(
NEWS)
YAD EZRA
/*Ivry
feeding the _Jewish
Austrian Poll Shows
Negative Attitudes
New York (JTA) --
Substantial portions of the
AuStrian population harbor
strongly negative attitudes
toward Jews and have little
sympathy for Israel, accor-
ding to the findings of a new
American Jewish Com-
mittee survey, which were
released in Vienna.
The survey, which is the
fifth in a series AJCom-
mittee is conducting in Cen-
tral and Eastern Europe,
reveals that a plurality of
Austrians believe that Jews
have caused much harm in
the course of history and
that Jews exert too much in-
fluence on world events.
However, to the extent
that there is encouraging
news about Austrians' at-
titudes toward Jews, Israel
and the Holocaust, it is that
younger and better-educated
Austrians are more tolerant
than their older and less-
educated compatriots, said
one AJCommittee official.
"In the end, it coincides
with what our traditional
assumptions have been: that
virtually everywhere,
younger and better-educated
people have better attitudes
toward Jews," said David
Harris, the organization's
executive vice president.
"It offers some en-
couragement for the future,"
he said. But he added that on
the. whole, the findings "are
very disturbing in many
respects."
In the nationwide survey,
a majority of Austrians — 53
percent — said they believe
it is time to put the memory
of the Holocaust behind
them. Just 28 percent dis-
agreed with that statement.
Thirty-two percent of re-
spondents said they believe
Jews are exploiting the
Holocaust for their own pur-
poses, while slightly more,
36 percent, did not agree
that is true.
A majority of 56 percent
said they think the Austrian
government should not pros-
ecute Nazi war criminals,
while 38 percent said they
think the government
should.
And 28 percent of the re-
spondents contended that
Jews have too much in-
fluence in Austria.
A stunning 20 percent said
they want the entry of Jews
into influential positions
controlled and numerically
limited, and 19 percent said
that it would be better for
Austria not to have Jews in
the country at all.
And a plurality of 37 per-
cent agreed either strongly
or somewhat that now, as in
the past, Jews exert too
much influence on world
events. Thirty-five percent
disagreed strongly or
somewhat with that, and 28
percent said they do not
know.
Austrians are also almost
evenly divided over whether
Israelis basically treat the
Palestinians no differently
than the Germans treated
the Jews. Forty-three per-
cent of respondents agreed
with that statement, and 46
percent did not.
Austrians are also closely
split on where their sym-
pathies lie in the Middle
East. Just 11 percent of re-
spondents said they sym-
pathize with Israel; 9 per-
cent sympathized with the
Arab nations; and 13 percent
sympathized with the Pales-
tinians.
Fully 25 percent of the re-
spondents agreed that Zion-
ism is racism, and 40 percent
said they did not know. Thir-
ty-five percent disagreed
with the statement.
The poll was taken bet-
ween June 24 and Aug. 21
by the Gallup Institute of
Austria. Attitudes toward
Jews, Israel and the Holo-
caust varied among different
subgroups of the 2,000 re-
spondents.
One illustration of the dif-
ferences between older and
younger Austrians' at-
titudes is that precisely half
of respondents over age 50
agreed that Jews have caus-
ed much harm in the course
of history, compared to 30
percent of those under age
30.
And 33 percent of those
over age 50 said that Jews
must answer for killing
Jesus, compared to 12 per-
cent of those under age 30.
The survey also revealed a
correlation between church
attendance and attitudes
toward Jews, Israel and the
Holocaust. The more fre-
quently respondents attend-
ed church, the more they
tended to express negative
attitudes toward Jews.
Forty percent of those who
attend church at least once a
week agreed that Jews must
answer for killing Jesus,
compared to 16 percent of
those who never go to chur-
ch.
The survey contained 31
questions and is accurate
within plus or minus 3
percentage points.
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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