Anti-Semitism Around the Globe

Anti-Semitism is alive and well in America. News of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme late last year triggered a wave of anti-Semitism, even though prominent Jewish charities and Holocaust survivors like Elie Wiesel lost millions in the scam.

A recent study based at Stanford and Columbia Universities found that almost one in four Americans blame “the Jews” a moderate amount or more for our nation’s financial problems. The recent shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and earlier rants against “them Jews” for political meddling by Rev. Jeremiah Wright highlight a new wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Israeli filmmaker Naftaly Gliksberg sought to get at the heart of contemporary anti-Semitism, and to see whether it is indeed on the rise. He traveled to Poland, Germany, France and the U.S. for his new documentary film Look Into My Eyes. It premiers this week as part of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in New York.

(Photo by P.J.S. via Flickr/Creative Commons)