Rome International Conference on the Responsibility of States, Institutions and Individuals in the Fight against Anti-Semitism in the OSCE Area

The Italian 2018 OSCE Chairmanship will host, on 29 January 2018, an International Conference on the Responsibility of States, Institutions and Individuals in the Fight against Anti-Semitism in the OSCE Area. The event will be held with the support of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation (CDEC) and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI).

The Conference will gather more than 400 participants from more than 45 OSCE Participating States and Partners for Cooperation Countries, with 20 Heads of Delegations at Government level, as well as high officials of the OSCE, ODIHR, the European Commission, and the International Jewish, Christian and Muslim Communities. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano will open the plenary session together with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, as well as the President of the Italian Jewish Communities Noemi Di Segni, the President of the World Jewish Congress Ambassador Ronald Lauder, the President of the European Jewish Congress Moshe Kantor, the President of the Board of Yad Vashem Rabbi Meir Israel Lau, B’nai Brith President Daniel Mariaschin and the Founder of Sant’Egidio Andrea Riccardi.

The central theme of the event will be the individual and collective responsibility in relation to the past, the present and the future. Subsequently, four thematic panels, with more than 40 panel speakers, will discuss the responsibility of lawmakers and civil servants, religion and anti-Semitism, the role of New Information Technologies (or social media) as well as education and sport.

Holding this conference in Rome at the beginning of Italy’s 2018 OSCE Chairmanship, in the wider context of the celebrations of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, testifies to the Italian commitment in fighting Anti-Semitism. The Arch of Titus and the Menorah, (the six-branch lamp) constitute the stylized elements of the official logo of the Rome Conference on Anti-Semitism in the OSCE area.

Over the last years, Anti-Semitic manifestations all over Europe and the wider OSCE region have increased significantly, spurred by social tensions, by the evolving situation in the Middle East and the role played by propaganda spread through Internet. The Rome Conference on Anti-Semitism will offer the opportunity to share opinions, experiences and best practices, in order to identify cooperative approaches in dealing deal with these common issues. It will also serve as a platform to further develop dialogue and co-operation between Governments, Institutions and individuals, in line with the mandate of the OSCE, “one of the great homes of global multilateralism, where no place is left to discrimination and intolerance”, as Chairperson-in-Office Alfano defined it. Taking into account the importance of the fight against all forms of racism and intolerance, during its mandate Italy is committed to also focus on discrimination towards Christians and Muslims.