GENEVA - World Jewish Congress Jewish Diplomat Caroline Berdugo delivered a statement on the United Nations Human Rights Council floor last week on behalf of the WJC, asking the council to recognize that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are one and the same.
“On March 23rd, Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, was brutally murdered in her apartment in Paris because she was Jewish.
My name is Caroline Berdugo, I was born and raised in Paris and I am a Jew. Mireille Knoll could have been my grandmother. Mireille Knoll is my grandmother. Mireille Knoll is our grandmother.
In the past 20 years, 12 Jews have been murdered in France because they were Jewish. This must be a wake-up call for every single person that cares about human rights.
However, in order to be able to combat this scourge which is increasingly plaguing democratic societies, it is important to understand the threat we are facing. Today, Jewish communities are increasingly targeted by anti-Zionism, which is a new manifestation of anti-Semitism. Their common thread is hatred of Jews and their common goal is to deprive the Jewish people from the rights enjoyed by any other citizen.
As eloquently stated by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder: “anyone who challenges the Jewish right to self-determination is an anti-Semite, and anyone who believes that it is even remotely acceptable to lash out at Jews amid criticism of the Jewish state is an anti-Semite”.
In this regard, we applaud President Macron for recognizing, in a statement made last year, that “anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are two sides of the same coin.”
We therefore urge the Council to adopt similar language, recognizing that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are one and the same. Indeed, correctly naming a disease is the first step to eliminate it.”
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.