Press releases
AJC, Alongside Partners, Issues Recommendations to EU on Fighting Antisemitism
2 June 2021, Brussels – The AJC Transatlantic Institute alongside other major international Jewish organizations published a set of recommendations to combat antisemitism and foster Jewish life in Europe. Presented today to the European Commission, the roadmap comes ahead of the Commission's publication of a first ever strategy to combat anti-Jewish bigotry announced last December.
“Within living memory of the Holocaust, we have witnessed an unprecedented surge of violent antisemitic attacks in Europe and America, sending shockwaves through the Jewish world and beyond. We hope these recommendations will help guide the EU as it draws up its first strategy on combating antisemitism,” said Daniel Schwammenthal, director of the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Brussels-based EU Office, the AJC Transatlantic Institute.
The recommendations build on the Council Declaration on mainstreaming the fight against antisemitism across policy areas, adopted unanimously by all EU member states in December 2020, and make concrete proposals for a wide spectrum of EU policy portfolios.
Recommendations include:
● Facilitating the recognition, monitoring of antisemitic incidents.
● Providing heightened security and victim support and ensure the judicial system robustly prosecutes antisemitic hate crimes.
● Integrating the fight against antisemitism into the EU’s integration and inclusion agenda, digital policy and its mandate in the field of education.
● Strengthening the existing legal framework to protect essential Jewish practices such as religious slaughter and male circumcision.
● Educating about Europe’s rich Jewish cultural heritage.
● Safeguarding the memory of the Holocaust against trivialization and distortion.
● Promoting the fight against antisemitism in European external action, including in international partnerships, political and human rights dialogues with third countries, and in the EU’s neighborhood and enlargement process.
Alongside the AJC Transatlantic Institute, the other co-initiators of the document include the European Jewish Congress (EJC), the World Jewish Congress (WJC), B’nai B’rith International (BBI), The European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS), the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ), the European Union for Progressive Judaism (EUPJ), B’nai B’rith Europe (BBE), and CEJI – A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe.
All signatories agreed that the European Commission must respond to the dangerous spike in antisemitic attacks. The groups recognize and applaud the sustained efforts in recent years to curb this age-old scourge and expect the European Commission to widen and deepen its work in the upcoming EU strategy, which was announced by European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas earlier this year.
We look forward to continued engagement with the European Commission to see these recommendations become part of the future EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, as well as help to raise awareness and serve as a useful roadmap in the coming years.
AJC Europe Managing Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen on Antisemitism in France
Since the Hamas-instigated war against Israel, France, like many other EU countries, has seen a massive explosion of antisemitic acts. AJC Europe Managing Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen joined France 24 to discuss how French Jews experience antisemitism in their daily lives and its frightening resurgence across Europe and the U.S.
Can Europe protect Diaspora Jews from Iran's IRGC threats?
While the EU is a leader in the fight against global antisemitism, if it really wants to protect its Jewish communities, expeditiously designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity is the next logical step and a moral imperative. “EU foreign ministers gathering in Luxembourg on April 24 should take action and urgently designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity,” writes AJC’s Michael Sieveking.
AJC CEO Ted Deutch at the UN on the Institution’s Role to Combat Antisemitism
Speaking at a high-level UN side event focused on globalizing efforts to combat antisemitism alongside Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of an American president or vice president, AJC CEO Ted Deutch called on UN leaders to do more to counter antisemitism at the world body. The program was co-hosted by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and the missions of Argentina, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, and the United Kingdom.
American Jews Shouldn't Be Afraid to Be Jewish
Following the findings of AJC’s State of Antisemitism 2022 Report, making clear that many in the Jewish community now feel uncomfortable and unsafe at work or on campus, AJC CEO Ted Deutch penned in Newsweek what can be done to combat rising Jew-hatred. The report was released at a critical time, just two months after the White House announced the creation of an interfederal agency committee to prepare a nation-wide strategy on combating antisemitism.
When Will The Far Left Stop Instrumentalizing The Palestinian Cause?
Jailed for plotting the murder of the former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel and for his connections with the EU-listed terrorist organization PFLP, Salah Hamouri, often misrepresented as a “human rights activist,” was warmly welcomed by several far left lawmakers in France last December. In Le Figaro, AJC’s Simone Rodan-Benzaquen calls them out for embracing Palestinian terrorists and stresses their serious responsibility to refrain from glorifying terrorism as elected officials.
AJC Honors UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed for Leading UN Action on Combating Global Antisemitism
Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, received AJC’s prestigious Jan Karski Award, named after the renowned Polish diplomat who sought to focus world attention on the Nazi Final Solution against the Jewish people. “This is an award that belongs to very few living people who can match the standards of Jan Karski. You are one of them,” said AJC CEO David Harris, who knew Karski well during the last 15 years of his life.
AJC, Lufthansa Announce Joint Initiative to Combat Global Antisemitism
After Orthodox Jewish passengers were barred from a flight this past May, German airline Lufthansa has turned to AJC to train its employees to identify and respond to antisemitism. AJC strongly criticized the incident at the time. At AJC’s urging, the airline has since endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.
TFI Statement on Antisemitic Incitement in Textbooks Used by the Palestinian Authority
Brussels, 15 June 2022 - The Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) expresses its profound regret at the failure of the European Commission to adequately respond to ongoing antisemitic incitement in textbooks used by...
AJC is Dismayed that the EU Failed to Act against Antisemitic Incitement in Palestinian Textbooks Supported by EU Funds
The AJC Transatlantic Institute is dismayed that the EU failed to condition at least some of its €214 million annual funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA) on ending incitement in its textbooks.
Antisemitism and Foreign Policy: Amnesty International's Israel Report
By denouncing and attempting to uniquely criminalize Jewish self-determination, Amnesty International’s latest report accusing Israel of apartheid has earned a place of dishonor in the annals of antisemitism. AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal joined the Hudson Institute's Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, for a virtual international panel discussion on the document’s objective to delegitimize the lone Jewish-majority state in the world.