OSCE participating States ready and willing to "take up the gauntlet" and fight anti-Semitism

VIENNA, 19 June 2003 - At its first conference devoted specially to the issue of anti-Semitism, the Head of the OSCE Task Force of the current Netherlands Chairmanship, Daan Everts, declared that the OSCE would assist in promoting a change of mind that will help to stamp out anti-Semitism, as well as other forms of racism and xenophobia.

"The fact that such a meeting is necessary", he said, "is in itself deplorable, but we would be remiss not to recognize that this need still exists It is shocking to have to acknowledge that anti-Semitism has shamelessly recurred after the Holocaust and may even be on the rise, as witnessed by recent instances".

These might range from anti-Semitic slogans uttered on the football field, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries and memorials or attacks on synagogues, all the way to the latest cross-border - and therefore very disconcerting - manifestation of anti-Semitism, hate mail on the Internet.

"All this", said Ambassador Everts, "is occurring in the year 2003 in various parts of the OSCE area. It would be a grave mistake to ignore or belittle this in the hope that it will prove ephemeral. We have seen what that - ultimately - might lead to."

This conference stems from a decision taken by the OSCE Foreign Ministers' annual meeting in December last year, and will be followed by a separately designated conference on discrimination, racism and xenophobia in September.

Other speakers at the opening session included Solomon Passy, Foreign Minister of Bulgaria (which will hold the OSCE Chairmanship in 2004), and the former Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski.

In his keynote speech, Foreign Minister Passy held up the example of Bulgaria as the only European country during World War II that saved its Jewish population while keeping them in their own native land.

"We understand that 'zero tolerance' to any form of intolerance, including anti-Semitism, is a key part of our role in international relations and of our share in the integration processes."

He added that it was through international institutions such as the OSCE, that the "strong common will of Mankind (worked) to bring an end, once and for all, to the tragic and painful legacy of the Second World War and of the Cold War.

"This common commitment is the basis of integration in the Euro-Atlantic area and its only possible future. Anti-Semitism is not a part of this future. That is why this conference is so important and I believe will have a strong follow up."

The final keynote speaker, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, pointed out that the ability to change continuously was the reason why anti-Semitism reappears every epoch in a new form.

"As the political writer Paul Lendvai said, the current version is 'anti-Semitism without Jews', a form of anti-Semitism that prefers veiled attacks to direct persecution. Thus anti-Semitism is sometimes masked as 'anti-Zionism', enabling base instincts to be manipulated and resentments to be revived."

"From burning books to burning humans, there is only a small step", said Bartoszewski. "This is why 'no tolerance for intolerance' should hold the first place among the methods to fight against anti-Semitism".

Quoting the first non-communist prime minister of independent Poland, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Mr. Bartoszewski stressed that while the open, active form of anti-Semitism had largely disappeared from the foreground, there was still the anti-Semitism "that was fighting under cover".

"A strong engagement of the political elite but also of intellectuals and, not least, the media is needed", he added. "On the other hand, all forms of active rejection of anti-Semitism, or intolerance in general, need to be furthered Finally, educational strategies must be devised to remove the basis of anti-Semitism."

After the opening session, the Conference is continuing over two days with sessions on legislative, institutional mechanisms and governmental action, including law enforcement; the role of governments and civil society in promoting tolerance; education; and information and awareness-raising: the role of the media in conveying and countering prejudice.