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a budgetary authority, we must reflect on its resources to ensure that the cancer of antiSemitism is dealt with", he concluded.
According to Beate WINKLER, the Director of the EUMC, "the main question that this report
raises is: how will Europe deal with multiculturalism and its diversity in the future?" According to
the findings of the study, "racist incidents decrease when political leadership makes it publicly
clear that there is zero tolerance for xenophobia". She added that the crisis in the Middle East
has had an impact on the increase of anti-Semitic acts. "But it is not for us to judge the foreign
policies of EU member states. We are tackling the issues of human rights". On behalf of the
EPP-ED, Swedish MEP Charlotte CEDERSCHIOLD underlined the values of tolerance that lie
at the core of EU integration. "Why has this phenomenon developed? If we knew more about
this, we could also deal with other fields of discrimination", she said. Anna TERRN I CUS
(PES, E) emphasised the lack of awareness in Spain of the need to fight anti-Semitism. Olle
SCHMIDT (ELDR, S) said "We must not listen to the sound of the 1930s here in Europe. We
may call this phenomenon a 'new anti-Semitism' but it's as old as our history". On the issue of
hate speech spread on the Internet, he exclaimed: "Internet is producing a hell of a lot of shit!"
According to many MEPs, the turmoil in the Middle East has had damaging consequences for
religious communities in Europe. "Anti-Semitic arguments cannot be accepted in discussions
relating to the Middle East. But if we criticise Israel, we must not be accused of anti-Semitism
either", said Jonas SJOSTEDT (EUL/NGL, S). Daniel COHN-BENDIT (Greens/EFA, F)
described two types of anti-Semitism. "The first form originates from Catholicism, as portrayed
in Mel Gibson's new film. The second is more complicated. I call it the 'anti-Semitism of the
Arab streets', where Jews are 'over-assimilated' to the State of Israel". According to Mr CohnBendit, the only solution is for "Palestinians to fight against anti-Semitism and for Jews to fight
against anti-Maghreb racism". In the view of Ilka SCHRDER (Greens/EFA, D), the report had
"one main error". She believed that the rise of anti-Semitism was related to "EU policy against
Israel" and to "anti-Zionist propaganda in the European public". Alima BOUMEDIENETHIERRY (Greens/EFA, F) believed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had its roots in Europe.
"When young Arabs identify with Palestinians, it is because their parents were also victims of
colonisation. We must not make these people feel guilty. They are not all anti-Semites", she
emphasised.
Representatives of religious communities also expressed their views. "This report is a balancesheet of what we have been feeling for the past three years", said Cobi BENATOFF, President
of the European Jewish Congress. "This report is a clear sign that European leaders are taking
the phenomenon seriously. But we must now bring our efforts to the streets, schools, churches
and mosques". According to Amir ZAIDAN, Director of the Islamic Religious Studies Institute in
Vienna, "Muslims are not just perpetrators of such acts, but also victims". He criticised how the
report describes the two groups of perpetrators. "Religion is mentioned for 'Muslims' but no
religion is attributed to 'white young people', he explained. Bernard XIBAUT, Chancellor of the
Archdiocese of Strasbourg, argued that the Christian community occupied an ambivalent
position. "On the one hand Christianity is at the roots of anti-Semitism. On the other, we must
build a bridge between Jews and Muslims".
By Jolle Fiss
Press Service
European Parliament
Tel: +32 2 284 10 75
e-mail: foreign-press@europarl.eu.int
For any further information, please contact: Manuel Seiffe; European Jewish Congress; 78,
Ave des Champs Elyses; Paris 75008; Tel: +33 1 4359 9463; Fax: +33 1
4225 4528; jewcong@wanadoo.fr