Condemning the Global Rise of Antisemitism and Calling Upon Countries and International Bodies to Counter Antisemitism

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MOYLAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1449) condemning the global rise of antisemitism and calling upon countries and international bodies to counter antisemitism.

The Clerk read the title of the resolution.

The text of the resolution is as follows: H. Res. 1449

Whereas antisemitism is a threat to the fundamental freedoms, rights, security, and diversity of all citizens, societies, and countries;

Whereas there has been an increase of antisemitic rhetoric and acts in many countries around the world;

Whereas, in the months since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, Jewish communities around the world have experienced a significant increase in antisemitic threats;

Whereas, in the Berlin Declaration of April 29, 2004, participating states of the Organization for Security and co- operation in Europe condemned antisemitism and committed to take specific actions to combat it;

Whereas, in 2016, the 31 member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted a legally nonbinding ``working definition'' of antisemitism, an important internationally recognized tool to increase understanding of antisemitism;

Whereas, on May 25, 2023, the White House issued the United States National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, making clear that the fight against antisemitism is a national, bipartisan priority that must be successfully conducted through a whole-of-government-and-society approach;

Whereas, on July 17, 2024, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the United States and partners unveiled the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism;

Whereas the Global Guidelines constitute a multilateral framework encompassing 12 areas of public policy, including: Jewish community protection, the need for leaders to speak out against antisemitism, uniform collection of data about antisemitism, and education of the Holocaust and Jewish heritage;

Whereas the Global Guidelines include policies to monitor and combat antisemitism that can be implemented and adapted to a wide variety of national, regional, and cultural contexts; and

Whereas more than 40 states and international bodies have endorsed the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) condemns the rise of antisemitism in countries around the world;

(2) welcomes the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism unveiled by the United States and partners in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 17, 2024;

(3) calls upon states and international bodies to take action to counter antisemitism, including by endorsing and embracing the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism; and

(4) encourages greater action and international cooperation to counter antisemitism.

Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, coordinated mobs roamed the streets of Amsterdam, attacking Israelis in town for a soccer match, in a chilling, premeditated assault. Dozens of people were injured, and scores were running and hiding in fear.

The anti-Semitic, anti-Israel attack is the latest terrifying development in a global spike in anti-Semitic, anti-Israel vitriol since October 7. We have seen it here in the United States on our college campuses, at local synagogues, and even a few miles from us in the Nation's Capital, where a kosher restaurant had its windows smashed earlier this month.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights documented a 400 percent increase in anti-Semitic activity since Hamas' October 7, 2023, assault on Israel. The European Union also found that 96 percent of Jews encountered anti-Semitism in their daily lives.

Countering anti-Semitism needs to be a top priority at home and abroad. We need to be honest with ourselves and recognize that it is happening and that our solutions so far have been insufficient to stop this rising tide of hate.

We need to work with our partners to respond quickly and effectively to protect Jewish people in our countries and communities from violence. This is why we are considering Representative Manning and Representative Smith's bipartisan resolution condemning the global rise of anti-Semitism and calling upon countries to counter anti-Semitism.

For decades, when we talked about the Holocaust, the world said: ``Never again.''

The events of last week in Amsterdam and around the globe in the last year prove that we have failed Jews around the world. We failed to recognize the potency of this hate, and we have failed to keep them safe.

This resolution is our demonstration of our intent to remedy this problem and to live up to our promise.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to continue to support H. Res.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank Michael McCaul, our chairman, for very quickly bringing this important resolution to the floor along with the great support of Gregory Meeks, the ranking member.

I especially thank Kathy Manning for authoring this extraordinarily timely resolution condemning the despicable rise of anti-Semitism around the world and calling on our international organizations and countries to embrace the global guidelines for countering anti- Semitism.

Kathy has done a wonderful job. It has been a privilege to serve with her as co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti- Semitism. This resolution says it all. I thank her for doing it and doing it so well.

I want to make a few points. One, the spiritual cancer of anti- Semitism is metastasizing, not only in our country, but in many countries as well, at a rate that is both shocking and sickening. The evidence of it is everywhere, including in our college campuses and university campuses--and just not Harvard and NYU. In my own State at Rutgers University, I was there when people were camping out, and I was accosted verbally by some people. The hatred was just pouring out of their lips and their eyes. The hatred for Jews is unconscionable.

Of course, one of the most recent horrors, as was pointed out, was the Amsterdam pogrom earlier this month, the horrific mob assault on Israeli soccer fans.

It was repulsive on at least two levels. First, the brutal evil of the attackers themselves, but also the so-called respectable opinion- makers who just said: Oh, they shifted the blame. This is all about anti-immigrant sentiment or prejudice and even Israel.

Natan Sharansky is one of the greatest human rights individuals who has ever lived. I had him testify at two hearings. I tried to visit him and actually was in Perm Camp 35 in the 1980s where the Soviet Union had housed him. Frank Wolf and I went there.

When he got out, he came and testified, and he said: You know, if you don't chronicle the hatred--and that is included in these global guidelines--you can't combat it. It must be defined very clearly, especially by law enforcement, so it is not just brushed off as hooliganism or other kinds of things. You need to define it, and to do so with specificity.

He also talked about the three Ds that we are seeing manifesting vis- a-vis Israel every day of the week, and that is demonization, double standard, delegitimization, those three Ds. He talked about that and said that is a cover for anti-Semitism. Disagree with Knesset all you want or with Netanyahu, but once you lower yourselves into those--we see it at the U.N. every day.

I chaired four hearings this Congress alone, more than three dozen over the years, combating anti-Semitism about how the U.N. is rife-- including the U.N. Human Rights Council--with anti-Semitism. It is just unbelievable how bad it is.

UNRWA is filled, overflowing with Hamas sympathizers and Hamas activists who teach children each day of the week to hate Jews and to kill. Just read the Hamas charter. It says: If you see a Jew behind a rock, kill him or her. That is what is being funded by the U.S. Government and funded--not right this minute--but it has been funded in the recent past. We should never do it again.

Let me also say that the guidelines--and I encourage every Member to read them--are very simple. They parallel the OSCE Conference that was held in 2002 and then the Berlin Conference in 2004. The idea of the conference came out of a hearing I chaired in 2002. I recommended it, and the OSCE took it up. The Bush administration took it up, and that conference had the Berlin Declaration in 2004. Rabbi Baker from the AJC did a masterful job--and a few others, but especially him--in wordsmithing a tremendous action plan. Of course, these global guidelines certainly parallel that--and as mentioned, certainly Ambassador Lipstadt.

Just for the record, I authored that legislation. We got it passed here in a bipartisan way, and it took months, years for the U.S. Senate to take it up. They finally did and the Ambassador at Large of the Special Envoy, Ambassador Lipstadt, is doing a magnificent job.

Silence is not an option. We know it. In the fight against anti- Semitism we need government at all levels to denounce, chronicle, and prosecute where these thoughts matriculate into evil deeds.

We know that if you just stand by idly, you are enabling. You need to call it out. This is a very fine resolution, and I thank Ms. Manning for authoring it. It calls out this anti-Semitism and says stop it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Ms. Manning and Mr. Smith, for this important, timely, and bipartisan resolution. It is critically important that we speak with one voice in countering anti-Semitism.

We have been fighting against this hatred for centuries. We can only make progress if we work together.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1449, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source