12 No. 59 JUSTICE 30. Council of Europe General Policy Recommendation No.9, ECRI, 2004, available at https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/ monitoring/ecri/activities/GPR/EN/Recommendation_ N9/Rec.09%20en.pdf (last visited April 20, 2017). 31. SACC by EJC opens its first office in Vienna to meet European Jewish community’s security challenges, European Jewish Congress, Sept. 26, 2016, available at http://www.eurojewcong.org/EJC%20In%20Action/15627sacc-by-ejc-opens-its-first-office-in-vienna-to-meeteuropean-jewish-communitys-security-challenges.html (last visited April 20, 2017). 32. Building Resilient Communities, European Council of Jewish Communities, available at http://www.ecjc.org building-resilient-communities (last visited April 20, 2017). publishing five yearly country reports, policy guidance notes on related general themes, convening regular meetings with "specialized human rights bodies" (i.e. national human rights commissions and Ombudsman’s offices) and "round table" meetings with civil society organizations. During 2016, ECRI revised its 2004 General Policy Recommendation No. 9 on The Fight Against Antisemitism, as part of a project to publish attractively produced, short versions of its lengthy general policy recommendations to governments, and to disseminate them to the media and civil society. Previously, they tended to be seen only by member states and other IGOs. The publication on antisemitism is to be disseminated, as part of a series of shortened general policy recommendations, during 2017.30 In parallel to these activities, European Jewish institutions have also established new response mechanisms to rising tensions and threats. The European Jewish Congress Security and Crisis Centre, which opened in Vienna during the course of 2016, offers advice and training on managing crises, and the World Jewish Congress created a similar institution for communities elsewhere.31 A two-day conference on crisis management and community resilience-building was held in Barcelona in November 2016 for European Jewish leaders organized by the European Council of Jewish Communities, in partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, at which community leaders were coached on leading their communities during crises.32 Conclusion The European IGOs' understanding of the evolving nature of antisemitism has been developing since 2003, when the OSCE held its first High Level Meeting on Antisemitism in Vienna. At that time, the international community was disinclined to label the meeting a full conference, for fear of singling out antisemitism among other forms of intolerance, and suggesting that any hierarchy existed. This has never been the argument advanced by Jewish organizations. What they have argued for is the singularity of antisemitism, due to its longevity, evolving nature from religious to racial and finally, to political hatred, culminating in genocide, which warrants particular attention and remedies. The antisemitic core at the heart of Islamism and jihadi terror, which has led to IS and Al Qaeda attacks against Jews, has added weight to Jewish claims, and is finally receiving the particular attention it deserves. The IGOs and European governments now appear to recognize their responsibilities towards their Jewish citizens, and are pledged to improving their protection. Of course, the threats arise at a time when racist violence has risen as a consequence of other factors, including economic, political and populist reactions to economic distress and large scale migration to Europe from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Now for the first time, commitments to take coordinated and effective action are being given some meaning, with the recognition that Jewish communities require extra attention. European leaders have also been worried that Jews no longer trust European or national institutions to understand or deal professionally with the threats that confront them, or that states are capable of overcoming their political reservations and inertia to take effective counter action against antisemitism. But the threat of thousands of Jews leaving states which are pledged to guarantee human rights and uphold basic freedom, strikes at the heart of post-war Europe and undermines many of the lessons that might have been learned from the Holocaust. The Words into Action program refocused hate crime training for EU police officers and prosecutors and the disciplinary measures agreed upon with the social networks by EU Code of Conduct indicate the seriousness with which European policy makers now view threats to Jewish life. They see that these are also threats to everyone, undermine European cohesion and security and risk undoing the positive gains made since 1945. It remains to be seen whether states pursue these new initiatives with appropriate commitment and funding, at a time when Europe faces political and economic challenges that threaten the very nature of Europe. The prospects now however appear to be better than they were previously. n Michael Whine MBE is Government and International Affairs Director at the Community Security Trust, and the UK Member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) at the Council of Europe. He is also a member of the Hate Crime Independent Advisory Group of the UKGovernment.
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