Anti-Semitic incidents were more violent and more blatant during the past year, says Dr. Dina Porat, Head of TAU's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism

Anti-Semitic incidents in 1998 were more violent and caused more damage than in previous years, according to the Annual Report on Worldwide Anti-Semitism published by TAU's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism, in cooperation with the World Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Moreover, 1998 witnessed outbursts of violence in countries hitherto quiet in this respect: Greece, Serbia, Uruguay and South Africa. Several incidents involving the beating of rabbis in the streets of Russia, Argentina and the UK indicate a level of blatant street anti-Semitism unknown in recent years. Jewish communities and individuals worldwide recorded hundreds of minor incidents involving the use of graffiti, slogans, personal insults and harassment. These incidents, coupled with a flood of verbal, electronic and visual anti-Jewish expressions, and the frequent discussion of questions related to the Jewish people in politics and in the media, exacerbated the situation in 1998.

A synagogue in Novosibirsk, Siberia, a day after it was vandalized. Torah scrolls were thrown on the floor and swastikas and Nazi slogans sprayed on the walls. The local police described the incident as "a prank committed by kids on the rampage." Russia's Chief Rabbi said that the attack "highlighted the indifference of the authorities."

In Russia, violence against Jewish life and property, by means of arson and explosives accompanied by the most severe anti-Semitic rhetoric by politicians heard in decades, went undenounced by the body politic or intellectuals. The Communist Party, the largest opposition party, used anti-Semitic slogans for political gain. While the legal tools to counter racism exist, the absence of official reaction and the reluctance to use these means have only served to encourage and legitimize this tendency. Thus, anti-Semitism in Russia is both a political weapon and a violent outlet for hooligans and criminals thriving in an atmosphere of crisis.

In South America there was an increase in extreme right and neo-Nazi activity, influenced by the European scene. The collapse of two Jewish-owned banks, central to the life of the Argentinean community, prompted anti-Semitic reactions and expressions.

As the century draws to a close, it appears that World War Two is perceived as the major event that shaped it, hence issues related to the Holocaust and the Jewish people have become central to public debate. Topics accentuating this pivotal position emerged more forcefully than ever before in 1998. Among these are: the alleged role of Jews in the rise and fall of communism as a factor in the current Russian economic and political crisis; Pope John Paul II's "We Remember: Reflections on the Shoah," summarizing two millennia in Jewish-Christian relations; the insistent demand voiced by Jewish organizations to right the wrongs perpetrated by Nazi Germany and its many accomplices in respect to looted property; the increase in electoral strength of legal right-wing parties; and Germany's struggle to come to terms with the Nazi past, now that a new generation is in power.