BRUSSELS —Should Jews in Europe engage with far-right and populist parties ?
This question was at the center of debate during the two-day annual conference on the European Jewish Association (EJA) in Brussels which mainly centered around the ways to fight anti-Semitism, the future of European Jewry, with a particular focus on the situation in the UK in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party problem, and freedom of religious practices.
Around 200 representatives from Jewish communities across Europe, diplomats, senior EU officials, members of the European parliament, experts, journalists attended the meeting which was organized as Europe appears to be at a political crossroads and is likely to polarise further away from the parties of the centre after the 2019 elections.
‘’The stakes have never been higher,’’ said Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Founder and Chairman of EJA, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities.
On Wednesday, the conference adopted several Jewish communities’ ‘’red lines’’ with respect to various agenda items ahead of the May 2019 European elections which will see the coming up of a new European Parliament and a new European Commission.
The red lines include, among other things, ensuring freedom of religion and worship across Europe, fully adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, a commitment to exclude anti-Semitic parties from coalitions, and calling on all political parties to designate the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) group as anti-Semitic.
Here are these ‘’red lines’’ :
- Political parties and their leadership must sign up to the full IHRA definition of Anti-semitism.
- Every European Country must appoint a dedicated Special Representative to combat anti-Semitism where one already doesn’t exist
- All political parties pledge to exclude from government parties or politicians that espouse anti-Semitism as defined by the IHRA definition.
- All political parties to pass, in accordance with their respective rules of procedure, binding resolutions that reject BDS activities as fundamentally anti-Semitic.
- All political parties to support in writing and in party documents their support for freedom of religion and freedom of practice at Member State level and EU level.
These red lines will be submitted to all political leaders and parties. ‘’These are crucial conditions to be met before Jews in Europe feel confident with political parties,’’ said Rabbi Margolin who argued that once a far-right or populist party joins a coalition government in Europe, efforts should be made to open a dialogue with them.
‘’When such parties come to power in a country, they have a strong influence on local Jewish life and therefore it would be necessary to enter into dialogue with them,’’ he said. ‘’We have to speak with our enemies.’’ he added, comparing the strategy to Israel’s dealings with Hamas and former Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat. Despite Israel’s hostility toward them, it has nevertheless engaged in some form of communications or dialogue with such entities.
“I believe we have to find different ways of communication without giving a kosher certificate to those who do not deserve it, but I believe some kind of dialogue has to be kept,” said Margolin.
But Margolin stressed that such a dialogue should only be engaged with these parties when they are in a government. Antisemitic and neo-Nazi parties should be outlawed, he stressed.
“Once a political party has joined a coalition, the discussion should be completely different,” said Margolin.
Among the speakers who addressed the conference, Katharina von Schnurbein, the EU’s coordinator on combating anti-Semitism, announced that in December the European Commission will present the results of a survey by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) on the perceptions Jews in 13 countries in Europe have of antisemitism in the last five years. ‘’This survey will cover around 95% of the Jewish population in Europe,’’ said von Schnurbein.
She also mentioned that Austria’s EU presidency is to make a declaration on anti-Semitism before the end of this year in the EU Council.
A survey by the U.K.’s Campaign against Anti-Semitism, presented by its chairman Gideon Falter during the conference, finds that 90% of British Jews believe Labour Party is anti-Semitic and that 40% are considering leaving the U.K. over the rise in anti-Semitism.
