30th December, 2024,

There are troubling signs of resurgent antisemitism in Europe and around the world, from attacks on Jews and harassment in public spaces to rising online hatred and more. One survey of European Jews [published on July 11 by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights] found almost all those questioned [between January and June 2023] had encountered antisemitism in the past year, while a majority sometimes hid their Jewish identity. We should all be disturbed and horrified by this.

Europeans, above all, know where hate speech and discrimination lead. Antisemitism is real, and it is abhorrent: a poisonous ideology with deep roots in bigotry and racism that still plagues our world. It is manifest in many ways, from prejudice and stigma to pogroms and, ultimately, genocide. Eighty years after the Holocaust, we have a particular responsibility to be vigilant against this deadly scourge, wherever it appears. As Anne Frank wrote, “What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again.”

Criticism of human rights violations is an essential part of our vigilance against antisemitism. In itself, such criticism cannot be antisemitic. However, attempts to apply the label of antisemitism to legitimate human rights concerns have increased significantly since the horrific attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups on 7 October 2023.