Postcards from Switzerland and Holland - Journal for the Study of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

\\jciprod01\productn\J\JSA\4-2\JSA205.txt unknown Seq: 2 28-DEC-12 11:45502 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 4:501the 1970s but began to multiply after the Lebanon War of 1982. By then,for example, cemeteries were desecrated almost on a regular basis. 2 Duringthe 1980s and 1990s, a militant extreme right also emerged. Due to thecountry’s liberal laws, Holocaust deniers and revisionists used Switzerlandas a base. This changed for the better by 1994 with the introduction of an‘anti-Racism law.’ By 1987, when the First Intifada broke out, most of theSwiss mainstream media had become hostile toward Israel and the generalatmosphere for Jews had deteriorated. Since then Switzerland has seen anunprecedented upsurge of both traditional antisemitism and its newer disguise,‘anti-Israelism.’“A 2007 poll found that over 86 percent of Swiss Jews deplore mediabias and distortions. They consider that this has contributed to a majordecrease in personal and communal security. There are many verbal andsometimes physical attacks. They are rarely recorded. In 2007, the SIG, theSwiss Federation of Jewish Communities, set up an institution to collectdata and provide statistics. Another organization, CICAD, reports on anti-Semitic incidents in the western, French-speaking part of Switzerland. MostSwiss Jewish communities employ important security measures.Erlanger continued:“A specific Swiss element in the rise in antisemitism was the affair ofthe dormant Jewish bank accounts during 1992-1998. For many years,descendants of Holocaust victims had claimed accounts that their murderedrelatives had held in Swiss banks. This issue was raised immediately afterthe war and then again in the 1950s. After payment of small sums by thebanks to Jewish organizations and the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities,the matter had been considered settled. Restitution issues werereopened in Europe in the 1990s. Concerning Switzerland, this developedinto a controversy about the country’s record during World War II. Thisincluded economic collaboration with the Nazis, laundering of stolen gold,and the anti-Jewish refugee policy. The government initially refused tocooperate with Jewish claimants, as did the banks. Later on, major Jewishorganizations and the US government became involved. This led to theworst Swiss foreign policy crisis in decades. Ultimately, a financial settlementwas reached between Swiss banks and Jewish organizations. TheSwiss then had to face a past that did not correspond to the heroic selfimagethey had cherished. The myth of neutrality, while at the same timeresisting Nazi Germany, was largely discarded. Many Swiss felt coerced bya hostile outside world—mainly Jews and Americans—seeking to damage2. Cf. Hans Stutz, Rassistische Vorfälle in der Schweiz (Zurich: GRA-Stiftunggegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus, 1992).
\\jciprod01\productn\J\JSA\4-2\JSA205.txt unknown Seq: 3 28-DEC-12 11:452012] POSTCARDS FROM SWITZERLAND AND HOLLAND 503Switzerland’s self-image for political and financial purposes. Thereupon, asizable rise occurred in overt antisemitism and anti-Americanism.“In 1996, then Swiss president Pascal Delamuraz referred to the restitutiondebate as ‘blackmail’ and asked whether Auschwitz was located inSwitzerland. This gave antisemitism a new respectability. The debate on theSwiss wartime record relegitimized antisemitism in many parts of societyand unleashed an antisemitic wave. There was another antisemitic wave in2001. Then economics minister and federal counselor Pascale Couchepinsuggested, along with the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, toabolish the prohibition of shechita [ritual slaughter]. Not only militantanimal rights groups, but much of the public was outraged by this proposal.Articles and letters to the editor openly used traditional antisemitic languagethat would have been unacceptable earlier. The government droppedthe proposal to keep internal peace.”Concerning the future, Erlanger concluded our interview with thiswarning: “Many young Swiss Jews have emigrated over the decades, whilemany others have opted out of the organized Jewish community and oftenout of any form of Jewish life. The future of the community—however wellestablished and affluent—is cause for concern.”INTERVIEW WITH ELMA DRAYER“September 11, 2001, was a turning point for the Jews in the Netherlands.On September 12 of that year, I visited psychologist Bloeme Eversfor a story about a synagogue in the western part of Amsterdam, of whichshe is the inspirational founder. I was still somewhat in shock from watchingthe attacks in the United States on TV all day. Evers said to me, ‘Thiswill have repercussions for us Jews.’ I asked her, ‘What are you talkingabout? Muslims executed the attacks yesterday.’ I didn’t understand whatshe meant at all.“Afterwards, I thought a lot about what she said. Within three days, theperpetrators became the victims and the victims had become perpetrators. Achange of roles had taken place. Since then, I have seen similar examples ofthis phenomenon.“In the weeks following 9-11, there was unrest in Amsterdam West,where many Muslims live. A few weeks later, Moroccan youngsters threwstones at Jews who were coming out of the synagogue. I still had to finishmy article on the synagogue. I called the police to check what was happening.The police spokesman said, ‘I would prefer if you don’t pay too muchattention to this incident. These people are already in an unfavorable position.’He wasn’t speaking about the Jews at whom the stones were thrown,but about the Muslims who threw the stones.”
Page 1: \\jciprod01\productn\J\JSA\4-2\JSA2
Page 6: \\jciprod01\productn\J\JSA\4-2\JSA2

Postcards from Switzerland and Holland - Journal for the Study of ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?