Responding to the news that the Hungarian government has made Hungary’s Emih, Hungarian Jewry’ principal Jewish community, the custodians of the Jewish Museum “House of Fates”, the Chairman and Founder of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin welcomed the move and rounded on critics as pretending to speak for Hungary’ Jews.
In a statement Rabbi Margolin said,
“The Emih community was founded in 1877 and re-constituted in 2004. Since then it has been leading from the front when it comes to the remarkable and inspiring revival of Hungary’s Jewish community.
It counts 16 Rabbis acting on behalf of its community in Hungary’s 3 main cities. It is the only community that provides Kosher certification and performs circumcisions. It is the only community to have published, in Hungarian, a Siddur, Machzor, Haggadah and Chumash. Additionally it runs 6 synagogues and leads spiritually another 3 in Hungary. It runs a kindergarten, school, high school and University and Rabbinical college. It also founded the most important organisation in Hungary that monitors Anti-Semitism – Action and Protection – an organisation that enjoys widespread support among Hungarian Jewry. In the upcoming year, Emih will renew another 3 synagogues in Hungary. There is no doubt that Emih is responsible for the Jewish renaissance in Hungary.
Little wonder therefor that Emih is recognised by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and that the Hungarian government has chosen it to act as custodians for this important museum. This is the first time that a government has given up voluntarily, a museum or memorial and placed it in the hands of the Jewish community. This is to be celebrated not belittled.
Anyone that is critical of this move is showing how far they are removed the community and realities on the ground. Attempts to politicise such a positive step underlines the very real need for communities like Emih, particularly as the Hungarian government is one of the few in Europe that continues to provide support and is helping to create the conditions needed for a flourishing Jewish community through its unambiguous support for Isreal and Freedom of religion.
In 2018, there were a variety of important actions against antisemitism. Summarizing the main ones at the end of the year provides some counterweight to the annual report of the worst antisemitic incidents — regularly increasing in pages — published now for a number of years by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
One important development is the expanding acceptance of the definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition (IHRA). One cannot try to fight antisemitism effectively unless there is a common measure of what it entails. By now the IHRA antisemitism definition had been formally adopted for internal use by the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Scotland, Romania, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania and the formerly Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It has also been accepted by a wide array of others such as universities and towns including the cities of London and Berlin.
A second substantial development was successes in the fight against the BDS movement which aims to delegitimize the State of Israel. Legal measures play an important role in hampering BDS. In November 2018, Kentucky became the 26th American state to pass legislation to ban awarding state contracts to companies that endorse the BDS movement. The governors of all 50 US states have signed a declaration condemning the BDS movement as antithetical to American values. Chile has recently forbidden its municipalities to boycott Israel by aligning themselves with the BDS movement as a reason not to conduct business with Israel. Various municipalities in Spain have also tried to apply BDS to their practices. However, a number of courts have voided these measures, for instance, in Barcelona.
Yet another positive development is the appointment of antisemitism commissioners in Germany. This occurred at the national level but also in a variety of federal states. National commissioner Felix Klein has already addressed many aspects and incidents of antisemitism in Germany. He has, for instance, indicated that he intends to tackle the political distortion of reported statistics of antisemitic acts. Crimes against Jews by unknown perpetrators are registered as having been committed by extreme right-wingers, while attacks on Jews by Muslims are far more numerous than what is recorded. Among the state commissioners, Ludwig Spaenle of Bavaria has initiated a monitoring function that is slated to become operational next year.
The European Commission had already in 2015 appointed Katharina von Schnurbein as the coordinator for combating antisemitism. She has undertaken various initiatives, however has not been given anywhere near adequate resources to fulfill her task in exposing the massive antisemitism among the more than 500 million EU citizens.
A fourth important development is the increasing assurance of the security of synagogues and other Jewish institutions. Switzerland has been extremely negligent in this area. Finally this year, the first Swiss city, Basel, belatedly decided to join this process and assign police officers to guard the synagogue. This is an important precedent and challenge for other towns in the country.
A fifth important development is the publication of additional studies on antisemitism. In December, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) released a report it claims is the largest study on antisemitism ever undertaken. It investigated twelve European Union countries and is titled: “Experiences and Perceptions of Antisemitism.” The study found that the most common antisemitic statement encountered by Jews in Europe is that Israelis behave like Nazis toward the Palestinians. Muslim antisemitism is mentioned as the dominant identified source of harassment of Jews in Europe. It is followed by left-wing antisemitism and right-wing antisemitism. It is a Europe-wide problem that due to poor follow up, most victims of antisemitic incidents do not complain to the authorities.
There are many other incidental or smaller issues of importance. One was a French manifesto against Muslim antisemitism that was signed by 250 Jewish and non-Jewish personalities. This document sums up the main elements of violence and incitement against Jews emanating from parts of this immigrant community. One can only hope next year others will follow in those footsteps and expose what a variety of European governments try to hide or whitewash. Fifteen years too late, French President Emmanuel Macron has formally accepted that the murder of Jewish disk jockey DJ Sebastien Sellam in 2003 by a Muslim neighbor was an antisemitic act.
The Council of the European Union (EU) approved the first declaration of its kind to fight antisemitism and strengthen the security of Jewish communities in Europe. Outgoing US Ambassador Nikki Haley castigated the UN saying, “We will not tolerate a situation that a world body of 198 countries can spend half their time attacking one country: Israel.”
British media such as The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph have exposed the substantial antisemitism in the British Labour Party, which is led by Jeremy Corbyn, a friend of genocidal terrorists, associate of Holocaust deniers, anti-Israel inciter and part-time antisemite.
There are many other meritorious acts against antisemitism by individuals. Alyssa Milano refused to speak at the Women’s March in the US after two of its leaders Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour refused to break ties with the leading US antisemite Louis Farrakhan. Another important development was the firing of extreme anti-Israel inciter Marc Lamont, by CNN.
It should become a tradition to not only publish major antisemitic slurs at the end of each year. There is now also a possibility to publish successes in the fight against antisemitism.
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld is the emeritus chairman of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Journal for the Study of Antisemitism, and the International Leadership Award by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The article was published in The JPost
„Trebuie să luptăm pentru o lume mai bună, împotriva antisemitismului, împotriva urii de orice fel împotriva oricui, minoritate sau religie, putem să o facem, voi puteţi să o faceţi, şi copiii, şi nepoţii voştri”, a declarat Gideon Lev, în vârstă de 87 de ani, un supravieţuitor al ghetoului din Terezin, cu prilejul unei conferinţe organizate de European Jewish Association (EJA), la Praga şi Terezin, înainte de comemorarea, vineri, a Zilei Internaţionale de Comemorare a Victimelor Holocaustului, transmite agerpres.
Rabinul Menachem Margolin, preşedintele EJA, a declarat, în cadrul unei întâlniri cu jurnaliştii, că „fiecare loc are un mesaj diferit”, iar „principalul mesaj al Terezin pentru noi este ‘fake news’, faptul că naziştii încercau să pretindă că i-au tratat pe evrei într-un mod foarte bun”.
„Aceste ştiri false i-au ajutat să fie elogiaţi de mulţi oameni, în loc să fie atacaţi şi arestaţi şi Terezin eliberat. Întrucât astăzi ne confruntăm cu multe ‘fake news’, care sunt unul dintre lucrurile ce le permite antisemiţilor să incite, este important pentru noi să abordăm acest lucru în special”, a adăugat Menachem Margolin.
Peste 100 de parlamentari, oficiali guvernamentali, ambasadori şi lideri ai comunităţilor evreieşti europene au făcut, la începutul acestei săptămâni, front comun împotriva ştirilor false antisemite şi s-au angajat să promoveze iniţiative educaţionale împotriva urii în cadrul conferinţei EJA de la Praga şi a unei vizite la ghetoul de la Theresienstadt.
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Ghetoul de la Theresienstadt a fost prezentat de nazişti ca fiind o „aşezare evreiască” şi un „ghetou luminat”, dar faptele istorice dovedesc că acestea au fost „fake news”, deşi filmele de propagandă naziste şi pregătirile făcute la faţa locului în scopul de a ascunde cruda realitate au reuşit să păcălească inclusiv o delegaţie a Crucii Roşii venită în vizită la faţa locului în timpul războiului. Circa 120.000 din cei 160.000 de evrei care au fost trimişi aici au murit în timpul Holocaustului, între care 14.000 de copii. Unii dintre ei au fost trimişi în camerele de gazare de la Auschwitz, în timp ce mulţi au murit de foame şi de boli. Circa 40.000 de oameni au murit în ghetoul de la Terezin.
„Fake news”, teoria conspiraţiei şi rolul reţelelor sociale
Directorul organizaţiei britanice „Labour Against Antisemitism”, Alex Hearn, a vorbit în cadrul conferinţei EJA despre cum ştirile false despre evrei reprezintă un tipar la fel de vechi ca antisemitismul însuşi. Hearn a subliniat că antisemitismul merge dincolo de orientările politice şi este folosit de oameni pentru a câştiga putere sau pentru a se simţi puternici. El a vorbit, de asemenea, despre teoriile contemporane ale conspiraţiei antisemite şi despre rolul social media în diseminarea lor.
„Sunt atât de multe lucruri de care evreii sunt acuzaţi, inclusiv de faptul că nu joacă un rol în acest război oribil între Rusia şi Ucraina”, a spus la rândul său Menachem Margolin.
În cadrul conferinţei, o serie de parlamentari şi lideri ai comunităţilor evreieşti au vorbit despre influenţa reţelelor sociale în calitate de catalizator al adoptării teoriilor antisemite care reprezintă o ameninţare directă pentru siguranţa personală a evreilor europeni.
„Adevărul nu mai este bazat pe fapte ştiinţifice, ci pe ştiri virale şi social media. Lucrurile se întâmplă mai repede. Trebuie să luptăm împotriva unor ştiri false care ne apar repede pe telefon. Macron însuşi a fost prezentat ca o marionetă a evreilor pentru că este fost bancher şi are bani. Ştirile false folosesc aceleaşi stereotipuri împotriva evreilor, din nou şi din nou. Trebuie să luptăm împotriva oricărei ştiri false. Dacă nu le combatem, se răspândesc, şi se răspândesc foarte repede”, a declarat parlamentarul francez Prisca Thevenot, purtătoare de cuvânt a partidului Renaissance, al preşedintelui Emmanuel Macron.
„Trebuie să înţelegem că social media lucrează extrem de repede. Nu este suficient să faci legi să ţii pasul cu provocările tehnologice, trebuie să fim rapizi în a interzice discursurile care incită la ură de pe social media”, a afirmat la rândul său parlamentarul austriac David Stogmuller.
În ceea ce-l priveşte, parlamentarul portughez Alexandre Poco a subliniat importanţa educaţiei în combaterea antisemitismului. „Deşi problemele noastre ar putea să nu fie atât de mari ca ale altor ţări, trebuie să continuăm să investim în educaţie. O atitudine proactivă continuă să fie necesară. Avem legături puternice cu comunităţile evreieşti. Continuăm să promovăm viaţa evreiască, deşi suntem o ţară catolică”, a spus el în cadrul conferinţei.
„Dacă le permitem duşmanilor democraţiei să strige, atunci riscăm sfârşitul democraţiei. Antisemiţii trebuie făcuţi să simtă că nu au nicio şansă şi că vor fi făcuţi să plătească consecinţele”, a avertizat la rândul său comisarul pentru antisemitism pentru comunitatea evreiască din Berlin, Sigmount Königsberg.
La rândul său, Joel Mergui, preşedintele Consistoriului din Paris, care conduce de „20 de ani cea mai mare comunitate evreiască din Europa”, a spus că a decis să încurajeze membrii acestei comunităţi să continue să trăiască pe Bătrânul Continent atâta timp cât îi vor avea alături de ei pe decidenţi în lupta împotriva antisemitismului şi a islamismului radical. „Din cuvintele şi din acţiunile dumneavoastră vom avea certitudinea că avem un viitor în Europa”, le-a transmis el oficialităţilor prezente la conferinţă.
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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.
