National Post: Canada must follow Europe’s example and do more to combat anti-Semitism

The Hill Times: Canada should follow EU’s lead, take stronger stance against anti-Semitism

With elections in the United Kingdom only days away and British Jewish citizens fleeing Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, Europe is increasingly calling for more action against anti-Semitism. Only 13 per cent of British Jews are expected to vote for Labour in the June 8th election. Such low support is hardly surprising. Following repeated anti-Semitic controversies within the Labour Party, Jewish communities in England and across Europe were shocked when the party did not expel party member and former London mayor Ken Livingstone in April after he implied Adolf Hitler supported Zionism.

Against this backdrop, the European Parliament’s decision last week to pass a resolution on combating anti-Semitism could not have been more timely. In a statement, the European Parliament said “the recent rise in anti-Semitism across the EU requires more and stronger action.” That action, members of the European Parliament agreed, must include prosecuting hate crimes more effectively, both nationally and across borders; appointing national coordinators to combat anti-Semitism across the EU; teaching the Holocaust in schools; and encouraging politicians to denounce anti-Semitic sentiment.

Most importantly, the EU resolution is encouraging member states to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism. That definition touches upon traditional forms of anti-Semitism but also includes, “the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity…anti-Semitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity…expressed in speech, writing, visual forms, and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.”

This view is consistent with the observation of the new UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, who told officials from the Simon Wiesenthal Center last week that “denial of Israel’s right to exist is anti-Semitism.” The election last week of Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon as vice president of the UN General Assembly is certainly a positive sign and a step for the UN in countering anti-Semitism and the denial of the Jewish state...

Continue reading in The National Post and The Hill Times