The EJA’s thoughts are with Israel during these unprecedented times

The EJA extends its solidarity, support and prayers to the people of Nice and France as a whole as they face a barrage of barbarity, an attack on French values of tolerance and pluralism. We stand shoulder to shoulder with you in the face of adversity.
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An anti-Zionist group in the Netherlands is using a freedom of information request pressure Dutch universities into revealing whether any of their staff members have ties to Israel.

The freedom of information request was filed by “The Rights Forum” group, and also seeks to identify what ties and staff relations exist with Jewish communities and organizations such as the Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

The Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands, Binyomin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi (NL), who also heads up the European Jewish Association’s Committee for Combatting Antisemitism, condemned the The Rights Forum, saying the information request “reeks of antisemitism”.

“The Rights Forum is well known to me. Let us be clear, they want to know any Israeli, any Israeli link and any Jewish people in universities in Holland. The clear inference is that some shadowy Zionist or Jewish cabal is operating in the Dutch university system. This reeks of antisemitism, but it comes as no surprise to me given this group’s reputation.”

“No. What really concerns me is the number of universities that were so compliant with such a transparently antisemitic request. It reminds us that most mayors cooperated during the occupation to pass on the names of their Jewish citizens to the Germans.”

“The difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism is now wafer thin. In all my many years in Holland I can seldom remember such a toxic environment for Jews. This is an appalling submission to the base instincts of an openly hostile group towards Israel, the world’s only Jewish State.”

Bruxelles, le 27 janvier 2025 – Dans une lettre ouverte, des associations juives et la Ligue belge contre l’antisémitisme s’adressent aux dirigeants de la coalition Arizona.

Signée par la European Jewish Assosiaction (EJA), la Ligue belge contre l’antisémitisme (LBCA) et het Joods Informatie- en Documentatiecentrim (JID), cette lettre présente les principales préoccupations de la communauté juive qu’elle espère voir abordées dans le nouvel accord de coalition. Une vaste campagne de communication en ligne est lancée parallèlement à la lettre afin de mettre en lumière l’action et d’impliquer les citoyens dans l’initiative.

1. Renforcement de la sécurité

Elle souligne la nécessité de renforcer les mesures de sécurité pour les institutions juives, compte tenu du risque accru d’attentats identifié par l’OCAM. Elle appelle à des renforcements temporaires et structurels nécessaires pour assurer la sécurité de la communauté juive. Il est suggéré qu’un conseiller en matière de sécurité soit nommé au niveau fédéral pour coordonner ces questions.

2. Lutte contre l’antisémitisme

La lettre demande la nomination d’un coordinateur pour lutter contre l’antisémitisme, une initiative déjà adoptée par plusieurs pays européens. Ce coordinateur serait chargé de surveiller l’antisémitisme et de développer des stratégies pour lutter contre cette menace croissante, notamment en raison de l’augmentation inquiétante des incidents antisémites en Belgique.

3. Liberté de religion

Alors que l’Europe se sécularise de plus en plus, la lettre souligne l’importance de la reconnaissance et de la protection des libertés religieuses. La communauté juive souhaite obtenir l’assurance que son droit à la liberté de croyance continuera d’être respecté et protégé, et souligne l’importance d’un dialogue constructif sur les questions sensibles.

L’appel lancé au nouveau gouvernement est clair : prenez les préoccupations de la communauté juive au sérieux et intégrez leurs besoins dans la politique. La lettre se termine par une invitation au partenariat, dans l’espoir que la communauté juive, malgré les tragédies du passé, puisse affronter un avenir dynamique.

Il appartient maintenant aux présidents des partis de la coalition de l’Arizona de répondre à cet appel à l’action et de montrer que la Belgique reconnaît et protège la valeur et les contributions de ses citoyens juifs.

Téléchargez également la lettre au format PDF.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:372afbbc-7efa-488b-8856-ee8c224ab208

The Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE) has unveiled yesterday morning a memorial tombstone on a mass grave of  the Jewish community of the City of Sadigora in Ukraine, that were slaughtered in 1941 by gangs of Ukrainians and Romanians that were granted “24 hours to do what they wanted with the Jews” by the Russian Command
“We played together – all of the children and suddenly our Jewish friends began to disappear”
RCE General Director, Rabbi Arye Goldberg:
“We are in the midst of an extensive operation to detect and establish tombstones on other mass graves of Jews who were slaughtered in Ukraine”
Israel‘s ambassador to Ukraine, Joel Leon:
I call upon the new President of the Ukraine and Members of the Rada (parliament of Ukrain to adopt the Anti-Semitic definitions of the IHRA
Thursday, July 25, 2019, Ukraine, The Jews of Sagura in southern Ukraine, near the border with Romania and Moldova, thought that the Russian army’s victory over the German Nazi army during the fighting in the region in July 1941,  was the end of the war, and the end of the attacks on them by the Romanian Army who controlled the area and cooperated with the Nazis.
However, the Russian command allowed local Ukrainian and Romanian gangs a “24-hour window to do with the Jews as they will”. The relief sensations of the Jewish community of the region became a murderous nightmare: “We played together – all of the children and suddenly our Jewish friends began to disappear one by one” said this morning in a trembling voice, an elderly Ukrainian woman who was present at the time of the acts during the unveiling ceremony of the tombstone established by the  Rabbinical Center of Europe over the mass grave in which , about 1,200 Jewish children women and men were murdered and burried – some of them when they were still alive.
The mass grave and the hidden testimonies were found in part by Rabbi Mendi Glitzinstein of the nearby city of Chernivtsi who harnessed the RCE in order to establish a headstone on the mass grave. The unveiling ceremony that took place this morning, saw the distinguished presence of the district’s Governor, Eiom Vasilovitz, , Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine, Joel Leon, RCE General Director, Rabbi Arye Goldberg, Chief Rabbi of the nearby Jewish Community of Jetimore and Western Ukraine, Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm, members of the small Jewish community who survived  the massacre and Ukrainian neighbors, some of whom testified how they could feel the “earth burning underneath their feet” even days after the terrible massacre took place.
RCE General Director, Rabbi Arye Goldberg, said during the ceremony that the Rabbinical Center of Europe,  and its over  700 rabbi Members across the continent,  took this very important mission upon itself  and is now in the midst of an extensive operation of  locating and establishing tombstones on other Jewish mass Graves in the Ukraine. “We collect evidence and testimonies as much as possible from elderly Jews and Ukrainians who still remember. We than locate the mass graves and only after a team of experts confirms the findings, we establish tombstones for the memory of the victims.”
RCE and EJA Chairman, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, made it clear that the special activity for locating and establishing tombstones on the tombs of the victims was held in parallel with the effort to further and renew Jewish life throughout the Ukraine, as well as the restoration of synagogues and mikvehs.
Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine, Joel Leon who carried the Kaddish prayer in the ceremony, thanked the RCE for the initiative and its implementation in the field, and said that the embassy was conducting a special program for training Ukrainian teachers on how to teach the  lessons of the Holocaust in schools throughout the country. I call upon the new President of the Ukraine and Members of the Rada (parliament of Ukrain to adopt the Anti-Semitic definitions of the IHRA