[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 11 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 11

 Condemning all forms of anti-Semitism and reaffirming the support of 
  Congress for the mandate of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat 
                 Anti-Semitism, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2009

    Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Risch, Ms. 
 Mikulski, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
Sanders, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Casey, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Kyl, Mrs. 
Gillibrand, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Shelby, Mrs. 
   Murray, Mr. Barrasso, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Brown, Mr. 
   Specter, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. 
Alexander, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Thune, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Dorgan, 
   Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Kerry, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
     Whitehouse, Mr. Corker, and Mr. Burr) submitted the following 
 concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning all forms of anti-Semitism and reaffirming the support of 
  Congress for the mandate of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat 
                 Anti-Semitism, and for other purposes.

Whereas the United States Government has consistently supported efforts to 
        address the rise in anti-Semitism through its bilateral relationships 
        and through engagement in international organizations such as the United 
        Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), 
        and the Organization of American States;
Whereas, in 2004, Congress passed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act (Public 
        Law 108-332), which established an Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-
        Semitism, headed by a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism;
Whereas the Department of State, the Office for Democratic Institutions and 
        Human Rights of the OSCE, and others have reported that periods of Arab-
        Israeli tension have sparked an increase in attacks against Jewish 
        communities around the world and comparisons of policies of the 
        Government of Israel to those of the Nazis and that, despite growing 
        efforts by governments to promote Holocaust remembrance, the Holocaust 
        is frequently invoked as part of anti-Semitic harassment to threaten and 
        offend Jews;
Whereas, since the commencement of Israel's military operation in Gaza on 
        December 27, 2008, a substantial increase in anti-Semitic violence, 
        including physical and verbal attacks, arson, and vandalism against 
        synagogues, cemeteries, and Holocaust memorial sites, has been reported;
Whereas, among many other examples of the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism around 
        the world, over 220 anti-Semitic incidents have been reported to the 
        Community Security Trust in London since December 27, 2008, 
        approximately eight times the number recorded during the same period 
        last year, and the main Jewish association in France, Counsel 
        Representatif des Institutions Juives de France, recorded more than 100 
        attacks in January, including car bombs launched at synagogues, a 
        difference from 20 to 25 a month for the previous year;
Whereas, interspersed with expressions of legitimate criticism of Israeli policy 
        and actions, anti-Semitic imagery and comparisons of Jews and Israel to 
        Nazis have been widespread at demonstrations in the United States, 
        Europe, and Latin America against Israel's actions, and placards held at 
        many demonstrations across the globe have compared Israeli leaders to 
        Nazis, accused Israel of carrying out a ``Holocaust'' against 
        Palestinians, and equated the Jewish Star of David with the Nazi 
        swastika;
Whereas, in some countries, demonstrations have included chants of ``death to 
        Israel,'' expressions of support for suicide terrorism against Israeli 
        or Jewish civilians, and have been followed by violence and vandalism 
        against synagogues and Jewish institutions;
Whereas some government leaders have exemplified courage and resolve against 
        this trend, including President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who said he 
        ``utterly condemned the unacceptable violence, under the pretext of this 
        conflict, against individuals, private property, and religious 
        buildings,'' and assured ``that these acts would not go unpunished,'' 
        Justice Minister of the Netherlands Ernst Hirsch Ballin, who announced 
        on January 14, 2009, that he would investigate allegations of anti-
        Semitism and incitement to hatred and violence at anti-Israel 
        demonstrations, and parliamentarians who have voiced concern, such as 
        the British Parliament's All-Party Group Against Anti-Semitism, which 
        expressed its ``horror as a wave of anti-Semitic incidents has affected 
        the Jewish community'';
Whereas, despite these actions, too few government leaders in Europe, the Middle 
        East, and Latin America have taken action against the anti-Semitic 
        environments in their countries and in some cases have even promoted 
        violence;
Whereas other leaders have made hostile pronouncements against Israel and Jews, 
        including the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, who called Israel's 
        actions a ``Holocaust against the Palestinian people'' and singled out 
        Venezuela's Jewish community, demanding that they publicly renounce 
        Israel's ``barbaric acts'' and in so doing implying that the Jewish 
        community is co-responsible for any actions by the Government of Israel 
        and thus a legitimate target, the leader of Hamas, Mahmoud al-Zahar, who 
        recently called for Jewish children to be attacked around the world, and 
        the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, who vowed to confer 
        the status of ``martyr'' on ``anyone who dies in this holy struggle 
        against World Zionism'';
Whereas incitement to violence against Jews also continues in state-run media, 
        particularly in the Middle East, where government-owned, government-
        sanctioned, or government-controlled publishing houses publish 
        newspapers which promulgate anti-Jewish stereotypes and the myth of the 
        Jewish blood libels in editorial cartoons and articles, produce and 
        broadcast anti-Semitic dramatic and documentary series, and produce 
        Arabic translations of anti-Semitic tracts such as ``The Protocols of 
        the Elders of Zion'' and ``Mein Kampf'';
Whereas Jewish communities face an environment in which the convergence of anti-
        Semitic sentiment and demonization of Israel in the public debate have 
        fostered a hostile environment and a sense of global insecurity, 
        especially in places such as Belgium, Argentina, Venezuela, Spain, and 
        South Africa;
Whereas, in response, the United States Government and other governments and 
        multilateral institutions have supported international government and 
        civil society efforts to monitor and report on anti-Semitic activities 
        and introduce preventive initiatives such as tolerance education and 
        Holocaust Remembrance; and
Whereas challenges still remain, with the governments of many countries failing 
        to implement and fund preventive efforts, accurately track and report 
        anti-Semitic crimes, and prosecute offenders: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) unequivocally condemns all forms of anti-Semitism and 
        rejects attempts to rationalize anti-Jewish hatred or attacks 
        as a justifiable expression of disaffection or frustration over 
        political events in the Middle East or elsewhere;
            (2) decries the comparison of Jews to Nazis perpetrating a 
        Holocaust or genocide as a pernicious form of anti-Semitism, an 
        insult to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, 
        and an affront both to those who survived and the righteous 
        gentiles who saved Jewish lives at peril to their own and who 
        fought to defeat the Nazis;
            (3) calls on leaders to speak out against manifestations of 
        anti-Semitism that have entered the public debate about the 
        Middle East;
            (4) applauds those foreign leaders who have condemned anti-
        Semitic acts and calls on those who have yet to take firm 
        action against anti-Semitism in their countries to do so;
            (5) reaffirms its support for the mandate of the Special 
        Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism; and
            (6) urges the Secretary of State--
                    (A) to maintain the fight against anti-Semitism as 
                a foreign policy priority of the Untied States and to 
                convey the concerns of the United States Government in 
                bilateral meetings;
                    (B) to continue to raise with United States allies 
                in the Middle East their failure to halt incitement to 
                violence against Jews, including through the use of 
                government-run media;
                    (C) to urge governments to promote tolerance 
                education and establish mechanisms to monitor, 
                investigate, and punish anti-Semitic crimes, including 
                through utilization of the education, law enforcement 
                training, and civil society capacity building 
                initiatives of the Tolerance and Non-discrimination 
                Department of the Organization for Security and 
                Cooperation in Europe (OSCE);
                    (D) to swiftly appoint the Special Envoy to Monitor 
                and Combat Anti-Semitism of the Department of State;
                    (E) to ensure that Department of State Annual 
                Country Reports on Human Rights and International 
                Religious Freedom Reports continue to report on 
                incidents of anti-Semitism and the efforts of foreign 
                governments to address the problem;
                    (F) to provide necessary training and tools for 
                United States embassies and missions to recognize these 
                trends; and
                    (G) to ensure that initiatives of the United States 
                Government to train law enforcement abroad incorporate 
                tools to address anti-Semitism.
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