Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds OSCE Commitment to Fight Anti-Semitism in Europe

Washington – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) adopted a declaration championed by The Leadership Conference to re-commit to combating the resurgence of anti-Semitism across Europe.  Last month, Henderson led a diverse delegation of American NGOs to Berlin for the OSCE’s ten-year commemoration of the body’s first conference on combating anti-Semitism. This week, The Leadership Conference signed a joint letter with Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Human Rights First to Secretary of State John Kerry urging our nation to encourage European countries to take a stronger stand against anti-Semitism:

“We applaud the OSCE for its recommitment to combating anti-Semitism and adopting the declaration we traveled to Berlin to champion.

Anti-Semitism is an age-old scourge that has defied eradication, especially in Europe. The bright line between acceptable political criticism of Israeli foreign policy and naked anti-Semitism is unmistakable and this summer’s dramatic rise in hate crime violence directed at Jews must be addressed.

Leaders of American Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, African-American, Asian American, Latino, and LGBT communities went to last month’s conference on reducing anti-Semitism to send the message that inter-racial, inter-faith coalition-building is necessary to eradicate anti-Semitic bigotry and hate crimes. Unfortunately, we were the only delegation that reflected the diversity of the nation we represented.

The landscape of bigotry and prejudice is different from nation to nation, and anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism, nationalism, and homophobia still run rampant throughout the OSCE region and the world. But there are opportunities for Jewish organizations across Europe to partner with Muslims, the LGBT community, the Roma, people with disabilities, and Europeans of African descent to call on their governments to protect them all from aggression, hate, and bigotry.

The OSCE’s declaration calls for exactly the kind of NGO coalition-building that we demonstrated at this conference and urge Jewish communities across the OSCE region to join hand-in-hand with diverse communities to combat anti-Semitism together. If it can happen in the U.S. with our record of violence, bigotry, and oppression, it can certainly happen in any nation. This is a model for combating anti-Semitism that can and should be replicated in nations across the globe. ”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.