Bertil Cottier, Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), spoke to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe at its 46th Session in Strasbourg, France, in the context of a debate entitled “Local authorities and regional authorities in Europe in the face of rising antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred”. 

“Like the Congress, ECRI is celebrating its 30 years of existence. Over three decades of intense monitoring work in all Council of Europe member states, ECRI has not only seen progress and setbacks in countering antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred. It has also shed light on various positive initiatives at local or regional level”, said the Chair of ECRI.

Mr Cottier pointed to ECRI’s General Policy Recommendation No. 5 (revised) on preventing and combating anti-Muslim racism and discrimination and General Policy Recommendation No. 9 (revised) on preventing and combating Antisemitism, which contain a broad range of recommendations that can be of great assistance to local and regional authorities in addressing rising antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.

In his statement, Mr Cottier said that ECRI has observed a dangerous trend, for many years already, which became even more visible after the Hamas terror attack of 7 October and the subsequent Israel-Gaza war over the last few months: whenever tensions rise in the wake of renewed violence in the Middle East conflict, sweeping generalisations against all Jews and antisemitic violence are on the rise in Europe. Against this background, he emphasised that ECRI had issued an exceptional warning last December.

Mr Cottier also shared ECRI’s concerns about rising anti-Muslim racism following terror attacks like the one of 7 October and the growing perception of Muslims as a ‘suspect community’. “Such perception is often fuelled by toxic political discourse and leads to a lack of trust among Muslims in public services, including at local and regional levels, and contributes to under-reporting of anti-Muslim hate incidents”, he went on to say.

He underlined that Jewish and Muslim communities must feel safe, protected and supported, in all European cities and regions, at all times, and that all of us have a duty to speak up and to act in the face of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hatred. “When it comes to countering antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism, everyone’s indifference can be more dangerous than one man’s hatred”, he concluded, whilst referring to a victim’s account heard during an ECRI visit.

Kaya Comer-Schwartz, Leader of Islington Council, London, United Kingdom and Evein Obulor, Director of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR), Germany, also participated in the debate. For more details, see the website of the Congress.