Italian FM to attend London summit on combating anti-Semitism

"We’re meeting because anti-Semitism is on the rise. There must be a fight-back and we parliamentarians are willing to lead from the front. Jewish communities across the world should know that they are not alone." (MP John Mann)

Several government ministers, including Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, and more than 100 parliamentarians from nearly 40 countries, are expected to attend on Tuesday in London the first-time summit conference on combating anti-Semitism, hosted by Britain’s foreign ministry.

This two-day summit, organized by the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism (ICCA), will take place ahead of the controversial UN Conference on Racism (‘Durban II’) in Geneva in April.

The attendees – largely not Jewish – will commit to coordinated, long-term action to tackle the escalating global threat of anti-Semitism.

This includes physical attacks such as that on the Chabad Jewish Community Centre in Mumbai, and race hatred and Holocaust denial distributed via the mainstream media and the Internet.

The London Conference comes in the wake of a significant increase in anti-Semitic attacks around the world.

MP John Mann, initiator of the summit and chairman of the UK’s Parliamentary Committee Against Anti-Semitism, said: "We’re meeting because anti-Semitism is on the rise. There must be a fight-back and we parliamentarians are willing to lead from the front. Jewish communities across the world should know that they are not alone".

Whether it is the UK’s Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Semitism, the two comprehensive responses from the government and numerous policy changes, the UK has earned its role as the host of this historic conference.

The MPs will spend Monday in working groups in the House of Commons, discussing practical strategies on how to combat the resurgent threat of anti-Semitism around the world.

Best practice from across the globe, including Canada, Germany and the UK, will inform the London Declaration on Combating Anti-Semitism, to be announced at a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Lancaster House.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, a former EU Commissioner for justice, freedom and security, will be the guest of honour at Monday’s conference dinner, will speak out on the scope and impact of global anti-Semitism and call for multilateral and EU action on the issue.

Among the participants are MP Petra Pau, vice-president of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, André Azoulay, counselor of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Barbara Prammer, president of the Austrian National Council.

Source: article by Henri Stein in EJP

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