Iran’s Nuclear Acceleration and Regional Threats Discussed at Paris Briefing

The EJA warmly thanks H.E. Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, for His Excellency’s kind wishes to the European Jewry in light of the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah

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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Today begins the important gathering of the EJA Auschwitz Delegation, marking 80 years since the Liberation of Auschwitz. This solemn anniversary prompts reflection on a troubling reality: antisemitism continues to rise, reaching levels not seen since the days before Kristallnacht.

The discussions today will address:

Why does antisemitism persist in higher education despite widespread adoption of the IHRA definition?
How has antizionism become synonymous with antisemitism, affecting Jewish life across Europe?

Key speakers this morning include:

Rabbi Rabbi Menachem Margolin Chairman of the European Jewish Association
Ruth Isaac Director of EU Relations, European Jewish Association
Rabbi @Shlomo Koves, Chief Rabbi of EMIH and Chairman of APL, Hungary

Stay tuned as these leaders and others tackle these pressing issues.

hashtag#EJA hashtag#Auschwitz hashtag#NeverAgain hashtag#Holocaust hashtag#Education hashtag#IHRA

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A Terror Fighter We Don’t Know, But Should

In Europe, life is finally getting tougher for Hezbollah. For decades the group has used the continent to stage and fund its terror attacks, and last year they started to face proper scrutiny in Europe’s capitals. In 2020 alone, Austria, The Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Serbia and Slovenia all designated Hezbollah as a terror organization, banning the group from using their financial institutions and from setting foot in their respective jurisdictions.
These designations and actions are totally deserved. Hezbollah has left pools of blood across Europe, and across the globe, so few outside Tehran, Pyongyang and Beirut will kick up any stink about this effort to blacklist them.
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