EU to present action plan for combating antisemitism
The European Union will release a detailed action plan later this year aimed at combating antisemitism.
European Union flags in front of the European Commission building in Brussels. Credit: Amio Cajander via Wikimedia Commons.
The strategy “will provide a comprehensive framework to complement and support member states’ effort on preventing and combating antisemitism, educating on Holocaust remembrance and fostering Jewish life in Europe,” said Schinas, as quoted by the pan-European media network Euractiv.
E.U. leaders signed a declaration last year that called on European governments to enforce harsher punishments for online hate crimes and antisemitism.
“For the next seven years, we will have a new set of standing Citizens Equality Rights and Values program, which will seek to protect and promote open rights-based, democratic, equal and inclusive societies based on the rule of law,” said spokesperson Margaritis Schinas.
The new program is set to receive $1.8 billion in funding, making it “the biggest-ever E.U. program for supporting fundamental rights inside the E.U.,” added Schinas.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that the E.U. and the greater international community needs to “seize the moment” by supporting efforts against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance around the world.
JNS
While this EU initiative on combatting anti-Semitism must be welcomed, several questions spring to my mind.
Why has it taken so long for the EU to come up with such a program? It’s not as if Jew-hatred is a brand-new phenomenon. It has been around forever, so why now? What has suddenly prompted this shift in attitude from indifference to some sort of pro-action? I don’t have an answer for this. Maybe others do. I’d be interested to hear their thoughts.
Several EU countries, especially those in eastern Europe, have, themselves, a long history of institutional anti-Semitism. Are we now to believe that these governments have finally ‘seen the light’? Are we meant to think that they will immediately try to undo all the irreparable damage they have done to Jew/non-Jew relationships simply because of an EU edict? Just a thought.
Will these new race crime laws apply to all sections of EU society? I am thinking here of other ‘minority’ groups who not only practice anti-Semitism but are extremely vocal and open in their antagonism toward Jews. Will the individual EU governments be so keen or so quick to prosecute other religious groups who demonstrate hostility toward Jews, or will they back off, turn a blind eye for fear of being called racist by those very groups who attack and vilify Jews? Getting away from Anti-Semitism for the moment, this very scenario was played out in the UK when Pakistani Muslim rape gangs were grooming young white girls and subjecting them to the most horrific degradations. Even when these crimes were discovered, the local police and public authorities were reluctant to prosecute for fear of being designated with the ‘r’ word. So my question is a valid one. Will these countries be brave enough to prosecute those who commit hate crimes, no matter their race or ethnic origin?