Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2003
First meeting of the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism, convened in Jerusalem in 2003 by Natan Sharansky
| Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2003
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Conference |
| Start date | 2003 |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Participants | Heads of the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the World Jewish Congress, and Jewish leaders from the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Russia and Australia, according to Sharansky |
| Organisers | Natan Sharansky, Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs; coordinator David M. Weinberg |
The Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2003 was the first meeting of the body later known as the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, then called the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism. It was held in Jerusalem in 2003 and was convened by Natan Sharansky as Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, with David M. Weinberg as coordinator. No source opened for this page gives an exact date or a more precise venue.[1][2][3]
Date and organisers
David M. Weinberg, who writes that he was the Forum's coordinator, says that Natan Sharansky, as Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, "in 2003 he founded the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism". Elsewhere Weinberg describes himself as its coordinator.[1][2] In a biographical note to a 2004 article, Sharansky likewise wrote that "In 2003 he founded the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism, which brings together Jewish leaders and organizations from five continents for coordination and consultation in the struggle against anti-Semitism."[4]
The Forum's later website and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead dated the founding to 2000 and named Sharansky and Rabbi Michael Melchior as the founders. The website said the Forum was "established in 2000 by former ministers Natan Sharanky [sic] and Rabbi Michael Melchior".[5] The ministry's 2013 conference page said the same, adding that the Forum had "since been consolidated by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs".[6] The ministry also wrote that "The GFCA's first large International Conference took place in 2007, 2008 and 2009".[6]
Attendees
In a contemporary article, Sharansky wrote: "For the first time, a global forum was convened by the State of Israel to address the dangers posed by the recent explosion of anti-Semitism across the world." He named among the "participants from abroad" the heads of the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the World Jewish Congress, "and Jewish leaders from the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Russia, Australia and elsewhere". He added that Israeli participants "represented an equally impressive array of individuals and organizations who have been at the forefront of this important struggle".[3]
Details
Sharansky wrote that "the State of Israel has decided to take the gloves off". He said an "anti-Semitic disease that has spread like wildfire across the globe demands a global response", and that he had been "extremely pleased by the response from many of the leading forces in the struggle against anti-Semitism to my recent invitation to establish a forum that would begin implementing a coordinated counteroffensive". He added that those who attended "agreed that combating this sophisticated and varied anti-Semitism requires a coordinated, systematic and proactive campaign" and that "The State of Israel will not remain on the sidelines during this campaign. It will play, as it always should, a central role in defending the Jewish people."[3]
Weinberg later wrote that Sharansky's "leadership and heroic global reputation made the Global Forum into a focused and super-effective coordinating body of Jewish leaders, intellectuals and organizations". He wrote that Sharansky "focused attention on 'new anti-Semitism', which aims to emasculate the Jewish People by whittling away at the Jewish State", and developed a "3D test" of "demonization, double standards and delegitimization".[1]
See also
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism January 2004
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism October 2004
- Hasbara timeline
- Timeline of initiatives on Holocaust remembrance and antisemitism
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 David M. Weinberg, The Global Forum: A profligate potpourri of anti-Semitic challenges davidmweinberg.com, 23 March 2018 (also published in the Jerusalem Post, 22 March 2018), accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 David M. Weinberg, Israel's role in the struggle against anti-Semitism davidmweinberg.com, 1 November 2018, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Natan Sharansky, Fighting Anti-Semitism: Europe-Mideast JewishPost.com, undated (c. 2003), accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Natan Sharansky, 3D Test of Anti-Semitism: Demonization, Double Standards, Delegitimization Jewish Political Studies Review 16:3-4 (Fall 2004), Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, About Us gfantisemitism.org, Internet Archive capture of 6 March 2012, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism - 4th International Conference May 2013 mfa.gov.il, Internet Archive capture of 8 March 2013, accessed 2 November 2026.