Congress reaches milestone on countering anti-Semitism

In 2015, the terrorist attacks in Paris drew overdue attention to the resurgence of anti-Semitism  in Europe. Also a growing problem in other parts of the globe, anti-Semitism threatens not only Jews but also other minorities, and societies themselves. Left unchecked, anti-Semitism leads to an increase in overall persecution and repression.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Congress’s Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism, which has already stacked up considerable accomplishments. In the coming year, Congress should rededicate itself to countering the resurgence of anti-Semitism  in Europe and around the globe.

{mosads}In December the taskforce joined the State Department in protesting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s plans to install a statue commemorating Bálint Hóman, a notorious WWII-era politician who collaborated with the Nazis and helped kill hundreds of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. Under pressure, Orbán scrapped his plan for the statue. This kind of collaborative advocacy should serve as model when American policymakers address other efforts to rewrite history.

But today’s anti-Semitism takes many forms, from the desecration of Jewish cemeteries to Holocaust denial to violent assaults on people wearing kippot. It is also the daily aggressions that make people conceal signs of their Judaism and send their children to a Jewish school rather than a public one.

The taskforce has organized a series of briefings to educate members of Congress and their staff on important dimensions of contemporary anti-Semitism . Its co-chairs— Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Kay Granger (R-Texas), Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.)—cosponsored a resolution, which passed the House unanimously in November, urging the administration to work closely with European governments, law enforcement agencies, and intergovernmental organizations to support preparedness, prevention, and response efforts, and to partner with Jewish community security groups.

This welcome, security-focused resolution should be accompanied in the coming months by renewed efforts to craft broader interventions and attack the root causes of antisemitic violence. Here are three things the taskforce—and the Obama administration—should focus on:

First, speak out forcefully to condemn the most severe anti-Semitic incidents, as they arise, and promote heightened bilateral engagement with countries where violent attacks are particularly common, such as France. American officials should call on their European counterparts to match their generally strong rhetoric with action. The taskforce should also monitor countries where far-right parties and movements are gaining steam, such as Germany, against the backdrop of the refugee crisis.

Second, promote a regional approach to the problem. One concrete way to do so is to prioritize the U.S. government’s existing work on anti-Semitism  with the Organization for the Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE). The administration should also send senior officials to its 2016 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting and the high-level Conference on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination and authorize the secretary of state to develop a joint action plan with the European Union to combat anti-Semitism  and other forms of discrimination.

Third, the U.S. government should fund European civil society organizations to develop collaborative initiatives to build tolerant and inclusive societies. These initiatives should include collaboration with the tech sector to help activists counter antisemitic speech online, and with European governments to improve documentation, reporting, and prosecution of hate crimes.

As the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Ira Forman, said last week in Berlin, “Anti-Semitism and religious intolerance are fundamental threats to democratic societies; religious intolerance leads to the loss of rights for other minority groups, threatening social cohesion and fundamental freedoms.” Congress has a critical role to play in helping to build strong inclusive societies, free from violence and discrimination.

Sheff is a researcher and advocate at Human Rights First.