The "monster" rears its head?” “

Antisemitism is growing in Europe. The Report of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), presented in Strasbourg on 31 March, in fact attests to a growth of episodes of violence committed against Jews and Jewish communities present in the territory of the Union. The situation has particularly deteriorated in the last two to three years, though with diversified situations in the fifteen member states. Within the Union, the consciousness is also growing that there is a need for concerted action on various fronts: legislative, political, cultural and inter-religious. SIR has already focused attention on antisemitism (see no.8 of 4 February 2004), on presenting a résumé of the latest report (2002-2003) of the Stephen Roth Institute at the University of Tel Aviv. On the following page the comments of Msgr. Paul W.Scheele , bishop emeritus of Würzburg, Germany, and of HANS Vöcking , co-moderator of the Islam in Europe Committee of CCEE-CEC. THE FIRST REPORT ON THE SITUATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. The main EUMC report, with the title “Manifestations of antisemitism in the European Union in 2002-2003, is complemented by a second report on “Perception of antisemitism in the EU”, with the testimony of 35 opinion leaders from all over the continent, many of them Jews. The text (almost 400 pages) documents hundreds of episodes, ranging from verbal threats to physical assaults, from attacks on synagogues to the desecration of cemeteries. Particularly alarming is the proliferation of websites with anti-Jewish tendencies. Also under accusation are various political parties and some sections of the media. The countries in which the phenomenon seems to be showing major recrudescence are Belgium, Germany, France, Holland and the UK. The “virtuous” nations in this sense are Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Finland. There’s also an “intermediate band” composed of Greece, Austria, Italy and Spain, in which “if physical assaults and violence have been absent or rare, the antisemitic tendency has been revealed as virulent in various aspects of daily life”. Extremist right-wing groups and “youth influenced by racist and xenophobic theories” are under observation. THE EDUCATIONAL ROLE OF SCHOOLS AND RELIGIONs. EUMC proposes a number of measures to counter the phenomenon: from greater collaboration between judicial authorities and police to education in schools. The report also requests a specific contribution from the political parties and religious communities active in Europe. These latter, together with the non-governmental organizations, “ought to develop – says the document – an inter-religious and intercultural dialogue with specific projects at the local, national and European level”. The report was presented at the seat of the European Parliament, after the lack of its publication by EUMC had given rise to disquiet in previous months, with especially harsh reactions from the Jewish communities. Beate Winkler, head of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, which is based in Vienna, declared that the work conducted and the support received from the EU institutions “demonstrate how seriously Europe is taking the question of antisemitism” and its determination “to tackle the problem at its root”. The aim of the report, according to Winkler, “is to furnish precise data and information that may give rise to a debate in Europe on the way to combat antisemitism”. The judgement of the President of the EP, Pat Cox, was also favourable: he expressed his appreciation of the high quality of the research and hailed the report as “the first exhaustive study” of its kind: it furnishes the EU – he said – with a “foundation on which to formulate viable policies for combating antisemitism”. “JEWS IN EUROPE NO LONGER FEEL ALONE”. For his part Cobi Benatoff, president of the European Jewish Congress, declared that the report and the previous seminar on the problem promoted by the Commission in Brussels at the end of February “ensure that the reasons why we then said that the Jews felt themselves alone are no longer true. We are no longer alone and Europe is seriously tackling this issue”. In Benatoff’s view, the work of EUMC “confirms our perceptions: the old cancer of antisemitism, that monster, is rearing its head again”. The study conducted by EUMC is also “proof that a concrete effort of awareness-raising is being made, thus putting an end to the conspiracy of silence”. Benatoff then thanked the “firm words” pronounced by the President of the Commission, Romano Prodi, and by the Commissioner for internal affairs, Antonio Vitorino: “The question is now being taken seriously in the EU. Concerted action needs to be taken in schools, universities, churches and mosques to communicate this message”. “We also need – Benatoff added – to stretch out our hand to the Moslem population” and “restore peace to the Middle East”. THE MOST COMPLETE REPORT EVERY PUBLISHED ON antisemitism in Europe contains some disturbing facts: much of what is presented for the individual countries represents an ‘SOS’ that must not be ignored. The actual threats denounced in the report impose the need for counter-measures as common as possible. That said, the report is also a signal of hope. The fact that EUMC, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia has existed since 1997, and conducts this role on behalf of the EU as a whole, is in itself a source of hope. It’s good to know that, from the European point of view, common efforts concern not just economic, juridical and structural questions, but also the Union’s ethical and intellectual foundations. Undoubtedly, antisemitism represents first and foremost a problem of ethical and intellectual type. However indispensable it is to identify the factors that may give rise to antisemitic actions in the individual countries, it is even more important to investigate the forces and foibles at the intellectual level that represent the breeding ground for this highly dangerous and erroneous prejudice. Antisemitism is not just one of the many diseases that a political union has to tackle: it is a cancer with potentially lethal effects. Just for this reason, preventive studies, such as the EUMC report, are of vital importance for all the countries of Europe. Similar measures will have to be taken in future too. The fact that the statistical survey of episodes of antisemitism is combined with personal testimonies by those most directly involved should also be evaluated positively and encouraged. This may help to counter in a concerted and lasting way the threat to Europe posed by antisemitic actions and thoughts. Hitherto there has existed a collation of persons who seek to do so: that coalition must become great and strong, and involve the action of as a large a number of protagonists as possible. The Churches are called to devote themselves to this problem in a particular way. This role is made all the more clear by the Charta Oecumenica, which lays down guidelines for the growing collaboration of the Churches of Europe. This Charter also specifies as fundamental common tasks “the fostering of common life with Judaism” and the effort “to combat any form of antisemitism and anti-Judaism in the Church and in society, by seeking and intensifying dialogue at all levels with out Jewish brothers”. This should be combined with the task of promoting relations with Islam and seeking dialogue with other religions and ideologies. Only if we behave to all people with the respect due to them can we combat antisemitism in an effective way. Msgr. Paul W. Scheele bishop emeritus of Würzburg, Germany IT IS A FACT THAT IN SOME EUROPEAN COUNTRIES phenomena of antisemitism are on the increase. They are forms of aggression directed against synagogues, against Jewish schools and cemeteries, against religious and social symbols of great importance that touch the very heart of a people. The perpetrators of such acts come in the main from extremist right-wing movements, but a form of antisemitism that derives its origins from groups of Moslem extremists, and whose hidden agenda is almost always the Arab-Palestinian question, is also being registered. As far as Europeans are concerned, the perpetrators are almost all young adults, particularly susceptible to embracing certain forms of violence. This shows that the memory of the holocaust is no longer present among the new generations and that religious knowledge is in sharp decline among European youth. In the case of Muslims, on the other hand, hatred for Jewish communities is closely linked to the Palestinian question. This analysis in itself shows the two ways that need to be followed to combat these phenomena: on the one hand, we need to act at the level of the international community to find a solution to the Middle-Eastern question; on the other, we need to promote a memory of the past and religious formation among European youth. On the part of the Catholic Church, there have been important declarations by the offices of the Holy See and very clear positions of condemnation by the Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox Churches. The problem is to understand how to transmit this message to the young. I don’t honestly think they read these documents. So we need to translate them from doctrine into life. Education at school may act as a bridge in this sense, even though it is not always able to do so. Hans Vöcking co-moderator of the Islam in Europe Committee (Ccee-Cek)