Survey shows Australia loves its Jews, but 30% know very little about the Holocaust

A survey in Australia that was conducted in January and February revealed that Australians have a very positive view of the Jewish community.

The survey, entitled “Crossroads21: Australian attitudes to Jewish people, antisemitism and Israel”, was commissioned and funded by Plus61J, an online news outlet that focuses on Israel, Australian and the Jewish world, and was conducted by Australia’s Social Research Centre.

The survey – the first of its kind since the mid-1980s – involved 3,459 respondents. More than 92 percent of respondents said they were comfortable having Jewish friends while more than 80 percent of respondents disagreed with the notion that Jewish people talk about the Holocaust to further their agenda, or that they can’t be trusted in business. Well over 70 percent rejected the idea that Jews have too much power in the media or that they are more obsessed with money than other Australians.

62 percent of respondents, or nearly two out of every three, said they supported banning the swastika to protect Jewish Australians from antisemitism, yet 30 percent said they knew either “little” or “virtually nothing” about the Holocaust. More than 80 percent rejected the statement that having a connection to Israel made Jews “less loyal to Australia,” saying it was “definitely” or “probably” not true.

A global survey undertaken by America’s ADL in 2014 found that Australia – which has a Jewish population of around 116,000 – was one of the least antisemitic countries in the world.

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Image credit: Anti-Defamation Commission