Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism - 04.19.2004

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

Secretary Powell to Berlin Conference

Links to:	State Department Press Release
	JTA coverage
	Berlin2004.org

Contact: Shai Franklin, NCSJ (202-898-2500)

April 19, 2004 – NCSJ today praised the announcement that Secretary of State Colin Powell will attend the conference on anti-Semitism, being sponsored April 28-29 in Berlin by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

“Secretary Powell and the State Department have been instrumental in envisioning and securing the OSCE mechanism for international cooperation against anti-Semitism,” said NCSJ Chairman Robert J. Meth.  “Through his participation in the OSCE Ministerial Council last December, he personally ensured strong support from the 55 member states for both the Berlin conference and the critical post-Berlin implementation of hate-crimes monitoring, legislation, training, and educational programs.”  Dr. Meth will be leading NCSJ’s delegation to Berlin.

According to NCSJ Executive Director Mark B. Levin, who served as a Public Member of the U.S. delegation to the OSCE’s 2003 Vienna conference, “The Secretary’s participation will further raise the level of what is already a high-profile international event.  We anticipate many of his counterparts will be more likely to attend as a result.”  Mr. Levin will be joining other American Jewish representatives as a Public Advisor to this year’s delegation being led by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

NCSJ President Joel M. Schindler noted, “NCSJ has drawn on its diplomatic and policy contacts, its expertise in combating anti-Semitism, and three decades of participation in the historic Helsinki process that produced what we know today as the OSCE.  We are very pleased to be working with a growing number of partner agencies, and with officials from the United States and a long list of European partners, many of whom have emerged from the Soviet shadow.”

The following is a list of recent key related developments, including new legislation in the United States Senate and a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

April 7: Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio) introduced S. 2292, a bill mandating an annual Global Anti-Semitism Review by the U.S. Department of State.  The text of the bill and Senator Voinovich’s floor statement is available online at http://ncsj.org/AuxPages/040704Voinovich.shtml.  NCSJ Executive Director Mark Levin told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee:  “By reporting on both the status of anti-Semitism and government responses to it, it will hold accountable those governments failing to take appropriate measures and recognize those moving forward. This is the formula that has allowed our country to lead the world toward effective enforcement of human rights standards and respect for religious freedom.”

April 8: Senator George Allen (R-Virginia), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe, convened a hearing on anti-Semitism.  Witnesses included Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones, and representatives of the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith International, and NCSJ (represented by Executive Director Mark Levin).  Links to the hearing testimony and other materials are available online at http://ncsj.org/AuxPages/040804hearing.shtml.

April 28-29: The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) whose 55 member states comprise North America, Europe and the former Soviet Union, is holding a major international conference in Berlin, focused on coordinating the fight against anti-Semitism.  A broad range of information is available online at http://www.ncsj.org/Berlin2004.shtml.

NCSJ leadership will be traveling to Moscow before the Berlin conference, for consultations with senior Russian officials and community leaders.  More information about the OSCE agenda and the upcoming Berlin conference is available online at http://www.ncsj.org/Berlin2004.shtml.

NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia – a voluntary, non-profit agency created in 1971 – is the mandated central coordinating agency of the organized American Jewish community for policy and activities on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews in the former Soviet Union. NCSJ comprises nearly 50 national organizations and over 300 local federations, community councils and committees across the United States. Through this extensive network, NCSJ mobilizes the resources, energies and talents of millions of U.S. citizens, and also represents the American Jewish community in dealings with similar national groups abroad, and at international fora.

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