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Extrapolating from a 2011 study that showed respondents agreed at high rate to the statement of "Israel is carrying out a war of extermination against the Palestinians", Gerstenfeld concluded that some 150 million, out of 400 million, EU citizens espouse a view that demonized Israel. According to Gerstenfeld, [[Holocaust inversion]] is a mainstream phenomena in the [[European Union]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EYuFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195&dq=%22Manfred+Gerstenfeld%E2%80%8E%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjouuqU1qHhAhWLNOwKHRAYCgc4FBDoAQgtMAE#v=onepage&q=%22Manfred%20Gerstenfeld%E2%80%8E%22&f=false Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization], chapter by Alan Johnson, page 176</ref>
Extrapolating from a 2011 study that showed respondents agreed at high rate to the statement of "Israel is carrying out a war of extermination against the Palestinians", Gerstenfeld concluded that some 150 million, out of 400 million, EU citizens espouse a view that demonized Israel. According to Gerstenfeld, [[Holocaust inversion]] is a mainstream phenomena in the [[European Union]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EYuFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195&dq=%22Manfred+Gerstenfeld%E2%80%8E%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjouuqU1qHhAhWLNOwKHRAYCgc4FBDoAQgtMAE#v=onepage&q=%22Manfred%20Gerstenfeld%E2%80%8E%22&f=false Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization], chapter by Alan Johnson, page 176</ref>


<br />
==Norway==
Norway has [[History of the Jews in Norway|a Jewish population of approximately 700 Jews]].<ref name="Spitzer" /> Gerstenfeld argues that it is a major purveyor of anti-Semitism.<ref>Kristina Furnes, [https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4244280,00.html 'Norway doesn’t hate Jews: Presenting Norway as major purveyor of anti-Semitism paints false, exaggerated picture,'] [[Ynet]] 26 June 2011</ref> and has posted on his blog an interview with [[Hanne Nabintu Herland]] which claims that Norway is the most anti-Semitic country in the West.<ref> Manfred Gerstenfeld, [http://www.manfredgerstenfeld.com/norway-the-most-anti-semitic-country-in-the-west/ 'Norway: The Most Anti-Semitic Country in the West,' (blog)] 23 July 2015.</ref>

In 2009, [[The Jerusalem Post]] carried a report asserting there was an increase in Norwegian antisemitism and cited a protest led by Minister of Finance [[Kristin Halvorsen]] in which chants "Death to the Jews!" were heard. Gerstenfeld said that "It gets deep at the heart of Norway's emotional anti-Semitism. The current wave of anti-Semitism shows what people have been holding inside them". <ref name="Spitzer" >Maya Spitzer, [https://www.jpost.com/International/Norway-Increased-anti-Semitism-has-local-Jews-anxious Norway: Increased anti-Semitism has local Jews anxious], [[Jerusalem Post]], 30 March 2009</ref> [[TV 2 (Norway)|Norway's TV 2]] subsequently reported that Gerstenfeld said "Norwegians are a barbaric and unintelligent people".<ref name="dagbladet5540894">[http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/03/30/nyheter/utenriks/israel/5540894/ Israelsk avis: Kristin Halvorsen sa «Død over jødene!»], ''[[Dagbladet]]''</ref><ref>[http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/03/01/nyheter/antisemittisme/tv_2/5096280/ - Nordmenn er et barbarisk og uintelligent folkeferd], ''[[Dagbladet]]''</ref> Gerstenfeld also accused [[Erik Fosse]] and [[Mads Gilbert]], doctors who served in Gazan hospitals during the [[Operation Cast Lead|2008-2009 War between Israel and the Gaza Strip]] of financing [[Hamas]].<ref>Martha J. Smith, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ud1aAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT145 ''Comfort Ye My People: the Church's Mandate Toward Israel and the Jewish People,''] [[WestBow Press]], 2012 {{isbn|978-1-449-76015-1}} p.127</ref>

Holocaust survivor [[Imre Hercz]] criticized Gerstenfeld's "propaganda war against Norway", querying his objectivity and noting that Gerstenfeld had visited Norway only once at that time.<ref name="dagbladet5540894" /><ref> [[Philip Weiss]] [https://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/heres-a-story-im-sure-nobody-else-has-given-you-according-to-ntb-the-norwegian-wire-service-norways-finance-minist/ 'Anatomy of an anti-Semitic falsehood: ‘Jerusalem Post’ said Norway’s Finance Minister led chant, ‘Death to the Jews!’,] [[Mondoweiss]] 31 March 2009.</ref> When Gerstenfeld was questioned by Jewish community leader [[Anne Sender]] about the effect his book about Norwegian Anti-Semitism might have on the Jewish minority in the country, he is reported as replying," I couldnt care less about the Jewish Community in Norway, all I care about is to get your [[Jens Stoltenberg|Jens]], [[Jonas Gahr Støre|Jonas]] and [[Kristin Halvorsen|Kristin]] off the back of [[Benjamin Netanyahu|my Prime Minister]]".<ref>[[Anne Sender]] [http://www.verdidebatt.no/innlegg/432543 'Gode og mindre gode venner,'] [[Vårt Land (Norwegian newspaper)| Vårt Land]] 23 September 2013.</ref>

In 2011 Gerstenfeld warned that an investigation into antisemitism in Norway by the [[Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities (Norway)|Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities]] was likely to minimize the extent of the problem in Norway and that the center will lose credibility. In response, [[Odd-Bjørn Fure]], genocide authority and the director of the center said that Gerstenfeld "is not worth arguing against. I prefer to deal with serious people. We do not take this person seriously."<ref>[https://idag.no/frykter-for-undersokelsens-troverdighet/19.6233 "Frykter for undersøkelsens troverdighet"], ''[[Norge idag]]'', 25 February 2011.</ref>

After three universities declined an offer to deliver lectures on Israel there by [[Alan Dershowitz]], who waived his fees for the occasion, Gerstenfeld claimed that its elite is permeated with anti-Israel haters.<ref>Manfred Gerstenfeld, [https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4048299,00.html Something rotten in Norway] [[Ynet]] 23 March 2011 </ref> Kristina Fumes writing in [[Ynet]], responded that the topic of Scandinavian anti-Semitism in Israel's English-language media was being hijacked by extremists: that studies show Norway ranks between England and Holland, that while 11% of Norwegians displayed anti-semitic attitudes, 92% thought children should be taught about the [[Shoah]].<ref>Fristina Fumes, [https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4244280,00.html Norway doesn’t hate Jews] [[Ynet]] 20 June 2012</ref> According to Gerstenfeld, the study itself is flawed due to lack of inclusion of Muslim respondents and that while the English conclusions stated a "limited" degree of antisemitism similar to the UK, the study's own data states that 38% consider Israeli actions as similar to Nazi Germany, which he takes to be an example of Holocaust inversion and, if so, would be antisemitic according to the [[Working Definition of Antisemitism]]. By his own extrapolation he claims that Norway has approximately 1.5 million anti-Semites, whom he defines as 'ideological criminals'.<ref>[https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4241207,00.html Norway's Holocaust inverters], Manfred Gerstenfeld, [[Ynet]], 6 December 2012</ref>

==Publications==
==Publications==


Revision as of 15:56, 26 December 2019

Manfred Gerstenfeld (Hebrew: מנפרד גרסטנפלד; born 1937 in Vienna) is an Austrian-born Israeli author[1] and former Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He founded and directed the Center's Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism program.[2]

Biography

Manfred Gerstenfeld was born in Vienna, grew up in Amsterdam where he obtained a master's degree in organic chemistry at Amsterdam University. He also studied economics at what is nowadays Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He has a high school teaching degree in Jewish studies from the Dutch Jewish seminary. In 1999 he obtained a Ph.D. in environmental studies at Amsterdam University. In 1964 he moved to Paris where he became Europe's first financial analyst specializing in the pharmaceutical industry. He moved to Israel in 1968. There he became the managing director of an economic consultancy firm partly owned by Israel's then-largest bank Bank Leumi. He was an academic reserve officer in the Israeli Army (IDF). Gerstenfeld was a board member of one of Israel's largest companies, the Israel Corporation and several other Israeli companies.

In the opinion of Ha'aretz journalist Anshel Pfeffer, writing in 2013, Gerstenfeld 'is without doubt the greatest authority on anti-Semitism today.'[3] Isi Leibler, the former chairman of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress, wrote in the Jerusalem Post in 2015: "Gerstenfeld would today...be considered the most qualified analyst of contemporary anti-Semitism with a focus on anti-Israelism." Gerstenfeld was an editor of The Jewish Political Studies Review, co-publisher of the Jerusalem Letter/Viewpoints, Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism and Changing Jewish Communities and a member of the council of the Foundation for Research of Dutch Jewry, of which he was formerly the vice-chairman. He was chairman of the Board of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a Jerusalem based think tank, from 2000 until 2012, where he headed the Institute for Jewish Global Affairs. He is the 2012 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Journal for the Study of Antisemitism. In 2015, he received the International Leadership Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. In 2019, Manfred received the International Lion of Judah Award from the Canadian Institute of Jewish Research in recognition of him as the leading international scholar on contemporary antisemitism.[4]

Europe and anti-Semitism

Extrapolating from a 2011 study that showed respondents agreed at high rate to the statement of "Israel is carrying out a war of extermination against the Palestinians", Gerstenfeld concluded that some 150 million, out of 400 million, EU citizens espouse a view that demonized Israel. According to Gerstenfeld, Holocaust inversion is a mainstream phenomena in the European Union.[5]


Publications

Books

Articles

Book reviews by Manfred Gerstenfeld

References

  1. ^ Fischer, Stefan; Grohmann, Marianne (2010). Weisheit und Schöpfung: Festschrift für James Alfred Loader zum 65. Geburtstag. Peter Lang. pp. 238–. ISBN 978-3-631-59570-1. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld - Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs". Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs.
  3. ^ Anshel Pfeffer, 'How to Be a Limmud Snob: A Guide to Navigating the Ultimate Jewish Conference,' Haaretz 22 December 2013.
  4. ^ Arnold, Janice (December 15, 2019). "AGGRESSIVE POLICY AGAINST ACADEMIC BDS PROPOSED BY EXPERT". The Canadian Jewish News.
  5. ^ Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization, chapter by Alan Johnson, page 176
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