Jan Schneider knows where resentment can lead. “They endanger social cohesion and, in the worst case, lead to violence,” warns the head of the scientific staff of the German Advisory Council on Integration and Migration (SVR). This sadly came true in 2019 with the attack on the synagogue in Halle and in 2020 with the racist, anti-Muslim attack in Hanau. In addition, thousands of other anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim crimes in Germany bear witness to this every year.
Under the title “Anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic attitudes in the country of immigration – (not) an isolated case?” makes one since wednesday new study by the Advisory Council clear how widespread such resentment still is in German society. According to this, depending on the population group and the form of anti-Semitism, ten to 50 percent of all respondents have anti-Jewish attitudes. Anti-Muslim attitudes are also clearly recognizable among 30 to 50 percent of those surveyed, even if resentment towards Muslims has decreased overall in the past ten years.
According to the study, the extent to which hostilities are pronounced in a population group depends on origin, but also on personal experiences of discrimination and school education. For example, anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim resentments are found somewhat more frequently among people with a migrant background than among the population without a migrant background.
According to the study, people who went to school in Germany were less likely to have anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim attitudes than those who went to school in another country. “Resentment is also much less common among people who have regular contact with people from other backgrounds,” says co-author Nora Storz.
The best antidote to prejudice is contact
Personal resentments are also reinforced by experiences of discrimination. For example, of those interviewed who felt discriminated against because of their origin, around four out of ten agreed with most of the anti-Semitic statements presented to them in the survey. Among those who did not feel discriminated against in this way, it was only three out of ten.
The study thus also provides approaches for political countermeasures. According to the Council of Experts, they are not even particularly complex. “In order to be able to break down prejudices against others, contact between people of different origins and religions is particularly important,” says migration expert Schneider. “The intercultural and interreligious exchange should therefore be promoted with the help of low-threshold offers, for example at the municipal level, especially among young people,” he demands. The religious communities could also make important contributions here. The federal government must also push ahead with the reduction of structural discrimination in training and labor market policy announced in its coalition agreement.
The Federal Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination, Ferda Ataman, calls the high approval ratings for anti-Semitic attitudes among respondents of Turkish origin “worrying”. It is also very worrying that among all respondents “about a third is of the opinion that religious freedom for Muslims should be restricted”. “We have to counteract such attitudes,” demands Ataman.