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WJC head Ron Lauder concerned over highest level of antisemitism in Europe since the war
June 20, 2016 14:04
American Jews feel “great concern at a resurgence of antisemitism” in the UK and across Europe, according to World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder.
Mr Lauder, who was guest speaker at the Board of Deputies plenary session in London on Sunday, re-affirmed his organisations commitment to supporting Jews around the world.
He said: “Without question, there has been a resurgence of hate that we have not seen since the Second World War.
“We will support every Jewish community in the world, because of the upsurge of violence against us on this continent.”
The WJC president expressed his horror that “70 years and three generations after the end of the Second World War, antisemitism is back.
“People who should know better say the same old, outrageous things about Jews. Things they would never say out loud about other groups. This doesn’t just come from the far-right, but increasingly also from the left.”
He drew on statements made by members of the Labour Party over the past few months, as well as the anti-Zionist and BDS movements on university campuses in the UK.
Mr Lauder said: “Would London University, or any other school, tolerate the same sanctions against blacks, Muslims, or gay people?
“If it is not OK to sanction these groups, why is it OK to sanction Israel? Why is it OK to sanction Jews? Because make no mistake, these people are not just sanctioning a country, they are sanctioning a people.”
Mr Lauder took the opportunity to pay tribute to the victims of three recent acts of international violence: the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox, the mass-shooting in a gay and lesbian nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which left 49 people dead, and the terror attack on a Tel Aviv restaurant which killed four people.
He said: “What do these tragic events have in common? Terror? Intolerance? Hate? Three things that Jews have known all throughout our time.”
In his address to deputies, Board president Jonathan Arkush commended Mr Lauder’s work at the helm of the World Jewish Congress. He also described how, earlier in the week, he had held a round-table communal meeting with Shami Chakrabarti, who is leading the Labour inquiry into antisemitism in the party, and gave evidence on antisemitism in the House of Commons.
During the meeting, proceedings were paused for a minute’s silence in memory of Jo Cox, the Leeds MP who was fatally attacked in her constituency last Thursday.
