Abstract
Language does more than describe reality; it shapes how individuals and communities are perceived, categorised, and ultimately treated. This report examines the distinction between “European Jews” and “Jews in Europe,” arguing that seemingly innocuous linguistic choices can reflect and reinforce assumptions about national belonging, identity, and exclusion.
Drawing on research in cognitive psychology, historical evidence, and contemporary examples of antisemitism, the report explores how the reduction of individuals to collective categories can facilitate deindividualization and dehumanization. The experiences of Mala Zimetbaum and Henri Abraham de Jong, two European Jews reduced to prisoner numbers 19880 and 52720 at Auschwitz, illustrate the devastating historical consequences of processes that progressively stripped individuals of their identities and civic belonging.
The analysis then turns to contemporary Europe, examining how Jewish citizens are frequently presumed to bear responsibility for the actions of the Israeli government, regardless of their nationality, political convictions, or personal affiliations. Drawing on survey findings from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and recent incidents in several European countries, it identifies the persistence of collective attribution and demands for political disavowal as manifestations of exclusionary assumptions.
The report does not suggest that particular expressions are inherently antisemitic or that linguistic framing inevitably produces discrimination. Rather, it advocates a grammar of inclusion grounded in the presumption that European Jews belong to their respective national communities, without having to demonstrate their loyalty or justify their individual identities.
Author: Neven Vukić, PhD.