OSCE Warsaw - October 2003

2003 Shai Franklin addressing 2003 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, October 14, Warsaw

NCSJ Statement: “Prevention of Discrimination, Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism”

Also read:

Transcript of NCSJ Side Event: "Post-Soviet States Respond to Anti-Semitism"

Statement by Representative Chris Smith 
(R-NJ), Chairman, U.S. Helsinki Commission

Statement (on Xenophobia) by Representative Benjamin Cardin
(D-MD), U.S. Helsinki Commissioner

Statement by Rabbi Andrew Baker 
American Jewish Committee

Statement by Felice Gaer 
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Statement submitted by Stacy Burdett
Anti-Defamation League

In Warsaw, at October 14 NCSJ roundtable, "Post-Soviet States Respond to Anti-Semitism": (l.-r.) Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), U.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman; Shai Franklin, NCSJ Director of Governmental Relations; Russian-English interpreter; Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD); Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA)

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Statement to the 2003 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, Working Session 12
Warsaw, October 14, 2003

Delivered by Shai Franklin, NCSJ Director of Governmental Relations

Distinguished Moderator and Delegates, 

I would first commend to your attention the concise recommendations assembled by a coalition of non-governmental organizations, including NCSJ, and to express appreciation for the dedicated work of the American delegation, headed by Ambassadors Pamela Hyde Smith and Stephan Minikes.

As the representative of an organization relating to issues in the Baltics and the Soviet successor states, which has worked within the Helsinki process since its inception, I also wish to highlight the constructive leadership of parliamentarians including our own Members of Congress who are attending today, who have worked with Dr. Gert Weisskirchen to forge a multilateral coalition of legislators from across the OSCE region. Dr. Weisskirchen’s colleague, German Delegate Claudia Roth, first proposed a 2004 Berlin conference on anti-Semitism this past June and is here again with the same passionate call; I urge any delegations that have yet to endorse the 2004 conference to do so today.

As an umbrella organization that includes nearly 50 national American Jewish organizations and 300 local community groups, including a number of those participating here, NCSJ would like to associate itself with the interventions of those partner organizations.

Last June, at the first-ever OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism, governments began to share information, ideas and commitments for combating anti-Semitism at home and throughout the OSCE region, under the chairmanship of the Netherlands. They did so within a new framework that implicitly recognizes anti-Semitism as a distinct human rights concern and a real threat to regional stability. 

Of the series of worthy recommendations, with which you are all probably familiar, I wish to highlight just a few: Training of law enforcement, education of youth and the public, and meetings of experts on these and other topics – opportunities that occur outside this and other chambers, in between the periodic assemblies. These are just a few of the many examples.

Notably, in advocating for a separate OSCE focus on anti-Semitism, nations once under Communist control are among the leaders: Latvia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and others. These so-called “new” societies do take seriously both the threat of anti-Semitism and the necessity of coordinating a transnational strategy through the OSCE. This was evident a few minutes ago during the side event focusing on post-Soviet responses.

By enunciating the OSCE’s substantive commitment, Europe and North America are breaking with a collective past that began with anti-Semitism, propagated an abundance of hatreds and phobias, and retains the disguise of latent neglect and a cloak of “cultural context”.

To become the truly free society that the Helsinki process promised we should be, all participating States must assume responsibility for the safety and acceptance of all faiths and ethnicities. Sixty years since the Holocaust, Europeans and North Americans are finally breaking unequivocally with the past – not by commemorating it, by repudiating it, or by forgetting it, but by applying its lessons to ongoing manifestations of anti-Semitism.

Concretizing this break with “business as usual” means providing an effective mandate through this winter’s Ministerial Council, setting a high profile for next year’s Berlin conference on anti-Semitism, assigning a specific responsibility within ODIHR, and ongoing consultation and oversight among participating States.

Without directly and distinctly addressing contemporary anti-Semitism, we cannot say we are better than our predecessors, nor can we ensure lasting protection from newer forms of prejudice and hatred. Nations that were not free 15 years ago already appreciate this imperative, and they have reiterated it here. 

The specific recommendations for governments and society are well documented in the report from Vienna. The recommendations for the next steps in the OSCE process are summarized in the NGO statement which I referenced. What the delegates here today can contribute to this process, beyond your own recommendations and initiatives, is to prepare the ground for Berlin, to work with your governments on clear and strong language in the 2003 Ministerial Declaration, and to create an oversight and coordination function within ODIHR.

Thank you very much.