Philadelphia Inquirer - 04.29.2004

Philadelphia Inquirer


Growing anti-Semitism in Europe condemned

By MATTHEW SCHOFIELD
Knight Ridder Newspapers

BERLIN - Seven decades after Nazis exterminated millions of Jews, representatives of 55 nations meeting in the German capital condemned a recent European resurgence in anti-Semitism.

The Berlin Declaration came at the close of a two-day Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe conference, which was held in the former Nazi Central Bank building. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the conference on Wednesday.

While the declaration condemned "without reserve all manifestations of anti-Semitism," many of those at the conference were disturbed that it ignored sources of anti-Jewish sentiment.

Some fear that a combination of political correctness and an unwillingness to criticize a traditional ally against racism is keeping leaders from looking at nontraditional anti-Semites.

They point to a European Union-sponsored study released earlier this month that detailed the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe. It found that violent acts are increasing, and that places such as Paris and Berlin had become more threatening. It also named culprits: skinheads, neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists.

A recent Tel Aviv University study on the same phenomena, though, was critical of that finding: "The survey avoids pointing directly at the young Muslim immigrants as the main source of violence and emphasizes the role of the far right while ignoring the extreme left."

At the conference, Anetta Kahane, director of the Berlin-based Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which supports initiatives opposing right-wing extremism, said the discussion was incomplete without looking at those who are committing hate crimes.

"What's not being said here is disturbing," she said. "It's a very incomplete version of the truth."

That was the talk in the hallways, between meetings and over lunches at the conference this week. Several members of the French delegation did cite young Muslim immigrants as the reason for increasing anti-Semitism. But far-left culprits were left unmentioned.

Kahane, who's spent the last five years studying German neo-Nazis, said her research indicated the rise in incidents could be tied very closely to factions within the far left and young Muslim community. Both arrived at anti-Semitism through sympathy and support for Palestinians, she said, and they find reinforcement for their beliefs through events in Israel and, increasingly, in the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

In addition, the anti-globalization movement has turned its opposition to American foreign policy into an anti-Israel position, she said.

"As such, they also became anti-Israeli, and then anti-Jew," she said. "And it soon goes hand in hand with anti-American. Listen, no one wants to single out Islamic immigrants. It sounds racist. And no one wants to target anti-globalization protesters - they've always been allies in fighting racism. But what I'm now finding is that it's becoming harder just to track anti-Semitism. The people I've always been able to trust to help with research are now part of the problem."

Mark Levin, the executive director of NCSJ, a group that works for Jews in former Soviet states, including Russia, said that after the Soviet Union collapsed, anti-Semitism at times seemed to be the only issue uniting the political left and right. He added that he's been dealing with "anti-Semitism classic," while watching "new anti-Semitism" rise in Western Europe.

"In Russia they call it the Red-Brown Coalition, when left and right agree," he said.

Gunther Jikeli works with young people in a section of Berlin that's full of anti-globalization protesters and Islamic immigrants. He said he's frustrated that the rapid increase of anti-Semitism he sees in both groups wasn't getting attention at the conference.

"These are people who meet in youth centers and find a common argument in the Israel-Palestine debate," he said. "They find a common base in anti-Semitism. And we're seeing more violence on the streets, against Jews, because of it."

Others said the conference didn't disavow such research or even close the door on considering it in the future. The conference focused on getting anti-hate laws passed throughout Europe, increasing Holocaust education among children of all backgrounds and improving the tracking and recording of anti-Semitic incidents.

Fred Zeidman, the chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council and Museum in Washington, was part of the U.S. delegation. He follows such trends closely and said he's not surprised at the recent findings. But he doesn't know if the conference was the place to raise such issues, which are sure to create rancor.

"Sometimes it's wise to ignore the elephant in the room," he said. "During these two days, we made progress, got everyone to agree that there is a growing problem. Next time, we start looking for causes and then solutions. If we'd tried to take it all on at once here, I'm afraid we'd have ended up with nothing."