New call to fight anti-Semitism

2004-04-28 19:39

Berlin - Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel warned European and North American countries on Wednesday that anti-Semitism was on the rise and fervently urged them to keep "the poison from spreading".

The appeal by Wiesel, a survivor of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp, marked the start of a 55-nation conference of foreign ministers called to debate ways to fight anti-Semitism, including more education and stricter law enforcement.

"Stop! Stop a disease that has lasted so long. Stop the poison from spreading," said Wiesel.

Wiesel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his writings on the Holocaust and campaigning against evil in the world, pointed to violence against Jews and desecration of cemeteries in many countries.

Ministers from Europe and United States secretary of state Colin Powell were in Berlin to address the two-day meeting, which follows a rise in anti-Semitic incidents and attacks last year in France, Britain and other European countries.

Call for a powerful message

Held amid extremely tight police security, the gathering of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the third major conference in Europe to address anti-Semitism in the past year.

Wiesel said it was fitting the conference was taking place in the German capital, where the Nazis developed their plans to destroy the world's Jews.

The venue is the German foreign ministry, a huge building that once served as Nazi Germany's central bank.

"It is precisely because it takes place in Berlin that a powerful message... should be composed here," said Wiesel, urging the leaders to send a manifesto against anti-Semitism in all languages to all the people in the world.

Taken steps to protect community

He said he found "particularly contemptuous" comparisons of Israel's treatment of Palestinians to Nazi Germany's atrocities against the Jews.

Simone Veil, a Holocaust survivor who became a French Cabinet minister and president of the European Parliament, said anti-Semitism had grown in France, but that the French government had taken commendable steps to protect Europe's largest Jewish community.

Still, Veil said, "It's less and less a good thing to be Jewish in France or have a Jewish name or even display a Hebrew letter."

The conference's timing has focused attention on eight former Soviet bloc countries that join the European Union on Sunday in a historic healing of Cold War divisions.

Some say the eastern European nations have lagged in tackling anti-Semitism.

- AP