30 No. 70 JUSTICE hockingly, immediately after October 7, 2023, many places around the world, including parts of Europe, were flooded by a wave of ferocious antisemitism, replete with calls for the “slaughter of Jews” in the streets of Paris, Berlin, and London. One of the countless examples of this virulent antisemitism was when a lecturer accosted Jewish students who were handing out posters with pictures of those kidnapped by the murderous Hamas. He shouted, “go back to Poland, sharmuta” (“wh*re” in Arabic). This serves as just one illustration of an emerging phenomenon: antisemitic attacks are no longer disguised as criticism of the State of Israel and its military actions, but rather outright, public support of anti-Jewish pogroms and the most brutal crimes committed by Hamas.1 The emotions caused by this unprecedented outburst of hatred are often those of fear and helplessness. To overcome them, it is necessary to take action and not to remain passive. For lawyers and legal scholars, the response should be the initiation of concrete legal actions and production of legal analyses that address how the law, including international human rights law, can be used to combat the “oldest hatred,” as antisemitism was famously coined by Robert S. Wistrich.2 Human Rights Narratives and Distortions PostOctober 7 In the three months since the Hamas pogrom against the Jewish People, we have witnessed the so-called “Palestinian side” effectively overtake the narrative surrounding the preservation of human rights, including in its strictly legal dimension. According to this narrative, Palestinians are the only victims of human rights violations, specifically those caused by Israel's response to the unnamed, unidentified actions of Hamas. Also, the United Nations (UN) and its affiliated bodies and organizations have remained passive in the face of appalling evidence of crimes, including rape and murder against Jews.3 The infamous example of UN Women, discredited today by its total of seven weeks of silence in the face of sexual crimes committed against Jewish women, is just one of the instances of the practice of denying Jewish people protection within a system that rose from the ashes of Holocaust victims. The antisemitism of the “Palestinian side” represents a form of hatred that the UN and its member states are obligated to combat, yet it goes unnoticed. Instead, some of the UN affiliated special procedures and their experts' actions are focused on signing letters which suggest that Israel is committing genocide, while using language and reasoning that falls outside the accepted meaning of “genocide” in international law.4 In this reality, the European system for the protection of human rights, which is generally much more efficient and fulfilling, becomes a viable and effective alternative to the UN system, which, vis-à-vis Israel, has long ceased to be a shield against hatred and discrimination. Fighting Antisemitism in Europe with the Law One distinctive feature of the Council of Europe's (CoE) effort to combat antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia, is that this goal is deeply embedded in the European approach to human rights protection. In this way, fighting against various forms of racism becomes an integral part of guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of individuals European Law and the Protection of Rights of the Jewish People S Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias 1. Danielle Greyman-Kennard, “‘Go back to Poland, sharmuta,’ Montreal professor tells Jewish students,” JERUSALEM POST, Nov. 10, 2023, accessed Dec. 7, 2023, available at https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/ antisemitism/article-772592 2. Robert S. Wistrich, ANTISEMITISM: THE LONGEST HATRED (NY: First Ed., 1991). 3. Amy Spiro, Jakob Magid, Carrie Keller-Lynn, “After 7 weeks of silence, UN chief calls to investigate Hamas sex crimes on Oct 7,” TIMES OF ISRAEL, Nov. 30, 2023, accessed Dec. 7, 2023, available at https://www.timesofisrael.com/ after-7-weeks-of-silence-un-chief-calls-to-investigate-hamassex-crimes-on-oct-7/ 4. UN press release, Nov. 16, 2023, available at https://www. ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/11/gaza-un-expertscall-international-community-prevent-genocide-against
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