The Communauté de Créteil A.C.I.P. (Association Culturelle Israélite de Créteil) is a Jewish cultural and religious organisation based in Créteil, France. It serves as a hub for the local Jewish community, providing religious services, educational programs, and cultural events. The centre offers a range of activities, including communal prayers, festivals, and celebrations, and is involved in supporting the spiritual and cultural life of its members.
Yesterday, on 17 September 2019, a delegation made up from the European Jewish Association (Alex Benjamin, Director of Public Affairs), the Action and Protection Foundation /Hungary/ (Ferenc Olti, Board Member of the Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association and Kálmán Szalai, Secretary) and a member of our Advisory Board (Emil Kalo, Vice-President of the World Jewish Congress, President of the Bulgarian Foundation ORT) has met with Denitsa Sacheva, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, and members of her office.
The main topic of discussion has been the European Curriculum and Textbook Project against Antisemitism, a meeting on which just last week has already taken place in Valletta, Malta. This time, organized in the ancient city of Sofia, we have had an excellent opportunity to touch upon this subject and its various aspects with Mrs. Sacheva and her colleagues.
Not only has interest in possible cooperation been reciprocated – which in itself is already an excellent result – a preliminary agreement has been reached with Madam Deputy Minister on prospectively designing and implementing a pilot project in Bulgaria, based on the ECTPA.
We are deeply grateful to Deputy Minister Sacheva and the Ministry of Education and Science for the chance to talk about this important initiative and eagerly look forward to further cooperation.
The European Jewish Association welcomes the commitment of Swedish Minister of Education, H.E. Mr Mats Persson, to conduct a full investigation into Iranian influence and funding at Swedish universities following the EJA & UANI conference and research, which was presented at the Swedish parliament this week on this issue. We particularly welcome his commitment that Swedish research must not belong in the hands of terrorists. The Minister has vowed to ensure:
🔺Increased security policy competence in the higher education institutes’ boards
🔺Strengthening requirements regarding information and cyber security work
🔺The Development of guidelines for responsible internationalization
The leader of the Dutch right-wing Forum for Democracy party resigned Monday following reports that members of its youth movement had engaged in anti-Semitic behavior.
Thierry Baudet, a colorful politician who in 2018 published a nude self-portrait on Instagram, said that assuming responsibility for the anti-Semitism scandal was not the immediate reason for stepping down. Rather the trigger was demands within the party that the guilty members be kicked out before the completion of an internal disciplinary review of their actions.
The review is of members of the party’s section for young members who in a WhatsApp group shared Nazi songs. One of them called “Der Untermensch,” or “Subhuman,” a 1942 Nazi propaganda book inciting hatred of Jews and Slavs, a “masterpiece,” the Het Parool newspaper reported last week.
Some party members seek to “skip the process and throw people under the bus before we know what’s happened,” Baudet said in video he shared on social media announcing his resignation as party leader. He warned against a “trial by the media, which isn’t trustworthy.”
If the accused engaged in anti-Semitism, he said, “they should leave the party, and my resignation will be an act of assuming responsibility for what happened.”
Forum for Democracy seeks a Dutch exit from the European Union and stricter immigration policies. It’s also consistently pro-Israel.
It won only two seats out of 150 in parliament in the 2017 elections but three of the 26 in the 2019 Dutch elections for the European Parliament.
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It’s a challenging time for Jewish communities in Europe. Anti-Semitism is on the rise as populism and the politics of the lowest common denominator are gaining traction. Our communities often need round the clock protection and our practices and customs such as keeping Kosher are under pressure from increasing political interference.
