On 27 September MEPs and representatives from Jewish communities gathered in the European Parliament to debate anti-Semitism and the future of Jews in Europe.
TRANSCRIPT VIDEO:
“There’s rising alarm at the flight of Europe’s Jews from the continent, not just because of recent terrorist attacks in Belgium and France and stabbings elsewhere, but also the rise of anti-Semitism. In 1991 the Jewish population in the EU was 2 million. 25 years later it’s 1.4 million. If Europe allows anti-Semitism to flourish, that will be the beginning of the end of Europe. Lord Sacks was the key speaker during a special conference at Parliament addressing the predicament of Europe’s Jewish communities. Jewish life is an essential part of our culture and our identity.
Europe is not Europe without Jewish heritage. Europe should engage itself politically and publicly to guarantee them a prosperous future and help stop them from departing to Israel because they don’t feel protected here. Among the speakers, the renowned French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy. The essence of being Jewish shouldn’t be reduced to victimhood. The Jews of Europe today are sometimes victims, they are the survivors of a victimised people, but they are much more than just victims.
Lord Sacks made this impassioned plea to MEPs: You are the leaders of Europe. Its future is in your hands. If you do nothing, Jews will leave, European liberty will die, and there will be a moral stain on Europe’s name that all eternity will not erase. Stop it now while there is still time. Thank you.”
Source: YouTube European Parliament