Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
Forum:
Human Rights Council
Issue:
Reducing anti-Semitic violence and related “hate crimes” in European
states
Student Officer: Jenny Hwang
Position:
President
Introduction
Cases of anti-Semitism and related hate crimes are increasing rapidly in Europe since 2000 such
as “verbal attacks against Jews, vandalism (graffiti), fire bombings of Jewish schools, desecration of
synagogues and cemeteries”. Originally, it was only France and Germany where these hate crimes were
of a huge issue, but anti-Semitism is quickly spreading all over Europe such as Belgium, Austria, and
United Kingdom where cases of physical attacks are increasing at an unprecedented rate. According to
a survey carried out by the Fundamental Rights agency of the European Union, 66% of the participants
felt that anti-Semitism was “on the rise”, 76% said it rose in their country “over the past five years”, and
almost half of the respondents said they were concerned on being verbally or physically assaulted just
because they were Jewish.
Definition of Key Terms
Anti-Semitism
Hostility to, or prejudice against Jews
Hate crime
A crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence
Holocaust
The mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime during 1941-45; more than 6 million
European Jews as well as members of other persecuted groups, were murdered at concentration camps
such as Auschwitz
Neo-Nazi
A member of an organization similar to the German Nazi Party; a person of extreme racist or
nationalist views
Research Report ◆ Page 1 of 6
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
Synagogue
The building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious observance and
instruction
Xenophobia
Intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries
Zionism
A movement for (originally) the re-establishment and the development and (now) protection of a
Jewish nation in what is now Israel.
History
Spread of anti-Semitism 2002
During March and May 2002, massive hate crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions took
place, in which majority of them were committed in France. This was mainly because of the Second
Intifada (Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza), which started in 2000.
According to the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (Human Rights Commission
in France) there were six times more anti-Semitic crimes in 2002 than in 2001, and anti-Semitic crimes
took up 62% of all racist acts in the country (higher than 45% in 2001).
Erection of Nazi statue 2004
During May 2004, despite the protest and opposition from Jewish organizations, Estonia had
erected a statue in order to honor Alfons Rebane, an Estonian SS volunteer and a “Nazi executioner”
who was accused of being responsible for massacring thousands of Jewish Russians between 1941-45.
Radio Maryja 2005
Radio Maryja, a “religious and political socially conservative Polish radio station”, expressed its
anti-Semitic view during the Polish election in September 2005, which included renouncing the facts of
the Jedwabne pogrom in 1941-a massacre carried out during the German occupation of Poland in the
Second World War.
Duma and anti-Semitism 2005
15 members of the State Duma (a legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia and of some
other republics of the former Soviet union) proposed to ban Judaism and Jewish organizations in Russia.
Moreover, in June, 500 eminent Russians had been in protest to outlaw Judaism and demanded the
government to investigate “ancient Jewish texts as anti-Russian”.
Research Report ◆ Page 2 of 6
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
IIan Halimi Incident 2006
In February 2006, IIan Halimi, a French Jew, was abducted and tortured to death for 23 days.
This incidence lead to an international outcry, and eventually caused the Helsinki Commission on 9th of
May to adopt a briefing name: “Tools for Combating Anti-Semitism: Police Training and Holocaust
Education”.
Anti-Semitic incidents during the Gaza War 2008-09
As a response and an act of retaliation to the Gaza War, anti-Semitic violence has increased
greatly during 2008-09 where large number of hate crimes was committed in France and United
Kingdom. These crimes included “firebombing and arson of Jewish buildings, attacks on Jewish
individuals, defacement of synagogues and vandalism”.
Key Issues
Anti-Semitism and Muslim population
Due to the economic and social problems, dispersion of fundamentalist ideas amongst the
Muslim youth, and failure of total integration of Muslim immigrants integration to the European
communities, radicalization has spread within the Muslim communities, especially amongst the youth.
Along with the escalation of tensions between Israeli-Palestinian relationship and the failure of Oslo
peace process, anti-Semitic ideas are now considered to be “normal” concepts. This is a key issue
because the majority of the anti-Semitic crimes are committed by Muslims, such as the 1982 assault on
the Jewish Goldenberg restaurant in Paris by Arab terrorists and the abduction and murder of IIan Halimi
by a Muslim gang in 2006.
Normalization of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism is no longer seen as a serious crime these days; rather people think anti-Semitism
is an acceptable way of thinking. For example, according to the study by Technical University of Berlin in
2013, from the 14,000 hate-mail letters, emails and faxes that were sent to the Israeli embassy in Berlin
and the Central Council of Jews in Germany for the last decade, 60% of them were written by well
educated, middle-class Germans such as professors and lawyers. Moreover, due to the unfiltered nature
of the social media services, shocking images are being uploaded with hashtags such as
#HitlerWasRight, which might lead to indoctrination of viewers later in the years.
Major Parties Involved and Their Views
Research Report ◆ Page 3 of 6
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
As a part of the Council of Europe, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
have called the member states to “ensure that criminal law in the field of combating racism covers antiSemitism” and encouraged them to implement punitive measures to penalize “public incitement to
violence, hatred or discrimination, public insults and defamation, threats against a person or group, and
the expression of anti-Semitic ideologies”. The commission also urged the members to “prosecute
people who deny, trivialize or justify the Holocaust”.
France
In 2003, France ratified the penalty-enhancement hate crime laws for “crimes motivated by bias
against the victim’s actual or perceived ethnicity, nation, race, religion, or sexual orientation”. For
instance, punishments for murder are much harsher for hate crimes (life imprisonment) than non-hate
crimes (30 years).
Germany
Germany’s the German Criminal Code does not have any hate crime legislation; however it does
make hate speeches illicit by putting it under a number of different legislations such as Volksverhetzung.
German chancellor, Angela Merkel, also stated “anyone who attacks a synagogue is attacking the
foundations of our free society”.
Timeline of Relevant Resolutions, Treaties and Events
Date
Description of event
Document of the Copenhagen meeting of the conference on the Human
Dimension of the CSCE-article 40: “The participating States clearly and
June 29, 1990
unequivocally condemn totalitarianism, racial and ethnic hatred, anti-Semitism,
xenophobia and discrimination against anyone as well as persecution on
religious and ideological grounds”.
Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination and convening of a
December 12, 1997
world conference on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance
November 18, 1999
June, 2003
Charter for European Security (Istanbul Summit) – article 19
Vienna Conference: “first high-level conference by an international organization”
that is specifically on anti-Semitism
Research Report ◆ Page 4 of 6
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue
Until recently, there has not been any international effort to resolve this issue due to its
controversial nature; in fact, the session to combat anti-Semitism in the United Nations General
Assembly on the 22nd of January, 2015 was the first ever session devoted to such topic. For instance,
during the 1993, Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, attempts to add “anti-Semitism” to the
Vienna Declaration failed due to the controversy; an effort to discuss on a focused resolution on antiSemitism during General Assembly in 2004 never “made it to the introduction phase” after Germany and
the European Union refused to challenge Arab and Muslim opposition.
Possible Solutions
First of all, monitoring violent hate crimes “in a regular basis” is one of the most important steps
to take. According to the LeGendre of Human Rights First, only 56 nations (one quarter) in the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have suitable systems that can monitor anti-Semitic
crimes. This can be a huge problem as without proper monitoring system, knowledge will be limited, and
hence, decisions to allocate resources efficiently cannot be made.
Secondly, international efforts should be made to punish the perpetrators of violent hate crimes,
as 22 OSCE member states do not have laws to penalize those who committed hate crimes. Consider
imposing “tougher penalties” such as fines and imprisonment.
Next, comprehensive police and judicial authorities trainings can be introduced, in which they will
be taught on how to respond to anti-Semitic violence and deal with the suspects. Education will also be a
good idea to combat anti-Semitism as education on the “history of Jewish communities and the
Holocaust” will allow the people to develop a full understanding on the situation and possibly, will help to
eliminate the normalization process of anti-Semitism.
Bibliography
Bayefsky, Anne. How the UN Mixes Anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and Israeli War Crimes.
2015. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 21 November 2015
Henley, Jon. Antisemitism on rise across Europe 'in worst times since the Nazis'. 2014. The
Guardian. 21 November 2015
Hill, Jenny. Angela Merkel: Fighting anti-Semitism is German duty. 2014. BBC. 21
November 2015
Lipin, Michael. Rights Agencies: Surge in Anti-Semitism Shows Need for Action on Hate
Crimes. 2009. 51VOA. 21 November 2015
Research Report ◆ Page 5 of 6
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
OSCE. Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension
of the CSCE. 1990. OSCE. 21 November 2015
Reuters. Angela Merkel pledges to fight anti-Semitism. 2014. TimesofMalta. 21 November
2015
Toma, Robin S. 2002 Hate Crime Report. 2002. Los Angeles County Commission on Human
Relations. 21 November 2015
Whine, Michael. International Organizations: Combating Anti-Semitism in Europe. 2004.
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 21 November 2015
Research Report ◆ Page 6 of 6