In a statement issued on Sunday the EU observed that the spike in antisemitism “has reached extraordinary levels in recent days, reminiscent of some of the darkest moments in history.”
By Ben Cohen, Algemeiner
The executive body of the European Union has issued a forthright condemnation of rising antisemitism across the continent, declaring that hatred of Jews “goes against everything which Europe stands for.”
In a statement issued on Sunday, the European Commission — together with the European Council, the executive branch of the EU — observed that the spike in antisemitism “has reached extraordinary levels in recent days, reminiscent of some of the darkest moments in history.”
“European Jews today are once again living in fear,” the statement declared.
The statement cited a handful of the thousands of incidents targeting Jews in EU member states. “Molotov cocktails thrown at a synagogue in Germany, Stars of David sprayed at residential buildings in France, a Jewish cemetery desecrated in Austria, Jewish stores and synagogues attacked in Spain, demonstrators chanting hateful slogans against Jews,” the statement noted.
The statement pledged that “the EU stands by its Jewish communities. We condemn these despicable acts in the strongest possible terms.”
As pro-Hamas demonstrations took place in several European cities over the weekend, politicians and diplomats expressed concern that antisemitism was again taking hold.
In an interview on Sunday with the Spanish news agency EFE, Israel’s Ambassador in Madrid, Rodica Radian-Gordon, angrily took issue with demonstrators accusing Israel of committing genocide in its military response to the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7.
She stressed that Israel does not seek to eliminate the Palestinian people, but those “responsible for the attack.”
“People do not know the definition of genocide. We are not here to kill the Palestinian people, or to evict them, or anything,” Radian-Gordon underlined.
“I don’t think Europe has learned the lesson of what antisemitism is and how it should be fought, because we are seeing more and more antisemitic acts throughout Europe, including Spain,” she added. While expressing concern for the welfare of Palestinian civilians was legitimate, “Hamas should not be supported,” she said.
“We make a distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian people. You have to be very careful,” Radion-Gordon said.
Meanwhile, in Germany, the left-wing Green Party called for more assertive police action against antisemitic incitement following a weekend of pro-Hamas demonstrations, including one organized in the city of Essen by an Islamist group that segregated female and male demonstrators during the march.
“Antisemitic slogans and calls to support Islamist organizations, such as at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Essen, are simply unacceptable,” Green Party leader Omid Nouripour told local media outlets.
“It is good that the police are investigating the perpetrators — it is now necessary to apply criminal law consistently,” he added, urging the provision of more personnel and equipment to the police for the purpose of dealing with the demonstrations.
In separate comments, Felix Klein, the German federal government’s commissioner tasked with combating antisemitism, argued that anxiety over Muslim antisemitism in Germany needed to focus on more than newly-arrived refugees and migrants from the Middle East.
Klein urged that the 24 million Germans from immigrant backgrounds also be regarded with concern.
“If we narrow our view of migration, we overlook the much larger part of the problem: the existing antisemitism in all parts of society and the deficits of integration policy in Germany,” Klein argued.