How serious is anti-Semitism in Western Europe? Does neo-Nazism pose a threat to democratic values in the European Economic Community (EEC) countries? These questions were the subject of sharp debate a week ago at the annual meeting of the governing body of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), the international movement of Reform Judaism.
Simone Weil, a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz who now serves as president of the European Parliament, told the WUPJ: “We must not be misled by international acts of terrorism that may come from the extreme Right or extreme Left. We must not blame a nation for these acts. If we do, we become victims of a provocation and put ourselves outside our national communities.”
But a more pessimistic position was expressed by Gerard Daniel, president of the WUPJ, who had recently completed a swing through West Germany The Netherlands and France. Daniel, a New Yorker fluent in several European languages, said bluntly: “Anti-Semitism has resurfaced in Europe. The attacks have not stopped in the past year. On the contrary, they’ve increased. We are very, very concerned.”
Daniel said the WUPJ had chosen France for its annual meeting this year for the first time “to manifest our concern about the rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe.” Some 110 representatives took part in the meeting of the WUPJ, which represents Reform Jews in 27 countires.
DIFFERENT ASSESSMENTS OFFERED
In her address to the meeting, Ms. Weil cautioned that “Jews should not view France as an anti Semitic nation.” She downplayed reports of rising neo-Nazi sentiment in Western Europe, asserting that these were “fringe” groups whose views did not represent more than a handful of Europeans. And she cautioned against any action by Jewish groups that would result in “isolating” the Jewish community from other citizens “in lands where we are fully integrated.”
Daniel drew a distinction between The Nether lands and the rest of Western Europe. He reported that Queen Juliana had attended a meeting in Amsterdam marking the 50th anniversary of the Reform movement in that country and that the Mayor of Amsterdam as well as the Dutch Minister of Justice had taken part. “All of the Dutch officials with whom I met — as well as the leaders of the Reform movement in The Netherlands — voiced confidence that anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism were not problems in the country,” he said.
As for France, West Germany, Austria and Belgium, however, Daniel added, “the reports we have received from our delegates indicate the problem is growing worse.”
As a result, the WUPJ delegates adopted a series of resolutions urging European governments to “repudiate with the utmost clarity and determination … attempted revivals of an anti-Semitic past, which disfigures the history of Western civilization” and urged “our brothers and sisters of the Christian churches and all organizations devoted to the integrity and welfare of humanity to use all their strength to uproot the evils of anti-Semitism.”
Bombing attacks against three European synagogues have killed eight people and injured 131 others since October 1980. The most recent of the bombing attacks occurred Oct. 20 in Antwerp. Two people were killed and 100 injured when a bomb exploded outside a synagogue in the diamond district of Antwerp. There have been no arrests.
Three Palestinians were arrested in the bombing of a synagogue Aug. 29 in Vienna. The bomb and grenade attack killed two people and injured 20. Last week an Armenian was taken into custody by French police in connection with the October 1980 bombing of the Reform synagogue on the Rue Copernic in Paris that killed four people and injured 12.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
