The Irony of Modern Day Anti-Semitism In Spain

Soeren Kern, Senior Analyst for Transatlantic Relations at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group, writes about a recent study done by Pew Research in his post, Spain’s ‘Jewish Problem’. The poll indicates that:

nearly half of all Spaniards have negative views of Jews, a statistic that marks Spain as one of the most anti-Semitic countries in Europe. According to Pew, 46 percent of Spaniards hold negative opinions of Jews, up more than double from the 21 percent of Spaniards with such views in 2005.

Apparently Spain is also unique among European countries in that the percentage of Spaniards who hold a negative opinion of Jews is actually higher than the percentage who hold a favorable view.

Yet there is something that makes these results difficult to understand:

The survey data on Spanish judeophobia raises many questions, including one that seems never to have been asked: How many contemporary Spaniards have actually ever met a Jew? Not very many, it would appear. In fact, Spain today has one of the smallest Jewish communities in Europe; the country has only 12,000 Jews out of a total Spanish population of 42 million, which works out to less than 0.05 percent.

While those who did the Pew survey claim that this can be explained by the number of those who are right wing, Kern blames the results on something--or rather someone--else: Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who took office in 2004.

• Zapatero is known for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish outbursts such as "It is understandable that someone might justify the Holocaust."
  
  
• Zapatero has made a point of trying to strengthen Spain's ties with the Arab world.
  
  
• Zapatero has refused to visit Israel and has referred to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabas as a 'cancer'--in reference to Israel.
  
  
• Zapatero has blamed Spain's economic problems on the Jews.

So where is the irony in Spains--and Zapatero's--Anti-Semitism referred to in the title?

Kern concludes:

But just as Spaniards get smug about their perceived racial superiority, along comes a new study which implies that many Spanish anti-Semites actually have Jewish blood. An examination of the genetic signatures of the Spanish population shows that 20 percent of contemporary Spaniards have Jewish origins. As it turns out, far more Jews than previously thought did not comply with the order to leave Spain back in 1492 and simply converted to Catholicism instead.

How surprised many of the Anti-Semitic Spanish would be to know the truth behind their roots.
But to top it off:

Many of those conversos tried to blend in by adopting surnames that indicated trades or professions. One such Sephardic name is Zapatero, which means shoemaker.

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