Topic
Antisemitism
Combating Antisemitism and all Forms of Bigotry.
Within living memory of the Holocaust, the remnants of Europe’s Jewish communities have endured a steep rise in anti-Semitism. Since 2012 alone, at least 14 people have been killed in anti-Jewish violence in the EU. The numbers of European Jews emigrating to Israel or the United States has also increased significantly.
AJC Strategy Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism
The AJC Transatlantic Institute, together with AJC offices in Berlin, Paris, Rome and Warsaw, works together with EU officials, policy makers and civil society to expose and combat anti-Semitism. In 2015 the AJC Transatlantic Institute hosted in Brussels the ground-breaking conference “A Defining Moment for Europe,” where it presented an action plan for European governments to address the intensifying crisis of anti-Semitism.
Identifying Anti-Semitism – The Working Definition of Anti-Semitism
In order to effectively confront anti-Semitism, we must first define it. In June 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which includes 25 of the EU’s 28 Member States, adopted the so-called Working Definition of Anti-Semitism. That definition crucially encompasses contemporary forms of anti-Semitism, such as the demonization of Israel and holding all Jews responsible for Israel’s actions. The AJC Transatlantic Institute has consistently called for the EU and its Member States to officially adopt this definition as well. In a first step, the European Parliament in May 2017 did so and urged member states to follow suit.
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Making Ignorance a Virtue
McGill University’s student government condemned a Jewish student leader for accepting an invitation to travel to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, but said nothing about his fellow student who isn’t Jewish. The victims of BDS, it seems, are the students and the state of higher education in North America, argues AJC’s Global Director of Young Leadership Seffi Kogen in The Forward. After all, when it comes to Israel, “illiteracy becomes a virtue, and students who seek to learn are ostracized and shamed.”
Is Denying Israel’s Right to Exist Antisemitic?
Who better to weigh in on antisemitism than Jews? AJC Chief Advocacy Officer Daniel Elbaum presents in The Times of Israel AJC’s just-released landmark survey of U.S. Jews: 84% believe the statement “Israel has no right to exist” is indeed antisemitic. Over 80% said the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement is mostly antisemitic or has antisemitic supporters.
UN Finally Confronts Antisemitism
A first in the world body’s history, a UN human rights expert issued a report dealing exclusively with antisemitism. Writing in The Times of Israel, Felice Gaer, head of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute, praised the historic report for confronting antisemitism as a human rights problem. It urges all UN countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, including Holocaust denial and the rejection of Israel’s right to exist.
BDS Is Antisemitic
In his latest article in New Europe, AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal unmasks the patently antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The group seeks nothing less than the de-facto dismemberment of a UN Member State: “Irrespective of whether that state in question is Jewish or say, Irish, to call for its end cannot possibly be considered a “legitimate political position.”
Antisemitism at German Editors’ Desks
Germany’s leading weekly news magazine Der Spiegel faced heavy criticism for publishing a piece entitled ‘Lobbying in the Bundestag: How Two Organizations Control Germany’s Middle East policy.’ AJC Berlin’s Assistant Director Remko Leemhuis writes in The Algemeiner that the article - light on facts and rife with anti-Jewish tropes - is eroding the post-war consensus on antisemitism in Germany.
A Conversation with Pompeo
In this exclusive interview first aired at the Global Forum, AJC’s annual flagship conference held on June 2-4 in Washington, AJC CEO David Harris speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about rising anti-Semitism, the future of American global leadership, why the Trump Administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, and the need to bolster the crucial U.S.-Israel alliance.
Muslim World League and AJC Agree on Historic Visit to Auschwitz
AJC and the Muslim World League agree to cooperate against racism and extremism in all its forms and to further Muslim-Jewish understanding. Upon the invitation of AJC CEO David Harris, the League’s Executive Director H.E. Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa will lead in January 2020, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most senior Islamic delegation ever to visit the camp.
Counterpoint | Episode 3
This month’s edition of “Counterpoint,” the Transatlantic Institute’s talk show on EU politics and foreign affairs, focusses on EU-Israel relations as well as the UK Labour party's anti-Semitism problem and its impact on campus life. Host Daniel Schwammenthal is joined by Hannah Rose, President of the Union of Jewish Students of the UK and Ireland, and Lukas Mandl, Member of the European Parliament from Austria.
AJC Outraged Over Anti-Semitic Carnival Puppets in Aalst, Urges Belgian Government to React
Brussels – 7 March 2019 – The AJC Transatlantic Institute condemned the anti-Semitic puppets on display on Sunday at a carnival parade in Aalst, Belgium, and called for political consequences for the city’s mayor, Christoph D’Haese, who defended the carnival’s organizers for...
Highlights from "The Rise of Anti-Zionism: Countering the Threat to Jewish Life in Europe"
All the must-watch moments from a breakfast discussion entitled "The Rise of Anti-Zionism: Countering the Threat to Jewish Life in Europe", co-hosted by in the European Parliament by Members of the European Parliament Lukas Mandl (EPP), Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D),...