To the Editor:

The recent decision by a French court against Le Monde for publishing an op-ed article which it ruled defamed Jews is but one example of the new form of anti-Jewish sentiment taking root in Europe ("Free Speech and Hate Speech: French Ruling Roils the Waters," June 27).

Over the course of the past three years the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has been closely monitoring the unfortunate and ugly re-emergence of anti-Semitism in Europe. As a result, we conducted a survey in May 2005 of 12 European countries in order to better understand the reasons for this new reality. What we discovered was that a new form of anti-Semitism has taken hold in countries across Europe – one that is being fueled by anti-Israel sentiment and questions the loyalty of Jewish citizens.

Specifically, we discovered that 29 percent of the people we surveyed say that thir opinion of Jews is influenced by actions taken by the State of Israel. The vast majority of the 29 percent say that their opinion of Jews is worse as a result. A plurality of respondents, 43 percent, believe that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their respective country. Most troubling, the data indicates that people who hold unfavorable views toward Israel are more likely to be considered more anti-Semitic than the rest of the population.