44% of Bulgarians Harbor Anti-Semitic Attitudes - Survey

44% of Bulgaria's population harbors anti-Semitic attitudes, according to a survey of US organization Anti-Defamation League.

The Anti-Defamation League commissioned First International Resources to research attitudes and opinions toward Jews in over 100 countries around the world.

All interviews for the ADL GLOBAL 100 study were conducted between July 2013 and February 2014 in 101 countries plus the Palestinian Territories in the West Bank & Gaza. The data is a result of 53,100 total interviews among citizens aged 18 and over. The survey comprises 11 questions developed by researchers at the University of California to provide an analytical tool for identifying respondents who harbor anti-Semitic attitudes and for measuring general acceptance of various negative Jewish stereotypes.

According to the survey, anti-Semitic attitudes in Bulgaria are more common among men (49%) than among women (39%) and they increase with age, the smallest percentage being recorded in the 18-34 age group (38%) and the highest in the 50+ age group (47%).

67% of Bulgarians believe that Jews have too much power in the business world, while 64% think that Jews have too much power in international financial markets.

21% of the Bulgarian respondents believe that Jews are responsible for most of the world's wars

On an international scale, 26% of those surveyed, or a total of 1.09 billion people around the world, harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.

Only 54% of those polled globally have ever heard of the Holocaust. Two out of three people surveyed have either never heard of the Holocaust, or do not believe historical accounts to be accurate.

The most widely accepted anti-Semitic stereotype worldwide is: "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country/the countries they live in."  Overall, 41% of those surveyed believe this statement to be "probably true."

The second most widely accepted stereotype worldwide is "Jews have too much power in the business world." Overall, 35% of those surveyed believe this statement to be "probably true."  This is also the most widely held stereotype in Eastern Europe.

According to the survey, the least anti-Semitic country is Laos, with 0.2% of the adult population holding anti-Semitic views, while the most anti-Semitic place is West Bank and Gaza, where anti-Semitic attitudes stand at 93%.

The 16 countries with the highest index scores of anti-Semitic views are all in the Middle East and North Africa. In Middle East and North African countries ("MENA"), 74% of those polled agreed with a majority of the anti-Semitic stereotypes that comprise the 11-question index.  Non-MENA countries have an average index score of 23 percent. In Eastern Europe, 34% of the population reports anti-Semitic attitudes, compared to 24% in Western Europe.

The top countries/territories in the ADL 100 Global Index are: the West Bank and Gaza, with 93% of the adult population holding anti-Semitic views, followed by Iraq with 92%, Yemen with 88%, and Algeria with 87%.

The lowest-ranked countries in the ADL Global Index are: Laos, with 0.2% of the adult population holding anti-Semitic views, preceded by the Philippines with 3%, Sweden with 4%, the Netherlands – 5% andVietnam with 6%.

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