JUSTICE - No. 65

2 No. 65 JUSTICE or the first time, our Association is holding a conference without an audience in presence, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But every cloud has a silver lining — a record number of participants from a record number of countries are taking part virtually in this Congress. I hope that we will be together again in person for the next Congress, but we will learn from this occasion how to allow as many people as possible to join and to actively participate in our Congress from afar in the future. A year ago, we marked the 50 th anniversary of the establishment of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers (IJL), which was founded in Jerusalem 51 years ago. Today, the IJL is still the leading Jewish-legal organization in the world. I am proud to continue on the path paved by the Presidents of this Association since its establishment: all of them legal giants, and fighters for legal rights of the Jewish People and the State of Israel. I was elected President of the IJL exactly three years ago. It was, and continues to be, a great honor for me. At the same time, this honor carries a heavy responsibility to defend our people and our country. For me personally, this is first and foremost an obligation that I owe to my late parents, Ita and Mordecai Linzen, may their memory be blessed, who were persecuted in ghettos, in labor camps and in Nazi extermination camps in Poland, and who lost hundreds of family members killed by the Nazis. My parents had no one to turn to for help during that terrible time. Thankfully, they managed to survive, to see the establishment of the State of Israel, to make aliyah to Israel, to marry and to establish a family. I am, if you will, the son of “brands plucked from the burning fire,”and I feel an obligation to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust, to combat antisemitism wherever it may be found, and to fight against attempts to delegitimize the State of Israel. As President of the Association, I was honored to take part in the events commemorating the 75 th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, as well as the 75 th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. My mother, Ita, of blessed memory, was deported to the Warsaw Ghetto and then was an inmate at Auschwitz. As President of the Association, I have continued to follow the path of the distinguished line of past Presidents of the Association. I will mention here only my immediate predecessor, Irit Kohn, who gave me the opportunity to get to know this special organization, prepared me for my responsibilities as President, and has supported me throughout. Each president has his or her own personality and his or her own focus. During my own presidency, I have focused on legal proceedings in national courts, both civil and constitutional courts, and in supra-national tribunals in Europe (EU) and on the international plane (ICC). At the same time, we have continued the active representation of the Association in other international forums, and in particular the forums of the United Nations. I will not present details of the specific cases with which we have dealt, but I will point out the main issues in which we have been involved: n Proceedings in the Polish Constitutional Court against the“Polish law.” n Proceedings in the United States Supreme Court, together with our American association, in connection with restoration of Jewish property in Hungary. n Proceedings in courts in Europe, particularly Poland and Italy, against instances of antisemitism, and defending from persecution those who are fighting antisemitism in these countries. n Legal proceedings against antisemitic incitement on social media in Germany, as a model for similar activities in other countries. n Proceedings in the European Court of Justice against legislation in Belgium outlawing kosher slaughter President ’ s Message F Meir Linzen Photo: Ami Erlich Opening Address at the IJL 17 th Congress