Hearing on Anti-Semitism: a Growing Threat to All Faiths
Hearing on Anti-Semitism: A Growing Threat to All Faiths House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Testimony of Andrew Srulevitch, European Affairs Director Anti-Defamation League February 27, 2013 Washington, DC Let me offer special thanks on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League and its National Director, Abraham Foxman, to Chairman Smith and all the Members of the Subcommittee for holding this hearing today and for the many hearings, letters, and rallying cries that have kept this issue front and center. Your commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism and your determination to move from concern to action inspires and energizes all of us. The history of the Jewish people is fraught with examples of the worst violations of human rights - forced conversions, expulsions, inquisitions, pogroms, and genocide. The struggle against the persecution of Jews was a touchstone for the creation of some of the foundational human rights instruments and treaties as well as the development of important regional human rights mechanisms like the human dimension commitments of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). We focus today on anti-Semitism but we are mindful that, in advancing the fight against anti- Semitism, we elevate the duty of governments to comply with broader human rights commitments and norms. That is the core of ADL’s mission: to secure justice and fair treatment for Jews in tandem with safeguarding the rights of all groups. Anti-Semitism is a primary concern for the Anti-Defamation League – not just because we are a Jewish community organization, but because anti-Semitism, the oldest and most persistent form of prejudice, threatens security and democracy, and poisons the health of a society as a whole.
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