WASHINGTON—The position of US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism has not been filled by President Donald Trump more than one year after it was vacated. In a letter to the US President, the Anti-Defamation League urged him ‘’to take immediate action and make the critical appointent without delay’’citing the fact that ‘’ani-Semitism is escalating at an alarming pace around the globe.’’
‘’Across Europe and elsewhere around the world, Jewish communities worry about rising anti-Semitism, including violent incidents, vandalism, and hateful rhetoric in public discussions and online,’’ wrote ADL’s CEO Jonathan A.Greenblatt.
‘’This week the Jewish communities of France and the United Kingdom took to the streets to protest anti-Jewish hate. In France, the brutal anti-Semitic murder of Mireille Knoll, an 85 year old Holocaust survivor, was the eleventh anti-Semitic murder in twelve years. French Jews fear for their security and question their future in France. In the United Kingdom, the Jewish community felt compelled for the first time in many years to call a public demonstration to protest the constant stream of anti-Semitic incidents in the Labour Party and the failure of its leader, Jeremy Corbin, to address anti-Semitism seriously. The data confirms the anger and concern of these communities. Violent anti-Semitic assaults increased 34 percent in Britain according to the Community Security Trust in 2017, and according to the French Ministry of the Interior, increased 26 percent in France during the same period. ‘’
The letter also cites the intensification of anti-Semitic rhetoric in Poland, in both private media and on state television, following the passage of a law that criminalizes certain speech about Polish collaboration during the Holocaust.
Two Jewish houses of worship were firebombed in Sweden last year, including one in which Jewish youths were gathered inside. Synagogues in Tunisia and Iran were also desecrated in 2017.
ADL also cites its Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents in the U.S. which documented a 57 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2017 – the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest number reported since ADL started tracking such data in 1979. The sharp rise was in part due to a significant increase in incidents in schools and on college campuses, which nearly doubled for the second year in a row.
‘’Mr. President, by nominating a respected and effective advocate, you will be reasserting America’s moral leadership against anti-Semitism and reassuring Jewish communities that America stands with them and their ability to live securely as Jews wherever they are,’’ the letter says.
“Combating anti-Semitism internationally is a priority for this administration,” ta State Department spokeswoman said. “President Trump and Vice President Pence have publicly expressed their deep concern about high levels of anti-Semitism globally.”
The Special Envoy position and the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism were established under the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act (Public Law 108-332), passed by Congress in 2004 with broad bipartisan support, and signed into law by President George W. Bush. The position and the Office were created to respond to the type of crises that Jews worldwide are now experiencing.
The latest Specia Envoy was Ira Forman under the Obama administration.