BRUSSELS PARLIAMENT WON’T BAN KOSHER SLAUGHTER – EUROPEAN JEWISH ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN APPLAUDS DECISION

It’s not every day you get to meet a bona fide hero. Following our big campaign against the auctioning of Nazi memorabilia, our Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin and our Director of Public Affairs Alex Benjamin travelled to Geneva to meet with Mr Abdallah Chatila.

Mr Chatila decided to buy 600,000Euro worth of this memorabilia when he heard our aggravation at the sale, with the express purpose of taking it out of the marketplace, and entrusting it to the Jewish Community.

We met with Mr Chatila not only to thank him personally and present him with a gift (we planted 18 trees in Israel for him – 18 being the numerical value of Chai the Hebrew word for life), but to explore future areas for co-operation.

Mr Chatila will be joining an EJA trip to Auschwitz in January, along with a 100 parliamentarians, where he will join us in our call for an end to the macabre and disgusting sale in Nazi trinkets, and we will present him with an award for his action.

A humble man, Mr Chatila told us he had no interest in the pieces per-se, but bought them and gave them away to send a message: Hitler and the Nazis are the personification of death, and such items do not belong amongst the population at large.

He said he didn’t want to be remembered as the man who bought the hat, but for the message behind his action. We reassured Mr Chatila that his action is what will be remembered, that it serves as a selfless example to humanity, and that we will work together to ensure that no other like-minded person is forced to do the same – because governments will simply ban such sales.

We thank Mr Chatila again and look forward to fruitful co-operation in making this campaign a reality in the months ahead.

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The EJA was pleased to conclude the first half of our delegation to Auschwitz. Prominent presenters facilitated thought-provoking conversations regarding the concerning rise in antisemitism, communal encounters, and improved security measures. The assembly held importance as we united to tackle this unsettling pattern. Key moments included a debate between Elon Musk and Ben Shapiro

Esteemed speakers and influential stakeholders convened to explore these crucial issues.

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Rabbi Menachem Margolin, General Director of the European Jewish Association and the Rabbinical Center of Europe, has denounced Mr. Schuster’s Statement and emphesized that: “This is a dangarous statement that was better left unsaid. The call for Jews to hide their identity instead of calling upon European Governments to provide all the necesary resources in order to battle Anti-Semitism is irresponsible.  If this statement was maid by a non Jew, he would be considered an Anti-Semite. We hope and expect that Mr. Schuster Will clarify or take back his unproductive and hurtfull statement.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will celebrate Chanukah on Monday 19 December  by lighting the flame on a large menorah in front of the European Commission’s headquarters in the Brussels EU quarter.

As part of the cultural agenda of Brussels, the city’s Mayor Philippe Close will light the second candle of Chanukah.

The event is  seen as a strong sign for the European Jewish community in the wake of the EU’ clear commitment to ensuring a Jewish future and fostering Jewish life as laid out in the EU Commission’s new strategy for combatting resurgent antisemitism and fostering Jewish life in Europe.

European ambassadors and civil servants are expêcted to attend the event.

The lighting, which is organized in partnership with the European Jewish Association and the City of Brussels, will take place on Monday at 18:00 on Schuman Square and will be followed by a concert from the singer Haim Tzvi.

Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, is one of the most popular Jewish holidays worldwide. Candles are lit over 8 days to remember the miracle of one day’s worth of oil lasting eight following the reconsecration of the Temple in Jerusalem. Its message of hope, light and emancipation resonates are universal and timely. Celebrations worldwide are attended by heads of states who often light their own candles.

In addition to Monday’s lighting, Chanukah will also be celebrated the next day in the European Commission with the presence of the European Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, honoring Hias Europe, the world’s oldest refugee organisation, first established in the 1880s to help Russian Jews fleeing from pogroms resettle in the United States. Since then, HIAS Europe has had a strong presence throughout Europe, resettling hundreds of thousands of European Jews fleeing from violence and conflict. Today, HIAS Europe is a global humanitarian organization with thousands of employees in 22 countries dedicated to helping forcibly displaced persons, irrespective of their background. During more than a century of activity, HIAS Europe has helped more than 4.5 million people escape persecution worldwide »

EuroChanukah is organised every year by the European Jewish Community Centre (EJCC).