New study shows five ethnic groupings in Denmark have negative attitudes towards Jewish people

More than 1500 immigrants from Turkish, Pakistani, Somali, Palestinian and Eastern European backgrounds have been interviewed, along with 300 ethnic Danes, for a study on attitudes towards Jews, reports Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper

Every person involved in the study, which will be published in a book about Denmark and foreigners, was asked three questions about their opinions on different groups in society, not just Jews.

But Jews didn’t fare well.

A third of respondents from non-Danish ethnic backgrounds said one ‘couldn’t be too careful enough in relation to Jews in Denmark’. In comparison, 18.2 percent of Danish respondents felt the same.

Three quarters of the former category said they wouldn’t like to see a family member marry a Danish Jew and 31.9 percent felt there were too many Jews in Denmark.

Of the Danish respondents, 14.7 percent said they didn’t want a Jew to marry into their family.

‘The study shows that anti-Semitic feelings are not just found in extremist circles. The opinions are far, far more widespread among immigrants than we normally imagine,’ said Professor Peter Nannestad of the Department of Political Science at University of Aarhus, who authored the study.

Chief Rabbi Bent Lexner from the Mosaisk Troessamfund, the religious community for Jews in Denmark, is not surprised by the results of the study.

‘The nice Danish naivety is apparent if you think it isn’t like that because that’s how the situation is. It’s not coincidental that the government is working on an action plan for how to create better information about the Jewish community in Denmark for these groups,’ Lexner said.

There are about 7000 Jewish people living in Denmark.