Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism October 2004
Meeting of the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism which opened in Jerusalem on 26 October 2004
| Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism October 2004
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Conference |
| Start date | 26 October 2004 |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Participants | Nicole Guedj, France's deputy minister for victims, spoke, according to Manfred Gerstenfeld |
| Organisers | Natan Sharansky, Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs |
The Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism October 2004 was a meeting of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, then called the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism, which opened in Jerusalem on the evening of 26 October 2004.[1] David M. Weinberg, who writes that he was the Forum's coordinator, later described this gathering, with the January 2004 meeting, as one of the "second and third Global Forum meetings" at which Natan Sharansky "focused attention on radical Islamist and Arab anti-Semitism, and on Palestinian anti-Semitism".[2][3] No contemporaneous report of the proceedings themselves was found for this page, beyond an advance commentary and a later account of one speech.
Date
A commentary reproduced by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress on 26 October 2004 referred to "the Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism which opens Tuesday evening in Jerusalem". 26 October 2004 was a Tuesday.[1] A more precise venue, and the closing date of the meeting, were not established from the sources opened for this page.
Organisers
The Forum was at this time still associated with Natan Sharansky as Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs. In a biographical note published that month, Sharansky was described as having "founded the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism" in 2003.[4] Weinberg, the Forum's coordinator in Sharansky's time, treats the October 2004 meeting as the third of Sharansky's gatherings.[2][3]
Attendees
Manfred Gerstenfeld later wrote that in October 2004 Nicole Guedj, "France's Jewish deputy minister for victims, stated at the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem that France intends to lead the European battle against anti-Semitism."[5] A fuller list of participants was not found.
Details
The unsigned commentary reproduced by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress on the opening day began: "There will be little cause for celebration at the Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism which opens Tuesday evening in Jerusalem." Its author, writing in the first person, said "in fighting Jew-hatred we have been misdirecting some of our energies", and referred to "ground-breaking international conferences held this year in Brussels, Berlin and New York". The copy retrieved for this page was truncated after the author wrote that "even European leaders have begun expressing alarm over" the problem they had until recently denied.[1]
Gerstenfeld wrote that when he challenged Guedj at the meeting "about France's leading role in simultaneously fostering" antisemitism, "she did not deny the facts but replied that Jews should not look backward but to the future".[5]
Weinberg later wrote that at the "second and third Global Forum meetings" Sharansky "wasn't prepared to gloss over" radical Islamist, Arab and Palestinian antisemitism, "especially since satanic imagery about Jews and Israel became commonplace in the Palestinian media and was directly leading to violence".[2]
See also
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2003
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism January 2004
- Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2007
- Hasbara timeline
- Timeline of initiatives on Holocaust remembrance and antisemitism
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, There will be little cause for celebration at the Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism which opens Tuesday evening in Jerusalem World Jewish News, 26 October 2004, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 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.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 David M. Weinberg, Israel's role in the struggle against anti-Semitism davidmweinberg.com, 1 November 2018, 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.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Manfred Gerstenfeld, European Politics: Double Standards Toward Israel Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 30 October 2005, accessed 10 November 2026.