POLISH SENATE KICKS KOSHER MEAT EXPORT BAN UNTIL 2025 – EU JEWISH HEAD VOWS TO KEEP ON FIGHTING “AS WE HAVE FOR GENERATION AFTER GENERATION”

October 14, 2020

Brussels 14 October 2020. After the Polish Senate voted today to postpone the controversial animal rights Bill provisions to ban the export of Kosher meat, European Jewish Association Chairman (EJA) Rabbi Menachem Margolin said he was encouraged by the clear opposition to the Bill but vowed to keep fighting to stop any eventual ban.
The EJA Chief had instigated an open letter signed by dozens of Jewish Leaders and Parliamentarians across Europe and Israel in which signatories voiced their opposition to the provisions on Kosher meat in the Bill and called on the Polish Government to reject them.
In a statement today Rabbi Margolin said,
“The provisions in this Bill relating to Kosher exports have had a very rough ride. It is clear that they enjoy little support from farmers and command little enthusiasm from the Senate itself.
“This is encouraging and we thank all of those Senators who have responded in such a strong way and who have taken what is a principled stand, as well as all the parliamentarians and Jewish leaders from across Europe who made their voices heard.
“But the battle isn’t over. It has merely been postponed. If you kick a can down a road, you will eventually run out of road.
“We will continue to oppose this Bill, today, tomorrow, next week, next month and for the next years. Just as we have from generation after generation whenever our way of life, our very faith is called into question. In the weeks and months ahead we will redouble our efforts to ensure that 2025 becomes permanent instead, starting with the Polish Sejm where this Bill next appears for a vote.”
In closing Rabbi Margolin said,
“The European Jewish Association will never falter in its determination to stand up for Jewish life, tradition, values and practice wherever and whenever they are under threat in Europe”

Additional Articles

Bukovina Governor Made a Surprise Announcement: Historic Nationalized 'Jewish House' to be Returned to Community

A series of historic events commemorating ‘Eighty Years of Tragedy’ and in memory of the Holocaust victims of the Bukovina region, took place last week in the ‘Jewish Shtetel’ of Chernivtsi, Ukraine. Hundreds of dignitaries, public figures, guests, and members of the Jewish community attended the events. During the events, the regional governor made a surprise dramatic announcement: the ‘Jewish House’ nationalized during the Communist regime will be returned to the community and serve as a warm home for education and enrichment programs.
Under the auspices of the Jewish community of Chernivtsi, led by Chief Rabbi Menachem Mendel Glitzenstein and the head of the community, Mr. Leonid Milman, and with the assistance of local government bodies and other Jewish organizations, six memorial events were held on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 6-7). These events took place in memory of those murdered in the Holocaust and to commemorate the tragic historical events that began eighty years ago and led to their murder.
The climax, during which the region’s governor surprised the participants with the historic declaration, took place during a memorial meeting on the corner of Bryanska and Pizkulturna streets, where the Maccabi stadium was located and from where thousands of Chernivtsi Jews were deported in 1941 to their deaths in the ghettos and in the camps of Transnistria. A commemorative plaque was unveiled and inspiring speeches were delivered by the Israeli and German ambassadors to Ukraine and by the regional governor Mr. Sergei Osachuk. During his speech, Mr. Osachuk announced that the famous Jewish building called the “Jewish House” would be returned to the local community and will serve as an educational and cultural center benefiting community members and tourists from across the globe.
Following the governor’s announcement, during an official meeting with the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine that took place between the events, the ambassador Mr. Joel Lyon asked the Governor to authorize the return of the magnificent ‘Temple’ building to the community. In response, the governor promised “to do everything possible to return it soon.”
Additional events included a memorial service in the square from which thousands of Jews were taken – exactly 80 years ago – to the mass graves; reciting of the Yizkor prayer in the ‘Valley of Killing’ near the town of Baila, led by the city’s Rabbi and Israeli ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. Joel Lyon; a historical exhibition curated by the local Jewish Museum under the direction of Mr. Nikolai Kushnir; an Intellectual Forum for the History of the Bukovina Holocaust, with the participation of rabbis, politicians, experts and journalists, and a special film festival focused on the memory of the Bukovina Holocaust. Many of these events took place at the premises of the Jewish House.
“These events have an additional purpose,” explains the Chief Rabbi and Chabad emissary to Chernivtsi, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Glitzenstein. “Beyond commemorating the memory of the Holocaust victims and events, we must boldly look at the spread of anti-Semitism in the world and do everything we can to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. We must celebrate our Judaism with pride and without fear, spread light, and make the darkness disappear. The might of the events that have just been commemorated in the city, with the participation of government representatives and guests from across the world, prove that this is possible and in our hands.”
Tens of thousands of Jews from Chernivtsi and the Bukovina region are scattered around the world. Many of them are eager for information about their roots and relatives who lived in the city. The Jewish community has set up a commemorative project that helps them in a variety of ways to commemorate their loved ones and discover information about them. You can contact the community at the following email: ‏‪jewishczernowitz@gmail.com

Antisémitisme : en Europe, l'inquiétante anomalie française

A Budapest, sur les bords du Danube, les mines des représentants des principales associations juives européennes paraissent graves. Réunis en Congrès en Hongrie les 20 et 21 juin, ils décrivent une montée franche de l’antisémitisme pendant la pandémie, avec une explosion des théories du complot accusant la communauté juive. Comme le montre l’affaire de la fresque d’Avignon cette semaine, une peinture représentant Emmanuel Macron manipulé par l’économiste Jacques Attali, la France n’est pas épargnée par cette poussée antisémite.

La France, un cas à part

Pour la première fois, lors de ce Congrès, la European Jewish Association a dévoilé un index de qualité de la vie juive en Europe. Ce classement des pays européens mêle plusieurs facteurs comme la lutte contre l’antisémitisme, la sécurité ou le respect de la liberté religieuse. D’après cette étude, menée pendant deux ans par le statisticien britannique Daniel Staetsky, du Jewish Policy Research, les nations les plus bienveillantes à l’égard des communautés juives seraient l’Italie et la Hongrie, les moins bienveillantes la Belgique et la Pologne.

https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/europe/antisemitisme-en-europe-l-inquietante-anomalie-francaise_2175865.html

European Jewish Association concerned over Romanian President “secret agreements with Jews” remark

The Chairman of the European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem Margolin expressed his concern at remarks made by the Romanian President in which he resorted to language  such as “secret agreements with the Jews.”
President Klaus Iohannis made the remarks to the media following Romanian Prime Ministerial meetings with the Israeli government. The President it seems was expressing his discomfort over not being previously consulted on the content of the visit as well as on the decision of Jerusalem recognition, according to established protocol, where the controversial remark was made.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, whose Brussels based organisation represents Jews across the continent warned that Heads of State should avoid using such language “heavy at it is with connotation and sinister undertone.”
In a statement from Brussels, Rabbi Margolin said,
“Regardless of established protocols and the President’s evident displeasure that they were not adhered to, I would urge restraint and caution when it comes Heads of State to using language such as this.
“In the media heat of the moment, finding the correct words is not always easy, and we are prepared to give the President the benefit of the doubt on this occasion. But using such language, loaded as it is with connotation and sinister undertone, can be seized upon by unsavoury elements in society and naturally, sets off alarm bells amongst the Jewish community.”

President of the Portuguese Republic blessings for Rosh HaShanah

The EJA warmly thanks H.E. Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic, for His Excellency’s kind wishes to the European Jewry in light of the upcoming holiday of Rosh HaShanah

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