European Jews still live in fear, EU forum is told

BRUSSELS: Jewish leaders have told a conference in Brussels that European Jews live in fear and called on EU governments to support an Irish-sponsored resolution at the United Nations condemning anti-Semitism.

The Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, rejected a comparison between modern anti-Semitism and that of the 1930s, describing the suggestion as an insult to the victims of the Holocaust.

"Today's Europe is not the Europe of the 1930s and 1940s, and it would be false to claim it were. I do not believe that any organised form of anti-Semitism comparable to the anti-Semitism of the 1930s and 1940s is rampant in Europe today.

"We have no right to insult the memory of the Shoah's millions of victims by putting their sufferings on a par with today's manifestations, as serious as they undoubtedly are," he said.

Yesterday's conference on anti-Semitism was organised by the European Commission after a survey found that Europeans believe Israel is a greater threat to world peace than any other country.

Recent attacks on Jews and on synagogues, schools and Jewish graves in a number of European countries have been linked to tensions surrounding the Middle East conflict.

Mr Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel peace laureate, said that Jews were being realistic rather than alarmist when they expressed fears for their safety.

"Jewish communities in Europe live in fear. How is it that the reverberations of the 20th century still spread into the 21st century? Haven't we learned anything?" he said.

Israel's Minister for Diaspora Affairs, Mr Nathan Sharansky, said that his government had no objection to European criticism of its policies.

"The politician in Israel who will stop for one day from criticising his own government has no political future.

"We can disagree on many things, about the line of the (security) fence, about settlements, about the right way to cope with the terror," he said.

Mr Sharansky said, however, that some criticism of Israel came close to demonisation, particularly when it involved offensive comparisons with Nazi Germany. He displayed a number of cartoons from European newspapers, including one from Britain's Independent last year showing a grotesque version of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon eating a Palestinian baby over the caption: "What's wrong? You never saw a politician kissing a baby before?"

"The aim is to present Jews as absolute evil. Israel is mentioned as a Nazi state, Sharon as Hitler and Palestinian refugee camps as Auschwitz," Mr Sharansky said.

Mr Cobi Benatoff, president of the European Jewish Congress, urged the EU to back Ireland's draft UN resolution condemning anti-Semitism and to join with Jewish organizations in monitoring anti-Semitic incidents.

"We bring a message today and that message is a warning to Europe. Anti-Semitism and prejudice have returned. The monster is here with us once again," he said.