Spain
(Updated December 2003)
In Spain (total
population 40 million) Jews were recognised as full citizens in 1978.
Today the Jewish population numbers about 40,000, 20,000 of whom are
registered in the Jewish communities. The majority live in the larger
cities of Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa or the islands.
Many of the prejudices cultivated during the Franco years persist; during
that time Israel was never recognised. Israel and Spain did not establish
diplomatic ties until 1986, when Spain recognised the State of Israel.
Many young Spaniards consider support of the PLO a crucial qualification
for being identified as “progressive” or leftist.
Since the beginning of the second Intifada more and more anti-Semitic
attacks are taking place, mainly after pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In October 2000 the Holocaust Memorial in Barcelona was desecrated and
the glass door of Spanish-Moroccan synagogue in the North African enclave
of Ceuta destroyed and anti-Semitic pamphlets distributed across the
market place. On 8 October, the most important Jewish holiday Yom Kippur,
graffiti was smeared across a house belonging to the local Jewish association
in Oviedo that read “Jew murderers”. An incident had taken
place the day before during the football match between Spain and Israel
outside the stadium in Madrid. Neo-Nazis shouted anti-Semitic slogans
and distributed anti-Semitic literature. Also, windows of the main synagogue
in Madrid were shattered on 13 October. The Imam of Valencia asserted
on 21 September 2001 in a mosque filled with worshipers: “All the
evidence shows that the Jews are guilty”, referring to the claim
by radical Islamists, right-wing extremists and Holocaust deniers that
Jews were behind the attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September.
In September 2001 the synagogue of Melilla was attacked and a Jewish
cemetery desecrated; in Ceuta several Jewish buildings were daubed with
paint.
1. Physical acts of violence
On 5 January 2002, anti-Semitic graffiti was found on the door of a
synagogue in Madrid; around midnight of 8 March 2002, the door of the
Ceuta synagogue was set on fire. The synagogue of Madrid is now under
permanent police surveillance and Jewish schools are also provided with
police surveillance at the beginning and end of activities.
2. Verbal Aggression/hate speech
Direct Threats
In July outside the synagogue in Madrid, a group of twenty skinheads
demonstrated, shouting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans.
Public Discourse
The Movimiento Social Republicano (MSR), which on other occasions joins
xenophobic protests against Muslims (for example against the opening
of a Moroccan consulate in Almeria), participated in pro-Palestinian
demonstrations organised by radical Islamists and NGOs, where the participants
also displayed anti-American attitudes. The mass media often confuses
Israel and the Jewish community.
On 7 April 2002, a pro-Palestinian demonstration attracted official
representatives from all Catalan political parties, except the conservative
PP, and a total of 7000 people in Barcelona. One demonstrator, who appeared
clearly in a photograph taken, was carrying a caricature of Ariel Sharon’s
head on a pig’s body (traditional anti-Semitic stereotype), which
is surrounded by swastikas.
Internet
A series of international right-wing extremist and revisionist/denial
homepages offer links in Spanish. Particular attention is to be given
to the website of the “Nuevo Order” group that is networked
per links with the entire far-right scene and whose label shows a similarity
with the American militant far-right group “Stormfront”. “Nuevo
Order” combines anti-Semitism with anti-Americanism and mixes old
with modern anti-Semitic stereotypes. The “Protocols of the Elders
of Zion” can be downloaded here as well as at the linked site belonging
to the “Fuerza Aria”. The “Fuerza Aria”, a group
that spreads extreme rightist and National Socialist thought, conducts
campaigns via the Internet “Against the Jewish Power” and
propagates a pro-Palestinian and pro-Iraqi stance.
3. Research Studies
The survey commissioned by the ADL conducted between 9 and 29 September
2002 concerning “European Attitudes towards Jews, Israel and the
Palestinian-Israeli Conflict” (see Table: Report on Belgium) established
that Spanish respondents harbour the most anti-Semitic view. 72% agreed
to the statement “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country”
(EU average: 51%) and 63 % to the statement “Jews have too much
power in the business world”.
4. Good practices for reducing prejudice, violence and aggression
On 9 June 2002 the Evangelical Church and the Institute for Judeo-Christian
Studies in Madrid together with the Jewish communities of Madrid and
Barcelona organised a demonstration of support for Israel also as a
sign against anti-Semitic attitudes.
5. Reactions by politicians and other opinion leaders
Newspapers have become more deliberate in their use of graphics, avoiding
any assimilation between Nazi and Jew symbols. The Spanish Interior
Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey, together with his colleagues from Germany,
France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, presented a joint declaration
against “Racism, Xenophobia and anti-Semitism” in April 2002.
Sources:
C.R.I.F. - Released by the European Jewish Congress |