Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2015
Fifth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, held at the International Convention Center, Jerusalem, on 12-14 May 2015
| Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2015
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Conference |
| Start date | 12 May 2015 |
| End date | 14 May 2015 |
| Location | International Convention Center, Jerusalem |
| Participants | 1,200 participants from more than 80 countries and seven faith traditions, according to the Latvian foreign ministry and B'nai B'rith; Benjamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett attended the opening |
| Organisers | Held "under the auspices of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs Ministry", according to B'nai B'rith International |
| Outcome | An "Action Plan for Combating Antisemitism 2015 and Beyond", prepared by twelve working groups, and final statements on cyberhate and on antisemitism in Europe, according to the Latvian foreign ministry |
The Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2015 was the 5th International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, held at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem on 12-14 May 2015. B'nai B'rith International reported that it was held "under the auspices of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs Ministry" and that it drew "an unprecedented 1,200 participants from 80 countries and 7 religions".[1] The Latvian foreign ministry likewise wrote that "1,200 concerned global citizens from more than 80 countries and 7 faith traditions" convened in Jerusalem, and that the Forum issued an "Action Plan for Combating Antisemitism 2015 and Beyond", prepared by twelve working groups, together with final statements on "Combating Cyberhate and Antisemitism on the Internet" and on "Combating Antisemitism in Europe".[2] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett, then Minister of Education and Diaspora Affairs, attended the opening.[3][4] The conference chair was not identified in the sources opened for this page.
Date
The conference opened on 12 May 2015 and ended on 14 May 2015, at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.[1][2]
Organisers
B'nai B'rith reported that the Forum was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.[1] In a circular to World Jewish Congress affiliated communities, Robert Singer wrote that "the Foreign Ministry of Israel convened" the conference.[3] The Latvian foreign ministry called the Forum "the premier biennial gathering for assessing the state of antisemitism globally, and formulating effective forms of societal and governmental response".[2]
Attendees
The Latvian foreign ministry and B'nai B'rith both put attendance at 1,200 people from more than 80 countries and seven faith traditions or religions.[2][1] Singer wrote that "most of them were professionals dealing with this issue, but politicians, diplomatic representatives as well as press were also present", and that the World Jewish Congress was represented by Sam Grundwerg, Claudio Epelman, Omri Segelman and himself. He said he had met, among others, German justice minister Heiko Maas, Canadian minister of state for multiculturalism Tim Uppal, Kosovo's deputy foreign minister Petrit Selimi, and Bulgarian education minister Todor Tanev, and that he had given a closing statement on behalf of the World Jewish Congress.[3]
B'nai B'rith, whose delegation was led by executive vice president Daniel S. Mariaschin, reported opening speeches by Netanyahu, Uppal, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, Maas, and Nickolay Mladenov, speaking on behalf of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It also reported an address by Professor Robert Wistrich, head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, and noted that Wistrich died of a heart attack in Rome "less than a week after he spoke to the forum".[1]
Details
Opening addresses
The Algemeiner published a transcript of Netanyahu's opening remarks on 12 May 2015. He welcomed "senior government ministers here from Germany, from Romania, from Bulgaria, from Canada", Bennett, "the Mayor of Paris", "the UN Coordinator for the Peace Process", religious leaders "many from the Muslim community", and ambassadors. He said: "Yet today there is no doubt that we are living in an age of resurgent anti-Semitism." He added that "contemporary anti-Semitism doesn't just slander, vilify and target the Jewish people. It first and foremost today targets the Jewish state."[4] B'nai B'rith quoted the same "resurgent anti-Semitism" passage, and Netanyahu's references to attacks "in Toulouse, in Paris, in Brussels".[1]
According to B'nai B'rith, Hidalgo said that "without Jews, France would not be the same country and Paris would not be the same city" and that "Violence against Jews in France calls for a national reckoning." Maas, it reported, said that "1,500 anti-Semitic criminal offenses were committed in Germany in 2014" and that, "Given our history, the fact that this sort of thing happens in Germany is a disgrace for our country."[1]
Working groups and statements
The Latvian foreign ministry said the concluding documents included the "Action Plan for Combating Antisemitism 2015 and Beyond", "prepared by the twelve permanent Working Groups", and final statements on cyberhate and on antisemitism in Europe.[2] Singer likewise pointed members to those two statements and to his own closing remarks.[3] B'nai B'rith wrote that "nearly a dozen other topics were tackled at the forum through a structure of regional and thematic working groups", and that the working group on internet and media, co-chaired by David Matas, "formulated more than 65 recommendations for service providers, web hosting companies, social media platforms and search engines, governments and non-governmental organizations".[1]
Wistrich, according to B'nai B'rith, questioned the comfort taken from official commitments, saying that "Holocaust imagery and vocabulary are systematically abused today to brand Jews and Israelis as Nazis", and that "along with anti-Zionism and Israel-hatred as the central vector of contemporary anti-Semitism, a parallel phenomenon has emerged of Palestine as a kind of redemptive religion".[1]
See also
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2013
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2018
- Hasbara timeline
- Timeline of initiatives on Holocaust remembrance and antisemitism
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Alan Schneider, Fifth Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism: Will it Stem the Tide of Rising Hatred and Violence? B'nai B'rith International, 16 June 2015, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, The 5th Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism mfa.gov.lv, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Robert Singer, Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism - very short update Lithuanian Jewish Community, 24 May 2015, accessed 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Algemeiner Staff, Full Transcript: Prime Minister Netanyahu's Speech at the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, 2015 (VIDEO) The Algemeiner, 12 May 2015, accessed 2 November 2026.