Press Release concerning the latest antisemitic attacks in Croatia and Greece

Chief of European Jewish Association says Major EU Conference on Shechitah is “Too Little but not Too Late.”

The European Jewish Association were participants at a major gathering in Brussels of Jewish leaders, civil society leaders, jurists, politicians and special envoys at European Commission Headquarters today. 2022

Chairman of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said in a statement:

“The Conference held today by the European Commission is too little but not too late.

“We are proud to be the Jewish voice of Europe and to fight on issues that some regard as unpopular.

“We thank the Commission for agreeing to our repeated pleas and finally addressing the issue of Freedom of Religion in Europe, in this case on Religious Slaughter. It is a much-needed step in the right direction.

“However, today’s conference must not give anyone the feeling that the issue can be marked with a tick or glossed over with well-meaning words.

“We expect, going forwards, that the European Commission will make every effort to secure the support of all European governments for legislation that would enshrine the issue of religious freedom in law to ensure the continued existence of Jewish life in Europe.

“Make no mistake, the issue of the Freedom of Religion, whilst not grabbing the headlines that antisemitism does, is every bit as important. Because without this freedom to practice, and to live a Jewish life, there can be no Jewish future in Europe.

“We stand today at a crossroads, whilst conferences like this are too little, they are a reminder that it is not too late to go in the right direction.”

The European Jewish Association (EJA) learned with deep shock about the ruling of the EU Court of Human Rights against the human rights, freedom of religion and worship of Jews and Muslims.  “The implied determination of the distorted verdict is that the rights of these citizens to freedom of religion and worship are even less than that of animals.”  Says EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin and warned that the severe restrictions on Jews to live according to their faith will lead to serious damage to the fabric of life throughout the continent.  The European Jewish Association calls on the Belgian Government and all other governments and Parliaments throughout the continent to immediately take all the necessary steps in order to change the ruling that discriminates against Jews and Muslims.

In a letter sent to European Heads of States, EJA’s European Leader’s Forum for Combatting Antisemitism headed by The 10th President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, and including former prominent European Heads of States: Sebastian Kurz, Manuel Valls, Matteo Renzi, Petar Stoyanov, Andrej Babiš, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, Borut Pahor, Milo Đukanović and Stefan Lofven, is calling on governments and parliaments to enact the laws that commit to maintaining the freedom of religion and worship of the continent’s citizens, including kosher and Halal slaughter.