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Europeans meet on anti-Semitism

"Classic anti-Semitism in eastern Europe could mix with the subtle anti-Semitism that exists in Germany and other EU member countries."

Salomon Korn, vice president of Germany's Central Council of Jews

German President Johannes Rau appealed yesterday to European governments to step up the fight against anti-Semitism as he opened a 55-nation conference, where Jewish groups are calling for a high-profile official to spearhead the effort and a commitment to stricter law enforcement.

Rau said anti-Semitism is no longer being perpetrated by the state as it was by Nazi Germany, and that it is now up to governments to find ways to combat it.

"It is not good that a conference has to take place on this issue in 2004," Rau said.

Foreign ministers from a swath of Europe and US Secretary of State Colin Powell were expected to address the two-day meeting in Berlin amid reports of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks last year.

Rau said it is important to distinguish between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel, though he acknowledged that "massive anti-Semitism" is behind much of the opposition to Israeli policy.

"I know many friends of Israel who criticize Israeli policies toward the Palestinians because they are greatly concerned about the state of Israel and Israeli society," Rau said. "Friends have the right to be told openly what others think about what they are doing."

But he said critics of Israeli policy had to temper their criticism -- and sometimes keep it private -- with the understanding Israelis have lived since the founding of their state under threat.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said it was "sad" that anti-Semitism still exists and the aim is to increase public awareness of the problem and agree on practical steps to fight it.

"It is a part of reality in our societies," Fischer told a dinner gathering of Jewish groups in Berlin late Tuesday.

Police have imposed heavy security in downtown Berlin for the gathering of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the third major conference in Europe to address anti-Semitism in the past year.

The timing has focused attention on eight former Soviet bloc countries that join the EU on Sunday. Some say the eastern European nations have lagged in tackling anti-Semitism.

"The anti-Semitic potential in the EU is going to get bigger," Salomon Korn, the vice president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, told the daily Berliner Zeitung. "Classic anti-Semitism in eastern Europe could mix with the subtle anti-Semitism that exists in Germany and other EU member countries."

But the US-based Anti-Defamation League said eastern European countries had, in some cases, been quicker than their western counterparts to speak out against anti-Semitism as they headed for EU and NATO membership.

"That's a very pragmatic attitude, but it needs to become part and parcel of society," said Abraham Foxman, the group's national director.

An Israeli anti-Semitism watchdog group said last week that worldwide incidents of attacks on Jews and vandalism against Jewish sites increased 15 percent last year from the previous year.

The Stephen Roth Institute of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism said France, Britain, Russia, Germany and Canada had the highest rates of anti-Semitic incidents.

Many Jewish groups fear that Europeans' misgivings about Israeli policies toward the Palestinians are influencing their view of Jews.
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