The Council of Europe’s expert body on racism and intolerance (ECRI) has today published an updated General Policy Recommendation on preventing and combating antisemitism, to help prevent increasing antisemitism and attacks on Jews in many parts of Europe.
Ahead of publication, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić said: “Antisemitic attacks – including in schools, vandalism of synagogues and the spread of antisemitic hatred online – are on the rise. This is a dangerous trend and European governments should join forces to counter such extremism in all its forms”.
ECRI Chair Maria Daniella Marouda said: “ECRI strongly emphasises the role of education, including education about the Holocaust, in promoting tolerance and respect for human rights, and thus also in the struggle against antisemitism.”
Noting that antisemitic acts are committed by a wide range of perpetrators, including neo-Nazis, political and religious extremists, ECRI’s Recommendation provides comprehensive guidance to governments on how to combat antisemitism in four specific areas:
- Policies and institutional co-ordination;
- Prevention and education;
- Protection of Jews, Jewish communities and their institutions;
- Prosecution and law enforcement.
Regarding prevention and education, ECRI encourages political actors, opinion leaders and other public personalities to take a firm public stand against antisemitism, making clear that antisemitism should never be tolerated. ECRI recommends taking into account the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Working Definition of Antisemitism as a non-legal tool to better understand and identify expressions of antisemitism (see ECRI’s Opinion on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism).
