Campaign Against Antisemitism Meets United States Antisemitism Envoy
On Thursday, 29th January 2015, Campaign Against Antisemitism Chairman Gideon Falter met with the United States’ Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Ira Forman, and representatives of other Jewish organisations from around Europe at a meeting in Brussels arranged by the European Jewish Association.
The discussion focussed on ways that the United States could help to fight antisemitism in Europe. The CAA asked the United States for help on four fronts:
- Highlighting the growth of antisemitism and the importance of taking firm action against it. The CAA raised President Obama’s absence from the rally following the terrorist attacks in Paris and the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and contrasted this with his presence at the funeral the late King Abdullah, a lifelong antisemite, Holocaust denier and funder of terrorism.
- Vocally supporting the British government in taking firm measures against antisemitism as it is likely to have to take bold steps that other European governments have not.
- Pressuring the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency to formally adopt the “working definition” of antisemitism developed by the now-defunct EU Monitoring Centre on Xenophobia and Racism which has been adopted by the United States government.
- Ensuring that social networks based in the United States enforce their own terms of service in relation to hate speech and comply with legal requests by the British authorities for information on the perpetrators of hate crime online.
The Special Envoy and the Chairman of the CAA will be continuing their discussions by telephone.
Earlier in the month, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Director of Communications met with Gideon Behar, the Israeli envoy for combating antisemitism.
