This online workshop was held on 10 March from 14:30 to 17:30 CET and targeted equality body staff, representatives of EU institutions & national authorities, and (Jewish) civil society organisations and communities. It aimed to bring together equality bodies and representatives of Jewish communities and encourage them to meet and discuss how they can combat and prevent antisemitism.
With antisemitism worryingly on the rise across EU Member States and beyond, the European Commission adopted its first ever Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life in October 2021. While it addresses EU Institutions and Member States, it will undoubtedly influence work against antisemitism in third countries as well. An important next step for the Strategy will be to ensure its effective implementation. The Strategy encourages Member States to develop national strategies by the end of 2022 and equality bodies may be involved in the development, implementation and monitoring of these. Collaboration between stakeholders will be key, including EU and national institutions, Jewish civil society, representatives of Jewish communities, and equality bodies. This online workshop therefore explored how to promote collaboration amongst all these relevant actors to achieve the successful implementation of the Strategy and to effectively combat antisemitism in Europe.
The workshop was designed for equality bodies to deepen their knowledge and understanding on combatting antisemitism, especially for those that had not actively worked on this issue. As institutions working against inequality and discrimination based on race or ethnic origin, and often with mandates including religion or belief as well, Equality bodies are well placed to contribute to the effective implementation of the Strategy. However, limitations in Equality bodies’ mandates and powers (notably in the areas of hate speech and litigation powers) as well as external circumstances such as high levels of under-reporting, have posed an obstacle to their work in combating Antisemitism. For this reason, it is key that equality bodies engage and collaborate with representatives of Jewish communities and civil society to combat and prevent antisemitism. This online workshop served as a unique opportunity to bring together equality body staff and Jewish communities and civil society organisations to encourage dialogue and the development of common strategies.
Objectives
- To discuss the role equality bodies can play in combating antisemitism at national level and share good practices;
- To discuss what tools equality bodies would need to further strengthen their efforts to combat antisemitism;
- To identify how equality bodies, civil society, national authorities and European institutions can cooperate to successfully implement the EU Strategy on combating antisemitism.
Follow-up questions for equality bodies
These follow-up questions are intended to informally evaluate progress in equality bodies’ work on combating antisemitism and their collaboration with Jewish communities and civil society. The questions will be sent out to Equinet members in Q4 of 2022.
- As an equality body, has your organisation been involved in the development of a national action plan against antisemitism?
- Has your organisation been involved in fulfilling the recommendations to Member States of the EU Strategy on Combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life?
- Has your organisation initiated, increased or strengthened links with Jewish communities and Jewish civil society organisations in the past 12 months? If yes, please briefly describe any and all experiences and good practices.
- Has your organisation explored or discussed ways to enhance reporting of antisemitic incidents and increase access to justice for Jewish persons, including in the presence of mandate limitations (for instance by coordinating third-party reporting mechanisms or collaborating closely with law enforcement authorities to refer antisemitic incidents)?