B'nai B'rith protests against EU envoy
Reprinted with the Permision of The Jerusalem Post

B'nai B'rith Europe has sent a letter of protest to EU officials Javier Solana and Chris Patten censuring the EU's ambassador to Israel for comments they said downplayed anti-Semitism in Europe.

In comments made at a press briefing carried by The Jerusalem Post, Giancarlo Chevallard said while he can't say whether there has been an increase in European anti-Semitism, there has definitely been an increase in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab feeling on the continent.

The letter, signed by Dr. David Levy-Bentolia, the president of B'nai B'rith Europe and a resident of Nice, said the organization read with "disbelief" reports that Chevallard stated that "he could not agree" that there had been any increase in European anti-Semitism.

The letter said that Chevallard's statement "indicated either a lack of information and, in any case total disrespect towards the hundreds of victims of anti-Semitic attacks that have occurred across Europe since October 2000."

"In an atmosphere in which every single Jewish community in Europe is reporting on increased attacks to person and property, in which the EU itself is now trying to hide and discredit its own damning report about increased anti-Semitism in Europe, in which European cultural icons can express Nazi-like Jew-baiting without compunction, and in which rabbis implore their congregants not to wear religious dress in public, we strongly feel that such comments as those made by the Ambassador cannot be ignored," read the letter.

The letter called upon Patten and Solana to "ask Ambassador Chevallard to learn about the very real anti-Semitism that is plaguing Jewish communities across Europe. We will be pleased to arrange a meeting itinerary for him that will allow him to grasp the entire scope of the threat experienced by Jewish communities and individuals in Europe."

Alan Schneider, director of the B'nai B'rith Center in Jerusalem, said that his organization decided to react because, "You can't be silent when plain facts are ignored.

As much as Europeans may want to hide what is happening in Europe in terms of anti-Semitism, we can't let these statements stand and not respond." Chevallard responded by saying that he read out at his press briefing a statement made by the European Commission President Romano Prodi after the publication of the Eurobarometer poll on world peace.

This statement read, "I am very concerned by the results of this survey. They point to the continued existence of a bias that must be condemned out of hand. To the extent that this may indicate a deeper, more general prejudice against the Jewish world, our repugnance is even more radical. In the Europe born in the horrors of war and the Shoah there is no place for anti-Semitism and it cannot be tolerated."

Chevallard said he read out this statement "as an indication of how seriously the EU is taking the issue of anti-Semitism and the high level at which this phenomenon is being addressed.

"When I was asked whether there is an increase in anti-Semitism in Europe as opposed to criticism of Israeli policies, my response was indeed that it is difficult to say," Chevallard said.

"I said this because the line distinguishing anti-Semitism from criticism of Israeli policies is often elusive and it is not for me to define it.

I would however like to take this opportunity to state as a matter of fundamental principle that physical or verbal attacks against Jews in Europe are repulsive and intolerable and that the EU has and will always condemn them and take steps against them."