Civil Society Forum on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life

By Rabbi Brian --- In early April I represented the European Union of Progressive Judaism together with Paul Gompes (Vice Chair EU Relations and Projects - see last picture)) at the second Civil Society Forum on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish life which took place in Brussels. The purpose of the forum is to bring Jewish organisations with a European outreach together with representatives of civil society organisations. Together, we explore developments on the two-pronged theme: antisemitism and fostering Jewish life.

Strong EU presence

Introductory sessions included presentations from Katharina von Schnurbein (European Commissioner and Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life) and Magnus Brunner (European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration). They underlined the firm and ongoing commitment of the European Union to secure and promote Jewish life in Europe. Keynote presentations focused on Jewish life in Europe since October 7th 2023, focusing on the statistics generated around antisemitic incidents across the European continent and the UK. The picture as we know is not good and continues to warrant serious concern, in spite of positive and supportive responses from civil society instances including government agencies, police forces and the judiciary.

Workshops on wide range of issues

Workshops on the first day addressed online antisemitism, Holocaust distortion, and radicalization and the security in Jewish communities in Europe. I attended the latter workshop and was impressed by the security work being done by the police here in Belgium, particularly in Antwerp, which has emerged as a sort of gold standard for police forces across the continent. The second day of the conference focused more on the promotion of Jewish life and culture in European with workshops on various themes including rebuilding bridges between Jewish communities and other dialogue partners/allies who fell silent after October 7, the empowerment of teachers and students in educational settings, and safeguarding Jewish heritage and culture.

Jewish life in Europe needs Strong Support

from Civil Society

A concluding plenary session was dedicated to the future of Jewish life in Europe, with for some very ambitious goals. One panelist dreamt out loud of the restoration of the European Jewish community to the scale, prominence and integration it had enjoyed in the early decades of the 20th century. I was conscious that this was a time when Reform Judaism was at its height on the continent. While the panelist in question may have had a more orthodox vision in mind, we agreed that we needed to work together as leaders with complete respect for each other’s Judaism. Others had more modest goals, but all concurred that our future in Europe needs the full support of civil society. Antisemitism is not as such a Jewish problem, but a problem of civil society and it is the responsibility of the latter to address it, online, in schools and universities, in sport, on political podiums, etc. The Jewish communities of Europe need civil society to not only secure and protect, but also to foster and promote.