GLOBAL EXPLOSION OF HATRED: 2014 : Attacks against Jews spike

ISRAEL - Jewish communities around the world faced an " explosion of hatred " last year, with the number of violent anti-Semitic attacks rising by 38 percent, according to a report released Wednesday by Israeli researchers. With most of the violence concentrated in Western Europe, Jewish leaders warned that many in their communities are questioning whether they have any future in the region. The report says that most of the anti-Semitic incidents occurred in France. " We're speaking about a change in environment in Europe, & Jewish life in Europe is at risk," said researcher Arie Zuckerman of the European Jewish Congress. Many Jews feel like " they are facing an explosion of hatred toward them as individuals, their communities & Israel, as a Jewish state."

The researchers said the increase in attacks on Jews was partly linked to last summer's conflict between Israel & Hamas in the Gaza Strip as well as to what they called a " general climate of hatred & violence " fostered by the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS) in the Middle East. The report said 2014 was the second most violent year for Jews in a decade after 2009, which also saw a surge in anti-Semitism following an Israeli military operation in Gaza. The violence in 2014 spiked during the July-August war in Gaza, particularly in demonstrations organized in France, Germany & other countries, during which protesters chanted anti-Semitic slogans, looted Jewish shops & attacked synagogues as well as people identifiable as Jews. However, researchers stressed that attacks had been on the rise also before the summer & said the controversy over Israel's operation was used as a pretext to attack Jews.

The reported incidents do not include the killing of 4 shoppers at a kosher supermarket in Paris following the deadly shooting at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, since those events occurred in January. However, the researchers noted that the wave of attacks has continued this year & that the gruesome acts & ISIS propaganda videos are also encouraging the radicalization of Muslims in the West. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said Jewish life has reached a " tipping point " in Europe. " Some are choosing to leave the continent , many are afraid to walk the streets & even more are retreating behind high walls & barbed wire." " European Jews should not leave out of fear & should push their leaders to defeat anti-Semitism & radical Islamist terrorism " he said. As in past years, the highest number of attacks was reported in France, which saw 164 incidents compared to 141 in 2013. In Britain there were 141 attacks, up from 95, & in the United States there were 80 incidents versus 55, including a shooting at Jewish sites in Overland Park, Kansas, that killed three people. Some western European countries saw even greater increases, with the number of incidents more than doubling in Germany, Belgium, Austria & Sweden. The attacks also target individuals more frequently, with 306 cases involving people as victims, a 66% increase.

REPORT : CBS News

DEUTERONOMY 28 v 64-66 - And the LORD shall scatter thee ( Jews ) ' among all people ' from the one end of the earth even unto the other ; & there thou shalt serve other gods , which neither thou nor thy fathers have known , even wood & stone. And ' among these nations ' shalt thou ( Jews ) find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest : but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart & failing of eyes & sorrow of mind : And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee ; & thou shalt fear day & night & shalt have none assurance of thy life: JEREMIAH 29 v 10-14 - For thus saith the LORD , That after ' seventy years ' be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you & perform my good word toward you , in causing you to return to this place ( Israel ). For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD , thoughts of peace & not of evil , to give you ' an expected end '. THEN shall ye call upon me & ye shall go & pray unto me & I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me & find me , when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you , saith the LORD . . . & I will gather you from all the nations & from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD & I will bring you again into the place ( Israel ) whence I caused you to be carried away captive. ( ' Seventy Years ' ~ Israel has just marked its ' 67th anniversary ' back in the land )