Forward - 12.13.2002

 

 

Forward

Calling Europe to Task

Editorials

On December 10, marked as Human Rights Day around the world, there was finally some good news in the uphill struggle for Jewish rights in Europe. After two years of repeated outrages, ranging from verbal abuse to shootings, firebombings and mob attacks, folks in authority — some of them, at least — are waking up at last to the appalling truth: antisemitism has reemerged in Europe.

The good news came on several fronts. In Paris, the lower house of the French parliament adopted a bill that would stiffen penalties for racist and antisemitic attacks. It would also pressure local authorities to prosecute. The bill still must be ratified by the senate, but it has the backing of the center-right government and local activists call it a step forward.

In Washington, meanwhile, a group of German and American lawmakers met to hear testimony and then signed a joint "letter of intent" calling for action to combat antisemitism by governments throughout Europe. The meeting was part of a year-long effort by Congress and the Bundestag to move America and Germany into leadership roles — each for its own historic reasons — in prodding Europe to reform. 

The Washington meeting was sponsored by the Helsinki Commission, an American government agency created to monitor human rights within the 55-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It's part of a process launched during the 1970s to support Jewish and non-Jewish human rights activists struggling for freedom in what was then the Soviet Union. Over the decades the "Helsinki process" been an important voice in bringing abuses to light and occasionally setting them right. During the last few years, though, the Europeans seem to have developed a tin ear when it comes to the rights of Jews.

The charge sheet was laid out succinctly by a former president of the American Jewish Committee, Alfred Moses, in his testimony before the Helsinki group. Today's "manifestations of Jew-hatred," Moses told the lawmakers, "are rooted in a tradition of antisemitism that has plagued Europe for centuries." That tradition is being revived and repackaged by an unholy alliance of "voices on both the political right and left," including Israel-bashers, the anti-globalization left and the anti-immigrant right. All three groups have settled on Jews as convenient surrogates for their venom, Moses said, while governments have stood by, unwilling to face antisemitism for what it is: "a longstanding issue of hate, racism, discrimination and, ultimately, human rights."

What's needed, Moses and other Jewish communal representatives told the lawmakers, is stronger leadership from America and Germany. European governments need to take firm action, including education, law enforcement and simply speaking out unequivocally, without hedging or blaming the victims. Europe's Jews need to know they are full citizens of the countries where they live, with the full protection of their governments.

European leaders have done a fair amount of grumbling in recent years, particularly since the Bush administration took office, over America's tendency toward unilateralism and high-handedness on Iraq, trade, the environment and other issues. This newspaper hasn't hesitated to take their side when we've felt they had a case. Maintaining European-American dialogue is essential to preserving the Western democratic tradition.

On the shameful matter of antisemitism, though, Europeans must understand that Americans speak with one voice, and we mean business