Press Release
Anti-Semitism, A World-Wide ScourgeLevels of anti-Semitic hate have reached crisis levels in the U.S. and around the globe and perpetrators are increasingly connected to each other across borders. Today, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House panel on global human rights, held a Congressional hearing to discuss with expert witnesses what can be done to stem this tide. “The Jewish people have survived and thrived from the times of Biblical antiquity to the present day—quite a feat, when you consider all the civilizations that have come and gone,” said Smith, who held his first hearing on anti-Semitism more than fifteen years ago. “But just as the Jewish people have endured, so has anti-Semitic hatred. This hatred has ranged from private prejudices to the murder of more than six million Jews in the Holocaust. 72 years after the Holocaust ended, anti-Semites continue to target the Jewish people for discrimination, destruction of property and even death.” Click Here to Read Smith’s Full Statement. Although anti-Semitism, a blight that affects millions across the globe, is not limited to Islamist terrorist groups and overt Neo-Nazis, the general threat of terrorism is the broader context. In 2015, there were 211 terrorist attacks, in six European countries, resulting in 350 injuries and 151 deaths. This is an increase from 201 terrorist attacks in seven European countries in 2014, resulting in six injuries and four deaths. The number of jihadist attacks has increased from two to 17, right-wing extremist from none to nine and other categories such as “leftists” and “anarchists,” held steady. Many observers have claimed that anti-Israeli rhetoric from European political elites provides an environment conducive to anti-Semitic manifestations and extremist acts. They suggest that some members of the European media and political classes are exhibiting a “new” anti-Semitism, which usually targets Israel in some form, may conflate “Jews” and the policies of the Israeli government and holds Israel to standards not applied to other countries. Although some acknowledge that criticism of Israeli policies is not inherently anti-Semitic, others, such as the New York Times, note that there has also been a greater “blurring of distinctions between being anti-Israel and anti-Jew.” Nikki Haley, the recently appointed Ambassador to the United Nations, has been a staunch supporter of stopping those who have crossed the line from being against Israeli policy to being anti-Semitic. During the hearing, one witness, Mark Weitzman, praised Haley’s “rigorous pushback” against the long standing tradition of anti-Semitic policies directed at Israel often advanced at the United Nations. “For as long as I have been a Member of Congress, there has been broad bipartisan support for combating anti-Semitism. We have had success advancing key initiatives at home and abroad because Members of Congress across the political and philosophical spectrum came together and refrained from partisanship. It is my hope that this bipartisan consensus will continue, and that none will seek to score political points to advance a political narrative,” said Smith, who has been a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism since meeting with the “Refuseniks” of the Soviet Union in the early 1980’s as a young Congressman. “Partisanship and politics have no place in this fight. Our effectiveness depends on being able to work together to end this evil and to ensure that Jewish communities around the world are safe and secure.” Paul Goldenberg, National Director of the Secure Community Network, noted that “extremist groups in the United States are borrowing, adapting and enhancing the tactics and strategies adopted in Europe,” and then reported that nevertheless “after months of enduring 166 bomb threats across over 40 states, Jewish Community Center members, parents and other guests have moved from fear and anxiety to defiant resolve and resilience. They refused to be driven from their schools and community spaces by cowardly acts of intolerance and hatred. In this, the hate and fear that seeks to divide us, has indeed united us even more so.” Click Here to Read Goldenberg’s Full Statement. Rabbi Andrew Baker, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism and Director of International Jewish Affairs, indicated that while steps have been taken, more must be done, “We were surely helped by the tragic events of terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen. No longer were governments able to ignore the situation. They have responded, and that is good news. But problems still remain. Governments have taken different approaches, and some only in stop-gap measures.” Click Here to Read Baker’s Full Statement. Mark Weitzman, Director of Government Affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, highlighted the importance of bipartisan action against anti-Semitism, saying, “Fighting antisemitism has always been a bipartisan commitment, and in today’s fractured political world it is more necessary than ever that the US maintain its diplomatic and moral leadership in this issue. Indeed, we would strongly suggest that the position even be upgraded, to that of Ambassador, thus demonstrating the importance attached by our government to this issue.” Click Here to Read Weitzman’s Full Statement. Stacy Burdett, Vice President of Government Relations, Advocacy and Community Engagement at the Anti-Defamation League, expressed concern over an increase in online hate speech and incitement to violence, “A call to kill Jews can be uploaded in the Middle East and watched around the world at any time. Proponents of hate inject anti-Semitic content, inferences and narratives into every platform from @killjews on Twitter, to a Jewish Ritual Murder page on Facebook, to a Jews Did 9/11 video on YouTube to anti-Semitic memes to Stormfront.org, a multilingual racist website which has existed since the dawn of the Internet.” Click Here to Read Burdett’s Full Statement. Smith has chaired 11 hearings on anti-Semitism, including Congress’s first ever hearing on anti-Semitism. He is also the author of the provisions of the law that created the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and the Special Envoy to lead it in 2004. ### |