- Avi Benlolo, President and CEO, FSWC Canada
On January 30th, 2009, fifteen people broke into a Sephardic synagogue in Venezuela, tied and gagged the guards, destroyed scriptures and sprayed its walls with antisemitic graffiti. This is the latest in a litany of antisemitic incidents spreading throughout the globe and, regrettably, increasing for nearly a decade.
They range from the most vile like the beheading of Daniel Pearl in 2002 in Pakistan and the 2006 killing of Ilan Halimi in Paris to physical attacks like the punching of the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine in 2007; from ordinary vandalism and graffiti like the swastika defacement of a Jewish kindergarten in Berlin to firebombing of synagogues, schools and community centres in Montreal; to Ontario students marching in 2008 on university property for “Israeli Apartheid Week” carrying banners that read, “free Palestine from the river to the sea”.
Antisemitism is believed to be one of the oldest forms of hatred on the planet. An 1882 definition in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary states that antisemitism is “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group”. While these may be its basic tenets, antisemitism evolves, adapts and continues to take on new forms – very much like a virus.
In 2006, for example, incidents increased by 35% in Argentina; 32.5% in Australia; 12.8% in Canada; 24% in France; 88% in New Zealand and 31% in the United Kingdom. In the UK, The Observer newspaper reported on February 8, 2009 that 270 antisemitic incidents had taken place in Britain since the start of the year – approximately 7 per day. The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study in Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at the Tel-Aviv University registered 593 major incidents in 2006 compared with 406 in 2005.
Notwithstanding these reports, the vast majority of antisemitic incidents around the world remain unregistered. Certain countries, including many in the Middle East, do not accurately report such records; some do not signal out incidents as antisemitic or resulting from racial hatred at all. Most importantly, though, many victims or witnesses of antisemitism do not report incidents to authorities for a variety of fear-based reasons or pure indifference.
In most major Canadian cities, we are fortunate to have police departments that carefully investigate and document antisemitism and other hate-related activity. In Toronto for example, the hate crimes unit has consistently reported that the Jewish community continues to be the most targeted religious community.
The ascension of antisemitism – particularly in Europe - nearly seventy years following the Holocaust and sixty years following the Universal Declaration for Human Rights has moved many world organizations to take action. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has convened six major forums on the subject since 2003 resulting in the Berlin Declaration; it stated that antisemitism has assumed new forms and expressions and threatens democracy, the values of civilization and overall society.
In 2007, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe issued a resolution stating, “the persistence and escalation of anti-semitic phenomenon…far from being eliminated, antisemitism today is on the rise in Europe. It appears in a variety of forms and is becoming relatively commonplace”.
According to the European Union Monitoring Center, the ‘New Antisemitism’ involves:
Denying the Jewish people their right to self determination
Applying double standards to Israel
Using the symbols and images associated with the classic antisemitism to characterize Israel or Israelis
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis
Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel
Intellectualizing and reporting on antisemitism as a way to understand its root causes is good – and a definite first step. But what action is being undertaken in the schools, universities, religious institutions and by the media? What about the continuous disdain toward Israeloriginating from “international organizations” like the United Nations?
Staunch antisemites regularly cite various U.N. resolutions to validate their hatred for Israel and enlist the support of the masses. But with a massive voting block of 57 Muslim nations, Israel is too often targeted as the “Jew” among nations. For example, the newly-established U.N. Human Rights Council has become a protector of serious human rights violators and nations who regularly attack Israel. The Council adopted 15 anti-Israel resolutions in its first 16 months. In its first six months, it held three special sessions against Israel. In comparison, there was only one resolution against Sudan.
Regrettably, the treatment of Israel at the U.N. fuels the resurgence of antisemitism. Another example is the upcoming “Anti-Racism Review Conference” (Durban II) on April 20-24th in Geneva, Switzerland. Under the umbrella of the U.N. Human Rights Council, it is a follow up to the 2001 U.N. World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance. The firstDurban conference became an instrument of racism itself, degenerating into an antisemitic and Israel bashing hate fiesta. The final declaration accused Israel of “war crimes”, revived the slogan “Zionism is racism” and introduced the “Durban Strategy” of isolating Israelinternationally – following the model of the campaign used against South African apartheid.
The antisemitism on University campuses (Israeli Apartheid Week) and boycott and divestment campaigns by some unions like CUPE Ontario are directly linked to the 2001 Durban conference. Reports from the preparatory meetings for the 2009 conference highlight a continued obsession to marginalize Israel and mislabel it an apartheid state. Acting on principle and noting an alarming trend, Canadadeclared several months ago it would not participate in the conference.
In a recent article about Holocaust remembrance, Irwin Cotler wrote that the “…genocide of European Jewry succeeded not only because of the culture of hate and the industry of death, but because of crimes of indifference and conspiracies of silence…let there be no mistake about it – indifference in the face of evil is acquiescence with evil itself – it is complicity with evil”.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has demonstrated leadership by not remaining silent on the matter. In May 2008, he said: "...my fear is what I see happening in some circles is antisemitism, which I think is completely unacceptable...we learned in the Second World War that those who would hate and destroy the Jewish people would ultimately hate and destroy the rest of us as well and the same holds true today”.
The harsh reality that antisemitism is alive and well in an age of hyper-education and advancement is a dangerous trend. It threatens not only Jews, but everyone who adheres to principles of civility, humanity and sensibility. It is a threat to all those who advocate human rights and understanding. Antisemitism is a psychological disease which must be immediately addressed with real action in schools, universities, government, the media and world bodies.
END
Look for future article on methods implemented by FSWC to counter the spread of antisemtism or see [url=http://www.fswc.ca]http://www.fswc.ca[/url]
About Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies is a Canadian human rights organization dedicated to fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. It has 25,000 members across Canada, and confronts important contemporary issues including racism, antisemitism, terrorism and genocide. The Center is affiliated with the world-wide, Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, an accredited Non-Government Organization with status at international agencies, including the United Nations, UNESCO, OSCE and the Council of Europe. With over 400,000 members of all faiths around the world, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has offices in New York, Miami, Paris, Jerusalem, Buenos Aires and Toronto. Simon Wiesenthal died in 2005 after devoting his life to preserving the memories of the victims of the Holocaust, while simultaneously seeking justice for the war criminals. Visit: [url=http://www.fswc.ca]http://www.fswc.ca[/url].
