[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3575-S3576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                            S. Con. Res. 11

       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

[[Page S3576]]

     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.

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bipartisan 
resolution condemning the recent, troubling rise in anti-Semitism 
across the globe. The resolution also calls upon world leaders to speak 
out against anti-Semitic acts and reaffirms that the United States is 
committed to making the fight against anti-Semitism a top foreign 
policy priority.
  I am very pleased that Senator Cardin and 40 other Senate colleagues 
have joined me in saying to the world that we stand tall with the 
Jewish community against these acts of violence and crimes of hate.
  In recent months, there has been a substantial rise in anti-Semitic 
violence around the globe. We are deeply concerned about the safety and 
well- being of Jews in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, 
where they have faced a significant increase in anti-Semitic attacks, 
often very violent. These criminal acts include physical and verbal 
attacks, arson, and vandalism against synagogues, cemeteries, and 
Holocaust memorials. In some nations, demonstrations have included 
chants of ``death to Israel'' and expressions of support for suicide 
terrorism against Israeli or Jewish civilians.
  Also distressing are the blatantly anti-Semitic Nazi imagery and 
Holocaust comparisons. Our resolution rejects attempts to rationalize 
Jewish hatred or attacks as justifiable expression of disaffection or 
frustration over Israeli policy and political events in the Middle East 
or elsewhere. The Nazi imagery and Holocaust comparisons have been 
prevalent at demonstrations throughout the world. Placards held at many 
demonstrations have compared Israeli leaders to Nazis, accused Israel 
of carrying out a ``Holocaust'' against the Palestinians, and equated 
the Jewish Star of David to the Nazi swastika. This is intolerable. We 
must speak out against these unacceptable acts of hatred and bigotry.
  While we applaud those world leaders who have shown courage by 
condemning these acts, we call on those who have yet to do so to 
expressly reject anti-Semitism in their own countries. We must continue 
to impress upon our allies the critical importance of opposing these 
disturbing trends, all the while ensuring that our own initiatives to 
address these forms of hate violence are bolstered.
  I urge our colleagues to join our effort to raise awareness of this 
important issue.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am deeply troubled by the rise in anti-
Semitic acts around the globe, which is why I am joining the junior 
Senator from Maine in introducing a bipartisan resolution that condemns 
anti-Semitism and calls upon world leaders to speak out against it. The 
concurrent resolution reaffirms that the U.S. is committed to making 
the fight against anti-Semitism a top foreign policy priority.
  Senator Collins, the other co-sponsors of this resolution, and I are 
extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of Jewish 
communities worldwide. In recent weeks and months, Jewish communities 
around the world have been subjected to vicious anti-Semitic attacks. 
These attacks include acts of violence and hatred against members of 
the Jewish community. The criminal acts include physical attacks, 
arson, and vandalism against synagogues, cemeteries, and Holocaust 
memorials.
  In some nations, demonstrations have included chants of ``death to 
Israel'' and expressions of support for suicide terrorism against 
Israeli or Jewish civilians. Placards held at many demonstrations have 
compared Israeli leaders to Nazis, accused Israel of carrying out a 
``Holocaust'' against Palestinians, and equated the Jewish Star of 
David to the Nazi swastika. Anti-Semitism is not a legitimate form of 
policy or public protest. We cannot, in good conscience, allow these 
acts of hatred to continue without swift and strong action from world 
leaders. We must speak out against these atrocities.
  We applaud those world leaders who have spoken out against these 
acts, but call on those who have yet to do so to take firm action 
against anti-Semitism in their own countries. We must continue to 
impress upon our allies and other nations the critical importance of 
combating anti-Semitism. At the same time, the United States must 
bolster its own initiatives to address anti-Semitism as a foreign 
policy priority. The resolution we are introducing today helps to do 
that so I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

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