ZUM LESEN DER ALLERNEUESTEN MELDUNGEN BITTE ZUM ENDE GEHEN!____________________________________________________________





2. Mai 2004:
Im US Senat nimmt man dieses Thema des weltweiten Antisemitismus ebenfalls ernst:

JERUSALEM POST
May. 2, 2004 0:13


US to monitor global anti-Semitism

By MELISSA RADLER
NEW YORK

A bill requiring the State Department to increase awareness and reporting on anti-Semitic incidents worldwide was approved by the Senate's foreign relations committee Thursday.

Sponsored by Sen. George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, the bill would require the State Department to complete a review of anti-Semitic acts around the world by November 15, and include reports on anti-Semitism in the department's annual reports on international freedom of religion and human rights.
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Ich denke, es ist kein Geheimnis, dass antisemitische Uebergriffe weltweit zugenommen haben. Von Statistikern wird dies allerdings immer wieder bestritten! Die Argumentation, die ich immer wieder höre, ist die, dass der Anteil der antisemitischen Europäer seit Jahrzehnten stabil geblieben ist. Wenn dies tatsächlich so ist (möglich kann es sein, ist aber wohl kaum beweisbar!), dann wird der grosse neue Anteil der moslemischen Antisemiten nicht berücksichtigt! Wir müssen ja heute von ca. 15 Mio moslemischen Bewohnern in Westeuropa ausgehen, die es noch vor kürzerer Zeit nicht gegeben hat. Und gerade unter diesem Bevölkerungsteil ist bekannterweise der antisemitische Anteil überproportional hoch!

Es scheint, dass man sich in der EU diesem Problem nun langsam vermehrter annimmt. Vermutlich gab es einen entsprechenden Druck von amerikanischer (jüdischer) Seite dazu!

Heute beginnt in Berlin ein zweitägiges Forum, das diese Thematik beinhaltet. Der folgende Artikel von HAARETZ von heute befasst sich mit diesem Thema. (Dany Schürch)


(Last Update: 28/04/2004 06:40 from HAARETZ)

Jewish groups seeking fresh push to fight anti-Semitism

By The Associated Press



BERLIN - European governments are discussing ways to step up the fight against anti-Semitism at a 55-nation conference starting Wednesday, with Jewish groups calling for a high-profile official to spearhead the effort and a commitment to stricter law enforcement.




Foreign ministers from a swath of Europe and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell were expected to address the two-day meeting in Berlin amid reports of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks last year.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said the aim was to increase public awareness of the problem and agree on practical steps to fight it.

"It is a sad event that it is necessary to hold such a conference in the year 2004," Fischer told a dinner gathering of Jewish groups in Berlin late Tuesday. "But it is a part of reality in our societies."

Police have imposed heavy security in downtown Berlin for the gathering of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the third major conference in Europe to address anti-Semitism in the past year.

The timing has focused attention on eight former Soviet bloc countries that join the European Union on Sunday in a historic healing of Cold War divisions. Some say the eastern European nations have lagged in tackling anti-Semitism.

"The anti-Semitic potential in the EU is going to get bigger," Salomon Korn, the vice president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, told the daily Berliner Zeitung.

"Classic anti-Semitism in eastern Europe could mix with the subtle anti-Semitism that exists in Germany and other EU member countries."

But the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League said eastern European countries had, in some cases, been quicker than their western counterparts to speak out against anti-Semitism as they headed for EU and NATO membership.

"That's a very pragmatic attitude, but it needs to become part and parcel of society," said Abraham Foxman, the group's national director. "Work has begun on it and will continue."

An Israeli anti-Semitism watchdog group said last week that worldwide incidents of attacks on Jews and vandalism against Jewish sites increased 15 percent in 2003 from the previous year.

The Stephen Roth Institute of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism said France, Britain, Russia, Germany and Canada had the highest rates of anti-Semitic incidents.

Many Jewish groups also fear that Europeans' misgivings about Israeli policies toward the Palestinians are influencing their view of Jews.

Youths from large Arab communities in France, Belgium and other European countries have been blamed for attacks on Jewish property and individuals that have increased as violence surged in the Middle East.

In a statement on the eve of the conference, Jewish organizations urged OSCE governments to devote more resources to fighting anti-Semitism, strengthen law enforcement, promote education about the Holocaust, and appoint an high-profile official to check whether countries are meeting their commitments.

Speakers for Wednesday's opening session include Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, an author and winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace prize, and German President Johannes Rau.

The conference is being held at the German Foreign Ministry, a huge building that once served as Nazi Germany's central bank.

"It's important that this conference is taking place in Berlin," Fischer said. "You can't deny history. From here, the Holocaust was organized."




Schauen wir noch kurz in die JERUSALEM POST von heute:




Apr. 28, 2004 0:18 | JERUSALEM POST Updated Apr. 28, 2004 9:22


Katsav, Powell to meet in Berlin


By TOVAH LAZAROFF
BERLIN

President Moshe Katsav is to meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in one of the many diplomatic side meetings that will take place on Wednesday and Thursday during the anti-Semitism conference in Berlin.

It is the second conference held by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the rising threat of anti-Semitism and is to draw some 500 high-ranking participants from 55 member states from Europe, Central Asia, and North America.


In advance of the event, politicians have been speaking out with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, calling Tuesday for the international community to do more to combat anti-Semitism. He said anti-Semitism poses a serious danger to the democratic rule of law and should not be viewed as merely a fringe issue.

In Jerusalem on Tuesday, Katsav voiced concern that, 60 years after the Holocaust, not only does anti-Semitism still exist but is intensifying. Israel and the entire international community must remain united and mobilized in the battle against terrorism, anti-Semitism, and racism, he declared.

Katsav urged leaders of the free world to legislate and come out strongly and loudly against anti-Semitism, which he perceives as a threat not only to Israel and the Jewish people, but also to democracy.

He also urged a more unified stance against terrorism. "In the past year we have seen that no country is immune to terrorism," he said. Reiterating his frequently voiced contention that terrorism has no borders, Katsav said that it must be combatted on political, economic, military, and legal fronts.

All human beings must have the right to live in freedom from terrorism, he said.

Reviewing relations between Israel and the Palestinians, Katsav said that they have never been worse, yet paradoxically, "the political gaps have never been as narrow."

Referring to the statement by US President George W. Bush with regard to Palestinian refugees returning to a state of their own rather than to Israel, Katsav characterized it as an important contribution toward a settlement of the conflict.

No Israeli leader would be prepared to accept a Palestinian "right of return," because it would mean the destruction of Israel, he said. "Now the Palestinians must be more realistic if they want to achieve their national aspirations."

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) pledged Tuesday to work with the World Jewish Congress to combat anti-Semitism across the globe. In an April 26 letter to WJC president Edgar Bronfman, Clinton wrote that she plans to introduce a bipartisan resolution in the US Senate condemning anti-Semitism and its perpetrators. She also noted that she will work to have the UN General Assembly adopt a stand-alone resolution denouncing the phenomenon.

According to WJC executive vice president Elan Steinberg, Bronfman read the text of Clinton's letter aloud Tuesday evening to the WJC delegation to the Berlin conference. In her letter, Clinton praised the WJC's "ongoing efforts to confront the recurring evil of anti-Semitism and the false allegation that Zionism is a form of racism."

Jewish leaders from the Anti-Defamation League and the World Jewish Congress have already been meeting in Berlin ahead of the conference. The ADL on Monday released a new poll on anti-Semitism showing negative attitudes toward Israel are on the rise in most Western European countries.

At the same time, the study said anti-Jewish sentiment is decreasing across the continent.
Other studies, including one done by the European Union this year shows a rise in incidents of violent anti-Semitism.

The OSCE said in a press release that with the Berlin conference "the OSCE will signal that it takes seriously the problem of anti-Semitism and the concerns of the Jewish community the OSCE area.

"The conference is to agree upon concrete joint steps to combat all forms of anti-Semitism, including the systematic registration of anti-Semitic attacks in the OSCE area and the identification of best practices in dealing with anti-Semitism, for instance in legislation and education."

German President Johannes Rau will open the conference. Among the keynote speakers will be Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize-winning author Eli Wiesel.

Greer Fay Cashman and Melissa Radler contributed to this report.





Ein weiterer Artikel aus der HAARETZ von heute befasst sich mit der gleiche Thematik:




Last Update HAARETZ: 29/04/2004 14:38


Berlin parley drafts series of measures to fight anti-Semitism


By News Agencies



BERLIN - A series of steps against anti-Semitism were decided upon on Thursday at a conference in Berlin attended by 600 officials from 55 nations.




United States officials hailed the decisions as a big step forward in war on anti-Jewish hatred.

"It has been an extraordinarily important conference in addressing this worldwide problem," said U.S. Ambassador to Germany Daniel Coats.

Coats stressed the declaration was not merely words but included concrete follow-up action.

The communique agreed after a two-day meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSEC) flatly states that Israeli policies can never be used to justify anti-Jewish hatred.

Meanwhile, President Moshe Katsav and Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit on Thursday unveiled a street sign named after assassinated former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin near the Reichstag, in Berlin.

Katsav was on the last day of his three-day visit to Germany.

Officials said Germany - which co-hosted the meeting with the OSCE - had not wanted to bring the Mideast conflict into the talks.

But after pressure from other delegations, Bulgaria which currently heads the OSCE, inserted the following clause which had been agreed by the OSCE in 2002:

"International developments or political issues, including those in Israel or elsewhere in the Middle East, never justify anti- Semitism.

"Aside from condemning anti-Semitism as "a threat to democracy ... civilization ... and security" the draft agrees a series of measures to be taken by all OSCE nations to fight anti-Semitism.

These include:

- Collecting data on anti-Semitic crimes and reporting such information regularly to the OSCE.

- Bolstering national laws aimed at anti-Semitism.

- Promoting educational programs to combat anti-Semitism.

- Taking moves to combat hate crimes fuelled by racist propaganda in media and on the Internet.

During the two-day meeting numerous speakers warned that the Mideast situation was fuelling European anti-Semitism.

"Tensions in the Middle East may explain the upsurge in anti- Semitism - but they can never excuse it," said Betty Ehrenberg, a U.S. delegation member in a speech to the meeting

A British conference delegate, Michael Whine, termed Mideast tensions a "lightning rod" for rising anti-Jewish sentiment and attacks.

Whine said the big change in Britain was that attacks had shifted from being aimed at synagogues of cemeteries to being aimed at people - especially Orthodox Jews.

Abraham Foxman, of the Anti-Defamation League, complained that "political correctness" was hindering some Europeans from pointing the finger at Arabs or Moslems responsible for recent attacks.

"This is denial," said Foxman, who added, however, that the Berlin OSCE conference had made progress in breaking this taboo.

Participants at the two-day meeting including German President Johannes Rau, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel all warned that anti-Semitism threatened far more than Jewish communities.

"Jews may be the first targets but they are never the last ones," said Ehrenberg.

A report released on the sidelines of the meeting Wednesday shows anti-Semitism is growing in least five member-states of the European Union (E.U.).

The study by the Vienna-based European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia, said anti-Semitic acts sharply increased in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Britain and Germany in 2002 and 2003.

The study broke new ground by classifying criticism of Israel or anti-Zionist attitudes as anti-Semitic - as long as "Israel is seen as a representative" of the Jewish stereotypes."

It also admitted for the first time that many anti-Semitic acts in Europe have apparently been committed by people of Moslem background and are related to the Israeli-Palestine conflict.



P.S. A street sign bearing the name of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was unveiled Thursday near the Reichstag in Berlin. (AP)

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