THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — The Dutch government postponed indefinitely the release of a survey suggesting that anti-Semitism is more prevalent among Muslim youths than Christian ones.
The Verwey Jonker Institute submitted the synopsis for its government-commissioned report on anti-Semitism among youths last month for publication to the Dutch Social Affairs Ministry, which has kept it under wraps past the May deadline and ordered a review of the data, the De Telegraaf daily reported Monday.
De Telegraaf nonetheless reviewed a copy of the synopsis, which said that 12 percent of Muslim respondents expressed a “not positive” view of Dutch Jews compared to 2 percent among Christian respondents.
Asked by De Telegraaf why the report has not been released, a ministry spokesman said the ministry needs “clarification, for example, on how to explain some results.” The ministry declined to elaborate, De Telegraaf reported.
The Telegraaf report did not say how many youths were questioned in the survey by the Verwey Jonker Institute, which is among the country’s leading authorities on conducting scientific research on social issues.
Asked about Jews in Israel, 40 percent of Muslim respondents expressed a “not positive” view compared to 6 percent among Christians, 10 percent among members of other faiths and 8 percent among atheists.
Among Muslim respondents, Zionists came out as least liked, with 66 percent expressing a “not positive” view compared to 6 percent among Christians.
Muslims of Turkish descent expressed more negative views of Jews than their Moroccan peers. The same applied to males compared to females, the report said.
On the State of Israel, 62 percent of Muslims and 13 percent of Christians expressed negative feelings. Among members of other faiths and atheists, 19 and 22 percent, respectively, said they did not have a positive view of the Jewish state.
The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, a watchdog on anti-Semitism, defended the government’s decision to withhold the report’s release, citing “the risk that respondents conflated some of the terms they were asked about.”
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