The European Jewish Congress (EJC) held its Executive Meeting in Prague on May 15th, 2012. Following the meeting, all members of EJC Executive were invited by Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas in the governmental Lichtenstein palace to discuss new threats against the Jewish community. The EJC received an endorsement from the Czech Prime Minister for their plan on how best to tackle these threats.
EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor also presented Prime Minister Necas with the Compass of Jerusalem Award for his friendship towards the Jewish people and the State of Israel and his work towards a more tolerant and just Europe.
At the top of the EJC agenda with the prime minister were the triple threats of the rise of neo-Nazism, which has taken advantage of the economic situation, the incitement and attacks from Muslim extremists and a possible unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism in Europe due to an escalation in the Middle East.
Kantor addressed the recent success of the Golden Dawn party in Greece. “For the first time in over six decades a seemingly long hidden ideology returned to power” Kantor said. “The Golden Dawn party is not a far-right wing party, it represents a neo-Nazi vision and ideology that many believed was isolated. Their political rise should have sent shock-waves through Europe and we expect politicians to openly reject this new-old danger.”
The EJC delegation also expressed its concern about the rise in incitement and attacks against Jews from extreme Muslim elements. “The New anti-Semitism is found amongst the extreme enclave Muslim communities in Europe, which are affected by what is happening in the Middle East and use that as an excuse to attack Jews, Jewish sites and institutions” Kantor continued. “There is a great concern that an escalation in the Middle East or an attack on Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program, either by Israel, the US or any other joint forces, could trigger vicious attacks against the European Jewish community.
“With this in mind, the EJC has a plan for pan-European coordination of intelligence, legislation, security and public awareness to deal with this scenario.”
The EJC laid out important phases of the plan that require implementation to safeguard European Jewry and other minorities. “We need to advance strong legislative efforts, working together with none-Jewish NGOs, to define and protect our communities from violent hate crimes and to ban any form of incitement” Kantor said. “Intelligence sharing and intelligence cooperation, between the various enforcement authorities across Europe is vital, as is implementing and enforcing security measures.”
