Speech by Luca Jahier, EESC President at the 543rd
EESC Plenary Session
At the beginning of my mandate as President, I
visited the former concentration camp of Auschwitz- and the time
I spent in this place of indescribable pain and sadness is
something I shall never forget.
It is incomprehensible how humankind, how our diverse and rich
European cultures could commit such an atrocity.
But, as Primo Levi said: “We cannot understand Fascism,
but we can and must understand from where it springs, and we must
be on our guard...because what happened can happen again...For
this reason, it is everyone's duty to reflect on what
happened.”
Recent events are showing us that we must not let down our guard
and believe that the 60 years of peace in Europe are to be taken
for granted. Our Fundamental Rights, which are enshrined in
Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union are not to be taken
for granted.
It is inadmissible that last year saw the largest number of
anti-semitic acts in decades, leading to an increasing sense of
emergency among Jewish communities worldwide.
Anti-Semitic incidents rose by 70 % last year in France, for
example, and 60% in Germany.
In Belgium, 39% of Belgian respondents said they had experienced
anti-semitic harassment in the last year.
This insecurity and fear impacts everyday life: almost a third of
European Jews avoid attending events or visiting Jewish sites
because they do not feel safe.
And it is already impacting our communities and the European
diversity we are proud of: in Belgium, a study by the Fundamental
Rights Agency has revealed that 42% of Belgian Jews had
considered emigrating in the last five years.
Our streets and squares, villages and cities- all public spaces
must be places of exchange and safety for everyone.
Beyond anti-Semitic acts, regrettably, we're also observing a
general rise in intolerance and hatred against other minorities.
A study showed that while 10% of Europeans admitted they had
unfavourable views of Jews, 16% said they had negative views of
LGBTI people, 36% said they had unfavourable views of immigrants,
37% said that about Muslims, and 39% said it of
Roma people.
And this intolerance is perpetuated and increased by social media
bubbles, hyper-connectedness and a growing acceptance of hate
speech on the internet, which translates back into our physical
world.
What can we do to protect the diversity of our cultures and forms
of religious expression, and open culture which lies at the core
of our European identity?
What can we do to counter Antisemitism?
We must act.
Objective data is certainly an important basis, and the European
institutions for example have released two important studies
recently:
- A study named "Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism -
Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in
the EU" was released by the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency in
December 2018;
- and the "Eurobarometer survey on Antisemitism" was released
on 22 January 2019
