Exactly.
I’m in “like” limbo right now, so consider this a manual version.
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Oddly, you’re likely to be treated better in Germany than France. They will be noticeably uncomfortable, no question, but the country has done a lot to make sure they don’t allow themselves to forget, so any indication that you’re Jewish will have them walking on very courteous eggshells. It’s actually fascinating (in a macabre way).
In a business context, since I’m outside the US or the State of Israel, I tend to keep my tzitzit tucked in anyway and only cover my head at work when I duck out for afternoon prayer or when making a blessing. I don’t like putting people who might be uncomfortable, or here in Japan unfamiliar, with my religious customs in a position where it distracts from the work. Whereas I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if you are right, my German coworkers who are hosting this conference have already gone out of their way to make sure my dietary needs will be accommodated so for the above reason I probably won’t go any further there while in the office than I do here.
I’m still thinking about my time outside the office and how I’ll manage shabbat in Paris, but probably I’m going to stay incognito.
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Depends on where in Germany, from my experience. Geographically they are a very different people, North and South. Not unlike some of the regionalization of attitude we have in the US of A.
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DISCLAIMER #1: For rather obvious historical reasons, the actual Jewish population in Germany and Austria (where I live) is very low (slightly above 1% in Germany, about 0,2% in Austria). So as a non-Jew my experience of anti-semitism here is limited to things I have heard other non-Jewish people say in the presence of other non-Jewish people. I’m not trying to “mansplain” (“goysplain”?) anything, I’m just making some educated guesses based on what I do know.
DISCLAIMER #2: I’m extrapolating from my personal knowledge of Austria here. The further north you go in Germany, the less it might apply.
In Austria and Germany, I’d expect you to experience several different phenomena (some of them antisemitism, others different things that might be mistaken for it):
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The prejudice that Jews are “well-connected” and “powerful” and tend to have a disproportionate amount of friends in high places. Also, the idea held by right-wingers that political correctness prohibits “just saying what we think” about Jews.
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Disagreement with Israel’s policies. It’s probably a majority opinion around here that Palestine’s occupation is wrong and illegal, that settlements in the occupied territories are a crime, and that war crimes have been committed by Israel. Some use that as an excuse/cover for their antisemitism, with others it’s an honestly held political opinion.
Note that this doesn’t mean that Hamas is seen as anything but a bunch of terrorists, so the question of whether they committed war crimes, too, does not enter the picture. Just be aware that if you claim to have voted for Bush (if you’re an American citizen) or Netanyahu (if you’re an Israeli citizen), you’re basically presenting people with a choice between “awkward silence” or “heated political discussion”. -
Some awkwardness (“Don’t mention the war”). Most people will try their best to avoid seeming anti-semitic or intolerant in any way. The more you emphasize being Jewish, the harder they’ll try to avoid offending you. Consciously trying to avoid offending someone sometimes has unintended, and not entirely pleasant, side effects.
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A different kind of awkwardness bred by curiosity. Jews are a much talked-about minority around here (again for obvious historical reasons), but unless they live near a synagogue, the average Austrian or German might not meet a practicing Jew in person.
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Low tolerance towards public display of religion, especially compared to the US. For example, wearing a kippah while not actually visiting a synagogue would basically put you in the same category as a catholic monk.
In traditionally Catholic Austria, the religious rules say that no one is supposed to eat any meat at this time of the year (Lent), and yet I do not have a single person among my friends who keeps that rule. And only about half of them are atheists.
There won’t be any active hate over this, but expect some prejudice. People who stick to religious clothing or diet rules are considered “extremely religious”, no matter whether they are Jews, Muslims, Christians, or Buddhists. We all expect “extremely religious” people to be old-fashioned in their world view. “Extremely religious” people are expected to be homophobic and misogynist, and of course none of them would ever admit to having sex before marriage. Best to avoid talking about some subjects when those religious nuts are around, you know?
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Some idiots probably can’t tell Jewish religious customs apart from Muslim religious customs. They’ll apply their anti-islamic prejudice to you, which I fear is currently a much bigger problem than anti-semitism.
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The muslim first & second generation immigrants. I don’t know enough about them. Rumor has it they are extremely anti-semitic, but that might just be part of the anti-islamic prejudice that I mentioned earlier.
Now that I’ve enumerated seven different bad things that might happen to you I have to balance the impression again:
On the whole, I don’t think that anti-semitism in Austria & Germany is at a level where it seriously concerns visitors to the country. I’ve heard people unthinkingly regurgitate some old prejudices, but it’s all pretty benign compared to what I’ve heard about Muslims, and both countries are still safe places for Muslims to be.
Don’t fall for the media hyperbole. Remember that the no-go areas in Paris were a Fox invention.
Being left out of relevant panels happens to us atheists, too, at > 20% of the population. Most recently, the president of Austria invited representatives of all major religions to issue a common statement on the Charlie Hebdo massacre, where atheist caricaturists and Jewish store owners were targeted specifically (and Christians and Muslims were caught in the crossfire). But while the Churches still enjoy some unfair privileges, we atheists are far from being persecuted in any way. So I wouldn’t consider this “panel” incident to be a very serious alarm signal. Also consider that anti-semitism has been discussed a lot among non-Jews in Germany (due to lack of a sufficiently large remaining Jewish population), so the thought of having yet another discussion about it without a Jewish representative is not as absurd as it might seem to Americans (while still being a bad idea in the case of an official panel…).
So, don’t worry and enjoy your stay in continental Europe. A lot has changed in the past 70 years.
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Yep, that’s a good analogy as well.
Seems like you are eminently qualified to address this particular panel.
1 & 2 are classic anti-semitism even if covered by a fig leaf in regards to middle eastern politics. In the hundreds of conversations I’ve ended up in over the years, I’ve met two, maybe three, people who had a good enough grasp of history and regional politics to back up their opposition regarding the State of Israel.
3 & 4 are understandable and I can’t take any offense.
5? All I can say to that is welcome to the paradox of tolerance. If not that its a general preference to remain ignorant.
6? When the Holy One, blessed be He, was handing out stupid to the Nations of Man, He was equally generous to all.
7, well thats tricky for me. Those are the very folks who are in fact killing my people in Europe.
Remember that the no-go areas in Paris were a Fox invention.
Not according to any of the Jews I know there. That includes those who look “white” and those who are of Algerian origin. Non Jews keep telling me the no-go areas are not real but Jews keep telling me they are.
Also consider that anti-semitism has been discussed a lot among non-Jews in Germany
Discussion is good but lack of first hand experience or understanding of the people involved is a bit like learning to swim by reading about it on the internet (to steal a line from a sitcom). I’ve been to Germany before, I’ve worked for Germans and for a German company. I’ve been lucky enough not to have dealt with jerks. However, and we agree on this point, how hard would it have been to get a German rabbi or two involved with this panel?
BTW AFAIK in Austria as opposed to Germany sales and public display of Third Reich symbols or paraphernalia is in fact legal so the “don’t mention the war” or bending over backwards to not offend aspects may well differ there.
I probably will enjoy my stay in the Old World, even though it means hiding who I am. I’m used to it by now.
Edit: wife just emailed me this article http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-jewish-leader-wear-kippa-muslim-areas-29238539
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On #2: I meant the occupation of what are now officially occupied territories, not the founding of the State of Israel on land that was called Palestine before. Israel’s right to existence is uncontested here.
I’m talking about differing opinions on what kind of military actions are legitimate, and about whether building settlements on occupied territory constitutes a violation of various international laws. Those opinions may be right or wrong, and the people holding them might even be completely unqualified. I don’t see how that makes it antisemitic. After all, you get bogus opinions from the outside about just about any conflict there is in this world. Is it possible, however, that it is especially the real anti-semites who will insist on discussing Israel’s policies with the first Jew they meet?
Indeed. Another data point - I definitely wouldn’t recommend Germany or Austria as a good place to live for Amish people.
Any muslim would be perfectly entitled to take offense at “those are the very folks”; “some of them” are. It would be interesting to know the relative numbers of muslim perpetrators of anti-semitic violence and victims of anti-islamic violence. There’s a wave of general anti-islamic sentiment in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and I am very reluctant to jump on that bandwagon. If fascists ever take control of Europe again, they are going to come after the Muslims this time.
… which does not mean I’m trying to deny that problem. It’s the paradox of tolerance again. We can’t just filter our immigrants according to “European values” when we can’t agree exactly what those values are, ourselves. Unsolved problem.
I’ll take your word for it. For the record, I was only referring to Fox’s claims that there are areas where the police don’t dare go. Those were made up.
Out of interest, can you provide me with some reference points on how bad those no-go areas are? And is it more about general hostility (stares, maybe being refused service), or about the fear of more extreme actions by individuals (most people being nice and open, and 1 in a 1000 being ready to beat you up)? Or a mix of both?
How does that compare to, say, touring various parts of the US as a gay couple while wearing a T-shirt saying “There is probably no god”? I’d be sort of afraid to try that in Utah, even though the people there have never been anything but friendly to me. Hard to find out whether that’s just prejudice on my part without taking a risk…
No, that is not true. Any “activity for the cause of National Socialism” is banned; in this respect, Austria’s laws are in fact stricter than Germany’s. Publicly denying the holocaust or publicly approving of any of the Nazi crimes is illegal. Public display and distribution of symbols and emblems is also illegal.
The grain of truth behind what you’ve heard is probably the fact that Austria’s law has a broader exception for uses of the symbols in situations where it is obvious that they/the ideology behind them are not being condoned, such as theatre plays/movies/computer games, exhibitions that educate about the Third Reich, protest banners where a swastika is crossed out, etc. The German law has a stricter wording here which led to some strange court cases; also, computer games that feature the Nazis as bad guys are regularly censored in Germany (but not in Austria), as apparently, computer games don’t fall under the exception because they are not considered art.
P.S.: I’m not ignoring your other points, I just have nothing to add to them 
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Believe me I know what you meant. Heard it before many times and again, damn few people seem to know enough to hold an educated conversation on the matter.
I definitely wouldn’t recommend Germany or Austria as a good place to live for Amish people.
More is the shame then.
Any muslim would be perfectly entitled to take offense at “those are the very folks”; “some of them” are.
Indeed. “Some” Muslims are the ones killing my people in Europe. Not 100% of the European Muslims, but the killers have been 100% Muslims. I don’t advocate or approve of violence against your Muslims at all, but I’d be a fool not to be aware of the situation.
Out of interest, can you provide me with some reference points on how bad those no-go areas are?
Most of the people I know won’t test the situation personally but “everyone knows someone” who has either been verbally or physically assaulted. In one case I heard a friend’s cousin got some teeth knocked out. Cops evidently told her she shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Bet you that won’t get you shot, beaten or even called nasty things.
The difference is that the Jews being assaulted or killed in France arent “taking a risk” they are pretty much just going about their daily lives. That is unless you believe the BBC Channel 4 reporter who said that walking in Muslim areas wearing a kippah is a provocation.
My bad, you are right, it is illegal. I based my comments on having read news articles about sales of such items. No need to argue the point as you are correct.
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