A new survey shows that the percentage of negative attitudes towards Jews and Muslims has decreased in Norway compared to 2017. But significant groups continue to harbor antisemitic and anti-Muslim beliefs, according to Vibeke Moe and Birgitte P. Haanshuus, researchers and authors of the report.
The Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities (HL-senteret, Oslo) has for the third time mapped the prevalence of attitudes towards Jews and Muslims in Norway. The first survey was published in 2012, the second in 2017 and the third now in 2022.
In the wake of these investigations, Norway has also drawn up action plans against antisemitism, against racism and against discrimination against Muslims.
The new survey consists of three parts:
- A survey of antisemitic and anti-Muslim attitudes based on a representative sample of the Norwegian population. The mapping of antisemitism has been done three times over a ten-year period and thus provides a unique opportunity to follow developments.
- A minority survey among Jews and Muslims in Norway about their perceptions and experiences, conducted for the first time in 2017.
- A mapping of attitudes among young people. The survey was carried out by a cross-disciplinary research group.
The new mapping of antisemitic attitudes in the population shows a decrease in the percentage who do not wish to have social contact with Jew. But at the same time, there has been no reduction in the prevalence of traditional antisemitic stereotypes in the population.
Antisemitic beliefs are still more widespread among Muslims than in the general population. In the sample of Muslim respondents, 30 percent support the conspiratorial idea that the Jews of the world operate in the dark. Overall, 26.8 percent of Muslims are prejudiced against Jews.
