Addressing anti-Semitism in schools: UNESCO and OSCE launch framework curricula for teacher trainers

האנטישמיות באירופה: קבוצת תלמידי בית ספר יהודי־צרפתי, שבילתה את חופשת הקיץ במלון בעיירה הקטנה טרילז’ ליד ספליט שבקרואטיה, נדהמה אתמול (שלישי) לגלות מול בית המלון “נוף” מפתיע שנוסף בשעות הלילה – צלב קרס ענק בצבע אדום שצויר על ידי אלמונים על הכיכר ועל המדרכה.לאחר שהמידע הועבר לשגרירות ישראל על ידי איגוד הקהילות היהודיות באירופה, פנה האיגוד גם למשרדי ראש הממשלה, הנשיא ושרי החוץ והפנים הקרואטים. כל הגורמים הרשמיים גינו את האירוע והביעו גילויי זעזוע והתנצלות כלפי התלמידים. המשטרה הקרואטית פתחה בחקירה.רוברט זינגר, יו”ר המרכז לאימפקט יהודי ולשעבר מנכ”ל הקונגרס היהודי העולמי, מסר: “לא מתקבל על הדעת כי חברי הקהילה היהודית של צרפת שרצו לבלות את חופשת הקיץ בקרואטיה או לחלופין בכל מקום אחר בעולם ייאלצו לחיות בתחושת פחד ובחוסר ביטחון רק בגלל זהותם היהודית. המקרה הקשה הוא הוכחה לכך שהאנטישמיות באירופה עדיין בוערת. אני קורא לכלל מנהיגי מדינות אירופה לפעול למען הגנת הקהילות היהודיות, ועל ממשלת קרואטיה באופן מיידי לקבל את הגדרת האנטישמיות הבינלאומית IHRA ולפעול למיגור התופעה”.
ח״כ יום טוב כלפון, יו”ר ועדת המשנה לזכאי השבות וקשר עם התפוצות, על המפגן האנטישמי מול תלמידים בקרואטיה: ״לאנטישמיות אין חיסון- אבל ליהודים יש בית. למגפת האנטישמיות באירופה עוד לא נמצא חיסון. ‏האנטישמים רודפים את היהודים, גם ילדים בכל מקום ואפילו בחופשתם. אבל בשונה מהעבר ליהודים יש בית, מדינה חזקה עם צבא חזק, בה היהודים יכולים להגן על עצמם. ‏אני קורא לאחינו בתפוצות בואו לארץ, לטייל, לנפוש וגם לחיות. כאן הבית שלכם”.יו”ר איגוד הארגונים היהודים באירופה, הרב מנחם מרגולין, הצהיר: “הילדים התעוררו וראו צלב קרס אדום ענק, סמל הכאב והרצח ליהודים בכל מקום, שאומר בבירור – אתם לא רצויים כאן. זה הצלב הבוער, הלולאה סביב העץ ליהודים. החופשה הזאת עבור הילדים האלה תהיה עכשיו חופשה בלתי נשכחת, מהסיבות הלא נכונות. אף על פי שאני בטוח שדעותיהם של האחראים לציור צלב קרס ענקי אינן מייצגות את הרוב המכריע של הקרואטים, תקיפה זו מסמלת עדיין כאב עמוק ליהודים בכל מקום”.הרב מרגולין הוסיף: “המלחמה באנטישמיות באירופה עדיין בעיצומה. ההתקפה הזו היא תזכורת לכך שלעולם לא נוכל להרשות לעצמנו להיות שאננים ולאפשר לנגיף האנטישמיות להתפשט ללא בקרה”.

We at the EJA are proud to announce that Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs has accepted our invitation to head up our Committee for Combatting Antisemitism.
As Chairman of the Committee, Rabbi Jacobs will be our roving ambassador, working with other local EJA committee co-ordinators across the continent, identifying the local issues and the challenges relating to antisemitism faced by communities and advocating at the highest levels of government, both at a bilateral and EU institutional level, to find solutions and enact changes to safeguard Jewish life and practice in Europe.
The EJA places this fight at the top of our agenda. Such an important issue requires a person who is respected, who has gravitas, and who understands the mechanisms and personalities involved in the political process, as well having a forensic and thorough knowledge of the Jewish issues at hand.
So, when we envisaged the creation of this Committee, the natural and obvious choice was Rabbi Jacobs to Chair it.  We have long admired his skill in advocacy in his native Holland at Eerste and Tweede Kamer’s in the Hague and at local Dutch administrative level.
We are delighted to share this important appointment with you and we look forward to sharing news with you about the Committees actions and outcomes in the near future.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial preserves the Auschwitz death camp set up on Polish soil by Nazi Germany during World War Two. More than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, perished in gas chambers at the camp or from starvation, cold and disease.
The graffiti included statements in English and German, as well as two references to often-used Old Testament sayings frequently used by antisemites, the Memorial said in a statement published on Twitter.

“An offense against the Memorial Site – is above all, an outrageous attack on the symbol of one of the greatest tragedies in human history and an extremely painful blow to the memory of all the victims of the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau camp,” the memorial site tweeted.
Read More :
https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/10/06/antisemitic-graffiti-found-at-auschwitz-birkenau-site/

Diary March 18
Concerns about politics.
One of the prominent figures of the Jewish Netherlands, who is apparently occasionally
tormented by the disease called jealousy, approached me with the comment that he had
heard that I will be speaking next Sunday for the NIK on Zoom because of Pesach and
expressed the hope that I would not speak about anti-Semitism again and would not have
my message / lecture included with 'those Christians'.
Of course I don't have to justify myself and I can do whatever I want, but it bothered me
anyway. Because with "those Christians" professional recording equipment was available
and "those Christians" were willing to make a good recording completely free of charge, I
had made my NIK Hanukkah presentation with and by "those Christians".
Some years ago I had received a similar comment, from that same person, about "those
Christians." I needed to have less contact with them. I understand that setup. What I did not
fully understand, however, was that the same critic then went to "those Christians" to ask
for financial support for his, otherwise fine, projects.
Nothing new under the sun. I remember speaking to an eminent physician some time ago.
This ‘eminence’, he told me personally, was not so much down to his expertise in his field,
but as a much about his political qualities. No, he was not in politics, he was referring to
politics at the top of his university hospital. When I heard a little bit of that politics I
immediately thought of the rabbinic world! (Just kidding, because rabbis don't do politics!)
Because there is politics everywhere. Especially in the real and necessary democratic
politics: The elections!
I haven't been able to sleep all night. When I looked at the new composition of the House of
Representatives, I was overcome with concern. I hope and pray that I misjudge it
completely, but I fear it. Of course, there can be criticism of Israeli Politics, that does not
have to be a sign of anti-Semitism.
But if there is only talk about Israel and not a word is mentioned about the feudal
dictatorships of the countries around Israel, then I do not understand.
I understand and accept that one of our prominent mayors in a speech at #
MayorsAgainstAntisemtism # claims that criticism of Netanyahu is allowed, as well as
criticism of Rutte. But that's not the problem. Criticism of Netanyahu is allowed, 50% of
Israel criticizes him and that does not degrade them to anti-Semites.
The problem is that there is almost exclusively criticism of Israel. That Israel is by far at the
top of the list for UN Resolutions. The role of a mayor should be in trying to connect his
townspeople, and that does not happen by importing sensitive foreign conflicts. Do I think
this mayor is anti-Semitic? Absolutely not! Do I think this mayor should be allowed to
criticize Netanyahu? Sure! But what I regret is that criticism of Israel unfortunately and
often unintentionally leads to anti-Semitism.
How often am I not allowed to explain that I speak Dutch, although I am a Jew but not born
in Israel. The superficial one-sidedness in the experience, however nuanced a mayor may
present it, causes anti-Semitism here in our country. And so: if the mayor believes we
should keep the Middle East problem out of the city, then criticize Israel, Jordan, Yemen,
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, North Korea, China, on… and on…. But even better: let the mayor try to
bind the various population groups within the city limits and call them to develop activities
that unite together. And then, if connections and friendships have arisen, then, despite the
diversity, the friendship itself can look at bottlenecks and differences of opinion that
seemed unmentionable. Do you think that can succeed? Often not, but sometimes it does.
And sometimes I cherish that, because I have sometimes been able to experience this often!
And to the prominent Jewish Dutchman I would like to say: next week it is Pesach and Jews
all over the world read the Hagadah, which describes the Exodus from Egypt at that time.
And what do we read there about the present and now? "Because in every generation we
are rebelled against us to destroy us," literally. And then the text continues and says that
G-d will save us in the end. The Jewish people live and survive, but all kinds of things happen
along the way. We must know, prevent and combat that, but not deny it! I hope that the
new House of Representatives will want to fight that battle with us and will want to exercise
vigilance.