The “International Emergency Conference against Anti-Semitism” is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Founded at Seelisberg in 1947, the Conference is composed of the Swiss Federation of Jewish communities, the Federation of the Protestant Churches of Switzerland and the Swiss Conference of Catholic Bishops. The anniversary was commemorated in recent days by the representatives of the three bodies that compose it, reaffirming the need to show the same courage today as 60 years ago, in response to the new inter-religious conflicts of our time. During the commemoration, a “Joint Declaration of the importance of collaboration between Christians and Jews” was signed. The declaration – says a statement – is in continuation with the “10 points of Seelisberg”, the document by which the Conference was founded. It underlines the importance of the Swiss Council of Religions, of which Muslims also form part. In a confused social context, assailed by “antagonistic, repressive and reactionary forces” – says the document – “the signatories pledge in future to oppose any form of discrimination based on ethnic origin or religious conviction”. “We would like together to invite all our fellow-citizens to work together in the most diverse fields”.
