OSCE conference in Prague addresses anti-Semitism in public discourse

Representatives of 56 member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe met in Prague this week for a conference on anti-Semitism in public discourse, hosted by the Czech Foreign Ministry. The participants called for more decisive steps to combat expressions of hatred and intolerance, and stressed the need for better data on anti-Semitic incidents. RP talked to Rabbi Andrew Baker, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, about the Prague meeting.

Rabbi Andrew Baker, photo: OSCE/Jens Eschenbaecher

“It’s a problem, first and foremost, in shaping or misshaping people’s views about Jews in so many societies today where Jewish communities are quite small and the visibility they have usually comes through depictions in the media. So this was certainly a first concern in presenting this for discussion. But we have also seen that depictions in the media of the State of Israel’s activities in the Middle East that themselves have now come to foment certain anti-Semitism as well.”

Do you see this issue bigger in some countries or parts of Europe?

“I think it manifests itself differently in different places. In some ways, it is a problem that emerged in the last decade particularly in parts of Western Europe for example, which we might not have expected. In this case, you have something that’s sometimes referred to as new anti.-Semitism – the problems in the Middle East and the State of Israel.

“This means that the State of Israel can be demonized, projected in a way that separates it from other nations; that itself can become a form of anti-Semitism. Or, as some of the speakers at this conference pointed out, there may still deeply-rooted anti-Jewish feelings. There may be a taboo still in place in expressing them directly but if something is presented not as being anti-Jewish but as anti-Zionist, then perhaps it has certain acceptability.”

Confronting anti-Semitism and other forms of xenophobia is a long-term process. Did you discuss any recommendations for national governments and other public bodies of what to do to face the problem?

“This is certainly what we hope will emerge from it. This is to me what makes the event a particularly important one as it comes under the umbrella of the OSCE which joins 56 countries. There have already been – in some years past – an expression of commitments on the parts of these governments in the area of education, of monitoring, of legislation.

“What we hope will come out of this is sharpening of these commitments. There will be recommendations formed from the discussion that took place yesterday that will find their way through the OSCE, we hope, toward being pressed on and accepted by the 56 governments.

“Clearly, education remains a significant issue and concern. More and more governments are taking on some programmes. Part of the discussion also dealt with the significance of Holocaust education that can play a role, but by no means the main role, in combating anti-Semitism. Also, critical has been the obligation of governments to identify, monitor and record the incidents of anti-Semitism. I think in too many places, such events or incidents are ignored or there’s no process to collect the data, so you are left with incomplete picture.”