but because of a personal conviction. "The appeal came after what organizers called “the largest ever conference of European Jews” which ended Sunday, May 23 in the Hungarian capital.
About one thousand Jewish leaders of over 40 European countries discussed a strategy to support Jewish culture in the newly enlarged European Union during the 3rd General Assembly of European Jewry. What officials described as Europe’s most impressive Jewish revival in over a century can only be encouraged however if Jews do not feel forced to flee to Israel because of Anti Semitism, argued Ronny Naftaniël, director of the Dutch Center Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI).
“The moment of going to Israel should not be forced upon any person. It should only be based on knowledge and a (Jewish) feeling,” he told BosNewsLife. “ I think that we have to fight and to ensure a better society and that we have to make clear that anti Semitism leads to the murder of people,” Naftaniël added.
He expressed concern however that even The Netherlands “was no longer tolerant” according to a soon to be published CIDI rapport over the period 2003-2004. Naftaniël, said his organization had noticed a rise in “verbal violence” towards Dutch Jews in threatening letters, abuse on the streets and in publications. “Jews are often made responsible for what happens in Israel with the Palestinians, and especially within the Arab community (in The Netherlands) this lead to verbal aggression against Jews.”
NOT 30’S SITUATION
Yet the president-elect of the European Council of Jewish Communities (ECJC) cautioned that the situation in Europe “can not be compared to the 30’s”, that preceded World War Two when millions of Jews were massacred. “This is a different economic and political situation,” Jonathan Joseph explained.
He said Hungary, the Baltic States, Poland and other former East Block countries that joined the EU on May 1 could play a major role in further reviving Jewish culture across the European continent as hundreds of thousands of Jews still live there.
Naftaniel added he was encouraged by the growing interest “in prayer books and educational material” in ex-Soviet satellite states such as Hungary and Balkan nation Macedonia ("which only has about 200 Jews”), after decades of religious persecution under Communism.
THE RUSSIA FACTOR
Eugenia Lvova, executive director of the Presidents of Major Russian Jewish Organizations, stressed she hopes that not all Jews will leave to Israel, as in her words “they can contribute to Russia” and Europe. “Friends sometimes ask me: why you don’t leave? But I think it is not good if everyone leaves Russia.”
Israeli officials estimate that nearly one million Jews left the former Soviet Union for Israel since the collapse of Communism. Heavy security measures around the conference in Budapest were a reminder that not everyone appreciates the rediscovery of the Jewish faith. Last month Hungarian police foiled an anti Jewish bomb plot just before Israeli President Moshe Katsav was due to open the Budapest Holocaust Memorial Centre to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust.
About 600-thousand Hungarian Jews died during World War Two, when Hungary for the most part was a close ally of Nazi Germany. Hungary still has one of the largest Jewish communities in Central Europe of up to 100-thousand people, according to estimates.
Thanks, that was very interesting. I was born in Moscow in 1975 but my mother and I fled the country and came here in the UK.