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As divided as the member states of the European Union are on some issues, they are united in the fight against anti-Semitism.
The heads of state and government want to adopt a declaration at the next EU summit in December, the aim of which is to establish a uniform approach within the international community against any form of hostility towards Jews.
"It is our constant, shared responsibility to actively protect and support Jewish life," says the draft resolution.
It is under the preamble: "Anti-Semitism is an attack on European values".
The initiative to develop binding guidelines was put on the agenda by Germany, which will hold the EU Council Presidency until the end of the year.
Two years ago the member states committed themselves to national strategies against anti-Semitism.
Felix Klein, Federal Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany
Source: dpa-infocom GmbH
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"Right now in the Covid-19 pandemic, one can observe how anti-Semitic prejudices are being openly lived out online and on the streets," says Felix Klein, the Federal Government's anti-Semitism commissioner.
"It is a great success that all 27 member states want to set such an example in a time of conspiracy theories and breaking taboos."
Klein developed the draft that is due for adoption in consultation with his European colleagues.
In the paper presented to WELT, among other things, it is required to strengthen “awareness of anti-Semitism in all political areas”.
This task is "a cross-cutting issue in which various government agencies and policy areas at local, national and European level should be involved".
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A study by the Israeli foreign ministry at the end of March at the beginning of the pandemic showed how urgently it is necessary to take a close look at anti-Semitic developments.
She came to the conclusion that the corona crisis is being used worldwide to spread anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.
According to the analysis, most of the anti-Semitic statements in connection with the world health crisis were posted online in the USA, France and Germany.
The EU document now available states: "Anti-Semitic conspiracy myths are often the first step that can lead to hatred, hate speech, incitement to violence and hate crimes."
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That is why the heads of state and government and the European Commission want to upgrade the work of the European anti-Semitism commissioners.
Incumbent Katharina von Schnurbein told WELT: “In drawing up the declaration, we worked closely with the Jewish organizations and responsible specialist politicians in Europe.
There is positive progress at the European level, but the effects are not yet reaching the Jewish Europeans.
That is why the EU Commission will present an EU strategy with further concrete measures against anti-Semitism next year. "
Within the member states, the new EU agreement is intended to provide authorities such as public prosecutors and police forces as well as social institutions such as schools in the future as a practicable basis for assessing anti-Jewish efforts.
If anti-Semitism increases, something is rotten in democracy, explains von Schnurbein.
"We have to take countermeasures."
Kim Robin Stoller from the International Institute for Education, Social and Anti-Semitism Research, based in Berlin, has been campaigning for several years to ensure that state institutions define uniformly how anti-Semitism is defined.
The International Alliance for Holocaust Remembrance had already presented such a definition four years ago, which was also adopted by the German government.
This should now also apply as a directive within the member states of the European Union.
“This is an important step.
According to this, not only hostility towards Jews is a form of anti-Semitism, but also denying Israel's right to exist, ”stressed Stoller.