GENEVA - World Jewish Congress Jewish Diplomat Caroline Berdugo delivered a statement on the United Nations Human Rights Council floor on July 3 on behalf of the WJC, asking the council to prioritize the fight against anti-Semitism on the global human rights agenda.
“Last week, senior representatives of over 50 Jewish communities met under the umbrella of the World Jewish Congress at the 5th National Community Directors Forum, to share knowledge and best practices for successful engagement in both national and international arenas. With the levels of anti-Semitism reaching record highs, as noted in the report of the Special Rapporteur, anti-Semitism was one of the main focus areas of the discussions.
"During a roundtable that was organized as part of the Directors Forum, several top Jewish professionals of WJC’s affiliated communities, highlighted that anti-Semitism is not only a direct threat against Jews, but is an attack on democracy and all the values that its represents. Indeed, the contemporary resurgence of this millennial-old hatred is an affront to all the ideals embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted 70 years ago, after the horrors of the Second World War.
"Therefore, the fight against anti-Semitism must be a shared commitment by all and a priority on the global human rights agenda. In this regard, we commend the Special Rapporteur for addressing, in her report, the ties between anti-Semitism and Neo-Nazi groups and share her concern about their growing appeal both off and online and the danger these groups pose to all minorities. We wish to stress, that unfortunately, anti-Semitism does not only come from the extreme right-wing fringes of society and must be addressed and combatted in all its manifestations.
"We also wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Hungary and all the countries that co-sponsored the earlier joint statement on anti-Semitism. For many years, the World Jewish Congress has repeatedly called for the Human Rights Council to address this scourge with greater vigor. The joint statement made today delivers a strong message that anti-Semitism is indeed a concern to all that must be combatted by all."
Berdugo delivered three statements to this UNHRC session, including two on Item 9 dealing with racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance and one on Item 7, a permanent agenda item on Israel. Members of the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps, the flagship diplomacy program of the WJC, have delivered over 60 statements at the UNHRC in the past 4 years on combating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism and in defense of minority and human rights.