Despite legislation against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial throughout Europe, and in spite of police action, incidents of anti-Semitism on the continent are on the rise. This dismal and worrying picture was presented this past Monday in the Knesset Committee for Immigration and Absorption. A comprehensive survey of testimonies about plots against Jewish and Israeli students on university campuses was presented to the committee.
The German ambassador to Israel, Kalmans von Gotza, declared, "Germany assumes responsibility, today and in the future, for crimes against Jews during the period of the Holocaust." He admitted, "Indeed, there has been a slight rise in the number of incidents since 2016 and we must be prepared to prevent such outbreaks. A committee of experts has suggested ways of fighting this phenomenon by educating the youth, emphasizing tolerance, fostering positive values etc. We cannot prevent all such incidents but I promise that we will investigate every such occurrence."
The Austrian ambassador to Israel, Martin Weiss, admitted that in Austria as well there has been a rise in the number of anti-Semitic occurrences. Several existing educational programs have been intensified to fight the problem. "Austria took too much time to begin dealing with its responsibility regarding the Holocaust but today, every high school student is obligated to visit the Matthausen concentration camp at least twice," he reported.
The ambassador of the European Union in Israel, Emanuel Geufort, admitted, "Anti-Semitic incidence in Europe is higher than in previous years. Anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and racial violence are forbidden by law, and fifteen countries in the European Union have embraced this law."
Tony Kay, British deputy ambassador, said: "We must enable British Jews to live without verbal or physical abuse, and we are doing so by fortifying the communities. But since the beginning of this year, there has been a rise of seventy percent in the number of anti-Semitic occurrences reported in the country."
On the other hand, according to Paul Poriah, representative of the French embassy in Israel, "Anti-Semitism does, admittedly, have deep roots in the country. The situation is very worrisome, but to date, there has been a significant drop of sixty occurrences in 2016, and in this past year, an additional 20 percent drop."
