[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1181-1182]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HELSINKI COMMISSION

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the work of the 
Helsinki Commission.
  The Helsinki Commission yesterday held an important hearing on 
combating anti-Semitism in the OSCE region. I would like to commend the 
two panelists who testified, Professor Gert Weisskirchen, MP and Dr. 
Kathrin Meyer. Professor Weisskirchen serves as the OSCE's chair-in-
office personal representative on anti-Semitism, and Dr. Meyer serves 
as the advisor on anti-Semitism issues in the OSCE's Office for 
Democratic Institutions and human rights. Both of these scholars have 
been fighting against anti-Semitism for years, and their good work 
should be recognized. Modern anti-Semitism is an appalling relic of a 
past horror; and though it is not yet as acceptable as in ages past, 
its resurgence today is no less troubling.
  We forget, sometimes, just how much the world is indebted to the 
Jewish community. The world's culture has been immeasurably enriched by 
Jewish writers, scientists, artists, philosophers, and medical 
pioneers. All those contributions, however, mattered little when the 
shadow of fascism fell across Europe, and European nations began to 
destroy some of their most valuable sons and daughters.
  We may have thought that the horrors of World War Two and the 
Holocaust had finally cauterized the old festering sore of anti-
Semitism. And indeed, for some years, that seemed to be the case. 
Europe committed itself to ensuring that never again would its states 
do violence against their Jewish minority, to which it owed so much. 
But time is a powerful sedative. Today, much of the same toxic 
nationalism is again on the rise. One of the most troubling aspects to 
me of the past two decades has been the reemergence of virulently 
nationalist and xenophobic political parties. These groups have often 
drawn on the iconography and ideology of Axis powers during the Nazi 
period, with some going so far as to hold public rallies and marches. 
Others resort to violence, both openly and in the shadows. These gangs 
are not acceptable within European political society--not yet--but 
their emergence is a sign that once again, all is not well on the 
continent. Economic turmoil has combined with age-old anti-Semitism to 
offer a tiny sliver of legitimacy to burgeoning neo-fascist parties. In 
some of the newly free states of Eastern Europe, social turmoil has 
often provided opportunistic politicians the chance of blaming national 
problems on an ancient scapegoat--the Jews.
  But this problem is not limited to the East. In much of Europe, in 
the highest centers of learning and culture, a new phenomenon serves to 
buttress these old prejudices. The Middle East, where the world's only 
Jewish state faces a sea of hostile terrorists, is particularly ripe 
for anti-Semitic propagandists. The world today sees much anti-Semitism 
masquerading as criticism of Israel. August world bodies, dedicated to 
forging peace, have seen some of their instruments twisted almost 
beyond recognition. When great institutions cannot rouse themselves

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to end appalling human rights abuses in virtually every corner of the 
world, but instead focus again and again and again on a tiny nation, 
liberal and democratic, alone in a hostile region--then the instruments 
of those institutions may well be broken. Anti-Semitism is a scourge 
from which we are still not free, not so long as radical agitators and 
tacit bigotry alike have a vested interest in blaming the ills of many 
on the perceived sins of a few. Because too often, in Europe, the few 
are the Jews.
  The active steps to combat anti-Semitism proposed yesterday by 
Professor Weisskirchen and Dr. Meyer could prove exceptionally useful 
in rolling back today's creeping advance of radicalism and anti-
Semitism. Only through vigorous and proactive measures can we identify 
the seedlings of hate and discrimination, and uproot them, and ensure 
that never again would Europe or the world fall prey to the ancient 
base ugliness of the mob.

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