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Coinciding with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and Israeli Community Europe (ICE) hosted last weekend a first-of-its-kind conference in Berlin, Germany, bringing together Israeli expatriates from throughout Europe to be educated on antisemitism and brainstorm ideas for local initiatives to fight rising hatred.
The three-day event — titled “Israelis in Europe Against Antisemitism” — drew around 80 participants representing Israeli communities in 14 European countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland.
Attendees took part in a series of lectures, interactive workshops, and an innovation lab over the course of the forum.
One point of focus was the vital relevance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism to identifying contemporary manifestations of Jew-hatred.
Dr. Felix Klein — Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight Against Antisemitism in Germany — and ICE Founder and CEO Tehila Darmon were among the speakers who addressed the forum in-person, and CAM Advisory Board Chair Natan Sharansky delivered remarks via video.
“In Germany, antisemitic hate crimes have spiked after October 7th,” Klein noted. “This, of course, is unacceptable for the German public, and we will not let this situation become normality here.”
CAM Director of European Affairs Oriana Marie Krüger remarked, “Amid all the excitement and great ideas being developed at this conference, it’s disconcerting, as a German, to witness Israelis in Europe feeling the need to unite to combat antisemitism. This shows even more how much we’ve failed as a society to keep our promise of ‘Never Again.'”
