prominent leaders was also unprecedented, according to a report released Monday but by the The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Racism and Anti-Semitism at Tel Aviv University.
According to the report, there were twenty percent20% fewer violent incidents worldwide last year, as compared to 2004, with 406 violent incidents reported. Nonetheless, the level of anti-Semitism has not yet returned to pre-2000 conditions, said the report, which said the causes remained the same.
Social frustration, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. sentiments which explode into violence against Jews and anti-Jewish prejudice all combined to continue to build an incubator for hatred and anti-Semitism.
France had the best record, with a 48-percent drop in 2005. So far this year, however, there has been another increase in anti-Semitic activity there. Canada had a slight drop in the number of incidents, as did the United States. In Britain, there was no change in the frequency of violent incidents and vandalism of Jewish sites and properties, but the number of incidents dropped by 14-percent.
The Ukraine has seen an escalation in the number and frequency of violent incidents throughout the country in general, and especially on the campuses of the Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management, in particular, where there has been intensive anti-Semitic activity.
The report said the overall decrease in violence might be due to continued public and political action against anti-Semitism both at the national and international level, educational programs and improved law enforcement and security.
Israel began its commemoration of the Holocaust Monday evening with the hour-long annual state ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority.
According to the report, there were twenty percent20% fewer violent incidents worldwide last year, as compared to 2004, with 406 violent incidents reported. Nonetheless, the level of anti-Semitism has not yet returned to pre-2000 conditions, said the report, which said the causes remained the same.
Social frustration, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. sentiments which explode into violence against Jews and anti-Jewish prejudice all combined to continue to build an incubator for hatred and anti-Semitism.
France had the best record, with a 48-percent drop in 2005. So far this year, however, there has been another increase in anti-Semitic activity there. Canada had a slight drop in the number of incidents, as did the United States. In Britain, there was no change in the frequency of violent incidents and vandalism of Jewish sites and properties, but the number of incidents dropped by 14-percent.
The Ukraine has seen an escalation in the number and frequency of violent incidents throughout the country in general, and especially on the campuses of the Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management, in particular, where there has been intensive anti-Semitic activity.
The report said the overall decrease in violence might be due to continued public and political action against anti-Semitism both at the national and international level, educational programs and improved law enforcement and security.
Israel began its commemoration of the Holocaust Monday evening with the hour-long annual state ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority.