If we take Germany, and look at the excellent indicator of the web network, we can see that neo-Nazi websites have increased from 800 last year to 1872 this year, and it is not over yet. One fifteen-year-old out of every 20 belongs to a neo-Nazi group. The German neo-Nazi messages that are broadcast to children and young rock music fans, and that are based on hatred for the Jews have increased on the relevant websites from 750 to 6000. One also has to pay close attention to what his children read on Facebook or hear on Youtube. In East Germany, neo-Nazis are even organizing ideological kindergartens under their own management. The neo-Nazi rap music that incites listeners to kill Jews and blacks is hugely popular, as are the messages that claim the Holocaust is a Jewish invention to justify their "crimes" and the illegal existence of the State of Israel, which has now become the focus of their attacks.
Thousands of antisemitic attacks that are sweeping Europe, especially since immigration has brought into Europe a great influx of political Islamism. which is ready to join a common front with the neo-Nazis in their antisemitism, even when the far right is xenophobic. All the studies confirm, and the German police have made it a basic premise, that the neo-Nazi and Jihadist groups work together in the antisemitic field, with exponential results. One Jewish cemetery a week is vandalized, and grafitti and violence have increased from 36 to 183; synagogues are attacked; recently, in Hanover, at the international Fest in which everyone sang, from Afghans to Turks, a Jewish chorus barely escaped the mob's murderous rage.
Antisemitic incidents in the world in 2009 reached the highest number since World War II: in 2009 there were 1129 violent attacks compared to 78 in 1989; also, there is a genocidal antisemitism in the world now exactly like that enacted by Hitler. Moreover, Ahmadinejad advocates destroying the Jewish State; and the Hamas declaration explains how it is essential to kill Jews everywhere in the world. Young Ilan Halimi was killed after 24 days of torture to the rhythm of the Qoran readings, merely because he was Jewish; this happened in civilized Paris. Even there, it is not a good idea to wear a star of David on a chain around one's neck. In Amsterdam one risks being stabbed;in Sweden, many Jewish families have already moved out of Malmo; and neo-Nazism is increasing in the Ukraine. It is right to feel nervous when seeing a swastika: too many people like it.
Recently, more than 50 parliaments, including Italy's, sent their representatives to Ottawa to the second Interparliamentary Conference on Combating Antisemitism. It is a sign that some countries are starting to get organized. The conference issued a protocol defining and indicating ways to contrast the phenomenon.
But a Jewish doctor, a lonely man of this world, who lives in present-day Germany, face to face with a patient to whom he owes the utmost solidarity, sees a swastika tattoed on the patient's arm, and suddenly feels alone and disoriented. Can we blame him?
Excerpted from "That Jewish Doctor and His Dilemma," which originally appeared in Il Giornale, November 13, 2010
