AJC, WJC Commend EU Declaration on Combating Anti-Semitism

http://israelnewsagency.com/ajc-wjc-jewish-eu-europe-declaration-anti-semitism/

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Brussels — December 7, 2018 … The American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised the Council of the European Union unanimous adoption of a statement on combating anti-Semitism across Europe. It is the first time the Council’s 28-member states have passed a comprehensive measure aimed at coordinating counter anti-Semitism actions and to assure the safety of European Jews.

In its declaration, the EU Council acknowledges that Jewish communities in some European Union countries feel particularly vulnerable to lethal terrorist attacks, following an increase in violent attacks in recent years. It notes that anti-Semitic hatred remains widespread, as confirmed by the E.U.’s 2018 Fundamental Rights Agency report on anti-Semitism.

“The EU has taken a historic step toward fighting all forms of hatred targeting Jews,” said Daniel Schwammenthal, Director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute, the Brussels-based arm of AJC, the global Jewish advocacy organization.

“Significantly, the 28 EU member states have jointly recognized the severity of continuing threats to Jews, the need to protect Jewish institutions and communities, and the value of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Anti-Semitism.”

Schwammenthal praised Austrian Chancellor Kurz, who currently holds the EU presidency, for initiating the Council Declaration. “Chancellor Kurz has admirably made anti-Semitism an EU priority.”

The Council Declaration asks member states “to adopt and implement a holistic strategy to prevent and fight all forms of anti-Semitism.” It expresses EU determination to “ensure a future for Jewish people to live with the same sense of security and freedom as all other citizens in the European Union.” And it calls on EU member nations that have not yet adopted the IHRA working definition to endorse it.

The World Jewish Congress said in a statement that it worked for several months with the Austrian government and European institutions, as well as the EJC, to draft the declaration.  It applauded the council for passing the declaration and called on the EU to appoint a Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism.

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said: “I strongly welcome the decision by the Council of the European Union to adopt this important declaration on the fight against antisemitism and the protection of Jewish communities. Just days after polling revealed that antisemitism continues to haunt Europe, and with the memory of the Holocaust fading, this declaration is a clear recognition by the governments of all EU Member States that serious action, both politically and practically, is needed to deal with the clear and specific challenges posed by this ancient hatred. We look forward to continuing to engage with both the EU institutions and the governments of the EU Member States to inform this serious work going forward.”

In 2015, AJC convened in Brussels “A Defining Moment for Europe,” a strategy conference on combating anti-Semitism. The Call to Action adopted at the groundbreaking conference was updated in June 2018.

Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu had requested that the EU adopt the working definition of anti-Semitism issued by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization that was founded 20 years ago.

This definition states that some criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, such as: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” or by applying double standards to Israel not demanded of any other nation.

Some EU countries were concerned that this definition could prevent criticism of Israel’s residential and commercial activities in the Jewish state’s biblical and historical land in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). A compromise was therefore reached and the final statement calls on member states to use the IHRA definition as a “guidance tool,” without making it obligatory.

WJC Applauds Historic Chad Visit To Israel

http://israelnewsagency.com/chad-israel-africa-wjc-idriss-deby-netanyahu-rivlin-robert-singer/

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Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem, Israel — November 25, 2018 … Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, welcomed the President of Chad Idriss Debyat at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem this evening. It marked an historic, unprecedented trip for the leader of the Muslim-majority nation in Central Africa, which does not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

“President Déby and I had the opportunity to discuss the relations between our two countries and the way we can cooperate for the benefit of our peoples and for peace and for security,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu at the start of their first meeting.

“And I’m delighted that my wife Sara and I can welcome you to our home and your delegation. We will continue our discussions and I think they are going to be very fruitful. I think the historic visit of President Déby to Israel marks a new era, a new era for security, for cooperation and for peace. I welcome you in this spirit to our home here in Jerusalem. Welcome.”

During his time in Israel Deby is expected to meet with Israel President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu for further talks.

Last year WJC CEO Robert Singer held talks with Chadian Ambassadors in Geneva and Paris, at the time urging the reinstatement of diplomatic relations between Chad and Israel.

Commenting on the official visit, Robert Singer said: “I warmly welcome this promising development of improved ties between the Republic of Chad and Israel. This is further evidence of the positive role Israel is playing in Africa, including with Muslim-majority countries – with cooperation possible in a number of areas from technology to security. We look forward to continuing to promote and assist in the development of this important bilateral relationship as part of our intensified collaborations with African nations.”

The Republic of Chad cut diplomatic ties with Jerusalem in 1972. Some 13.5 million people live in Chad today, 55 percent of whom are Muslim. About 40 percent are Christian.

Netanyahu has traveled three times to Africa in the last two years, visiting Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Liberia. Netanyahu constantly vows to expand ties with all countries on the continent, including those that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israel is working to establish diplomatic ties with a number of central African nations, including Sudan.

A senior Israeli official told the Israel News Agency that Déby’s visit was laying the groundwork for normalizing ties with Muslim-majority countries Sudan, Mali and Niger.

Holocaust Remembrance Day Honored Online

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem, Israel — January 27, 2018 … A valuable online resource which honors the memory of the 6 million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust can be found at:

www.HolocaustRemembranceDay.org

The domain directs to an interactive Facebook page which integrates the most valuable and respected Holocaust resources including Yad Vashem, World Jewish Congress, the US Holocaust Museum, the Anne Frank Center, the Israel Defense Forces and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning “sacrifice by fire.” The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were “racially superior” and that the Jews, deemed “inferior,” were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community.

Nazi Dr. Fritz Klein, center, who selected prisoners to be sent to the gas chamber at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, was forced to move bodies to a mass grave after the camp was liberated by the British in April, 1945. Klein was later tried and hanged.

In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. Most European Jews lived in countries that Nazi Germany would occupy or influence during World War II. By 1945, the Germans and their collaborators murdered two out of every three European Jews as part of the “Final Solution,” the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe.

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27 – the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.