The International Conference of the Israeli-based Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism began in Jerusalem on Sunday amidst a dispute between Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the British Jewish community. The British Jewish Community Security Trust issued a report last week saying that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain reached a new high in 2006. However, an Israeli Foreign Ministry report said that anti-Semitic incidents in the UK had fallen by 3%. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 10). For the first time, a representative of the Muslim community will speak at this year's Conference. Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, will be part of a panel on anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim world. (Haaretz, Feb. 11).
Announcing the Conference, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "The Global Forum will formulate strategies for dealing with the many aspects of anti-Semitism which plague public and political life. The Forum will focus on practical steps for combating anti-Semitism by legal means, through education and media, and will pay particular attention to the dilemmas posed by anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim world. The current wave of anti-Semitism in Europe and in the Arab and Muslim world, which culminated in the Holocaust denial conference held recently in Teheran, demonstrates the need for coordinated action."
In her speech opening the Conference (full text), Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "The modern anti-Semitism is spreading from the fringes to the mainstream, in parallel with the growth of radical Islamic ideology in Europe."
