B’nai B’rith participated in a conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw, Poland. The gathering, which focused on human dimension issues such as pluralism and non-discrimination, featured government officials and non-governmental organizations from the OSCE’s 57 member countries in North America, Europe and Eurasia.
Eric Fusfield, deputy director of the B’nai B’rith International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy, spoke at the conference on the need to combat anti-Semitism in the OSCE region. He identified the OSCE’s Words into Action project as a practical tool for countering hatred of Jews and Israel. Words into Action, funded for the past two years by the German government, develops activities in the areas of education, security and coalition-building.
“It is crucial that this work continue, as the need is more pressing than ever,” Fusfield said in his statement to the plenary. “B’nai B’rith calls on the OSCE to continue its support of Words into Action and insists that it not downgrade the project or diminish its specific focus on anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is a unique, and uniquely persistent, social phenomenon, with distinct characteristics and distinct prescriptions for countering it. Now is simply not the time to reverse course on this important effort.”
Eric Fusfield, deputy director of the B’nai B’rith International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy, spoke at the conference on the need to combat anti-Semitism in the OSCE region. He identified the OSCE’s Words into Action project as a practical tool for countering hatred of Jews and Israel. Words into Action, funded for the past two years by the German government, develops activities in the areas of education, security and coalition-building.
“It is crucial that this work continue, as the need is more pressing than ever,” Fusfield said in his statement to the plenary. “B’nai B’rith calls on the OSCE to continue its support of Words into Action and insists that it not downgrade the project or diminish its specific focus on anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is a unique, and uniquely persistent, social phenomenon, with distinct characteristics and distinct prescriptions for countering it. Now is simply not the time to reverse course on this important effort.”
