Antisemitism in Europe: Challenging
Official Indifference

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Antisemitism in Europe: Challenging Official Indifference documents the ongoing scourge of anti-Jewish violence in Europe and the status of efforts by national governments and other institutions to respond to this continuing "violation of human rights." This report updates our 2002 report on antisemitic violence in Europe, Fire and Broken Glass, detailing incidents over the two years since that report. It finds that, even as some European governments have taken significant steps to improve their understanding of, and responses to, antisemitic violence and intimidation, there remains what the Foreword to this report terms "a pattern of official indifference" to this serious problem.

A particular focus of this report is the quality of monitoring and reporting of antisemitic violence in Europe. The report explains the importance of collecting and disseminating information on such violence in a timely, thorough manner - in order to then develop the means to combat it more effectively.

In addition, we document the continuing failure of some European governments to ensure that existing laws are enforced adequately, and, where necessary, strengthened, to combat continuing antisemitic violence. This includes the need for effective legislation to prosecute and punish hate crimes and provisions to make racist motivation an aggravating circumstance in criminal prosecutions.

As the Foreword notes, "Better documentation alone, of course, will accomplish little if governmental authorities do not strengthen their laws barring such crimes, and investigate and prosecute those who are responsible." Initiatives by Belgium and France in this regard are welcomed. At the same time, improved monitoring and reporting is a critical first step - without which little else is likely to be achieved.

Despite some improvements since the release of Fire and Broken Glass, we find that too often antisemitic violence remains underreported-what we term "the hate crime information deficit." Most European governments do not provide even basic reporting on the crimes that force many in Europe's Jewish communities to live in fear, and a minority have established national specialized bodies to monitor and address racism. Provisions to ensure there is timely, accurate, and public information on racist violence "is an essential first step in developing effective action to suppress it." This requires government action to make it possible to compile disaggregated data concerning incidents involving every community under threat.

In addition, often when such violence is reported it is linked to antipathy between Jews and Muslims relating to the conflict in the Middle East. As such, what we term the "information deficit" on antisemitism involves both the quantity of information collected on such violence, and the quality of it - meaning the way it which the violence is analyzed and characterized in public statements by government officials.

While it focuses on continuing shortcomings in both law and policy, the report also details a number of positive developments over the past two years - reflecting improved policies and practices at the national level in France, Germany, and other countries, as well as work by regional institutions, including the European Commission and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (osce). We issue the report on the eve of an important osce antisemitism conference in Berlin, in which we are participating as part of a delegation of U.S.-based non-governmental organizations.

Like our previous report, Antisemitism in Europe: Challenging Official Indifference utilizes international human rights standards as the framework for discussion of both the violence itself and the status of the government responses. The report reaffirms that antisemitism is "antisemitism is a form of racism and religious intolerance" and "a violation of human rights." As such, the "official indifference" cited in the report's title reflects not only bad policy, but a failure of governments to abide by their own international legal obligations.

We note in this regard that the derogation extends beyond national governments alone to inadequate attention from many nongovernmental organizations. For too long, concerns about antisemitic violence have been largely the preserve of Jewish organizations, while much of the human rights community has not treated the issue as a priority warranting urgent attention and a strong response. With Fire and Broken Glass and now this report, we are working to change that. We take encouragement in this regard from our own participation in a highly diverse nongovernmental delegation to the osce antisemitism conference in Berlin.

As it examines antisemitism through a human rights prism, the report also confronts what has been called the "new antisemitism." We show that attacks on Jewish individuals and institutions in Europe have been perpetrated both by extremist rightwing organizations and by members of immigrant Muslim communities who invoke the Middle East conflict in generalized attacks on Jews - treating the victims as what we term "proxy enemies" for the State of Israel.

At the same time, the report emphasizes that European governments and other institutions need to step up efforts to ensure that the fight against antisemitism does not in turn create an environment in which Muslim communities in Europe face increased discrimination and racist violence. The report warns that "antisemitism is often wrongly portrayed as a conflict between minorities, and so a lesser responsibility of European government and society" - and that this may embolden those extremists who are prepared to direct their racism against both Jews and Muslims.

In assessing the debate on the "new antisemitism" we state that while criticism of Israel or the Zionist movement should not be considered inherently antisemitic, when this "disparages or demonizes Jews as individuals or collectively" it crosses the line to become antisemitism.

Finally, having documented the scope of the continuing problem and shortcomings of the responses to it, the report sets out recommendations essential for developing and sustaining a more effective approach to combating antisemitic violence. These include recommendations directed at national governments on data collection and reporting, legislation punishing hate crimes, and provisions to consider racist motivation an aggravating circumstance in crimes.

Recommendations also are directed to institutions like the osce - beginning with the opportunities afforded by the historic meeting in Berlin. With regard to the latter, we call on osce members to issue a strong concluding statement that identifies the effort to fight all forms of antisemitism as a high priority, and specifically assigns responsibility within the osce for monitoring and reporting to the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Finally, we urge that European governments provide adequate resources to this office to carry out this work effectively.

Building from this second major report, Human Rights First will continue to engage in its own monitoring and reporting that assesses whether European governments and others are living up to any new commitments to improve the reporting of, and responses to, antisemitic violence across much of the continent.