Key leaders of Europe's Jewish communities will testify before Congress next week on the rising threat of anti-Semitism in their countries, why, and how Jews are once again being targeted in Europe.

    American Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders will testify for a House Foreign Affairs Committee panel about anti-Semitism as a key means by which radical, anti-democratic movements gain power, and how anti-Semitism is a threat not only to Jews but to all people, and to the very foundations of democracy.

    Who:        Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the House’s global human rights subcommittee and co-chair of the House Bi-Partisan Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism, and members of the subcommittee. Those testifying from the U.S. and Europe include witnesses from academia, religious freedom organizations and democratic advocacy groups:

·         Dr. John Garvey, Ph.D., President of The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.;

·         Dr. Zudhi Jasser, M.D., President, American Islamic Forum for Democracy;

·         Katrina Lantos Swett, Ph.D. Chair, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom;

·         Elisa Massimino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Human Rights First;

·          Eric Metaxas, Author and Commentator;

·         Rabbi Andrew Baker, Personal Representative on Combating Anti-Semitism, Office of the Chairperson-in-Office; Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe;

·         Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine;

·         Andrew Srulevitch, Director of European Affairs, Anti-Defamation League;

·         Dr. Tamás Fellegi, Ph.D., Managing Partner, EuroAtlantic Solutions, (Former Minister of National Development Government of Hungary);

·         Rabbi David Meyer, Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Contemporary Jewish Thought, Pontifical Gregorian University;

·         Mr. Willy Silberstein, Chairman, Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism

What:           A congressional hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on global human rights, entitled “Anti-Semitism: A Growing Threat to All Faiths.”

When:          Wednesday, Feb. 27 @ 9a.m.

Where:         The Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172, on Independence Ave.