Poll: Spanish attitudes toward Jews starting to improve

Report to be presented to Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain says anti-Semitism on the wane.

By MARION FISCHEL
anti semitism UK 248.88 ap (photo credit: AP [file])
anti semitism UK 248.88 ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
Spanish anti-Semitism seems to be on the wane, according to a new survey to be presented Wednesday to the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain.
The survey was conducted by Casa Sefarad-Israel and the Opinion Institute DYM.
A spokeswoman for Casa Sefarad- Israel told The Jerusalem Post that those holding unfavorable opinions of Jews, an issue addressed in the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project in 2008, had dropped from 46% that year to 34.6% today.
Generally, the survey showed that people’s opinions regarding Jews and Israel were directly related to their own stance on the Middle East conflict, she said. According to the survey, many Spaniards don’t know what “Semite” means.
The survey also shows that Spaniards who are prejudiced are generally not only anti-Jewish.
Those who regarded Jews unfavorably tended to also regard Protestants and Muslims unfavorably; in fact, there was more prejudice expressed toward Muslims than toward Jews.
Spaniards are also anti-church, the survey showed. Since the Spanish Democratic Constitution was passed in 1978, the country has no state religion, but Catholicism still holds sway in a manner that many Spaniards resent.