The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), a body of experts of the Council of Europe, has published a catalogue of concrete measures to fight anti-Semitism. The report will now be sent to the governments of the 45-member-strong Council of Europe for further discussion. It emphasizes the need to "give a high priority to the fight against anti-Semitism, taking all necessary measures to combat all of its manifestations, regardless of their origin; ensure that actions aimed at countering anti-Semitism are consistently given their due place amongst actions aimed at countering racism; ensure that the fight against anti-Semitism is carried out at all administrative levels (national, regional, local) and facilitate the involvement of a wide range of actors from different sectors of society in these efforts".
The ECRI also wants racist motivation to constitute an aggravating circumstance for criminal offences, "and that such motivation includes anti-Semitic motivation". "Public denial, trivialization, justification or condoning of the Shoah" as well as the "trivialization, justification or condoning of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes committed against persons on the grounds of their Jewish identity or origin" should be made a criminal offence in all member states of the Council of Europe.
