‘The move sends a powerful message that there is no place for terrorist organizations in a just and secure world,’ wrote the European Jewish Congress.

By JNS

Switzerland on Tuesday voted to outlaw Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist organization, in a rare move for the historically neutral country.

The ban passed the lower house of the Swiss Parliament by 126-20 with 41 abstentions, after being approved in the upper house last week, according to Reuters.

It has not been established when the ban will take effect.

Proponents argued that Hezbollah was a “threat to international security” and that the decision would allow Switzerland to “take a stand against terrorism.”

Opponents—including the Swiss government—argued that the ban would violate Switzerland’s commitment to neutrality, according to the report.

“If Switzerland now moves to ban such organizations with special laws, we must ask ourselves where and how the boundaries are drawn,” said Justice Minister Beat Jans during the parliamentary debate.

Jewish groups applauded the move.

“We warmly welcome Switzerland’s decision to outlaw Hezbollah,” wrote the European Jewish Congress. “The move sends a powerful message that there is no place for terrorist organizations in a just and secure world.”

They added that the decision was “particularly significant for Jewish communities” and Israel due to the ongoing threat posed by the terrorist group.

The move comes a week after the Swiss parliament approved a five-year ban on the Hamas terrorist group in response to its brutal massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The European country had previously only banned Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which are on the United Nations’ list of designated terrorist organizations.

The post Swiss Parliament votes to outlaw Hezbollah appeared first on World Israel News.

European Jewish Congress slams EU and UN leaders for attacks on Israel, including claims of Gaza famine, saying they fuel antisemitism in Europe.

By World Israel News Staff

European Jewish leaders took aim at the United Nations and European Union Wednesday, accusing both of anti-Israel bias and promoting anti-Israel canards that are fueling antisemitism against Jews in Europe.

In a statement released by the European Jewish Congress Wednesday, European Jewish leaders called on EU leaders and UN representatives to stop making what the EJC called “incendiary statements with little basis in fact” regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza “which unjustly single out Israel.”

EJC President Dr. Ariel Muzicant said that the disproportionate criticism of Israel by senior EU and UN figures was “the main contributory factor” to the surge in antisemitism on the continent.

“The constant flow of Israel-bashing by senior leaders in the EU and the UN with little to no criticism of Hamas terror is clearly the main contributory factor to huge growth in antisemitism recorded by all European Jewish communities since October 7 last year,” Muzicant said.

“EU and UN leaders should take care with language which easily transfers to physical attacks on European Jews.”

Muzicant noted in particular statements this week by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell accusing Israel of using starvation as a strategy to combat the Hamas terror organization in Gaza.

Earlier this week, Borrell claimed Israel is intentionally “provoking famine” in the Gaza Strip.

“In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine; we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people,” Borrell said at the opening of a conference in Brussels on humanitarian aid for Gaza.

“This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine,” Borrell continued.

“Mr. Borrell’s comments this week that Israel uses starvation as a war strategy are false and unfounded. They pour added petrol on to a fire already lit by Hamas terrorists and spread by their supporters in Europe, where the targets are Jewish communities,” Muzicant said in response.

In its statement Wednesday, the EJC said it is “deeply concerned by such remarks,” which “follow a constant barrage from European leaders against Israel, including from the president of the European Council and Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo.”

“And it’s not only the EU,” Muzicant added.

“When senior United Nations officials such as Volker Turk and caretaker prime minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, blithely throw around defamatory and clearly false language like genocide while calling for immediate unconditional ceasefire while Israeli hostages continue to languish in Hamas captivity, we have to ask which side of the political fence have democratic politicians and so-called respectable international organizations chosen to stand alongside.”

“We should not have to remind democratic states in Europe, nor senior officials of the European Union or the UN, that Israel is the victim, not the perpetrator of the current conflict instigated by Hamas, a group which the European Union itself categorizes as a terror organization.”

“Israel has placed no limits on the aid allowed into Gaza despite it being involved in a military conflict with the very organization that controls almost all distribution channels in the Strip and is itself deliberately preventing much of that aid reaching those who most need it.”

“The time has come for the international community, including the European Union, to live up to its own responsibilities and moral code, in simple terms, between a democratic ally exercising self-defense after an unprovoked attack, or a violent antisemitic terror organization pledged to destroy the Jewish state,” Muzicant concluded.

The post EU, UN smears of Israel are endangering European Jews, Jewish leaders warn appeared first on World Israel News.

“Hamas, Al Qaeda and ISIS are all together in wishing to ban us all from the face of the earth.”

By TPS

President of Israel Isaac Herzog on Tuesday met with leaders of the European Jewish community, led by President of the European Jewish Congress Ariel Muzicant.

In their meeting, President Herzog raised serious concerns about the significant rise in antisemitism in Europe around the world.

He told the leaders, “This is a message that must be heard loud and clear. When they say from the river to the sea, they mean without any Jews. When they demonstrate on campuses against Israel – they mean without Jews. When they criticize Israel, fighting to defend its people, and fighting against the most brutal attack that humanity has seen in last generation – they mean no Jews.”

“This is a fight not only against Israel. It is a fight against anti-Semites all over the world, and we are here to strengthen our brothers and sisters of Jewish communities all over the world, to show solidarity with them because we are all in this together.

“Hamas, Al Qaeda and ISIS are all together in wishing to ban us all from the face of the earth. It starts with Israel, it starts with the Jews. It will never end there. Europe will be next. And that is why we are fighting a battle on behalf of the entire world.”

The post President Herzog: When they say from the river to the sea they mean no Jews appeared first on World Israel News.

Israel’s behavior makes it easy to comprehend why people hate Jews, some 25 percent of respondents said.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

European antisemitism is on the rise and pervasive throughout the continent, community leaders said at the European Jewish Association’s (EJA) Community Leaders Conference in Belgium on Tuesday.

“We need to take our fate into our hands if we want our grandchildren to be able to live in Europe in 20 to 50 years from now,” said Rabbi Shlomo Koves, who commissioned a survey of non-Jewish Europeans that produced disturbing results.

“Jews around Europe need to propose specific action-plans to their governments as well as on the EU level.”

The survey’s findings, which asked questions of non-Jewish residents of 16 European countries, were presented at the conference.

Some 1,000 participants in the survey answered 70 questions. Respondents to the survey live in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Commissioned by the EJA and its partner organizations, the survey asked respondents to disagree or agree with direct statements about Israel and Jews.

Israel’s behavior makes it easy to comprehend why people hate Jews, some 25 percent of respondents said.

Jews take advantage of the Holocaust for their own political and economic gain, said 34 percent of Latvians, 23 percent of Germans, and 22 percent of Belgians.

Some one-third of those surveyed in Poland, Hungary, and Austria agreed with a statement that Jews will never be able to completely integrate into society.

When asked if Israel’s treatment of Palestinians comparable to the treatment of Jews by Nazis during the Holocaust, some 35 percent of Spaniards, 29 percent of Dutch, and 26 percent of Swedes answered in the affirmative.

Joel Mergui, President of the Consistory of France and Paris and the European Center for Judaism, said the survey proved there’s much to be done to combat antisemitism in Europe.

“One thing is certain, while the European institutions and politicians devote significant resources and spare no effort in the fight against antisemitism, the situation in Europe is not improving,” Arutz Sheva quoted Mergui as saying at the conference.

“Worse, it is deteriorating. It is time to face the facts. Combating antisemitism cannot be reduced to isolating and penalizing antisemitism acts. This penalty is of course essential. Perpetrators of antisemitism acts should not never go unpunished.”

The post Survey: Israel treats Palestinians like Nazis, say 23% of Germans appeared first on World Israel News.

“It is a possibility that in 30 years there will be no Jews in Europe,” Moshe Kantor told Israel’s Army Radio.

By World Israel News Staff 

The possibility that Jews could “disappear completely as a people” from Europe has been a central, ominous theme at the center of interviews granted recently by Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress and Chair of the World Holocaust Forum’s Organizing Committee.

The Fifth World Holocaust Forum takes place on Thursday in Jerusalem in the presence of dozens of world leaders arriving in Israel to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland and to show a resolve to fight a wave of current anti-Semitism.

Vice President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Prince Charles and the presidents of Germany, Italy, and Austria are among the more than 40 dignitaries who will be attending the event.

“It is a possibility that in 30 years there will be no Jews in Europe,” Kantor told Israel’s Army Radio, in an interview which aired on Wednesday.

“Forty percent are considering leaving Europe entirely,” he added, noting that already there is a rate of three percent who are leaving on an annual basis.

“The story should be frightening because mankind shall be frightened,” said Kantor in an interview with the French-based AFP news agency earlier this month.

The world is “more dangerous than in the 1930s,” he argued, due to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction combining with the phenomenon of “polarization.”

“We do see that the rise of anti-Semitism is a specific feature of the polarization of the political spectrum. This is exactly the symptom of the global catastrophe which is coming, that society allows extremism to come into executive power in democratic ways,” he told Army Radio.

“Anti-Semitism could be a slippery slope to a global catastrophe,” Kantor warned.

Tel Aviv University researchers reported last year that violent attacks against Jews grew significantly in 2018, with the largest reported number of Jews killed in anti-Semitic acts in decades.

The post Jews could ‘disappear completely’ from Europe, says chairman of World Holocaust Forum appeared first on World Israel News.

The campaign highlights the never-ending story of anti-Semitism.

By World Israel News Staff

A social media campaign was launched on Tuesday with the aim of generating awareness about the problem of anti-Semitism, ahead of the Fifth World Holocaust Forum.

Over 45 heads of state and world leaders will gather in Jerusalem on January 23 to remember the Holocaust and find ways to fight anti-Semitism, said the European Jewish Congress (EJC) in a statement released on Tuesday.

According to the statement, the ‘Stop This Story!’ campaign will be the first global initiative of its kind that will leverage Instagram’s AR (Augmented Reality) effects to drive a global movement.

Already, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, supermodel Bar Refaeli, actress Vanessa Kirby, former NBA player Omri Casspi, and other international figures, actors, entertainers, and athletes are said to have joined the campaign and created their unique images. Many other international stars have been secured to join, said EJC.

“Anti-Semitism, in all its various forms, harms Jews around the world on a daily basis, whether in their homes, streets, schools, universities, synagogues, and online,” Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the World Holocaust Forum Foundation and the European Jewish Congress, initiator of the unprecedented international Instagram campaign that calls on the world to act and put an end to anti-Semitism.

“This phenomenon causes more than 80% of the Jews of Europe to fear for their safety and more than 40% of them to consider leaving their homes and communities,” he added.

The “best way to spread any message today is through social media because social networks and those who use them have the power to make the necessary changes in our societies,” Kantor said. “Instagram users are a significant demographic segment that is growing rapidly, and I have always argued that the best way to fight any form of prejudice is through education and awareness. Creating awareness of the story of anti-Semitism is the first step necessary to stopping it.”

The EJC says the campaign recruited “some of the world’s leading AR effects’ creators. It has gained the support of international influencers, each of them with millions followers, to create their own creative ‘Stop This Story!’ effect adjusted to the palm of the hand, so anyone can easily and experientially create and share their ‘Stop This Story!’ image on Instagram and join the global movement.”

Furthermore, says the The European Jewish Congress, a time-lapse video project, featuring Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 91, a world-renowned sex therapist, media personality, and Holocaust survivor, will be posted on Instagram and other social media platforms in a series of stories. The video highlights “the never-ending story of anti-Semitism, utilizing impressive visual techniques.”

Using these technologies, including Time-lapse, “the endless story of anti-Semitism, from the 1930s to the year 2020, will show the world that anti-Semitism did not end with the Holocaust and is gaining steam again to frightening levels,” said the EJC statement.

The post Star-studded social media campaign takes on global anti-Semitism appeared first on World Israel News.

“Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are getting blurred, but they are two sides of the same coin,” said the Austrian leader, noting his country’s laden past regarding European Jewry. 

By Orit Afra/JNS

Amid debate about the European right and a wave of anti-Jewish sentiment and actions, conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz of Austria has positioned himself and his government as a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism by convening the Nov. 21 conference “Beyond Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism: Securing Jewish Life in Europe” in the context of the Austrian Presidency of the European Council.

The event evolved into a celebration of friendship between Austria and Israel, with Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, presenting Kurz with the “Navigator to Jerusalem Award” at the conference gala.

“This is possibly the first time a nation which holds the European Union Presidency has attempted to address anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in a constructive and holistic manner,” Kantor told JNS. “We are grateful to the Austrian government for partnering with us, and accepting the role of pushing for lasting and durable solutions to increasing anti-Semitism.”

The European Jewish Congress presented senior leaders with a “Catalogue of Policies to Combat Antisemitism,” which includes, first and foremost, the worldwide adoption and implementation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.

This IHRA working definition equates anti-Semitism with delegitimization of the Jewish state, a categorization that has been criticized largely by the European and Israeli left. As reported in Haaretz, a group of 35 distinguished Israeli academics signed an open letter ahead of the conference stating: “This fight against anti-Semitism should not be instrumentalized to suppress legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation and severe violations of Palestinian human rights.” It went on to state: “It is nonsensical and inappropriate to identify anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.”

‘Two sides of the same coin’

Apparently, the criticism did not faze Kurz, who said in his keynote address that “anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are getting blurred, but they are two sides of the same coin. As Austrians, we have to be honest when we look back at our past as Austria was not only a victim but also a perpetrator, but we must also look ahead to the future. We can’t undo history, but we can do justice to our history.”

Billed as “high level” and attended by prominent Jewish and European political leaders, the conference addressed three sources of anti-Semitism, as cited by Kantor: “Across Europe, far-right, far-left and radical Islam co-exist in a mutually reinforcing relationship, where anti-Semitism is a united element. The consequence is a growing threat to Jewish communities, and a growing sense of despair and pessimism about the future.”

While scheduled to attend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead sent a video greeting, likely due to the political upheaval at home.

“Chancellor Kurz, Sebastian: You’re a true friend of Israel. A true friend of the Jewish people,” he began, going on to state that “since the establishment of the State of Israel, we face a new form of anti-Semitism. Vicious efforts to demonize the Jewish state and deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination in our ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.”

Austria has already distinguished itself from other Western European countries, having sent its ambassador in Israel to a reception in honor of the May 14 inauguration of the relocated U.S. embassy to Jerusalem; Jerusalem, however, did not form a topic at the conference.

‘The dark sides of the party’

Despite the overall air of warmth and camaraderie among Netanyahu, Jewish leaders and the Austrian Chancellery, the conference was marked by the absence of official representatives from the Freedom Party, a coalition member officially shunned by Israel and the mainstream Jewish community, reflecting the overall Jewish rejection of populist parties, such as the AfD in Germany (which recently inaugurated a Jewish faction).

Kurz’s government has clamped down on “political” Islam with plans to shut down select mosques and Islamic organizations. Some Jews fear that actions targeting the Muslim community, such as proposed legislation to prohibit religious head coverings, will adversely affect Jews.

“There’s a very schizophrenic situation,” said Samuel Laster, the Israeli-Austrian founding editor of the Austrian Jewish portal, www.juedische.at, and a conference attendee. “We have the coalition that is great for Israel, but then we have an Israeli government that boycotts it.”

The Freedom Party was founded in 1956 by a former SS officer. While party leader and Austria’s Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache has eschewed the party’s Nazi baggage, most Austrian Jews are still suspect.

“In the context of Europe—and I see all these kinds of parties in Europe—they became very pro-Israel,” said Laster. “I wonder what’s the truth in it and what’s the game. Because if they’re pro-Israel, that’s very nice, but we need to find that all these parties engage in a proven fight against anti-Semitism and the dark sides of the party. There are red lines.”

However, Laster foresees a softening towards Kurz’s coalition government with its current behind-the scenes-contact with members of the Jewish community now taking place, saying that “it will take one to one-and-a-half years before there is normalization with the coalition.”

The post Austrian chancellor Kurz leads fight against anti-Semitism appeared first on World Israel News.

The European Union’s Court of Justice ruled that Hamas is a terror group and should be put back on the EU terror list.  

The European Union’s (EU) top court ruled Wednesday that the Islamic Hamas terror group should stay on the EU terror list, saying a lower court should not have ordered the group removed from the EU’s terror list and sending the case back to the lower court for reconsideration.

The EU originally listed Hamas as a terror group in 2001, a move that froze assets of the organization in the EU. However the decision was annulled on procedural grounds by an EU court in 2014.

The EU appealed and Wednesday’s ruling by the European Court of Justice said that the 2014 annulment was wrong and must now be reconsidered taking into account arguments not ruled upon in the original decision. However, it added that Hamas funds will continue to be frozen pending the outcome of the reconsideration.

Neither Hamas nor Israel had an immediate reaction.

The European Jewish Congress welcomed the ruling.

The group’s president, Moshe Kantor, said it “sends a clear message that those who oppose peace in the Middle East by acts of murder and terror have no place within the European Union.”

By: AP

The post EU court: Removing Hamas from terror list was mistake appeared first on World Israel News.