Latinos Have Positive Views of Jews: Study

By JTA April 20, 2012

A survey commissioned by the American Jewish Committee found that Latinos held positive views about Jews, but have had limited contact with them.

“Latino opinions are hampered by limited contact and general unfamiliarity with Jews,” according to Latino Decisions, the company that carried out the survey for the AJC. Its conclusion, nonetheless, was that “Latinos hold many positive views about the Jewish community.”

A majority of Latinos held a positive view of Jews’ commitment to faith, family and social change, according to the survey, with 78 percent of respondents agreeing that Jews are committed to family life and 61 percent of respondents believed that Jews make positive cultural contributions to America.

In a press statement, Dina Siegel Vann, director of AJC’s Latino and Latin American Institute, noted that the survey “will inform and advance our ongoing efforts to engage Latino communities, form coalitions, and deepen understanding of American Jews and Israel.”

“The Latino and Jewish communities are models for enriching U.S. society by expressing multiple identities,” Siegel Vann said in the press statement.

The survey, released April 11, was conducted among 2,000 Latinos by telephone from Aug. 12 to Sept. 16, 2011, in Chicago, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Kansas City, Mo. There were follow-up discussions with focus groups during November and December.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO