As has been well documented over the last few years, anti-semitism is on the rise in Europe, often masked as anti-Israel sentiments. However, the anti-semitic mentality also emerges on its own, with Europeans desecrating Jewish graves, spray painting swastikas in Jew-heavy areas, and other acts. Well, not everyone is taking it lying down.
The Dutch have decided to put police officers on the street dressed as orthodox Jews in order to catch unwitting bigots while they harass Jews. These decoy Jews will catch bigots as they spit at, harass, and assault Jews.
While halting the violent anti-semitism is absolutely an important goal for the police in Europe, other latent anti-semitic sentiments are more difficult to police. Notably, the anti-semitic bias in the press disguised as anti-Israel sentiments. The government will have a difficult time addressing anti-semitism while the media continues to distort the facts and shade the public’s perception of Israel. The media must take some responsibility for the latent anti-semiitc sentiments, changing their approach from commentary to fact-based journalism that does not immediately and by default portray Israel as violent and aggressive.