When one of the world’s premier human rights conferences convened in Warsaw, Poland, this month, the Jewish community understandably hoped the participants would use the occasion to mark the one-year anniversary of the worst anti-Semitic pogrom since the Holocaust. But the overlooking of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel instead gave cause for concern.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is a body of 57 Northern Hemisphere member-states. Its three spheres of operation include a “human dimension” category, which elevates human rights and democratic norms as a pillar of regional security.

The annual Warsaw Human Dimension Conference is an opportunity for both governments and non-governmental organizations within the region to raise their human rights concerns before a large gathering of diplomats and other stakeholders. Statements offered by B’nai B’rith International, the State of Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and an OSCE anti-Semitism official spotlighted the horror of Oct. 7 and the related threat to the global Jewish community, which has faced a torrent of anti-Semitism over the past year. Most of the other participants were silent about anti-Semitism, though.

Moreover, the OSCE declined to hold a commemorative ceremony to mark the anniversary. A statement proposed by Malta, in its role as the OSCE’s Chairman in Office, proved too ineffectual for public release.

The fact that the significance of the Oct. 7 anniversary was lost on a major international organization just one year after the tragedy and in the midst of unremitting anti-Semitism in cities and on university campuses in North America and Europe raises questions about the international community’s focus on confronting anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. This is particularly true of the OSCE in light of the organization’s 20-year history in addressing global anti-Semitism.

In an unprecedented gathering in Berlin in 2004, the OSCE issued a statement underscoring its commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, when such a manifesto would have seemed largely unnecessary just five years earlier. Known as the Berlin Declaration, the document condemned all manifestations of anti-Semitism and underscored that “international developments or political issues, including those in Israel or elsewhere in the Middle East, never justify anti-Semitism.”

Twenty years later, the current environment stands as a repudiation of the Berlin Declaration. Anti-Semitic protesters shout slogans like “From the river to the sea” and “Jews go back to Poland” while threatening and harassing Jewish individuals and communities. Clearly these agitators believe their hostility toward Jews is justified.

Governments and NGOs continue the work of confronting anti-Semitism through education, legislation, and law enforcement. But the success of this work will depend on the willingness of the international community to recognize the severity and combustibility of the problem. In a time of crisis, apathy and inattentiveness can allow a persistent social problem to metastasize and imperil increasingly vulnerable communities.