Anti-Semitism was a widely dispersed problem in the region,
although the severity and scope of abuses varied significantly among
individual countries. During the reporting period, the most serious
incidents of anti-Semitism—beatings and other physical abuses—occurred
in 12 countries. Verbal harassment was reported in 28 countries, while
desecration of cemeteries and synagogues was reported in 30 countries.
The recent rise in anti-Jewish acts and sentiments in Western Europe
was often influenced by Middle Eastern events or conflated with anti-Israeli
In 16 countries in the Europe and Eurasia region, there
were few or no reported anti-Semitic incidents in recent years. This
report is not intended as a comprehensive description of all incidents,
but focuses on illustrative or particularly egregious cases. In the
European context, the number of incidents reported in some countries
reflects not only the depth of the problem, but also the thorough reporting
on anti-Semitism by active civil societies, religious representatives,
and governments themselves. As a result, there is sometimes an imbalance
in the scope of reporting in the country narratives below.
Government responses have varied as well. Many European
governments effectively prosecute those who perpetrate or incite anti-Semitic
attacks or harassment, while others include officials who themselves
make anti-Semitic statements or discriminate against Jews. Many European
leaders have condemned anti-Semitism and called for tolerance, and several
countries have joined the Council of Europe in declaring a Holocaust
Memorial Day. In a June 2003 anti-Semitism conference, the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) called on member states
to reaffirm their commitments to condemn racial and ethnic hatred, including
anti-Semitism, and to undertake effective follow-up plans of action
to demonstrate these commitments in practice. In response, some countries
have already implemented action plans.
The Jewish community reported several incidents of verbal
harassment during the reporting period. The director of ALM TV frequently
made anti-Semitic remarks on the air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans,
a small, ultranationalist group, called for the country to be "purified"
of Jews and Yezidis.
On September 17, offices of the Jewish community in Yerevan
received a message that vandals had damaged the local memorial to the
victims of the Holocaust. Several photographs of the memorial were taken
and the vandalism was immediately reported to the local police, the
Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the government-owned television channel.
A television crew arrived at the site together with an official from
the Jewish community in Yerevan and to their surprise discovered that
the memorial had been wiped clean, apparently by the park guard.
In May, Jewish groups complained to several government
authorities about the distribution and importation of hate literature.
Each government agency they contacted responded that the literature
was in apparent violation of the "Law on Distributing Literature Inflaming
National Hatred" and suggested they press formal charges with the Prosecutor
General's office. Jewish leaders have not yet decided whether to press
The Austrian NGO Forum gegen Antisemitismus (the Forum
against Anti-Semitism, FGA) reported five physical attacks during the
reporting period and eight in 2003. On July 30, 2003, according to the
Coordination Forum, several unidentified persons beat an Orthodox Jew.
The man was attacked from behind and beaten with belts. The assailants
fled the scene and have not been arrested or identified. The victim
was hospitalized suffering from bruises but was fully conscious. In
a separate incident, an unknown assailant attacked two Orthodox Jews,
one of whom was injured. In another incident, skinheads attacked the
vice-director of a Jewish school in Vienna with a beer bottle, leaving
the victim with injuries.
FGA also recorded 122 anti-Semitic incidents in the first
11 months of the year and 134 in 2003. The incidents included name-calling,
graffiti/defacement, threatening letters, anti-Semitic Internet postings,
property damage, vilifying letters and telephone calls, and physical
attacks. The European Union's Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia
declared that anti-Semitism in the country is characterized by diffuse
and traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes rather than by acts of physical
On May 24, the Coordination Forum reported that a letter
with anti-Semitic and xenophobic contents was received at the Jewish
Community Building in Vienna.
On June 1, in Villach, according to the Anti-Defamation
League (ADL), vandals smashed a memorial honoring Holocaust victims
in southern Austria. The memorial consisted of 17 glass plates engraved
with the names of 108 local Holocaust victims. Vandals previously damaged
the memorial in March 2003.
On October 24, the Coordination Forum reported that anti-Semitic
comments were made at a neo-Nazi convention in the Province of Klagenfurt.
Local authorities are examining whether holding the convention was a
violation of the law.
On November 25, 2003, according to the Coordination Forum,
an anonymous telephone call was received at the Jewish school in Vienna;
the caller said: "There is a bomb in the school." He repeated the announcement
and hung up. The school was evacuated and police conducted a search
of the premises, but found nothing.
The law prohibits any racially motivated or anti-Semitic
propaganda, and as a result, anti-Jewish propaganda does not exist in
government publications. Nongovernmental media that seek to promote
anti-Semitism cannot do so openly, but attempt to use veiled language
that is nevertheless clearly understood by most citizens. Such groups
are under close observation by the Government (especially the Bureau
for Protection of the Constitution) and by private anti-discrimination
groups. The Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance (DOEW) monitors
the activities and publications of extreme right-wing groups and considers
the following to contain revisionist and extremist viewpoints: Aula,
Kommentare zur Zeitgeschehen, Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer demokratische
Politik (AFP), Huttenbriefe-Deutsches Kulturwerk Europaeischen Geistes
(DKEG)/Deutsche Kulturgemeinschaft (DKG), Die Kameradschaft (Kameradschaft
IV (K IV)), Fakten (published by "Die Kritischen Demokraten"), Der Eckart
(Oesterreichische Landsmannschaft (OELM)), PNO-Nachrichten (Partei Neue
Ordnung (PNO)), Top Secret – Phoenix, Die Umwelt, and Halt.
The 1947 Law Against Neo-Nazi Activity ("Verbotsgesetz")
prohibits any form of neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism and any type of activity
in the spirit of National Socialism. In particular, it bans National
Socialist or neo-Nazi organizations, and prohibits incitement to neo-Nazi
activity, as well as the glorification or praise of National Socialist
ideology. It also prohibits public denial, belittlement, approval, or
justification of National Socialist crimes, including the Holocaust.
The Criminal Code prohibits public incitement to hostile acts, insult,
or contempt against a church or religious society, or public incitement
against a group based on race, nationality, or ethnicity, if that incitement
could pose a danger to the public order. The Government strictly enforces
its anti-neo-Nazi legislation and provides police protection for Jewish
community institutions. During the reporting period, the country implemented
the EU anti-discrimination guidelines.
The Ministry of the Interior's Internet hotline for reporting
National Socialist activity received 140 reports of right-wing extremist
activity, particularly in connection with the Internet.
The FGA reported that cooperation with the police and
federal and regional authorities is very good. The FGA also stated that
leading newspapers have been very responsive to requests to remove anti-Semitic
postings on their online forum pages.
The Government recognized the Jewish faith community
as one of 13 religious societies under an 1874 law. This had wide-ranging
implications, such as providing the authority to participate in the
mandatory church contributions program, to provide religious instruction
in public schools, and to bring religious workers into the country to
act as ministers, missionaries, or teachers. The Government also provided
financial support to religious teachers affiliated with religious societies
at both public and private schools.
Holocaust education was generally taught as part of history
instruction, but also was featured in other subjects under the heading
"political education (civics)." Religious education classes were another
forum for teaching the tenets of different religions and overall tolerance.
Special teacher training seminars were available on the
subject of Holocaust education. The Education Ministry also ran a program
through which Holocaust survivors talked to school classes about National
Socialism and the Holocaust.
One example of a large-scale Holocaust education project
was the "Letters to the Stars" in 2003, in which more than 15,000 students
participated. Students chose a Holocaust victim who had lived in their
neighborhood, did research on the person's life, and then wrote a letter
to that victim. The letters were released on balloons during a ceremony
on May 5.
The Mountain Jewish Community has resided in the country
for 2,700 years; the Ashkenazi Jews have been present for more than
Cases of prejudice and discrimination against Jews in
the country were very limited, and in the few instances of anti-Semitic
activity the Government has been quick to respond. There was only one
reported incident during the period covered by this report. In April,
the Lubavitch community received an anonymous letter containing threats
during the observance of Passover. The police and military responded
by blocking and securing Jewish places of worship to ensure the peaceful
observance of the Passover holiday. The subsequent investigation revealed
that a member of a small radical Islamic group wrote the letter, resulting
in his conviction and imprisonment.
The Government does not condone or tolerate persecution
of Jews by any party. No laws specifically address anti-Semitism.
According to the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former
Soviet Union (UCSJ), in 2003 memorials in Minsk and Lida commemorating
victims of genocide were vandalized. During the reporting period, vandalism
at Jewish cemeteries occurred in Bobruisk and Tcherven and at a Holocaust
memorial in Brest. The local authorities refused to react to these incidents.
The Prosecutor's office and the Committee for State Security (KGB) did
nothing to investigate groups of skinheads and Russian National Unity
(RNE), which functioned openly in Minsk, Grodno, Gomel, Vitebsk, and
Polotsk. The RNE was banned in the country.
According to Jewish leaders, cases of vandalism decreased
during the reporting period. Authorities initiated investigations, but
in the past 15 years no vandals have been fined or jailed. The police
failed to prosecute suspects to the fullest extent of the law. The Government
restored monuments and memorials that were vandalized. The Government
also allowed the erection of a memorial to Jews killed by Soviet security
forces at Kurapaty.
On August 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified
the local chapter of the UCSJ that it would not be reregistered, because
the chapter submitted some documents late. The UCSJ is one of the primary
Jewish human rights organizations in the country and previously worked
with the Ministry of Education to provide material on the Holocaust.
Despite a May 2003 order by the Prosecutor General and
the Ministry of Information to terminate distribution of the anti-Semitic
and xenophobic newspaper Russki Vestnik, distribution of the newspaper
resumed in February through the government-distribution agency Belzoyuzprechat.
Sales of similar literature continued throughout the year in government-owned
buildings, in stores, and at events affiliated with the Belarusian Orthodox
Church (BOC). Anti-Semitic and Russian ultranationalistic literature
continued to be sold at Pravoslavnaya Kniga (Orthodox Bookstore), a
store operated by Orthodox Initiative that sells Orthodox literature
and religious paraphernalia. The head of the BOC, Metropolitan Filaret,
promised to stop such sales; however, no action has been taken.
In January, the RNE distributed anti-Semitic leaflets
in Gomel, which stated: "The Jews are trying to destroy Christianity,"
"Now hostile activities against the Jews will begin," "The Jews are
the forces of evil," and "The fighters against God must be exterminated."
In addition, the letters RNE were sprayed on the walls of the Jewish
Community building in Gomel. No suspects were arrested.
There were reports of anti-Semitic statements made by
public officials. In September 2003, Sergei Kostyan, Deputy Chairman
of the International Affairs Committee of the Lower House of Parliament,
rejected criticism regarding the installation of a gas pipeline near
a Jewish cemetery in Maozyr. Kostyan accused Jews of sowing "ethnic
discord." During an October press conference, Information Minister Vladimir
Rusakevich said the country should live with Russia like brothers, but
to bargain with Russia "like a Yid."
The Committee of Religious and Nationalities Affairs
of the Council of Ministers (CRNA) reported that it regularly responded
to all public expressions of xenophobia by notifying the government
agencies responsible for pursuing legal action against the perpetrators;
however, no such legal actions were observed during the period covered
by this report.
In November, the quasi-governmental Anti-Racism Center
(Center for Equal Opportunity and the Struggle against Racism and Other
Forms of Discrimination) reported an increase in anti-Semitism in recent
years. The Center reported that the annual number of complaints rose
to 30 between 2000 and 2003; prior to 1999, an average of 4 anti-Semitic
incidents were registered per year. There were 40 complaints filed in
the first 11 months of the year. The most serious incident was the stabbing
of a Jewish youth in Antwerp. Most complaints concerned anti-Semitism
in the media, on the Internet, graffiti, and verbal abuse. An Anti-Racism
Center spokesperson pointed out that the increase in the number of incidents
is partially due to increased reporting resulting from greater public
On January 28, during an indoor Belgium-Israel soccer
match in the city of Hasselt, spectators with Hamas and Hizballah banners
heckled the Israelis and shouted anti-Semitic slogans, some in Arabic.
The city of Hasselt, the Anti-Racism Center, and a local Jewish organization
filed a criminal complaint over the incident a few days later, which
the police continued to pursue actively. No arrests were made during
the reporting period. In February, a group of students at a Jewish school
in Brussels were assaulted by youths from the neighborhood, which is
inhabited primarily by Muslim immigrants.
In late June, there were several incidents of physical
attacks on Jewish citizens. These incidents were prominently covered
in the national media. On June 24, a number of allegedly North African
youths assaulted four Jewish students as they departed their Jewish
school in an Antwerp suburb; one fleeing student was stabbed and seriously
injured. Jewish students at the school previously had been subjected
to verbal insult and harassment from these youths. On June 26, three
Jewish students from the same school were harassed by four youths in
a car. One fired what is believed to be a toy gun at the students before
driving away; there were no injuries. Later that evening, elsewhere
in the Antwerp suburbs, a 13-year-old Jewish boy was beaten by three
youths. An 11-year-old Moroccan and two Belgians, ages 8 and 16, were
arrested and charged with racially motivated assault and battery by
a court for youthful offenders; they were required to apologize to the
victim and pay damages. Also that evening, several immigrant youths
reportedly kicked a Jewish youth repeatedly on the main street of Antwerp,
On October 30, at a youth soccer match involving Maccabi
Soccer Club, an Antwerp-based team composed mainly of Jewish players,
members of the opposite team shouted "Heil Hitler" and other abusive
language. The referee reported the incident in writing to the Belgian
Soccer Federation. On November 18, the Federation suspended the offending
team for a year and fined it $335 (250 euro), a considerable sum for
an amateur club. The Anti-Racism Center indicated that prosecution was
The Jewish community was increasingly concerned about
anti-Semitism. Community representatives expressed concern that criticism
of Israel, particularly from the left, was increasingly being transferred
to the Jewish community. Senior representatives of the Muslim community
have vocally condemned anti-Semitic acts and have participated in events
organized by the Jewish community.
There continued to be a few cases of anti-Semitic speech
generated from extreme right, neo-Nazi groups. These were pursued by
the Anti-Racism Center, which won a conviction in September 2003 against
two Holocaust deniers, such denial being illegal in the country; the
two were sentenced to a year in prison, a $670 (500 euro) fine, and
the costs of the trial.
The politically resurgent far right has not only renounced
anti-Semitism, but as part of an effort to appeal for Jewish community
votes in Antwerp, became a strong supporter of the Jewish community
and of stronger Belgian-Israeli relations.
Anti-Semitic acts or speech are illegal. Several lawsuits
were filed by government entities or by the Anti-Racism Center, and
there already were a few cases of courts issuing guilty verdicts. The
Government so far has had limited success in apprehending and convicting
(partly as a result of the very slow place of the judicial processes)
perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts. In one example of strong government
enforcement responsiveness, the police rapidly deployed a heavily armed
unit to a Jewish school in reaction to a possible threat.
The Government investigated web sites containing anti-Semitic
language with the intent of filing cases under antiracism legislation.
The Government continued to move forward with its action
plan against anti-Semitism, which was approved by the Council of Ministers
in July. In response to the anti-Semitic incidents of the past year,
protection for the Jewish community and its institutions was strengthened.
Ministerial changes over the summer may have slowed implementation,
but the commitment remained firm and effort continued.
The Minister of Social Integration convoked a working
group that included the Ministers of Justice and Interior, enforcement
agencies, the Anti-Racism Center, and representatives of the Jewish
community. In May, she also mandated the compilation of research on
the problem and perceptions of it. Promotion of tolerance education
is a major element of the Government's action plan against anti-Semitism.
Government officials at all levels, including the Prime
Minister, promptly condemned anti-Semitic incidents and remained in
close touch with the Jewish community. On June 26, the federal Minister
of Justice announced that she would require investigating magistrates
to prosecute those engaged in anti-Semitic acts, whether verbal, physical,
or on the Internet. On June 28, at a demonstration to protest growing
anti-Semitism, the mayor of Antwerp promised the city's Jewish community
that the police would make the problem their highest priority. On June
29, the federal Minister of Interior announced increased police protection
at places such as schools and synagogues and said that the federal government
would investigate other measures. On June 30, Prime Minister Verhofstadt
met Jewish community leaders, expressed the Government's concern regarding
recent attacks, and noted the increased police protection. The following
day, he told Parliament that such incidents were attacks on the country's
fundamental values and institutions and would not be tolerated. The
judicial system has been tasked with giving such attacks full priority.
For example, in Brussels, 61 investigations and an indictment were underway,
with similar efforts in Antwerp. The Prime Minister also pledged to
urge the regions to intensify educational efforts to counter anti-Semitism
and racism. Jewish community leaders have indicated to foreign diplomatic
observers that they were reassured by government efforts, but they remained
apprehensive regarding new outbreaks of violence.
Investigations revealed that some recent attacks on Jews
had criminal or personal, not anti-Semitic origins.
The small Jewish community membership was estimated to
be between 500 and 1000 persons. The community maintained a special
place in society by virtue of its long history of coexistence with other
religious communities, and its active role in mediating among those
communities. However, isolated acts of vandalism were reported. For
example, in September, several tombstones in the Jewish cemetery in
Sarajevo were vandalized. Jewish leaders state that there was a growing
tendency in the country to mix anti-Israeli sentiment with acts of anti-Semitism,
as the general public and media often fail to distinguish between criticism
of Israeli policy and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Following the terrorist
attack against a mosque in Turkey during the reporting period, the Jewish
community was quickly granted police security at its synagogues and
no incidents were reported.
The Jewish population is estimated to total 3,000 persons.
The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), in cooperation with Shalom,
the primary Jewish organization in the country, conducted a survey of
all print media from December 2002 through December 2003 for instances
of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli articles and comments. The project
examined 2,162 Jewish/Israeli-related articles and found only around
7 percent to be anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli, or pro-extremist; of these,
over 50 percent were anti-Israeli. Of these negative articles, 74 percent
were concentrated in two publications (52 percent in Monitor and 22
percent in Sega), which combined make up a small segment of the national
mass media; the articles in Sega tended to be exclusively critical of
Israel and its policies.
The Croatian Jewish community has approximately 2,000
members and had generally good relations with the police and other governmental
institutions. In June, a member of the municipal council in Dubrovnik
commented on a potential Jewish hotel investor that when, "choosing
between Serbs and Jews, Jews were still a greater evil." Local authorities
and the Government condemned the comments; the local branch of the ruling
party took no disciplinary action against its member.
The Croatia Working Group of the ITF focused on the implementation
of Holocaust-related educational programs, dissemination of academic
knowledge on the Holocaust, and preservation of the memory of the victims.
A small, but persistent and fairly well organized, extreme
right-wing movement with anti-Semitic views exists in the country.
In August, unknown vandals toppled approximately 80 tombstones
at a Jewish cemetery in the eastern town of Hranice. In October, vandals
damaged a memorial to victims of the Holocaust for the second time since
it was erected in July in the town of Bohumin. According to local Jewish
leader, the memorial was covered in brown paint. The memorial was built
on the site of a former synagogue, which was destroyed by fire during
World War II. In November, a swastika was daubed on a wall of the ancient
Altneu Synagogue in Prague, and two youths were arrested in a pub in
Sumerk after they shouted "Heil Hitler." They continued giving the Nazi
salute even after police removed them from the pub.
In October and November 2003, unknown vandals damaged
gravestones at Jewish cemeteries in eastern Bohemia. In November 2003,
police in the northern Bohemian town of Krupka apprehended two youths
painting Nazi symbols on a monument to the victims of a World War II
On January 30, police arrested Denis Gerasimov, member
of the Russian Neo-Nazi band Kolovkrat, and charged him with supporting
and propagating a movement aimed at suppressing human rights. Gerasimov
was detained at Prague's Ruzyne International Airport after police found
large amounts of Nazi propaganda in his luggage. His case was pending
at year's end.
The Ministry of Interior continued its efforts to counter
the neo-Nazis, which included monitoring their activities, close cooperation
with police units in neighboring countries, and concentrated efforts
to shut down unauthorized concerts and gatherings of neo-Nazi groups.
From January through June, there were five incidents
of anti-Semitic vandalism, primarily graffiti, and one incident of an
anti-Semitic mailing, which the Government criticized and investigated.
Reported incidents also involved theft and racist Internet and written
messages. Minority group members were sometimes the perpetrators of
the incidents. The Government effectively investigated and dealt with
cases of racially motivated violence.
The law prohibits publicly disseminated statements that
threaten, insult, or degrade persons based on their religion. In November
2003, the Government launched an action plan to Promote Equal Treatment
and Diversity and Combat Racism (Equal Treatment Plan). Although not
exclusively aimed at anti-Semitism, the goal of the Equal Treatment
Plan was to ensure protection for all citizens, regardless of their
beliefs. Under the Equal Treatment Plan, the Government allocated $416,000
(2.5 million DKK) for education and integration programs to combat religious
During the reporting period, a number of World War II
veterans groups held commemorations for Estonians who fought in German
uniform (including that of the Waffen SS) against the Soviet occupation.
In one case a monument was erected depicting a soldier in Waffen SS
uniform, absent Nazi insignia. The Government had the monument removed
in September. There were reports that participants made anti-Semitic
remarks in response to international criticism of these events. The
commemorations generated considerable public commentary on how Estonia
could appropriately honor its war dead. The Government subsequently
tasked the Ministry of Population and Ethnic Affairs with creating a
plan for an appropriate memorial, and a nonpartisan parliamentary commission
has been established for that purpose.
In March, two persons were arrested in the northeastern
town of Sillamae for painting anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas on
the walls of a building. They were charged with incitement. On April
16, the rabbi of a synagogue in Tallinn found a swastika painted on
In June 2003, three skinheads were sentenced to conditional
imprisonment for activities that publicly incited hatred on the basis
of national origin and race. They were convicted for having drawn swastikas
and anti-Semitic inscriptions on buildings in Sillamae. There are two
pending investigations related to the posting of anti-Semitic remarks
on the Internet.
The country introduced an annual Holocaust and Other
Crimes against Humanity Memorial Day in January 2003. Members of the
parliament and ambassadors attended the ceremony marking the first observation
of this day in Tallinn.
Following a July meeting with the President of the Jewish
Community of Estonia, the Prime Minister said that the Government "was
determined to condemn any signs of anti-Semitism and racism." He also
said that the Government needed to continue raising awareness of the
country's recent history.
At the Berlin OSCE Anti-Semitism Conference in April,
the Minister of Population and Ethnic Affairs said that government preparation
of law enforcement officers would have to include sensitivity training
so the country could more effectively act against manifestations of
intolerance, xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism.
There were a few reports of anti-Semitic activity, chiefly
graffiti such as swastikas with anti-Semitic slogans being spray-painted
in public locales. Support for the Palestinians was strong, and critiques
of Israeli policy occasionally took on anti-Semitic features. The Helsingin
Sanomat, the country's largest newspaper, ran a political cartoon in
a magazine supplement that was interpreted by members of the Jewish
community and others as anti-Semitic. The newspaper subsequently apologized.
The Government condemned the resurgence of anti-Semitism
in Europe. In June, the Justice Ministry ruled that the distributor
of an anti-Semitic book was liable under the country's "hate speech"
provisions; the distributor was ordered to pay a fine and the book was
removed from circulation. The Parliament and a local NGO cosponsored
a conference in Helsinki on anti-Semitism, and officials played an active
role in international conferences and fora on anti-Semitism. The Government
sponsored a visit of a Holocaust survivor to the country to speak with
schoolchildren about the Jewish experience during World War II.
The Government reports that there were 510 anti-Semitic
incidents (both actions and threats) in the first 6 months of the year,
as compared to 593 for all of 2003 and 932 for 2002. Interior Minister
Dominique de Villepin announced in August that there were 160 attacks
against persons or property in the first 7 months of 2004 versus 75
during the same period in 2003. More recently, Justice Minister Dominique
Perben stated that there were 298 anti-Semitic acts between January
1 and August 20, of which 162 were attacks against property, 67 were
assaults against individuals, and 69 were press violations. This compares,
according to Perben, with 108 for all of 2003.
The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights
(NCCHR) released an extensive analysis of anti-Semitic incidents reported
by the police in 2003. Such incidents ranged from graffiti and desecration
(256) and verbal or written harassment (166) to the diffusion of written
tracts (31) and bomb threats (10). There were 21 persons injured in
anti-Semitic attacks in 2003. Based on investigations of the attacks,
the NCCHR stated its conclusions that disaffected French-North African
youths were responsible for many of the incidents, which French officials
linked to tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories. A small
number of incidents were also attributed to extreme-right and extreme-left
In its report on anti-Semitic attacks in 2003, the NCCHR
focused on an increase in the proportion of anti-Semitic incidents that
took place in schools. In 2003, 22 of 125 attacks (18 percent) and 73
of 463 threats (16 percent) occurred in schools; the report shows this
to be the highest proportion of incidents in schools since 1997, the
oldest data in the report.
On May 30, in Boulogne-Billancourt, a 17-year-old Jewish
youth was attacked outside his home by a group of young men yelling
anti-Semitic slogans. The youth is the son of a local rabbi.
In June, an individual shouting "Allah Akbar" stabbed
a Jewish student and assaulted two other Jewish students in the city
of Epinay-sur-Seine. This same person is believed to be responsible
for similar knife attacks on five other victims, including those of
Haitian and Algerian origin. A suspect, reportedly identified by several
of the victims, was in custody at the end of the period covered by this
report. The varied and random nature of the victims made the true motive
of the attacks hard to discern.
In 2003, some Jewish groups were outraged when a court
ordered that--in the case of two 11-year-old Muslim youths expelled
for accusations of physical and verbal attacks against a Jewish student--the
two students be readmitted to school, and also ordered the Government
to reimburse the families $1,340 (1,000 euro) each for court costs.
The courts found that, while the behavior of the Muslim students merited
action, the age of the students and the circumstances did not justify
On March 23, in Toulon, a Jewish synagogue and community
center was set on fire. According to media reports, the arsonist broke
a window and threw a Molotov cocktail into the building. There was minor
damage and no injuries.
On May 7, in Villier-le-Bel, a small explosive device
was discovered outside a synagogue north of Paris. According to media
reports, the bomb was in a bag with the writing "Boom anti-Jews" and
a swastika. On May 14, an 18-year-old man was found guilty of putting
the fake bombs on the grounds of the synagogue and was sentenced to
2 months in prison.
On October 29-30, close to 100 gravestones were desecrated
at a Jewish cemetery in Brumath, just outside Strasbourg. The vandals
painted swastikas and "SS" symbols on 92 Jewish gravestones.
In November 2003, Hizballah's Al-Manar satellite television
channel broadcast an anti-Semitic, Egyptian pseudo-documentary called
"Ash Shatat" (The Diaspora). The Government and Jewish organizations
strongly criticized Al-Manar for the blatant anti-Semitism of this series
and for the incendiary intent of some of Al-Manar's news coverage. These
complaints against Al-Manar prompted the Audio Visual Superior Council
(CSA) to seek to cut off Al-Manar's dissemination via its France-based
satellite operator, Eutelsat. France's highest appeals court for regulatory
matters, the Conseil d'Etat, ruled in August that Al-Manar could continue
satellite broadcasting pending application for a broadcast license from
the CSA. The CSA then entered into negotiations with Al-Manar that resulted
in the agreement and temporary license. The CSA signed a 1-year, limited
license with Al-Manar on November 19 that included provisions banning
anti-Semitic broadcasts, propaganda in favor of suicide bombings, and
the diffusion of hate. The CSA's reversal of its decision to cut off
Al-Manar was vigorously protested by Jewish organizations. Shortly thereafter,
the CSA petitioned the Conseil d'Etat to ban the station based on anti-Semitic
programming broadcast after Al-Manar signed the restricted license.
On December 13, the Conseil d'Etat ordered Eutelsat to cease broadcasts
of Al-Manar within 48 hours. Prime Minister Raffarin has called Al-Manar's
anti-Semitic programming "incompatible with French values" and urged
the issue of satellite broadcasts be taken up at the EU level. Authorities
are similarly investigating Iranian-broadcast Al-Alam channel.
Government officials at the highest level vigorously
and publicly condemned acts of anti-Semitism. In October, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs called comments by Radio France International editor
Alain Menargues "unacceptable." In an interview publicizing his book
on the West Bank security barrier, Menargues called Israel a "racist"
state. Menargues was forced to resign as a result of his comments.
Of these anti-Semitic acts committed during the reporting
period, the Minister of Justice reported that suspects have been identified
in 59 of the cases, resulting in 46 cases going to court and 13 cases
closed after the offender paid a fine or was found legally inculpable.
Of the 2003 incidents, the Government reported that police had sufficient
evidence to question 91 suspects, arrest 69 suspects, and bring to trial
43 suspects. In 2003, there were 7 convictions for anti-Semitic attacks
committed that year and 15 convictions for attacks committed in 2002;
punishments ranged from fines to 4 years' imprisonment.
Authorities condemned anti-Semitic attacks, maintained
heightened security at Jewish institutions, investigated the attacks,
made arrests, and pursued prosecutions. More than 13 mobile units, totaling
more than 1,200 police officers, were assigned to those locales having
the largest Jewish communities. Fixed or mobile police were present
in the schools, particularly during the hours when children are entering
or leaving school buildings. All of these measures were coordinated
closely with leaders of the Jewish communities in the country, notably
the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF).
In addition, the Ministry of Interior has earmarked $20.1 million (15
million euro) for additional security at Jewish sites.
In November 2003, after an arson attack destroyed a Jewish
school in Gagny, President Chirac stated, "An attack on a Jew is an
attack on France" and ordered the formation of an interministerial committee
charged with leading an effort to combat anti-Semitism. Since its first
meeting in December 2003, the committee has worked to improve government
coordination in the fight against anti-Semitism, including the timely
publication of statistics and reinforced efforts to prosecute attackers.
In June, the Government commissioned Jean-Cristophe Rufin,
a doctor, writer, and president of the humanitarian association Action
Against Hunger, to prepare an in-depth report on racism and anti-Semitism
in the country. The Rufin Report, released in October, concluded that
racism and anti-Semitism attacked the country's republican values and
threatened democracy. The report identified the perpetrators of anti-Semitic
acts as elements of the extreme right, Maghrebian (North African origin)
youth, and "disaffected individuals" whose anti-Semitic obsessions prompt
their attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions. The Rufin Report
also warned against radical Anti-Zionists who question Israel's right
to exist. The report recommended that a law be created to punish those
publicly equating Israel or Zionism with apartheid or Nazism. The report
also recommended removing injunctions against incitement to racism and
anti-Semitism from the press law and writing a new law, specific to
those crimes. The current provisions in the press law are too cumbersome
for prosecuting public hate speech and too lenient in their sanctions
against private hate speech, it notes.
Many local and international Jewish organizations, as
well as foreign governments, praised the Government for vigorous action
in combating anti-Semitism; however, some groups asserted that the judicial
system was lax in its sentencing of anti-Semitic offenders.
The Government took steps to combat intolerance, particularly
among the youth. In March, the Government published an educational tool,
intended to help public school teachers promote tolerance and combat
anti-Semitism and racism; however, it is still too early to judge its
efficacy. In August, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe sent letters to all
Paris-area school principals calling for "debates on anti-Semitism,
racism and discrimination" when classes resume in September. In addition,
the Minister of Education called for a national debate in schools at
the beginning of the academic year to highlight the need for tolerance
and announced that 5,500 schools would receive copies of the film "Shoah"
for use in classroom education. These actions followed the creation
of a National Commission to Combat anti-Semitism in schools in 2003.
The Government has taken other proactive steps to fight
anti-Semitic attacks, including instructing police commissioners to
create monitoring units in each department and announcing in June the
creation of a department-level Council of Religions that will raise
public awareness of increased racial and anti-sectarian incidents. In
September, the Mayor of Paris launched a campaign to fight all forms
of intolerance that included 1,200 municipal billboards and bulletins
in major newspapers.
Approximately 87,500 persons are members of Jewish
congregations and account for 0.1 percent of the population. According
to press reports, the country's Jewish population is growing rapidly;
more than 100,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union have come to the
country since 1990, with smaller numbers arriving from other countries
as well. Not all new arrivals join congregations, resulting in the discrepancy
between population numbers and the number of congregation members.
While anti-Semitism based on religious doctrines and
traditional anti-Jewish prejudices continued to exist, Jewish leaders,
academics, and others believe that a newer, nontraditional form of anti-Semitism
is emerging in the country. This form tends to promote anti-Semitism
as part of its other stands against globalization, capitalism, Zionism,
and foreigners. According to the 2003 report by the Office for the Protection
of the Constitution, the total number of registered anti-Semitic crimes
decreased to 1,199 (from 1,515 in 2002). However, among these, the number
of violent crimes increased from 28 to 35, and the number of desecrations
of Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, or memorials went up from 78 to 115.
On July 22, a 15-year-old boy in Hagen, along with two
others, threatened synagogue visitors with a knife and made anti-Semitic
On July 31, a young man wearing a Star of David sticker
was walking on a street in Pankow, a suburb of Berlin, when a right-wing
extremist put a National Democratic Party (NPD) leaflet in his hand.
After dropping the leaflet on the sidewalk, the rightist attempted to
strangle the victim and throw him on the ground. The victim had minor
injuries, and the police arrested the offender.
In August, the Zionist Organization of Frankfurt received
an eyewitness report that four men harassed an English-speaking orthodox
Jew in downtown Frankfurt. According to the report, the men shouted
"they forgot to send your parents to the gas chamber" and jostled the
individual until he fell to the ground. The men fled the scene immediately.
Police refused to disclose the victim's identity or other information
on the incident.
An ancient Jewish cemetery in Duesseldorf was desecrated
in June. Forty-five gravestones were covered with swastikas, SS signs,
and anti-Jewish slogans. Other Jewish cemeteries, including in Bochum,
Nickenich, and Bausendorf, were vandalized during the reporting period.
Police investigators were unable to identify the perpetrators.
On September 23, 350 people demonstrated in the district
of Neunkirchen (Saarland) against the desecration of the Hermanstrasse
Jewish cemetery earlier in the month. According to police, the desecration
nearly destroyed the cemetery. Vandals have desecrated the Hermanstrasse
graves on 10 occasions since 1971, including twice during the reporting
period. The incident took place after significant electoral gains by
the far-right party NPD in Neunkirchen (5.6 percent) and neighboring
Voelklingen (9.7 percent) in Saarland's September 5 state elections.
During the reporting period, the extreme right wing "National
Democratic Party" (NPD) organized two demonstrations in the city of
Bochum under the motto "stop the construction of the synagogue – give
the 4 million to the people!"
Jewish community leaders expressed disappointment in
the leaders of other religious communities, as well as in some local
and national politicians, for not speaking out more forcefully against
anti-Semitism. In October 2003, Martin Hohmann, a Christian Democratic
Union (CDU) Member of Parliament, publicly compared the actions of Jews
during the Russian Revolution to those of the Nazis during the Holocaust.
These remarks led to a criminal complaint alleging incitement and slander
and to the opening of an inquiry. Hohmann was expelled from the CDU
Bundestag Caucus in November 2003 and from the CDU Hesse state organization
in July. Leading politicians from all major parties continued to assert
that neo-Nazi groups posed a serious threat to public order and to call
for continuing vigilance by law enforcement agencies. On the other hand,
some observers blamed the actions in the Middle East for rising anti-Semitism.
Frankfurt's Jewish community harshly criticized anti-Semitism
on the part of some Islamic representatives at the October Frankfurt
Book Fair. Jewish representatives cited open displays of anti-Semitic
texts such as the Saudi Arabian book "Terror and Zionist Thinking" (featuring
a cover illustration of a person standing in a pool of blood with a
skull and a Star of David).
The Aachen-based Islamist group, the Al Aqsa Association,
which was banned by Federal Interior Minister Otto Schilly in 2002 due
to its financial support of the terrorist organization Hamas, lodged
an appeal against the ban at the Federal Administrative Court in August
2002. In July, the court decided to suspend the ban until conclusion
of the proceedings. In a final decision on December 3, the Federal Administrative
Court in Leipzig confirmed the ban of the Al Aqsa Association.
Nine members of the Kameradschaft Süd, a neo-Nazi gang
from Southern Germany, were charged in an alleged 2003 plot to bomb
the site of a planned Jewish community center in downtown Munich. The
first of two trials started in October involving three teenage girls
and two men. The public has been largely excluded from this trial in
order to protect the defendant minors. The trial of the alleged ringleader,
Martin Wiese, and three members of his inner leadership circle began
Distribution of the propaganda of proscribed organizations,
statements inciting racial hatred and endorsing Nazism, and denial of
the Holocaust are illegal, and the authorities sought to block what
they considered dangerous material on the Internet. In March, police
nationwide raided over 300 apartments to search for and seize right-wing
extremist CDs and other banned music products. The state of Lower Saxony
took legal action against some of the growing number of neo-Nazi musical
bands in the state, which called for violence or employed xenophobic
or racist lyrics. In 2003, members of the Berlin neo-Nazi band "Landser"
were convicted of forming a criminal organization and sentenced to terms
ranging from 21 months probation to 3 years and 4 months in prison.
Officials estimated that there were more than 1,000 Internet
sites with what they considered to be objectionable or dangerous right-wing
extremist content. The Federal Court of Justice held that the country's
laws against Nazi incitement might apply to individuals who post Nazi
material on Internet sites available to users in the country, even if
the site resides on a foreign server.
In April, the Government hosted a historic Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference on anti-Semitism.
With strong support from the Government, the conference led to a declaration
calling on OSCE member states to implement a set of concrete measures
to combat anti-Semitism.
Authorities ran a variety of tolerance-education programs,
many focusing on anti-Semitism and xenophobia. Government agencies cooperated
with NGOs in the formulation and administration of these programs. These
measures included promoting educational programs that not only fight
anti-Semitism, but also remember the Holocaust and foster tolerance
and respect for all religious groups; collecting and maintaining information
of anti-Semitic incidents and other hate crimes; and compiling best
practices. With active participation from the Muslim community, Hamburg
has begun work on establishing interreligious education at public schools,
labeled the "Hamburg Model."
Vandalism of Jewish monuments continued to be a problem
during the reporting period; however, the Government condemned the acts.
Jewish monuments in Ioannina were desecrated three times in 2003. The
Holocaust memorial in Thessaloniki was desecrated in February 2003.
Police have not found perpetrators. Anti-Semitic graffiti was painted,
removed by authorities, and repainted in several places on the busy
Athens-Corinth Highway. The extreme right-wing group "Golden Dawn" regularly
paints anti-Semitic graffiti on bridges and other structures throughout
Greece. Some schoolbooks still carry negative references to Roman Catholics,
Jewish persons, and others. Bookstores in Northern Greece sold and displayed
anti-Semitic literature including "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
The Wiesenthal Center issued a travel advisory in November
2003 warning Jewish visitors about "the failure of Greece to curb growing
anti-Semitism;" however, local Jewish community leaders do not support
the advisory. The National Tourist Organization continued to promote
on its website Easter traditions such as the burning of an effigy of
Judas on some islands, sometimes known locally as the "burning of the
Jew," which propagate hatred and fanaticism against Jews. The Wiesenthal
Center protested the revival of this tradition.
Anti-Semitism continued to exist, both in the mainstream
and extremist press. The Wiesenthal Center and the ADL denounced the
press for anti-Semitic articles and cartoons on several occasions, particularly
after Israeli forces killed Hamas leader Sheik Yassin. The line between
opposition to Israeli policies and attitudes toward Jews in general
is often blurred, giving rise to anti-Semitic sentiment in the media
and among the public.
The mainstream media often use the terms "genocide" and
"Holocaust" to describe the situation in Israel and the West Bank/Gaza,
drawing a parallel with Nazi Germany. The press and public often do
not clearly distinguish between Israeli policies and Jews. The Jewish
community leaders have condemned anti-Semitic broadcasts on small private
television stations, but no charges have been brought against these
largely unlicensed operators.
The renowned composer Mikis Theodorakis called Jews "the
root of evil" in November 2003, and made strong anti-Semitic remarks
during the reporting period. Government officials stated that Theodorakis'
statements were directed against Israel and not against the Jewish people.
Populist Orthodox Rally (LAOS), a small, extreme right-wing
party, supports virulent nationalism, anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia.
LAOS's leader, George Karatzaferis, won a seat in the European Parliament
in June elections. Karatzaferis regularly attributes negative events
involving Greece to international Jewish plots. He used the party-owned
television station to denounce politicians with Jewish origins and to
claim that Jews were behind the September 11 attacks.
The Government condemned all acts of vandalism. The Government
provided 24-hour police protection to Jewish Community offices in Athens
and other major cities. Negotiations between the Jewish Community of
Thessaloniki and the Government to find acceptable recompense for the
community's cemetery were ongoing.
The Constitution establishes the Eastern Orthodox Church
of Christ (Greek Orthodoxy) as the prevailing religion, but also provides
for the rights of all citizens to practice the religion of their choice.
Jews freely practice their religion, and Jewish organizations have not
complained or requested additional legal protection.
Judaism is one of the three religious groups (the others
are Greek Orthodox and Islam) considered to be "legal persons of public
law." In practice, this beneficial distinction primarily means that
Jewish organizations can own property as religious entities rather than
as legal entities.
On January 15, the Parliament unanimously approved the
declaration of January 27, the day Auschwitz was liberated, as Holocaust
Remembrance Day. The following week, the country commemorated Holocaust
Remembrance Day with events in Athens and Thessaloniki and the participation
of Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. In April, a commemorative stone was placed
at the railway station from which Jews were deported to concentration
In October, the Government participated in the organization
of a seminar on "Teaching the Holocaust." Held under the auspices of
the Ministry of Education, it addressed 150 educators and Athens University
education majors. This teacher-training seminar aimed to introduce Holocaust
education in primary and secondary schools.
A memorial to Greek-Jewish veterans of World War II was
unveiled in October 2003 in Thessaloniki.
The Jewish community stated that there were fewer
acts of vandalism in Jewish cemeteries than in 2003, attributed most
of the incidents to youths, and did not consider the incidents anti-Semitic.
On July 1, a Jewish cemetery in northern Hungary was
vandalized. More than 90 gravestones were smashed just weeks after the
local town council had renovated the cemetery to mark the 60th anniversary
of the Holocaust.
Representatives of the Jewish community expressed concern
over anti-Semitism in some media outlets, in society, and in coded political
speech. For example, certain segments of an ongoing Sunday news magazine,
Vasarnapi Ujsag, on Hungarian Public Radio were criticized for presenting
guests who held anti-Semitic viewpoints. In October 2003, a weekly talk
show, Ejjeli Menedek, reported on Holocaust denier David Irving, who
made derogatory statements regarding Jewish persons. The show was subsequently
cancelled. The weekly newspaper Magyar Demokrata published anti-Semitic
articles and featured articles by authors who have denied the Holocaust.
Jewish Community Mazsihisz representatives requested
the Ministry of Cultural Heritage to close a county museum exhibition
highlighting the Arrow Cross and Hungarian nationalism during World
War II. The exhibition was closed, and the materials were returned to
their owners. During their visit to the country in April, the Chief
Rabbi and the President of Israel spoke positively of the situation
of the Jewish community in Hungary.
Local NGOs are attempting to get a court order stripping
the neo-Nazi group "Blood and Honor" of its official registration. A
new unregistered neo-Nazi group, "Hungarian Future," planned a public
demonstration to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the fascist takeover
of the country. Several groups have planned anti-fascist counter demonstrations
for the same day and at the same locale. The police have found no legal
grounds on which to ban the demonstration.
On April 5, hundreds of persons participated in the unveiling
ceremony of a statue of Pal Teleki, the Prime Minister of Hungary in
the 1920s, who was the first in Europe to enact anti-Semitic legislation.
The Minister of Culture, Istvan Hiller, cancelled plans for setting
up the statue (in Budapest) in the wake of pressures from the Wiesenthal
Center. The statue, which was to have been set up opposite the President's
official residence in Budapest, was eventually built in the courtyard
opposite the Catholic church in the town of Balatonbolgar on the shore
of Lake Balaton.
The Government made strong efforts to combat anti-Semitism
by clearly speaking out against the use of coded speech by right-wing
extremists, and the Prime Minister himself publicly stated that Hungarians
were also responsible for the Holocaust.
The 1997 changes to the hate speech law that were intended
to resolve conflicting court decisions and make it easier to enforce
and stiffen penalties for hate crimes committed on the basis of the
victim's ethnicity, race, or nationality proved inadequate and often
led to conflicting court decisions. In early 2003, the Office of the
Prosecutor successfully prosecuted a member of the extremist Justice
and Life Party for publishing an anti-Semitic article in a local newspaper.
In November 2003, the Budapest Appeals Court acquitted a former Member
of Parliament, who is a Calvinist pastor, of a charge of incitement
to hatred. The conflicting court decisions prompted Parliament to pass
a more restrictive law on hate speech, this time incorporating religious
groups within its scope. Pressured from both the right and the left,
President Madl referred it to the Constitutional Court for an advisory
opinion in January. In May, the Constitutional Court ruled that the
law is too vague and returned it to Parliament for refinement.
Harassment of the Jewish community in the country
was infrequent and not organized. The absence of anti-Semitism may have
been due to the fact that the Jewish population was tiny and inconspicuous.
Iceland had no synagogue, no Jewish community center, and no Jewish
religious services available. The Jewish population had yet to organize
formally and register as a religious community under applicable law.
Anti-Semitism rarely figured in Icelandic news reports. The Government
and NGOs had no programs to counter anti-Semitism.
One incident of harassment was reported in August. A
Jewish visitor reported in an online news magazine that he and a friend
had been harassed by a group of young teenagers who pointed at his yarmulke,
gave a 'Heil Hitler' salute, and then briefly blocked the visitors'
exit from a parking lot, intimidating them. An Icelandic daily newspaper
picked up the story, sparking over 30 online comments from Iceland-based
correspondents. Some of the comments were themselves anti-Semitic or
xenophobic in tone and content.
The March 22 issue of Icelandic tabloid newspaper DV
carried a cartoon that raised concerns in the small Jewish community.
The drawing showed a flying saucer that had touched down next to Jerusalem's
Western Wall. Two smiling aliens, anthropomorphized as swastikas, were
disembarking and pointing. Their speech balloon contained nonsense signs.
Facing them and bearing expressions of shock were two Orthodox Jews,
with hats, tallis, black coats, and sidelocks. The cartoon's caption
stated, "The 'Galactic Council' regarded the situation in the Middle
East on the planet Earth as threatening to the stability of the solar
system, viewed in the long term, and thus sent its best negotiators,
Zorg and Xuri, to the scene for talks." The cartoonist seemed to be
suggesting that the solution to the Middle East conflict would be to
dispatch Nazis to Israel's capital.
Holocaust education was not required by the national
curriculum. However, the Ministry of Education mandated that the subject
be covered as part of mandatory history education. References to the
Holocaust appeared in several textbooks that touch on Nazism and persecution
against Jews and other minorities in 1930s and 1940s Germany and in
the countries it occupied. According to staff of the state textbook
producer, teachers were permitted to take the initiative for more in-depth
teaching on the subject than the little that was offered in textbooks.
During the reporting period, the Irish Times newspaper
reported three instances of anti-Semitism in the country. One incident
included a swastika painted on the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin, while
the other incidents involved vandalism at a Jewish cemetery and synagogue.
A 2003 study by the European Commission's European Monitoring Center
on Racism and Xenophobia described the country as having "relatively
little reported in the way of a problem with anti-Semitism." In fact,
the study categorized all the 2003 cases as "abusive behavior" (threatening
letters or phone calls), totaling only 16. Recent evidence shows that
these acts may be interrelated with the emergence of a racist group
calling itself Irish Nationalist, which has expressed anti-British and
anti-Israeli views. In spite of these developments, the country has
very little evidence of anti-Semitism.
The most recent study, published by the Government's
National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI),
showed increases in "cases of abuse or discrimination, which is above
average from past studies." However, further research of most of these
cases occurred soon after a citizenship referendum was held in May,
that allowed citizens to vote on whether or not being born in Ireland
provided automatic citizenship. It was discovered that most of the reported
abuse and discrimination cases involved refugees and new immigrants.
In spite of this slight increase, only one percent of discrimination
reports were based on racial or ethnic origin. In addition, the Irish
Police's (An Garda Siochana) Racial and Intercultural Unit also "records
racially motivated crime" and provides police with instruction booklets
on how to interact with different ethnic, cultural, and racial groups.
The Police Commissioner has also appointed Police Ethnic Liaison Officers
in district and divisional police stations throughout the country. The
country consistently follows the EU laws and regulations regarding religious
During its EU Presidency, Ireland encouraged all member
states to be pro-active in combating anti-Semitism and explained how
proper education and training about anti-Semitism, human rights, and
cultural diversity would strengthen the EU community and reduce discrimination.
On the international level, the country has sponsored a UN Resolution
on Religious Tolerance for the last 20 years. In response to Israel's
request that anti-Semitism be specifically mentioned in the annual resolution
for 2003, Ireland proposed a General Assembly resolution on anti-Semitism,
which all EU member states supported.
Surveys conducted by independent research centers confirmed
the persistence of some societal prejudices against Judaism. Recent
public opinion surveys indicate that anti-Semitism is growing in Italy.
According to pollsters, this trend is tied to, and in some cases fed
by, widespread opposition to the Sharon Government and popular support
for the Palestinian cause. There have been examples of anti-Semitic
graffiti in several large cities. In November, vandals desecrated several
graves at a Jewish cemetery in Reggio Emilia, but no anti-Semitic signs
or inscriptions were found at the site.
In January, Prime Minister Berlusconi created a new "Inter-Ministerial
Commission to Combat Anti-Semitism" to ensure strong, uniform responses
to any anti-Semitic acts by the police and government officials. In
April, the mayor of Rome announced the establishment of a museum dedicated
to the Shoah. In November, the Government created a new office to combat
racial and ethnic discrimination through education, mass media campaigns,
and judicial assistance to victims of discrimination. The new office
lists Muslims, Jews, and foreign workers as the three cultural minorities
most likely to face racial or ethnic prejudice in the country. In 2003,
the Parliament approved the creation of a National Holocaust Memorial
Museum in Ferrara; planning is in process, but construction has not
begun. In November 2003, newly appointed Foreign Minister (and Deputy
Prime Minister) Gianfranco Fini publicly repudiated his party's Fascist
origins, condemned Mussolini's treatment of the Jews, and sought forgiveness
during a historic visit to Israel.
The Government hosted meetings to increase educational
awareness of the Holocaust and to combat anti-Semitism in Europe.
The country commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day on
January 27. During the reporting period, thousands marched in commemorative
processions across the country, several cities staged exhibitions of
the 'memory train' used to transport Italian Jews to Nazi concentration
camps, and Italian public school students participated in educational
and commemorative programs in schools.
With the Foreign Ministry and the Office of the Prime
Minister, the Anti-Defamation League hosted a conference on anti-Semitism
in Rome in December. Prime Minister Berlusconi, Foreign Minister Fini,
and other high-ranking Italian officials participated in the conference.
The Vatican made a serious effort to combat anti-Semitism.
The Holy See is active in OSCE endeavors and sent a high-level delegation
to the April OSCE anti-Semitism conference in Berlin. A Vatican document
released on March 8, instructed bishops on the exercise of their ministry,
and implored them to encourage respect for Jews to combat anti-Semitism.
It also asked bishops to ensure that the study of Judaism is on the
curriculum in their seminaries for priests and to promote dialogue regarding
Judaism. The Pope made several statements condemning anti-Semitism.
These attracted notice of the Jewish community. For example, Israel's
Chief Rabbis expressed thanks to the Pope for his strong condemnation
of anti-Semitism during a January 16 audience.
Other than the actions of members of Hizb ut-Tahrir,
who printed and distributed leaflets that supported anti-Semitism among
other beliefs, there were no reports of anti-Semitic incitement or acts
during the reporting period. There were reports of anti-Semitic propaganda
in pamphlets distributed by followers of Hizb ut-Tahrir. The Government
considers Hizb ut-Tahrir to be an illegal extremist group and has taken
action to prosecute members engaged in handing out these pamphlets under
Articles 164 ("Fanning Social, National, Tribal, Racial or Religious
Enmity") and 337 ("Creating An Illicit Public Association and Participating
in its activities") of the Criminal Code.
In August, the Chief Rabbi of the country addressed an
international religious conference in Brussels, stating that in his
10 years living in Kazakhstan, he had never faced a single case of anti-Semitism,
and he praised the Government for its proactive protection of the Jewish
community. In July, a visiting rabbi praised the Government for its
efforts to promote religious tolerance and dialogue among Christians,
Jews, and Muslims. On September 7, the Chief Rabbi of Israel arrived
in Astana to attend the opening and dedication of the largest synagogue
in Central Asia.
There were several incidents of desecration of cemeteries,
vandalism, and anti-Semitic graffiti. In September 2003, vandals overturned
dozens of tombstones and sprayed anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls
of Riga's New Jewish Cemetery. Government leaders moved quickly to denounce
the vandalism, and Riga city services cleaned and restored the cemetery
within 2 days of the event. Latvian police arrested five youthful suspects
the following week, and the Prosecutor General's office indicted them
in October 2003. The vandals could face up to 8 years in prison.
In October, a nationalist organization distributed a
commemorative envelope bearing the likeness of an aviation pioneer who
also participated in the Holocaust. The Foreign Minister condemned the
The Latvian National Front (LNF) is an organization that
purports to represent Latvian cultural values. Its director, Aivars
Garda, owns and operates a publishing house that publishes nationalist
historical texts and a sensationalist newspaper and newsletter called
"Deoccupation, Decolonization, Debolshevization" (DDD). The Chief of
the Latvian Security Police has stated that the LNF "borders" on being
an extremist organization, and the Ministry of Social Integration has
asked the Prosecutor General's Office to evaluate whether or not DDD
promotes ethnic hatred. A prominent Jewish businessman alleged this
year that the website published a call to kill four Latvian Jews.
In 2002, the Government created a new ministry,
the Ministry of Social Integration, whose mission is to promote inter-ethnic
tolerance by strengthening civil society and encouraging NGOs to create
and participate in educational programs that bridge ethnic group boundaries.
The ministry was an active voice in political affairs and was a vocal
critic of organizations, like the LNF, that perpetrated anti-Semitic
sentiments. The Ministry, in November, asked the Prosecutor General's
Office to review whether or not the LNF's newsletter "DDD" promotes
ethnic hatred and violates state law.
In October 2002, the country became the first Baltic
state to sign "The Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties"
agreement that protects and maintains Holocaust sites. The Government
is collaborating with the family of noted American-Latvian Jewish painter
Mark Rothko to renovate a synagogue in the city of Daugavpils, the town
of his birth.
The country has taken many positive steps toward promoting
anti-bias and tolerance education. The Government worked on a Holocaust
curriculum development project that will change Holocaust education
in classrooms, folding the history of the Holocaust into the country's
educational materials. In addition, Ministry of Education regulations
required teaching about the Holocaust in schools. For the past 5 years,
high school teachers participated in Holocaust teaching methodology
In April, the police launched an investigation into
the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in the Kaisiadorys region. They
had detained no perpetrators at the end of the period covered by this
The country's Jewish communities expressed concern over
an increase in anti-Semitic remarks made by extremists and a few mainstream
politicians. The political leadership of the country and the national
press generally condemned anti-Semitic statements when they occurred.
In April 2003, the Council of Europe (COE) criticized
the Government for not taking action against the anti-Semitic statements
of individuals seeking political office; the publication of anti-Semitic
articles in the media; the distribution of anti-Semitic proclamations
and other materials; acts of vandalism against Jewish graves and monuments;
and anti-Semitic statements during public gatherings. There were similar
occurrences this year; in addition, multiple anonymous anti-Semitic
comments appeared on the Internet.
In February, state institutions received anonymous anti-Semitic
proclamations. The proclamations railed against Jews, calling them among
other things "vampires of the population," an epithet that the country's
Ambassador to Israel, Alfonsas Eidintas, cited in his book "Jews, Lithuanians,
and the Holocaust" as an example of Nazi propaganda. In response, government
representatives publicly condemned anti-Semitism. Also in February,
a popular national daily Respublika carried a series of editorials with
obvious anti-Semitic undertones. The series was entitled "Who Rules
the World?" and the final editorial answered—"the Jews." A cartoon accompanying
the series was reminiscent of Nazi propaganda, and featured grotesque
caricatures of a Jew and a homosexual supporting a large globe. The
editorial blamed Jewish organized crime figures for exploiting the Holocaust
tragedy to avoid punishment for their own criminal activities, and it
focused on the alleged failure of the Jewish Community to disassociate
themselves from such criminals. The main thrust of the article was that
Jews are the wealthiest and most powerful societal group in the world
and control world events. Government officials at the highest levels
condemned the publication of the series and the anti-Semitic sentiments
therein, but the Jewish community and others criticized the Government
for responding too slowly. Local NGOs and representatives of other religious
groups similarly denounced the anti-Semitic articles. The Prosecutor
General's Office and the State Security Department launched pre-trial
investigations of Respublika's editor-in-chief for inciting ethnic and
racial hatred. The case was pending at year's end. In April, the Parliament
formed a working group to draft legislation increasing the penalties
for inciting discord, anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia.
In June 2003, media reports prompted the State Security
Department to investigate the publication of "The Protocols of the Elders
of Zion" in a low-circulation periodical Zemaitijos Parlamentas, and
the publication was discontinued. In December 2003, members of the National
Democratic Party, led by a member of the Siauliai city council, attempted
to prevent the lighting of a menorah during a Hanukkah celebration and
insulted members of the local Jewish community. The Siauliai mayor publicly
apologized for the incident.
The Jewish community has argued that, while most school
textbooks accurately and fairly present the Holocaust, some perpetuate
unfavorable stereotypes of Lithuania's pre-World War II Jewish community
and thereby promote intolerance. Although the Ministry of Education
attempted to ensure the historical accuracy of school textbooks, the
educational system allowed a great deal of leeway for individual teachers
to choose their own texts. Teachers are therefore able to use textbooks
that are not recommended by the Government and that may portray an unfavorable
and outdated view of the country's pre-War Jewish community.
An estimated 10 percent of the population of the country
before World War II was Jewish. More than 200,000 Jewish persons (approximately
95 percent of that population) were killed in the Holocaust. The country
still was reconciling itself with its past and working to understand
it better. In 1998, President Valdas Adamkus established a historical
commission to investigate both the crimes of the Holocaust and the subsequent
Soviet occupation. The commission has held annual conferences and several
seminars, published several reports, and cosponsored a Holocaust education
From January to September, the Prosecutor General's Office
initiated six investigations of genocide cases, war crimes, and crimes
against humanity. These new cases (which brought the total of such cases
initiated since 1990 to approximately 188) included six investigations
of killings in 1941, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. There
were 25 such cases, involving 140 to150 individuals, pending in September.
The Government continued to support the International Commission to
Investigate the Crimes of Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania.
The Commission, which includes historians, human rights representatives,
representatives of international Jewish organizations, and both Lithuanian
and foreign lawyers, produced new reports during the reporting period.
The Commission in cooperation with Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Martyrs'
and Heroes' Remembrance Authority) and other organizations continued
to implement a program of Holocaust education, including tolerance development,
in the country's schools. The Commission organized conferences and seminars
to promote the development of a tolerant civil society.
A March poll indicated that anti-Semitism was more alarming
to residents in large cities, while people living in rural areas tended
not to notice it. Respondents of older generations had a poorer opinion
of Lithuanian-Jewish relations than people aged between 18 and 25 who
more often defined relations as good.
The Seimas (Parliament) commemorated Holocaust Day by
publicly acknowledging and apologizing for the killing of Jews and destruction
of Jewish culture in the country during World War II.
The Government and City of Vilnius continued a program
using private funds to rebuild parts of the Jewish quarter in Vilnius
with the understanding that the Jewish community will have use of some
of the space upon completion of the project. In September 2003, the
Government returned 46 Torah scrolls (in addition to 309 such scrolls
turned over in January 2002) to an Israeli spiritual and heritage group
for distribution among Jewish congregations worldwide.
On March 4, several spectators hung banners with
swastikas at a handball match near the city of Bitola. Police officials
present did not confront the individuals responsible for the banners,
and pictures of the policemen standing in front of the banners appeared
in newspapers the following day. Several newspapers published editorials
critical of the police's inaction, and the Ministry of the Interior
later disciplined the officers in question.
In March more than 70 tombstones were desecrated
in the Jewish cemetery in Tiraspol, the principal city of the breakaway
Transnistria region that is not controlled by the Moldovan authorities.
Swastikas and other Nazi symbols were painted on monuments, and many
tombstones were damaged beyond repair. On May 4, unknown persons attempted
to set the Tiraspol synagogue on fire by throwing a Molotov cocktail
onto the premises. The attack failed when passers-by extinguished the
fire. Transnistrian authorities believed the attacks were perpetrated
by the same persons and claimed they were investigating the incidents.
In February 2003, unknown persons destroyed eight tombstones
in a Jewish cemetery in Balti. However, according to a leading rabbi
in Chisinau, it was not clear whether anti-Semitism motivated the event.
The National Expertise Center for Discrimination,
founded in 1998, deals with cases of discrimination that come under
Dutch criminal law and registers all criminal cases in this area. In
the years 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, the joint prosecutor offices recorded
214, 198, 242 and 204 discrimination cases respectively, of which about
a quarter concerned cases of anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism, particularly among Muslims, was linked
in many cases to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Most anti-Semitic incidents were not violent and included abusive language,
hate mail, verbal insults at soccer matches, Internet "chat room" discussions,
as well as persistent historical revisionism (such as Holocaust denial).
However, pockets of militant young Muslims, mostly Moroccans, on a number
of occasions assaulted or intimidated identifiable Jews. In addition
to the anti-Semitic acts carried out by a relatively small group of
Arab youths, the virulent anti-Israel sentiment among certain groups
in society, such as the Arab European League and the Stop the Occupation
movement, also have contributed to an anti-Semitic atmosphere in some
The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel
(CIDI) in its latest report covering the period January 2003 to May
2004 registered 334 anti-Semitic incidents in 2003, compared to 359
in 2002, the first decrease (7.5 percent) in anti-Semitic incidents
since 2000. In addition, the number of serious incidents (physical violence,
threat with violence, and defacing of cemeteries and synagogues) decreased
by 40 percent. Provisional statistics covering the first 4 months of
2004 confirmed this trend. Reportedly, a considerable number of anti-Semitic
offenders were of north-African origin.
Reacting to CIDI reports on increasing anti-Semitism
in recent years, the Parliament requested that the Government present
an action plan to combat anti-Semitism in June 2003. The Government
responded in October 2003 but placed the action plan in the broader
context of its efforts to combat discrimination of all kinds, and it
did not propose new policy specifically designed to combat anti-Semitism.
The plan proposed that parents have primary responsibility for preventing
anti-Semitic incidents; however, schools also could help to combat discrimination
and inculcate respect and tolerance. Public debate and dialogue were
other tools to achieve these goals, and several NGOs launched projects
such as Een Ander Joods Geluid (An Alternative Jewish Viewpoint) to
foster debate on equality, tolerance, and human dignity. Also, the Dutch
Coalition for Peace called on Jews, Palestinians, and other Muslims
in the country to work together to restore peace in the Middle East.
Stricter instructions to prosecutors and the police took
effect in April 2003 to ensure proper attention to incidents of discrimination.
Measures also were taken to deal more effectively with discrimination
on the Internet. The Ministry of Education provided schools with guidelines
to offer instruction on different religions and ideologies in conjunction
with discrimination and intolerance as well as on the persecution of
Jewish persons in World War II. The Ministry of Welfare subsidized a
special program to teach children about World War II and the persecution
of Jewish persons. In particular, the program was designed to raise
awareness about the consequences of prejudice. The Government promoted
dialogue and supported initiatives to create a better understanding
between Jewish persons and Muslims persons.
Members of the Jewish community reported a doubling
of anti-Semitic incidents in the last 2 years. The majority of the roughly
40 reported incidents in 2003 involved verbal harassment of primary
and secondary school Jewish students by non-Jewish students. A small
number of incidents involved threats against Jewish persons. There were
no reports of anti-Semitic violence or vandalism.
The Government was vigilant in fighting anti-Semitism
and promoting religious tolerance. In April, Prime Minister Bondevik
met with two Norwegian Jewish children who had been harassed on the
basis of their religion. At the conclusion of the meeting, he issued
a strong public statement condemning anti-Semitism and calling on the
public to fight anti-Semitism more actively.
Surveys over the past several years showed a continuing
decline in anti-Semitic sentiment, and avowedly anti-Semitic candidates
have won few elections. However, anti-Semitic feelings persisted among
certain sectors of the population, occasionally resulting in acts of
vandalism and physical or verbal abuse. In prior years, there were reports
of sporadic incidents of harassment and violence against Jews and occasional
desecration of Jewish cemeteries committed by skinheads and other marginal
elements of society.
A credible NGO reported that on October 26 a Jewish youth
from Sweden wearing a skullcap while visiting the Auschwitz Extermination
Camp encountered three young Poles who shouted anti-Semitic slurs at
him. The youth, who reported the incident by e-mail, said that this
was not typical of his entire visit to Poland.
In April, the pastor of St. Brigid Church in Gdansk told
parishioners during services that "Jews killed Jesus and the prophets"
and displayed posters asserting that only Christians could be true citizens.
The Archbishop of Gdansk subsequently removed the priest for this and
In June, police in Krakow discovered the desecration
of a 19th-century synagogue. Vandals had painted swastikas
and a Star of David hanging from gallows on the Temple Synagogue. The
desecration occurred a few days before the opening of an International
Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow's Kazimierz district.
In December 2003, a group of Catholics protested what
they considered to be anti-Semitic literature sold in a bookstore in
the basement of a Warsaw church. The group called for church authorities
to close the bookstore, which was run by a private company renting the
basement space, and for state authorities to prosecute the bookstore
owner for hate crimes. The state prosecutor's office examined the case
and found no basis for prosecution. Catholic Church authorities stated
that they could not take action due to the bookstore's lease.
The Government supported the American Jewish Committee
in establishing a $4 million memorial at the site of the Belzec death
camp, where Nazi Germany murdered 500,000 Jews during the Holocaust.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski took part in the dedication
of the memorial in June.
The Government cooperated with the country's NGOs and
officials of major denominations to promote religious tolerance and
lend support to activities such as the March of the Living, an event
to honor victims of the Holocaust. On April 19, the 13th March of the
Living took place. An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 participants, including
schoolchildren, Boy Scouts, the Polish-Israeli Friendship Society, Polish
survivors of Auschwitz, and the Polish Union of Jewish Students, walked
from the former Auschwitz concentration camp to the former Birkenau
death camp. In June, the Government held a major international conference
to unveil its proposal to open an international center for human rights
education in Oswiecim.
The Government provided grants to a number of organizations
involved in anti-bias education, including the public-private Jewish
Historical Institute (ZIH) in Warsaw. Many of ZIH's staff were also
government employees. ZIH was the largest depository of Jewish-related
archival documents, books, journals, and museum objects in the country.
The Government also provided grants to the Jewish Historical Association,
which produces educational materials on Jewish culture, the Holocaust
and religious tolerance, and to other NGOs.
The Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for
the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN), created by
parliament in 1998, is under the direction of a president who acts independently
of government control and is elected for a 5-year term. One of the three
principal departments of IPN was the Public Education Office, which
produces materials for schools, teachers, and students. The office also
held competitions, sponsored exhibitions on historical themes, and supported
workshops, seminars, and other activities. Educational materials included
a major research and documentation project on "The Extermination of
Jews in Poland" during World War II. This project included a critical
review of attitudes towards the Jewish population during the war, and
instances of collaboration with the Nazis, as well as activities undertaken
by underground organizations and individuals to rescue Jews.
Local governments have also been active in encouraging
tolerance. On December 13, Deputy Mayor of Warsaw Andrzej Urbanski,
together with the Chief Rabbi of Israel and Chief Rabbi of Poland, participated
in the first public lighting of a Menorah in the history of the Polish
capital. Together with Jewish organizations from Poland and abroad,
several towns have contributed to the renovation of Jewish cemeteries.
Such towns include Ozarow Swietokrzyski, Iwaniska, Goldap, Karczew and
The extremist elements of the press continued to publish
anti-Semitic articles. The Legionnaires (Iron Guard)--an extreme nationalist,
anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi group--continued to republish inflammatory books
from the interwar period. A new Iron Guard monthly, Obiectiv Legionar
(Legionnaire Focus), carrying mostly old legionnaire literature, began
publication in July 2003 and was distributed in several of the largest
cities, including Bucharest. The New Right organization (also with legionnaire
orientation) continued to sponsor marches and religious services to
commemorate Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the founder of the Legionnaire
Movement. Extremists made repeated attempts to deny that Holocaust activities
occurred in the country or in territory administered by the country.
In March, a private television station broadcast a talk show on "Gypsies,
Jews, and Legionnaires," which voiced xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and
racist views. The station owners did not respond to a protest sent by
the Jewish Communities Federation.
In March, unidentified persons broke into a synagogue
in Bacau and broke its windows. The perpetrators were not identified,
but were believed to be local youths, rather than members of an organized
anti-Semitic movement. In August, Nazi and anti-Semitic signs were found
on the inside of the walls of the Jewish cemetery in Sarmasu, Mures
County. Five Jewish cemeteries were desecrated in 2003, but no perpetrators
were identified in these cases.
On a number of occasions government officials denied
or minimized the occurrence of the Holocaust in the country. In July
2003, in an interview with an Israeli newspaper, President Iliescu appeared
to minimize the Holocaust by claiming that suffering and persecution
were not unique to the Jewish population in Europe. He later said that
his interview had been presented in an incomplete and selective way.
In December, President Iliescu decorated extremist Greater Romania Party
(PRM) leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor with the "Star of Romania," the nation's
highest honor. In addition, President Iliescu decorated Gheorghe Buzatu,
PRM Vice Chairman and an outspoken Holocaust denier, with the prestigious
"Faithful Service" award. This action prompted Elie Wiesel, a Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate and Chairman of President Iliescu's International
Commission on the Holocaust in Romania, to "resign" from the "National
Order of the Star of Romania," and to vow not to wear the decoration
that accompanies the award. (Wiesel had received his award in 2002.)
Most mainstream politicians criticized anti-Semitism,
racism, and xenophobia publicly. President Iliescu, Prime Minister Adrian
Nastase, and several members of the cabinet (the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, the Minister of Culture and Religious Denominations, and others)
continued to make public statements on various occasions against extremism,
anti-Semitism, and xenophobia and criticized attempts to deny the occurrence
of the Holocaust in the country. Two government-issued decrees banned
fascist, racist, and xenophobic organizations; prohibited the personality
cult of war criminals; and protected Jewish cemeteries and synagogues.
The Government sponsored several seminars and symposiums on anti-Semitism.
In May, the Government designated October 9 as an annual
Holocaust Remembrance Day. On October 9, 1941, the pro-Nazi government
of Marshal Antonescu initiated the deportation of thousands of victims
from Bessarabia and Bukovina to Transnistria. Senior Government leaders
commemorated the first Holocaust Remembrance day by laying wreaths at
a Holocaust memorial in the courtyard of a Bucharest synagogue and by
holding an ecumenical religious service in the Parliament building.
In May 2003, the Government inaugurated a Holocaust memorial
in Targu Mures, a Transylvanian town under Hungarian administration
in World War II.
The Government took several steps to improve teaching
of the Holocaust in teaching materials and textbooks, although efforts
remained limited and inconsistent. In September 2003, the Government
released a teaching manual for schools that dealt with Holocaust denial
and provided figures for the number of Jews killed and details about
concentration camps, death chambers, and the persecution of other groups.
History teachers participated in training courses for the teaching of
the Holocaust in Paris in 2003 and during the reporting period. Over
50 teachers graduated from the training program at the Holocaust teaching
center in Bacau, which was established with the support of the Ministry
of Education in 2002.
In October 2003, President Iliescu established the International
Commission on the Holocaust in Romania to analyze and to improve public
understanding of Holocaust events in the country. The committee, chaired
by Elie Wiesel, presented its findings to President Iliescu on November
11, 2004. In addition to fully charting the progression and atrocities
of the Romanian Holocaust, the report contained a list of recommendations
for the Romanian Government to ensure that the Holocaust is accurately
remembered by the Romanian people. Among the commission's recommendations
was that the Romanian Government reverse its rehabilitation of war criminals;
open prosecutions for unpunished war crimes; and enforce 2002 legislation
making Holocaust denial in Romania a crime.
An estimated 600,000 to 1 million Jewish persons
lived in the country (0.5 percent of the total population) following
large-scale emigration during the last 2 decades.
Many in the Jewish community stated that conditions for
Jewish persons in the country had improved, primarily because there
was no longer any official "state-sponsored" anti-Semitism; however,
anti-Semitic incidents against individuals and institutions continued
to occur and violence was used during these attacks with increasing
frequency. The Anti-Defamation League reported that while the number
of anti-Semitic incidents remained stable in 2003, the nature of the
attacks became more violent. Anti-Semitic statements were discouraged
and have been legally prosecuted. While the Government publicly denounced
nationalist ideology and supported legal action against acts of anti-Semitism,
reluctance on the part of lower-level officials to call such acts anything
other than "hooliganism" remained problematic.
On April 22, eight skinheads stormed the Ulyanovsk Jewish
Center screaming, "don't pollute our land," smashing windows, and tearing
down Jewish symbols as Jewish women and children hid inside. No one
was injured, but police failed to respond quickly, arriving 40 minutes
after they were called. A member of the extremist National Bolshevik
Party later was arrested in connection with the attack. The investigation
was ongoing at year's end, but it was suspected that both events were
prompted by the anniversary of Hitler's birthday.
On April 29 in Voronezh, two skinheads attacked Aleksey
Kozlov outside the headquarters of the Inter-Regional Human Rights Movement
of which he is in charge. Kozlov is the regional monitor for anti-Semitism
and racism in the country, a project sponsored by the European Commission.
On October 17, a group of skinheads tried to enter the
synagogue in Penza, but were stopped by parishioners. A group of approximately
40 people armed with chains and iron clubs approached the synagogue
later that day. The parishioners locked themselves inside and called
the police. There were reports that three skinheads were detained.
Unknown persons vandalized Jewish institutions. On many
occasions, vandals desecrated tombstones in cemeteries dominated by
religious and ethnic minorities. These attacks often involved the painting
of swastikas and other racist and ultra-nationalist symbols or epithets
on gravestones. On January 27, an explosion shattered several windows
in a synagogue in Derbent in the southern region of Dagestan. Vandals
attempted to torch a synagogue and library in Chelyabinsk in February,
but neighbors managed to extinguish the fire before the arrival of firefighters.
Local Jewish community representatives suspected a local anti-Semitic
group was responsible for the attack. On March 29, vandals broke the
windows of the only kosher restaurant in St. Petersburg. On April 11,
a group of young persons threw bottles at a synagogue in Nizhniy Novgorod.
The police failed to catch the vandals, and the criminal investigation
was dropped on April 22. In September 2003, an anti-Semitic poster with
wires attached to it was found at the Velikiy Novgorod Synagogue. There
were several attacks on a synagogue in Kostroma. A Jew was injured during
an attack in December 2003. Reportedly, teenagers threw stones at the
windows and covered the synagogue fence with anti-Semitic inscriptions.
Local police doubted they would be able to find the vandals, and a local
rabbi said the attack was blamed on hooliganism.
During the reporting period, Jewish cemeteries were desecrated
in Bryansk, Kaluga, Kostroma, Petrozavodsk, Pyatigorsk, St. Petersburg,
Ulyanovsk, and Vyatka. In Petrozavodsk, unknown persons sprayed anti-Semitic
graffiti on tombstones on the day a local court was to render a decision
in another case concerning cemetery desecration. In February, several
Jewish tombs were desecrated in one of the oldest cemeteries in St.
Petersburg; vandals again desecrated Jewish graves there in December.
On March 31, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated in Kaluga and, after the
local Jewish community chairman notified the governor about the incident,
four teenagers and two adults suspected in the vandalism were detained.
On November 25, three of the individuals, including one minor, were
sentenced to two years probation. The other two participants were too
young to be prosecuted. In April, vandals damaged 14 tombstones in Pyatigorsk's
Jewish cemetery. In October 2003, a suspected bomb was found on a tomb
at the Kostroma Jewish cemetery.
Anti-Semitism and xenophobic thought has become increasingly
popular among certain sectors of the population. Nationalistic parties,
such as Rodina and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), gained
a wider voter base by addressing issues of nationalism, race, ethnicity,
and religion. Allegations of anti-Semitism were leveled at the Rodina
bloc, LDPR, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF).
Anti-Semitic themes figured in some local election campaigns. There
were multiple cases of anti-Semitic statements from government authorities
in some of the country's regions, particularly in Krasnodar Kray and
Kursk Oblast, as well as in the State Duma.
Originally registered with well-known neo-Nazis on its
electoral list, the Rodina bloc attempted to improve its image by rejecting
openly neo-Nazi candidates; however, it allowed others known for their
anti-Semitic views to remain.
Vladimir Zhirinovskiy and his LDPR party also were known
for their anti-Semitic rhetoric and statements. In Moscow during a May
Day celebration, LDPR supporters rallied, carrying anti-Semitic signs
and spoke out against what they called "world Zionism."
The KPRF also made anti-Semitic statements during the
2003 Duma elections. Krasnodar Kray Senator Nikolai Kondratenko blamed
Zionism and Jews in general for many of the country's problems and blamed
Soviet Jews for helping to destroy the Soviet Union, according to a
November 2003 article in Volgogradskaya Tribuna.
The ultranationalist and anti-Semitic Russian National
Unity (RNE) paramilitary organization continued to propagate hostility
toward Jews and non-Orthodox Christians. The RNE has lost political
influence in some regions since its peak in 1998, but the organization
maintained high levels of activity in other regions, such as Voronezh.
Most anti-Semitic crimes were committed by groups of
young skinheads. The estimated number of skinheads increased from only
a few dozen in 1992 to more than 50,000 in 2004. Typically, skinheads
formed loosely organized groups of 10 to 15 persons, and, while these
groups did not usually belong to any larger organized structure, they
tended to communicate through the hundreds of fascist journals and magazines
that exist throughout the country, and increasingly on the Internet.
Many small, radical-nationalist newspapers were distributed
throughout the country, sometimes containing anti-Semitic, as well as
anti-Muslim and xenophobic leaflets. Anti-Semitic themes continued to
figure in some local publications around the country, unchallenged by
local authorities. For example, an anti-Semitic novel, The Nameless
Beast, by Yevgeny Chebalin, has been on sale in the State Duma's bookstore
since September 2003. The xenophobic and anti-Semitic text makes offensive
statements about Jews and non-ethnic Russians. According to the Anti-Defamation
League, books sold in the Duma were not typically monitored for content.
In cases where Jewish or other public organizations attempted to take
legal action against the publishers, the courts generally were unwilling
to recognize the presence of anti-Semitic content. Some NGOs claimed
that many of these publications are owned or managed by the same local
authorities that refuse to take action against offenders.
The larger anti-Semitic publications were Russkaya Pravda,
Vitaz, and Peresvet, which were available in metro stations around Moscow.
In addition, there were at least 80 Russian Web sites dedicated to distributing
anti-Semitic propaganda; the law does not restrict Web sites that contain
Responses to anti-Semitic violence were mixed. Authorities
often provided strong words of condemnation, but preferred to label
the perpetrators as terrorists or hooligans rather than xenophobes or
anti-Semites. Occasionally, the Government redesignated these events
as criminal acts resulting from ethnic hatred. Human rights observers
noted that considerable legislation prohibits racist propaganda and
racially motivated violence, but complained that it was invoked infrequently.
There were some efforts to counter extremist groups during the year.
Federal officials maintained regular contact with Jewish
community leaders. In March, then Russian Minister for Nationalities
Vladimir Zorin brought extremism to the forefront of public attention
by calling anti-Semitism and xenophobia major threats to the country.
Zorin called for stricter enforcement of the country's existing statutes
outlawing extremism and anti-Semitism and urging tolerance education
programs. In addition, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev became the
first high-ranking official to acknowledge the existence of right-wing
extremist youth groups in the country and noted combating this extremism
was one of the top priority tasks for the Ministry of Internal Affairs
and the Federal Security Service. These statements marked a positive
step by the Government to prosecute those who commit acts of anti-Semitism,
although few concrete steps were taken to solve high-profile cases.
A criminal proceeding was initiated against Boris Mironov,
one of the three co-chairs of the National Sovereign Party of Russia,
who ran for governor in Novosibirsk. The charges were instigation of
national hatred. The major slogan of his election bulletin was "We'll
not allow Jews to take power." Experts found the texts of the bulletin
In December, Igor Kolodezenko, the publisher of the newspaper
Russkiy Sibir, was given a 2½ year suspended sentence after being
convicted of inciting ethnic hatred for publishing anti-Semitic articles.
In June, the Arbitration Court of Sverdlovsk Oblast ordered the shutdown
of a local anti-Semitic paper, Russkaya Obshchina Yekaterinburga, after the Court found that the newspaper violated the laws banning incitement
of ethnic hatred, according to the Jewish National-Cultural Autonomy
of Sverdlovsk Oblast. The newspaper had received three warnings from
the Ministry of the Press based on complaints from activists. In 2002,
the Prosecutor's office had closed the criminal case. The court also
fined a company that published the newspaper approximately $34 (1,000
In September, a new course "A History of World Religions"
was introduced at some Moscow schools, pursuant to which some students
were taken on field trips to local synagogues and other religious institutions
to increase mutual understanding. The Government backed away from previous
plans to promote a compulsory nationwide course in schools on the "Foundations
of Orthodox Culture," using a textbook by that title, which detailed
Orthodox Christianity's contribution to the country's culture. Although
the book was still used by some schools, the Ministry of Education has
rejected funding for another edition and further circulation of the
textbook. Many religious minorities had complained about negative language
describing non-Orthodox groups, particularly Jewish persons.
In March, prominent rabbis Berl Lazar and Pinchas Goldschmidt
together requested that the Government better define the meaning of
extremism. Lazar and Goldschmidt said that law enforcement was prone
to dismiss anti-Semitic actions as simple hooliganism to avoid calling
attention to the presence of extremists in their region, and to consciously
protect extremist groups with which they sympathized. In October, President
Putin met with Rabbi Lazar and promised that the state would help to
revive Jewish communities in Russia.
Serbia and Montenegro
Since July 2003, according to the Forum 18 News Service,
more than 50 acts of vandalism on religious property occurred. Many
of the attacks involved spray-painted graffiti, rock throwing, or the
defacing of tombstones, but a number of cases involved more extensive
damage. There were a number of incidents in which gravestones were desecrated,
including those in Jewish cemeteries.
Jewish leaders in Serbia reported a continued increase
in anti-Semitism on the Internet and the frequent appearance of anti-Semitic
hate speech in small-circulation books. The release of new books (or
reprints of translations of anti-Semitic foreign literature) often led
to an increase in hate mail and other expressions of anti-Semitism.
These sources associated anti-Semitism with anti-Western and anti-globalization
sentiments, as well as ethnic nationalism.
In 2002, Serbian courts began proceedings in the Savic
case, in which an author of anti-Semitic literature was tried for spreading
racial or national hatred through the print media. According to sources
in the Jewish community, a number of continuances have been issued in
this trial. The latest continuance, granted to allow for a psychiatric
examination of the defendant, has been ongoing for more than a year.
Anti-Semitism persisted among some elements of society
and was manifested occasionally in incidences of violence and vandalism.
In early May, sources within the Ministry of the Interior
reported that skinheads attacked an Israeli citizen at the main bus
station in Bratislava. The man defended himself with a knife and killed
his attacker. The police did not release any information to the public
about the attack. The Government rarely commented on racially motivated
In October 2003, the Jewish cemetery in Nove Mesto Nad
Vahom was vandalized for the second time, and Jewish leaders reported
finding an anti-Semitic poster on a building formerly owned by Jews.
The police did not identify the vandals who damaged the 19 gravestones.
The text of the poster accused Jews of stealing money received from
a government fund for compensation for wartime-confiscated property.
Also in October 2003, three juvenile offenders vandalized
the Puchov cemetery in the western part of the country causing $1,613
(50,000 Slovak crowns) in damages and ruining 22 gravestones. The adolescents
were given suspended sentences of 4 months to 1 year. Three other individuals
under age 15 were not required to stand trial. Investigators did not
pursue charges of racial motivation that carried longer sentences because
of the lack of physical evidence.
In November 2003, unknown persons desecrated the cemetery
in Humenne in the eastern part of the country. Graffiti in German on
the entrance gate read "Achtung, Jude" (watch out, Jews) with a swastika
below the writing. Swastikas and inscriptions, such as Heil Hitler,
Adolf Hitler, and Mein Kampf, appeared on three graves. The Humenne
police opened a criminal investigation on charges of supporting movements
that suppress the rights of citizens, vandalism, and defamation of peoples,
races, and religion. The Humenne cemetery is a national cultural monument,
and the damage was irreversible in terms of the tombstones' value. Restoration
work in the cemetery had finished just 6 months before the vandalism
Jewish community leaders praised the quick action of
the police in cases of vandalism, but perpetrators usually were minors
and received light sentences. The Jewish community successfully pressed
for parents of the vandals to pay damages in the 2002 Banovce cemetery
case and hoped this case could be successfully replicated.
A Slovak Intelligence Service list of persons allegedly
harming the country's interests, which was leaked to the press in mid
2003, identified three individuals as Jewish. The media and politicians
criticized the practice of categorizing citizens by religious affiliation.
According to estimates, 500 to 800 neo-Nazis and 3,000
to 5,000 sympathizers operated in the country and committed serious
offenses; however, only a small number of these abuses were prosecuted.
The Penal Code stipulates that anyone who publicly demonstrates sympathy
towards fascism or movements oppressing human rights and freedoms can
be sentenced to jail for up to 3 years. Only a small number of these
abuses were prosecuted due to court delays.
The low number of prosecutions for racially motivated
crime generally improved during the past 2 years due to the creation
of a specialized police unit and an advisor in the Bratislava Regional
Police. Their successes included the arrest of 24 skinheads, including
a major neo-Nazi organizer, at a large meeting in 2003. In another success,
the Bratislava Police checked 158 suspected meeting places of extremist
groups in an overnight raid, which resulted in 14 arrests. Due to this
monitoring unit and its NGO advisory board, the police were better trained
in identifying neo-Nazi members and more informed about their activities.
Interior Minister Vladimir Palko had an advisor on racially motivated
crime, who participated actively on the government's advisory commission
with NGOs. During the reporting period, the Ministry of Interior assigned
specialists on hate crimes to each of the country's eight regions.
Some organizations, such as the official cultural organization,
Matica Slovenska, and the Slovak National Party continued to seek the
rehabilitation of former leaders of the Nazi-collaborationist State
under Josef Tiso. Meetings and demonstrations to commemorate the anniversary
of the first Slovak State from World War II occurred annually throughout
the country. At these and other events, extremists frequently appeared
in the uniforms of the Hlinka guards, who identified and sent Jewish
persons to the concentration camps during World War II.
The Jewish community continued to protest the failure
of the courts to resolve a lawsuit against Martin Savel, a former editor
of the publishing house Agres. Savel published anti-Semitic literature
and the anti-Jewish magazine Voice of Slovakia in the early 1990s.
Public cooperation was integral to the reconstruction
of a Jewish cemetery in Bratislava, which involved rerouting tram tracks.
The site, including the grave of 19th-century Jewish scholar R. Moshe
Schreiber (the Chatam Sofer), was restored in 2001 with substantial
financing from the Bratislava Local Council as well as from a foreign
organization, the International Committee for the Preservation of the
Gravesites of Geonai in Pressburg.
The Government promoted interfaith dialogue and understanding
by supporting events organized by various religious groups. The Central
Union of Jewish Religious Communities was invited to, and participated
in the activities. The Government approved an extension of its action
plan to fight all forms of discrimination, racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism
and other expressions of Intolerance for the years 2004-2005. The prior
plan supported training for police officers, penitentiary workers, and
teachers and also included public awareness campaigns.
The Ministry of Education and the Institute of Judaism
conducted a joint educational project on Jewish history and culture
targeted to elementary and high school teachers of history, civic education,
and ethics to educate the public about Jewish themes and increase tolerance
toward minorities. The project continued to be very successful and well
received. Since 2002, several teachers participated in summer training
programs abroad. Groups of teachers visited former concentration camps
for training in Holocaust education. To assist teachers with instruction
about the Holocaust, the Ministry of Education published and distributed
a textbook to four teacher-training centers. In 2003, a Holocaust Center
was established as a joint project of the Bratislava Jewish community
and the Milan Simecka Foundation. It released several publications dealing
with the Holocaust in the country, Jewish wartime history, and memoirs
of Jewish personalities.
In May, the Director of the Union of Jewish Religious
Communities (UZZNO) criticized the state-run Slovak Television (STV)
for canceling a documentary film about the country during wartime. The
documentary chronicled a Jewish pogrom in the town of Topolcany and
included an anti-Semitic statement from a local citizen. UZZNO believed
societal attitudes should be discussed openly and addressed by the Government.
STV management defended its decision pointing to possible liability
issues relating to the Broadcasting and Retransmission Act. The station
eventually aired the documentary and a panel discussion on anti-Semitism
and the Holocaust.
The NGO People Against Racism and the Ministry of Interior
monitored websites on the Internet that contained hate speech and provided
information about skinheads. Foreign servers hosted many of these Web
The Jewish community had 140 official members and
approximately 300-400 people who informally self-identified as Jews.
In early October, there was one incident involving the
desecration of a Jewish family grave.
Jewish community representatives reported widespread
prejudice, ignorance, and false stereotypes being spread within society.
Reportedly, negative images of Jews were common in private commentary
and citizens generally did not consider Jews to be a native population,
despite their uninterrupted presence in the country for many centuries.
While prejudice existed beneath the surface, there were no reports of
overt verbal or physical harassment.
The Government promoted anti-bias and tolerance education
through its programs in primary and secondary schools, with the Holocaust
as an obligatory topic in the contemporary history curriculum. However,
teachers had a great deal of latitude in deciding how much time to devote
to it. The country formally established May 9 as Holocaust Memorial
Day. Schools commemorated the day by showing documentaries, assigning
essay topics, and holding discussions on the Holocaust.
The Jewish community reported incidents of verbal
harassment, vandalism of synagogues and Jewish community institutions,
and increasing anti-Semitic sentiment in newspaper commentary and at
sporting events. Local officials were accused of sharing anti-Jewish
views. Members of the Jewish community have said that they fear identifying
themselves or wearing their traditional Kippa because it could make
them a target for attacks. There were reports of vandalism to Jewish
community institutions in Toledo, Melilla, and Barcelona, where incidents
of harassment also occurred. Jewish groups also reported that local
extremist groups monitored them. The regional government responded by
increasing security at the center.
In Barcelona, an official of the Barcelona Israeli Community
(CIB) said a grandfather and son and some Jewish worshippers were verbally
attacked as they left a cultural activity in March and April.
In March, two Jewish synagogues in Barcelona belonging
to the Jewish Community of Barcelona and the ATID Jewish Community were
vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls of the synagogue.
In June, a plaque honoring victims of the Holocaust in
the Montjuic Cemetery in Barcelona was vandalized for the fourth time
since 2002. The Barcelona City Council paid for part of the restoration.
In October, a group of individuals painted anti-Semitic slogans in German
on the walls of the ATID community center and the Sefardi School. After
the June and October incidents, the Catalan Government temporarily provided
additional security for the community center and the school. The president
of the CIB stated that attacks represented a threat not only to the
Jewish community in Barcelona, but also to society in general.
During the week of August 9, on a Jewish holy day, local
youth attacked a synagogue in Melilla with stones as worshippers celebrated
the Prayer of Shabaat. No arrests were made in the incident.
Officials from B'nai B'rith suggested there was an increasing
anti-Semitic tone in newspaper commentary and political cartoons as
well as public displays of anti-Semitism at major sporting events. They
cited the example of a soccer game held in Madrid following the March
11 train bombings. Some participants at the game wore swastikas and
other Nazi emblems and displayed a banner with an anti-Semitic epithet.
Jewish officials in Catalonia reported that local officials
were insensitive to anti-Jewish sentiment and expressed the view that
anti-Semitism was openly present in government institutions. One example
was the placement of a Star of David side-by-side with a swastika on
a City Hall Web page. Jewish representatives in Barcelona approached
local government officials requesting the symbol be removed. City officials
removed the symbols without explanation and did not apologize for the
In November, the mayor of Oleiros, La Coruna approved
public signs that described the Israeli Prime Minister as an "animal"
and labeled members of his government "neo-Nazis." Foreign Minister
Miguel Angel Moratinos responded to the incident by issuing a strong
statement calling on the mayor to remove the signs. Facing intense pressure
from national and local government officials and extensive criticism
in the national press, the mayor agreed to remove the signs.
In March, the Spanish Ministries of Justice and Education
met with representatives of a B'nai B'rith to discuss how to revise
inaccurate historical references on Jewish history and other materials
related to the Jewish religion in textbooks. They made a general nonbinding
agreement that textbook editors would consult with religious groups
before publishing material, including those that refer to Jewish religion
On May 27, Catalan police arrested three leaders of a
neo-Nazi group called the Circle of Indo-European Research on charges
of being members of an illicit association that opposes the fundamental
rights and public freedom of citizens within the international community.
The police and Jewish community leaders believed the Circle leaders
were involved in synagogue attacks in March. One of the group leaders
was charged with illicit association, one was released on bail, and
a third case was still pending.
On October 15, partly in response to attacks against
Jewish persons and institutions, the Council of Ministers approved a
proposal from the Ministry of Justice called the Foundation for Pluralism
and Coexistence. The Foundation provided approximately $4 million (3
million euro) in public funding to contribute to cultural, educational,
and social integration programs and projects of all non-Catholic confessions
(Muslim, Jewish, and Evangelical) that had a Cooperation Agreement with
the country and were not directly related with religious practices.
The Law of Religious Freedom provided for religious freedom
and the freedom of worship by individuals and groups, and the Government
generally enforced this law in practice.
The Catalonia Government provided public funds to renovate
traditional Jewish centers of learning and culture. In Girona, Catalonia,
city officials funded the renovation of the birthplace of a prominent
Jewish intellectual, Bonastruc ca Porta, who was born there in the twelfth
century. Jewish communities welcomed the city's efforts to renovate
traditional Jewish quarters in Girona, which they considered to be the
birthplace of Jewish intellectual heritage in the country.
In December, the country designated January 27 as Holocaust
Remembrance Day. Also in December, the OSCE Ministerial meeting in Sofia,
Bulgaria welcomed Spain's offer to host a third conference on anti-Semitism
and other tolerance issues in June 2005 in Cordoba.
According to police statistics, the number of reported
anti-Semitic hate crimes has increased since the end of the 1990s, averaging
approximately 130 annually during the period 2000 to 2003. During 2003,
128 crimes were reported; of these 3 were classified as assaults, 52
as agitation against an ethnic group, and 35 as unlawful threat/harassment.
There was a growing awareness of that there were particular problems
with anti-Semitism among certain immigrant populations.
Some members of the Jewish community believed that increases
in attacks were linked directly to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and increased tensions in the Middle East. Since the beginning of the
second intifada in 2000, the Jewish community felt increasingly threatened
by Islamic and leftist extremists. There were a number of high profile
incidents in Malmo in the past years. In March, four young people of
Arab origin broke into a Jewish-owned shop in Malmo, shouting anti-Semitic
epithets and threats, and attacked the shop owner and another Jewish
person. The shop owner was sent to the hospital for treatment. Two weeks
earlier, Muslims had thrown stones at employees of the Jewish Burial
Society at the Jewish cemetery in Malmo. In June, a football match ended
with Jewish players being attacked by Muslim Somali players. In April
2003, there was an attempted arson at the purification room of the Jewish
On March 26, an NGO reported that two members of Hizb
ut-Tahrir handed out leaflets near a mosque in Stockholm that urged
the liquidation of Jews in Palestine. The Imam of the mosque subsequently
denounced violence against Jews.
On April 15, a credible NGO reported that a swastika
appeared near the Jewish community building in Gothenburg and an empty
cartridge was found nearby. The police investigation continued at year's
end. During the night of April 17, the same NGO also reported that 17
gravestones were broken in the Jewish cemetery in Stockholm.
During the past few years, the Government took steps
to combat anti-Semitism by increasing awareness of Nazi crimes and the
Holocaust. Following a 1998 public opinion poll that showed a low percentage
of schoolchildren had even basic knowledge about the Holocaust, the
Government launched nationwide Holocaust education projects. Approximately
one million copies of the education project's core textbook were in
circulation and available in many languages at no cost to every household
The Swiss Observatory of Religions based in Lausanne
believed that anti-Semitic feelings increased during the last decade.
Although physical violence was rare, most anti-Semitic remarks were
fueled by extensive media reports over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and the Holocaust Assets issue.
There were few anti-Semitic incidents and, with one exception,
they were of a purely verbal nature that resulted in no physical harm
to any member of the Jewish community or any damage to Jewish property.
The only act of physical violence against Jewish property during the
reporting period occurred over the weekend of February 14 to15 in Geneva.
Unknown vandals entered the joint premises of a Jewish kindergarten
and a sports association, smashing windows and furniture, stealing computer
equipment, and spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti on the entrance
A study released by the Zurich University on March 26
found no evidence of anti-Semitism in the country's German-language
media but noted that newspapers and electronic media often resorted
to questionable stereotypes. The few journalists who engaged in anti-Semitic
rhetoric later apologized. Nevertheless, other xenophobic and revisionist
publications existed, sometimes using Internet websites abroad to avoid
On April 26, the Zurich lawyer and honorary chairman
of the Jewish religious community, Sigi Feigel, sued the political party
Europa Partei Schweiz, claiming that it sponsored newspaper advertisements
comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. The party, which was not represented
in Parliament, ran advertisements in the daily Tages-Anzeiger the day
after the killing of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi calling on the
country to cut off diplomatic relations and end military cooperation
with Israel. The advertisements referred to "Israel, nation of the Jews"
and stated, "with the exception of the gas chambers, all the Nazi instruments
are being used against (Israel's) resident population." The party was
charged under antiracism laws.
The Penal Code criminalizes racist or anti-Semitic expression,
whether in public speech or in printed material.
At an April conference sponsored by the OSCE on anti-Semitism
in Berlin, Franz von Daniken, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, highlighted
the various ways the country was confronting anti-Semitism. He condemned
all forms of racism and anti-Semitism and fully endorsed the OSCE measures
to promote tolerance and nondiscrimination.
To counter anti-Semitism and racism, in 2002 the Federal
Department of the Interior established a Federal Service for the Combating
of Racism to coordinate antiracism activities of the Federal Administration
with cantonal and communal authorities. The Federal Service had a budget
of $11.1 million (15 million Swiss francs) to use over a 5-year period.
Of this money, $370,000 (500,000 Swiss francs) per year was reserved
for the establishment of new local consultation centers where victims
of racial or religious discrimination may seek assistance. Approximately
130 of these consultation centers or contact points already exist in
the country. In addition, the Federal Service for the Combating of Racism
sponsored and managed a variety of projects to combat racism, including
some projects specifically addressing anti-Semitism.
On January 27, schools across the country held a day
of remembrance for victims of the Holocaust. Education authorities said
the aim was to remember the Holocaust and other forms of genocide committed
in the past century and raise awareness of inhumane ideologies.
In March, two bombers attacked an Istanbul Masonic
Lodge, killing 2 persons and injuring seven others. Evidence gathered
in the subsequent investigation suggested that anti-Semitism was at
least a partial motivating factor in the attack. According to press
reports, one of the suspects later arrested also confessed to the August
2003 killing of a Jewish dentist in Istanbul. Reports also suggested
that the perpetrator used his victim's address book and subsequently
telephoned a number of Jewish board members of an Istanbul retirement
home and threatened them with violence.
In November, simultaneous suicide attacks against two
of Istanbul's major synagogues killed 23 persons and injured more than
300 others, including many passersby. The trial for those charged with
perpetrating these bombings resumed briefly in November for final introductory
statements; the next court session is scheduled for 2005. The Government
condemned the bombings and provided assistance to victims and their
In an incident that arose out of the bombings, the 17-year-old
son of one of the alleged perpetrators of the synagogue attacks and
three journalists were convicted of anti-Semitism and could face up
to 3 years in jail. The youth said in an interview with the daily Milliyet: "The attacks did not touch the hearts of the members of my family
because the target was Jews. We couldn't be happy, but we were satisfied.
If Muslims hadn't been killed we would have been happy. We don't like
Jews." The journalist and the editors of the newspaper were convicted
of providing a platform for incitement against members of another religion.
This was the first time in history that citizens were convicted of anti-Semitic
Several Islamist newspapers regularly published anti-Semitic
material. Columnists in other mainstream papers sometimes indulged in
remarks with an anti-Semitic tone.
There were acts of anti-Semitism during the reporting
period. For example, on July 21 the media reported that the main opposition
bloc in Parliament, Our Ukraine, expelled Oleh Tyahnybok, a Member of
Parliament who made an anti-Semitic speech during a campaign rally in
On August 24, three men attacked two rabbis in central
Odessa. Police captured one of the alleged perpetrators, who, while
being interrogated, told police that he wanted to kill Jews. As of September,
police were still searching for the other assailants.
In April, Jewish community activists discovered that
vandals were removing gold from the mass graves of Jews killed by Nazis
at the Sosonky memorial in Rivne. However, according to the head of
the Rivne Oblast Jewish Council, the municipal authorities took prompt
action to restore the vandalized memorial.
On May 23, vandals destroyed several dozen tombstones
at Jewish and Christian burial sites at the Kurenivske Cemetery in Kiev.
Police were continuing to investigate these incidents at year's end.
On August 8, the media reported that 26 gravestones were
vandalized in the Jewish section of the Donetske More graveyard in Donetsk
Oblast and that police had caught the perpetrator. On August 20, it
was reported that 15 more gravestones in the same cemetery were vandalized.
The number "666" had been spray-painted on some of the overturned gravestones.
Local police were still searching for the perpetrators.
Anti-Semitic articles appeared frequently in small publications
and irregular newsletters, although such articles rarely appeared in
the national press. The monthly journal Personnel, whose editorial board
included several parliamentary deputies, generally published one anti-Semitic
article each month. The Jewish community received support from public
officials in criticizing articles in the journal. On April 20, the State
Committee for Nationalities and Migration filed a lawsuit with the Kiev
Economic Court to stop publication of Personnel journal and Personnel-Plus
newspaper for violation of the Law on Information and the Law on Print
Mass Media. On March 12, the State Committee for Nationalities and Migration
also filed a lawsuit against Idealist newspaper for publication of anti-Semitic
On January 28, a local court in Kiev ruled that publication
of the newspaper Silski Visti be suspended for fomenting interethnic
hatred in connection with the 2002 publication of an article by Professor
Vasyl Yaremenko entitled "Myth about Ukrainian Anti-Semitism," and a
September 2003 article, "Jews in Ukraine: Reality without Myths." Silski
Visti viewed the court decision as a government attempt to close the
major opposition newspaper (circulation 515,000) prior to the October
presidential elections and appealed the ruling. At year's end, Silski
Visti's appeal remained under review.
A dispute between nationalists and Jews over the erection
of crosses in Jewish cemeteries in Sambir and Kiev remained unresolved,
despite mediation efforts by Jewish and Greek Catholic leaders.
A local court ordered a halt in the construction of an
apartment building at the site of an old Jewish cemetery in Volodymyr-Volynsky.
However, apartment construction was completed during 2003 and most of
the units were occupied. Local Jewish groups complained that the State
Committee on Religious Affairs continued to refuse to help resolve this
A large number of high-level government officials continued
to take part in the annual September commemoration of the massacre at
Babyn Yar in Kiev, the site of one of the most serious crimes of the
Holocaust directed against Jews and thousands of individuals from other
minority groups. Discussions continued among various Jewish community
members about erecting an appropriate memorial, and possibly a heritage
center, to commemorate the victims. The Government was generally supportive
of these initiatives.
Anti-Semitic incidents included physical attacks,
harassment, desecration of property, vandalism and hateful speech, and
racist letters and publications. The Community Security Trust, an organization
that analyzed threats to the Jewish community and coordinated with police
to provide protection to Jewish community institutions, recorded 511
anti-Semitic incidents between July 2003 and June 2004.
On June 25, near Manchester, a group of five persons
physically assaulted a rabbi while shouting anti-Semitic statements.
In October 2003, a man driving past Borhamwood Synagogue shouted anti-Semitic
statements at members of the synagogue's security team.
The media also reported instances of desecration of synagogues,
Jewish cemeteries, and religious texts. On June 17, vandals caused a
fire in the South Tottenham United Synagogue that resulted in the destruction
of Jewish prayer books smuggled out of Central Europe before World War
II. On June 18, in an apparently unrelated incident, a suspicious fire
damaged a synagogue and Jewish educational center in Hendon. On August
22, cemetery officials discovered the desecration of approximately 60
gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in Birmingham. Police charged two suspects
with racially aggravated criminal damage, racially aggravated public
disorder, and causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm, or distress.
In November, vandals spray-painted swastikas and other Nazi symbols
on 15 gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in Aldershot.
Nazi slogans and swastikas were painted on 11 Jewish
gravestones at a Southampton cemetery in July 2003, and 20 Jewish gravestones
were damaged at Rainsough cemetery in Manchester in August 2003. Police
investigated the attacks as a racist incident. In November 2003, vandals
desecrated 21 graves at a Jewish cemetery in Chatham, East Kent. Later
in November, a deliberately set fire caused severe damage to the Hillock
Hebrew Congregation near Manchester, and, in a separate incident, attackers
used bricks to smash the windows of London's Orthodox Edgware Synagogue.
Members of some far-right political parties--such as
the BNP, the National Front, and the White Nationalist Party--and some
extremist Muslim organizations, such as Al-Muhajiroun, occasionally
gave speeches or distributed literature expressing anti-Semitic beliefs,
including denials that the Holocaust occurred.
The Crown Prosecution Service advised victims of anti-Semitic
attacks on how to report the incidents and press charges against the
assailants. Police services investigated anti-Semitic attacks, in addition
to providing additional protection to Jewish community events where
threat levels were considered to be elevated. The Anti-terrorism, Crime
and Security Act of 2001 made it a crime to commit a religiously aggravated
offense such as assault, criminal damage, or harassment. The Act also
extended the prohibition against incitement to racial hatred to include
cases where the hatred was directed at groups located outside the country.
In addition, a 2003 regulation explicitly prohibiting racial harassment
and a 1980 case law establishing Jews as a racial group provide legal
protection against anti-Semitism. Authorities charged 18 persons with
religiously aggravated offenses (the religious affiliation of the victims
was not released) between December 2001 and March 2003, the most recent
period for which data are available; of these, 8 were convicted.
In December 2003, new employment equality regulations
regarding religion (or other belief) entered into force. The regulations
prohibit employment discrimination based on religious belief, except
where there is a "genuine occupational requirement" of a religious nature.
On October 19, police charged Abu Hamza al-Masri with
four counts of soliciting or encouraging the killing of Jewish persons
based on recordings of some of his addresses to public meetings.
Officials regularly reiterated the government's commitment
to addressing anti-Semitism and protecting Jewish citizens through law
enforcement and education. In February, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Nazi
war crimes investigator Simon Wiesenthal an honorary knighthood in recognition
of his efforts to counter anti-Semitism.
The Home Office's Faith Communities Unit ensured that
members of all faiths enjoyed the same life opportunities. The unit
also sponsored projects that encourage dialogue and cooperation between
the different faith communities represented in the country. The Home
Office also was responsible for an annual Holocaust Memorial Day.
All publicly maintained schools were required to teach
religious tolerance. On October 28, Education and Skills Secretary Charles
Clarke introduced a new national framework for schools to deliver religious
education that, among other things, teach pupils about others' religious
Anti-Semitic fliers signed by Hizb ut-Tahrir have been
distributed throughout the country; however, these views were not representative
of the feelings of the vast majority of the population.
Jews generally are able to practice their religion in
Uzbekistan, and there were no reports of verbal harassment, physical
abuse, or desecration of monuments or cemeteries related to anti-Semitism.
Respected Jewish community members report they feel very welcome in
The Government of Uzbekistan promotes anti-bias and tolerance
education in its eleventh grade history textbooks. The standardized
textbook teaches students about the horrors of the Holocaust, the Nazis'
anti-Semitic policy, extermination camps, and the number of Jews killed.
In addition, Jewish organizations regularly conduct seminars on Holocaust
and anti-Semitism awareness.