Two-day EJA Paris conference to launch ‘concrete action plan’ to combat antisemitism

“Fighting antisemitism should not just be left to Jews but requires everyone in society, especially political leaders, to man the barricades against it. This conference is our Europe-wide call to action as we will unveil a plan to combat antisemitism”

Politicians, policy-makers, senior officials, diplomats, experts and other stakeholders will join Jewish community leaders from across Europe to discuss security of the Jewish communities, education, community development and how to engage and empower Jewish youth, at the annual European Jewish Association (EJA) conference which took place in Paris on 24-25 February.

EJP member Yossi Lempkowicz said that is was very symbolic to entitle the Conference ‘Jews in Europe: United for a Better Future’ as the conference, ‘’will take the pulse of our communities across Europe’’.

The two-day conference took place at the European Centre for Judaism in Paris, inaugurated last year by French President Emmanuel Macron. For Joël Mergui, president of the Consistoire, the representative body of Judaism in France, who has carried out this project, the Centre ”is an asset in the fight against anti-Semitism.” This vast cultural and religious complex, located on the Jerusalem square in the 17th district of Paris, aims to be a “place of exchange” and a “showcase of European Judaism.”

The conference will take place in the newly inaugurated European Centre for Judaism in the French capital, amid a record high number of antisemitic incidents reported in several EU countries and a time of worry for Jews across the continent who once again find themselves in the frontline as xenophobia, populism and nationalism take stronger root.

‘’We of course welcome the many recent statements and speeches from those in power but what we need is concrete action,’’ said EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, ahead of the conference. To organize this event, EJA,  which is one of the largest Jewish organisation in Europe, has joined forces with the largest federation of France’s Jewish communities and organizations, the Consistoire Central, the newly-founded Action and Protection League (APL) and the World Zionist Organization (WZO).