[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 71 (Tuesday, June 4, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4979-S4981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    REITERATING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING ANTI-SEMITISM AND 
                     RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN EUROPE

  The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution (S. Res. 253) 
reiterating the sense of the Senate regarding Anti-Semitism and 
religious tolerance in Europe, which was reported from the Committee on 
Foreign Relations with an amendment.
  [Omit the parts in black brackets and insert the parts printed in 
italic.]

                              S. Res. 253

       Whereas many countries in Europe are protectors of human 
     rights and have stood as shining examples of freedom and 
     liberty to the world;
       Whereas freedom of religion is guaranteed by all 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 
     participating states;
       Whereas the 1990 Copenhagen Concluding Document declares 
     all participating OSCE States will ``unequivocally condemn'' 
     anti-Semitism and take effective measures to protect 
     individuals from anti-Semitic violence;
       Whereas anti-Semitism was one of the most destructive 
     forces unleashed during the last century;
       Whereas there has been a startling rise in attacks on 
     Jewish community institutions in cities across Europe in the 
     last 18 months;
       Whereas these violent incidents have targeted youth such as 
     an assault on a Jewish teen soccer team in Bondy, France on 
     April 11, 2002, and the brutal beating of two Jewish students 
     in Berlin, Germany, the burning of Jewish schools in Creteil 
     and Marseille, France and even the stoning of a bus carrying 
     Jewish schoolchildren;
       Whereas attacks on Jewish houses of worship have been 
     reported in many cities including Antwerp, Brussels, and 
     Marseille and as recently as April 22 an automatic weapon 
     attack on a synagogue in Charleroi, Belgium;
       Whereas the statue in Paris of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who 
     was the victim of anti-Semitic accusations and became a 
     symbol of this prejudice in the last century, was defaced 
     with anti-Jewish emblems;
       Whereas the French Ministry of Interior documented hundreds 
     of crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions in France in 
     just the first two weeks of April, 2002;
       Whereas the revitalization of European right wing 
     movements, such as the strong showing of the National Front 
     party in France's presidential election, reaffirm the urgency 
     for governments to assert a strong public stance against 
     anti-Semitism, as well as other forms of xenophobia and 
     intolerance;
       Whereas some government leaders have repeatedly dismissed 
     the significance of these attacks and attributed them to 
     hooliganism and Muslim immigrant youth expressing solidarity 
     with Palestinians;
       Whereas the legitimization of armed struggle against 
     Israeli civilians by some governments voting in the U.N. 
     Commission on

[[Page S4980]]

     Human Rights has emboldened some individuals and 
     organizations to lash out against Jews and Jewish 
     institutions;
       Whereas hostility, frustration and disaffection over 
     violence in the Middle East must never be permitted to 
     justify personal attacks on Jewish citizens;
       Whereas when governments have raised a strong moral voice 
     against anti-Semitism and worked to promote and implement 
     educational initiatives which foster tolerance, we have seen 
     success; and
       Whereas Congress recognizes the vital historical alliance 
     between nations of Europe and the United States and has high 
     regard for the commitment of our allies to fighting 
     discrimination, hatred, and violence on racial, ethnic, or 
     religious grounds: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,
       [(a) That it is the sense of the Senate that Congress calls 
     upon European governments to--
       [(1) acknowledge publicly and without reservation the anti-
     Semitic character of the attacks as violations of human 
     rights; and to utilize the full power of its law enforcement 
     tools to investigate the crimes and punish the perpetrators;
       [(2) decry the rationalizing of anti-Jewish attitudes and 
     even violent attacks against Jews as merely a result of 
     justified popular frustration with the conflict in the Middle 
     East; and
       [(3) take measures to protect and ensure the security of 
     Jewish citizens and their institutions, many of whom suffered 
     so grievously in Europe in the past century.
       [(b) Further, it is the sense of the Senate that--
       [(1) both Congress and the Administration must raise this 
     issue in its bilateral contacts;
       [(2) the State Department's Annual Country Reports on Human 
     Rights should thoroughly document this phenomenon, not just 
     in Europe but worldwide; and
       [(3) the Commission on International Religious Freedom 
     should continue to document and report on this phenomenon in 
     Europe and worldwide.]
       That (a) the Senate calls upon European governments to--
       (1) acknowledge publicly and without reservation the anti-
     Semitic character of the attacks as violations of human 
     rights;
       (2) utilize the full power of their law enforcement tools 
     to investigate the crimes and punish the perpetrators;
       (3) decry the rationalizing of anti-Jewish attitudes and 
     even violent attacks against Jews as merely a result of 
     justified popular frustration with the conflict in the Middle 
     East;
       (4) take measures to protect and ensure the security of 
     Jewish citizens and their institutions, many of whom suffered 
     so grievously in Europe in the past century; and
       (5) make a concerted effort to cultivate an atmosphere of 
     cooperation and reconciliation among the Jewish and non-
     Jewish residents of Europe.
       (b) Further, it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) both Congress and the Administration should raise this 
     issue in their bilateral contacts;
       (2) the State Department's Annual Country Reports on Human 
     Rights should thoroughly document this phenomenon, not just 
     in Europe but worldwide; and
       (3) the Commission on International Religious Freedom 
     should continue to document and report on this phenomenon in 
     Europe and worldwide.

  Mr. BIDEN. I rise today to support S. Res. 253, which condemns the 
growing intolerance and acts of persecution against Jews in many 
European countries.
  The Resolution urges European governments to own up to this growing 
evil, to reject any excuse for it, to use every tool at hand to combat 
these crimes, and to punish the criminals.
  Finally, the Resolution calls upon European governments to cultivate 
an atmosphere of cooperation and reconciliation among the continent's 
Jewish and non-Jewish residents.
  Making Jews scapegoats for societal ills has an ominous history. The 
Nazis' Holocaust was preceded by centuries of gradually increasing 
anti-Semitism--first by religious dogma, then by racial pseudo-
theories--spread through preaching, villainous written propaganda, 
exclusionary laws, and finally pogroms and massacres.
  The so-called civilized governments of the twentieth century largely 
remained silent and failed to confront the rising tide of anti-Jewish 
persecution. As a result, they set the stage for the murder of the vast 
majority of European Jewry.
  Some of the individuals committing anti-Semitic acts today are the 
affluent beneficiaries of unprecedented Western European prosperity. 
Some may be bigots. Others may simply be ignorant of the hideous 
causality of the Holocaust, now more than fifty years in the past. 
Still others are mindless thugs.
  In France, where a large number of violent attacks have occurred, 
many of the perpetrators are young anti-Israel Arab immigrants from 
North Africa who feel alienated from their host country.
  Nearly all European leaders have condemned physical violence against 
Jews, although occasionally politicians have tempered their criticism 
with ill-considered advice. An unfortunate example of this was the 
well-intentioned Mayor of Berlin who, after a vicious attack on an 
Orthodox Jewish American tourist, warned Jewish Berliners that if they 
didn't want to be similarly beaten up on the street, they shouldn't 
wear clothing identifying them as Jews.
  Rhetorical anti-Semitism has been met with even less principle. 
Instead, verbal expressions of anti-Semitism in Europe are increasingly 
being trivialized.
  For example, we might consider the recent London dinner party at 
which the French Ambassador to the U.K. made a demeaning, scatological 
reference to the State of Israel. What happened when the story was 
leaked to the press? The major scandal was the so-called 
``indiscretion'' of other guests for having revealed the French 
Ambassador's crude, bigoted, and amateurish behavior!
  Or we might note the wife of Wim Duisenberg, the President of the 
European Central Bank, who after flying the PLO flag from her house in 
Amsterdam complained that ``Israel is being kept going by those rich 
Jews in America.'' Her highly respected husband removed the PLO flag 
but remained silent on her incendiary political commentary.
  A similar example of objectivity came from Oslo where a member of the 
Norwegian Nobel Committee declared that she would like to rescind 
Shimon Peres's Nobel Peace Prize. Needless to say, she didn't choose to 
mention, let alone criticize, Yasser Arafat or the suicide bombers whom 
he aids and abets.
  Even venerable European political institutions no longer seem immune 
to the anti-Semitic virus. Consider the blatant attempt to woo right-
wing voters by Juergen Moellemann, one of the top officials of 
Germany's Free Democrats, a party with a proud history of liberalism 
and tolerance. Moellemann explained that the Deputy Director of the 
Central Council of Jews in Germany had brought on anti-Semitism himself 
by his supposedly aggressive behavior as a television talk-show host! 
If this weird argumentation weren't so dangerous, it might almost be 
funny. But it's not.
  To Germany's credit, Moellemann's warped demagoguery has come in for 
massive public criticism, including from both Chancellor Gerhard 
Schroeder and his conservative challenger Bavarian Minister-President 
Edmund Stoiber.
  I want to believe that most Europeans reject the nauseating anti-
Semitism of the last several months. I want to believe that a trans-
Atlantic community of shared values still links us with the continent.
  But without continuous efforts by European statesmen to combat anti-
Semitism, my optimism may prove to be naive.
  Instant communication means that how Europe responds to these acts of 
hatred matters around the world. Europe must make bigots, not Jews, its 
outcasts. No temporizing, no rationalizing, and no excuses.
  Toward that end, I urge my colleagues to vote for S. Res. 253.
  The committee amendment was agreed to.
  The resolution (S. Res. 253), as amended, was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 253

       Whereas many countries in Europe are protectors of human 
     rights and have stood as shining examples of freedom and 
     liberty to the world;
       Whereas freedom of religion is guaranteed by all 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 
     participating states;
       Whereas the 1990 Copenhagen Concluding Document declares 
     all participating OSCE States will ``unequivocally condemn'' 
     anti-Semitism and take effective measures to protect 
     individuals from anti-Semitic violence;
       Whereas anti-Semitism was one of the most destructive 
     forces unleashed during the last century;

[[Page S4981]]

       Whereas there has been a startling rise in attacks on 
     Jewish community institutions in cities across Europe in the 
     last 18 months;
       Whereas these violent incidents have targeted youth such as 
     an assault on a Jewish teen soccer team in Bondy, France on 
     April 11, 2002, and the brutal beating of two Jewish students 
     in Berlin, Germany, the burning of Jewish schools in Creteil 
     and Marseille, France and even the stoning of a bus carrying 
     Jewish schoolchildren;
       Whereas attacks on Jewish houses of worship have been 
     reported in many cities including Antwerp, Brussels, and 
     Marseille and as recently as April 22 an automatic weapon 
     attack on a synagogue in Charleroi, Belgium;
       Whereas the statue in Paris of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who 
     was the victim of anti-Semitic accusations and became a 
     symbol of this prejudice in the last century, was defaced 
     with anti-Jewish emblems;
       Whereas the French Ministry of Interior documented hundreds 
     of crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions in France in 
     just the first two weeks of April, 2002;
       Whereas the revitalization of European right wing 
     movements, such as the strong showing of the National Front 
     party in France's presidential election, reaffirm the urgency 
     for governments to assert a strong public stance against 
     anti-Semitism, as well as other forms of xenophobia and 
     intolerance;
       Whereas some government leaders have repeatedly dismissed 
     the significance of these attacks and attributed them to 
     hooliganism and Muslim immigrant youth expressing solidarity 
     with Palestinians;
       Whereas the legitimization of armed struggle against 
     Israeli civilians by some governments voting in the U.N. 
     Commission on Human Rights has emboldened some individuals 
     and organizations to lash out against Jews and Jewish 
     institutions;
       Whereas hostility, frustration and disaffection over 
     violence in the Middle East must never be permitted to 
     justify personal attacks on Jewish citizens;
       Whereas when governments have raised a strong moral voice 
     against anti-Semitism and worked to promote and implement 
     educational initiatives which foster tolerance, we have seen 
     success; and
       Whereas Congress recognizes the vital historical alliance 
     between nations of Europe and the United States and has high 
     regard for the commitment of our allies to fighting 
     discrimination, hatred, and violence on racial, ethnic, or 
     religious grounds: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,
       That (a) the Senate calls upon European governments to--
       (1) acknowledge publicly and without reservation the anti-
     Semitic character of the attacks as violations of human 
     rights;
       (2) utilize the full power of their law enforcement tools 
     to investigate the crimes and punish the perpetrators;
       (3) decry the rationalizing of anti-Jewish attitudes and 
     even violent attacks against Jews as merely a result of 
     justified popular frustration with the conflict in the Middle 
     East;
       (4) take measures to protect and ensure the security of 
     Jewish citizens and their institutions, many of whom suffered 
     so grievously in Europe in the past century; and
       (5) make a concerted effort to cultivate an atmosphere of 
     cooperation and reconciliation among the Jewish and non-
     Jewish residents of Europe.
       (b) Further, it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) both Congress and the Administration should raise this 
     issue in their bilateral contacts;
       (2) the State Department's Annual Country Reports on Human 
     Rights should thoroughly document this phenomenon, not just 
     in Europe but worldwide; and
       (3) the Commission on International Religious Freedom 
     should continue to document and report on this phenomenon in 
     Europe and worldwide.

                          ____________________