Declaration to fight anti-Semitism signed in London
February 23, 2009 by SAF Desk
Filed under News at a glance
A declaration pledging to challenge anti-Semitism was signed on behalf of all participating nations on Tuesday, the final day of the London Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism.
Noting the dramatic increase in anti-Semitism being disseminated in the media and attacks targeting Jewish persons and property, the London Declaration was signed by 125 parliamentarians from 40 countries.
It called on national governments, parliaments, international institutions, political and civic leaders and civil society to “affirm democratic and human values, build societies based on respect and citizenship and combat any manifestations of anti-Semitism and discrimination.”
It made the promise that the parliamentarians affirm their commitment to a comprehensive program of action to meet this challenge.
Signatories also pledged to expose, challenge and isolate those who engage in hate against Jews and target the State of Israel as a Jewish collective.
It also called upon governments to challenge any form of Holocaust denial. Again in reference to Iran it stated “any foreign leader, politician or public figure who denies, denigrates or trivializes the Holocaust” must be challenged.
“There is a new sophisticated, globalizing, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism, reminiscent of the atmospherics of the ’30s and without parallel or precedent since the end of the Second World War,” former Canadian attorney-general and founding co-chair of the conference, Irwin Cotler, said.
“Silence is not an option. This time has come not only to sound the alarm but to act. For as history has taught us only too well: while it may begin with Jews, it does not end with Jews. Anti-Semitism is the canary in the mineshaft of evil, and it threatens us all,” he added.
“The Internet, the globalization of the media, a resurgence of the extreme right and an anti-Zionist hard left have combined to create a febrile environment, in which the spread of old and new anti-Semitic theories and attitudes have been able to gain traction with alarming ease,” said John Mann MP, chair of the Parliamentary Committee Against Anti-Semitism. “The Durban conference was amongst the manifestations of this trend.
“Anti-Semitism is a touchstone for other ills within wider society and unless we move to address its spread now, and as a matter of the utmost urgency, we will all pay a heavy price,” he added.