[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S3173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S3173]]
                  STATEMENTS ON SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 248--CONCERNING THE RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE

  Mr. CORZINE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 248

       Whereas there has been a significant rise in anti-Semitic 
     attacks on Jewish people and Jewish institutions in Europe 
     during the last 18 months;
       Whereas the continued violence in the Middle East has 
     fueled anti-Semitic sentiments in Europe;
       Whereas on March 31, 2002, the Or Aviv synagogue in 
     Marseille, France, was burned to the ground by anti-Semitic 
     arsonists;
       Whereas on March 30, 2002, Shneur Zalman Teldon and Zev 
     Goldberg, Yeshiva students from New Jersey, were brutally 
     beaten on the streets of Berlin, Germany, in an anti-Semitic 
     attack;
       Whereas in April 2002, supporters of Swiss Ambassador to 
     Germany, Thomas Borer, alleged that he was removed from his 
     post as a result of a ``Jewish plot'' against him;
       Whereas in Belgium, many anti-Semitic attacks have been 
     reported against Jewish institutions, including a gasoline 
     bomb attack on a Brussels synagogue;
       Whereas on April 11, 2002, in Bondy, France, 15 hooded 
     attackers wielding sticks and metal bars assaulted a teen-age 
     soccer team from the Maccabi Bondy association after making 
     anti-Semitic remarks; and
       Whereas anti-Semitic attacks have impacted every nation in 
     Europe: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     governments of Europe should--
       (1) take all necessary steps to protect the safety and 
     well-being of their respective Jewish communities; and
       (2) make a concerted effort to cultivate an atmosphere of 
     cooperation and reconciliation among the Jewish and non-
     Jewish residents of Europe.

  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution 
calling upon the governments of Europe to take all necessary steps to 
protect the safety and well being of the European Jewish Community and 
to make an effort to foster cooperation and reconciliation between 
Jewish and non-Jewish residents.
  The recent success in the first round of the French Presidential 
election of Jean-Marie LePen, a candidate who once dismissed the 
horrific atrocities committed against the Jews and others by the Nazis 
as ``a detail in history'', stands as the latest and perhaps the most 
troubling sign of a growing tide of anti-Semitism in France. As the 
second-highest vote getter in France's multi-candidate presidential 
election, Le Pen will face Jacques Chirac in the upcoming runoff. The 
election of LePen has sent shockwaves throughout the Jewish community, 
which has watched as a nascent but virulent strain of anti-Semitism has 
gained momentum in France, a county with nearly 600,000 Jews.
  But, France is not the only country that has experienced a surge in 
anti-Semitism in the last few months. There has been a horrifying 
increase in the number of anti-Semitic acts throughout Europe, with 
major incidents in Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany, as well as 
France, Synagogues in Brussels and Marseille have been burned. Jews 
have been physically assaulted in Berlin and in Bondy, an eastern 
suburb of Paris. Community Centers, school buses, and Jewish sites have 
been vandalized throughout the region. And the Jewish community has 
faced a persistent barrage of anti-Semitic propaganda and libel.
  This is not a trifling matter. In France alone, police estimate that 
there are 10 to 12 anti-Semitic incidents each day. Germany, which has 
made historic strides since the Second World War to reduce anti-
Semitism, has experienced a troubling surge in hate crimes against the 
Jewish Community. Anti-Semites in Germany, for example, have spray-
painted swastikas on a monument memorializing Jews murdered during the 
Holocaust, and have attacked Jewish youths returning home from a 
Passover seder. The unrelenting wave of anti-Semitic activities has 
terrorized the European Jewish community and dredged up memories of 
Europe's anti-Semitic past.
  The international community must not allow this situation to 
intensify before significant action is taken. It was only a short time 
ago that the bigotry of a few evil people snowballed into an 
international phenomenon of tragic proportions. There are disturbing 
similarities between the recent proliferation of anti-Semitism and the 
increase in anti-Semitism in interwar Europe. The Holocaust also began 
with small, seemingly isolated events, but developed into a methodical 
campaign to exterminate an entire people. It is imperative that 
something be done immediately to quell the pernicious tide of anti-
Semitism throughout the continent.
  Anti-Semitism is an abomination against civilized society and must be 
condemned in the strongest possible terms. The international community 
must not stand idly by as this problem worsens. Europe has a 
fundamental responsibility to encourage toleration and understanding 
between all of its citizens, Jew and non-Jew alike.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution as an 
important message to Europe's Jews that we stand with them and to 
Europe's leaders that more needs to be done to guarantee peaceful 
coexistence for all of its citizens. I hope it can be adopted without 
delay.

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