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Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Executive Director of European Affairs Shannon Seban was honored as a 2026 “Mensch Award” recipient at a ceremony on Friday in Vienna, Austria.
The “Mensch Award” is presented annually by Steve Geiger, who founded the Mensch International Foundation in 2002 to promote tolerant societies where minority rights and the freedoms of speech and worship are safeguarded.
Other Mensch Awardees this year included: Markus Müller, Rector of the Medical University of Vienna; Shmuel Barzilai, Chief Cantor of the Vienna Jewish Community; the late Moritz Hochschild, a businessman who saved the lives of thousands of European Jews during the Holocaust by facilitating their escape to Bolivia; and Wolfgang Sobotka, Former President of the Austrian National Council.
Friday’s event was hosted by Austrian MEP Lukas Mandl, Vice Chair of the European Parliament’s Working Group Against Antisemitism (WGAS).
Papa, en ce 9 mai, ce prix est pour toi. C’est ton cadeau d’anniversaire.
Si l’on m’avait dit un jour que je recevrais le « Mensch Award », je ne l’aurais jamais cru. Et pourtant, ce 8 mai, à la Maison de l’Europe à Vienne, la Mensch International Foundation m’a remis cette… pic.twitter.com/bxB8fvS0Sn
— Shannon Seban (@ShannonSeban) May 9, 2026
In her remarks at the gathering, Seban called the October 7th massacre in Israel a “real turning point” for Jewish communities across the globe.
“Since then, antisemitism has exploded globally, often hiding behind the mask of anti-Zionism,” she said. “Of course, criticism of any government is legitimate in a democracy. But when Jewish people everywhere are collectively held responsible, when synagogues are attacked, when Jewish students feel unsafe, when Jews are told they are unwelcome unless they distance themselves from part of their identity, then this is no longer political debate. It is antisemitism.”
“And today, we face a choice,” she added. “We can stay silent. But silence, in moments like these, becomes a form of acceptance. Or we can speak up, resist, name hatred clearly, and refuse to normalize it. Especially here in Europe. Because Europe carries a particular responsibility. This continent is where the Holocaust was conceived, organized, and executed. That history imposes on all of us a duty of vigilance. It is how quickly it becomes acceptable. How easily it is excused. How often Jewish fear is minimized or dismissed.”
“It is always a warning sign for democracy itself,” Seban noted. “A society that becomes comfortable with hatred against Jews eventually becomes comfortable with hatred against others as well. Which is why this fight is universal. It is about human dignity. It is about democracy. And it is about the kind of society we want future generations to inherit.”
While in Vienna, Seban also met with Austrian Special Envoy on Antisemitism Antonio Martino, and the discussion focused on the implementation of the Austrian government’s recently-adopted National Strategy Against Antisemitism.
À Vienne, rencontre aujourd’hui avec Antonio Martino, envoyé spécial chargé de la lutte contre l’antisémitisme en Autriche.
Échanges autour de la stratégie autrichienne contre l’antisémitisme adoptée en 2021 et de la nécessaire mobilisation européenne pour protéger la vie juive… pic.twitter.com/qW2TYkr18O
— Shannon Seban (@ShannonSeban) May 8, 2026
