To HE Ambassador at Large, Mr. Mihnea Constantinescu Mr. Razvan Rusu, General Director for Regional Affairs Romania – Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dear Ambassador Constantinescu, Dear Mr. Rusu Thank you for the invitation to participate at the meeting organized in relation with the candidature of Romania for the position of Chairmanship of the IHRA in 2016. Following that constructive meeting, please allow me to reiterate in this message subjects as discussed during the meeting. 1) MCA Romania welcomes and supports Romania’s desire to assume the position of Chairman of IHRA in 2016. 2) Following official statements published by the media, according to which Romania is free of anti-Semitism (???), MCA Romania strongly recommends that the anti-Semitism in Romania will neither be maximized nor minimalized especially not by comparison with other countries. Romania is almost free of its Jewish population but it is not free of anti-Semitism. Statements, declaring Romania as free of Anti-Semitism, such as the one published by The Jerusalem Post following the visit of PM Victor Ponta in Israel, is counter-productive and opens Romania to criticism that is not compatible with Romania’s desire to take over the IHRA’s chairmanship. 3) Regarding the priorities of Romania as Chairman of IHRA, priorities presented in the attached statement : a. WORK WITH THE MEDIA : based on our monitoring activities it will not be wrong to state that, in general, the media in Romania manipulates the anti-Semitism as a marketing tool: we noticed that articles involving Jewish and Israeli matters are generating 3 or 4 times more comments than articles regarding other issues. Most of the comments are reflecting anti-Semitism or pre-conceived opinions related to Jews. In our opinion the “ work with media” point as stated in the Toronto statement is vague and does not address the matter in a practical manner. b. CONSOLIDATION of HOLOCAUST EDUCATION in MEMBER COUNTRIES and BEYOND: the Holocaust education in Romania is one of the main points raised in each and every discussion in which Romania needs to show the progress made in tackling the (Romanian) Holocaust denial present within the Romanian society. “ Lauder Foundation”, FCER, MCA Romania and the National Institute for the Research of the Holocaust in Romania, together with the Ministry of Education, prepared, many years ago, an high school studies program dedicated to the Holocaust in Romania. Unfortunately, from essential, this program became optional. In fact there is no statistical data regarding the number of students opting today for this program. The wish expressed by Romania to combat anti-Semitism thru education is laudable but it will become also valuable when the wish will also be put in practice at national scale and a permanent basis. c. PROMOTION of ACADEMIC REASEARCH: Academic research is of great importance as long as it is conducted for promoting the historic truth as it really happened. Academic research is most wanted as long as its results are transformed in practical measures created to combat the Holocaust denial and the anti-Semitism. Unfortunately we notice that in Romania academic research is exploited by Holocaust deniers and notorious anti-Semites for generating confusing debates putting under question the WWII Antonescu’s regime Jewish victims. Additional to the above list, there are more issues, not part of the Toronto Statement, that, in our opinion, should be given special attention: 4) LEGISLATION : Law 107/2006 – As discussed during the meeting, this law, which was adopted in 2006 and it is based on OUG 31/2002, suffers of many lacunas which allowed the Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites escape punishment. Three years ago, PCA ( The Forum Combating Anti-Semitism in Romania, formed of FCER, the Zionist Organization in Romania, THE Association of the Holocaust Survivors in Romania , The Bnei - Brith Romania, The National Institute for Research of the Holocaust in Romania and MCA Romania) drafted and agreed on a modified form of Law 107/2006. Only in 2013, following the involvement of MCA Romania in “Dan Sova” scandal, the promotion of the modified law became possible and a reality. The National Institute for Researching the Holocaust in Romania, and state institution controlled by the Prime Minister’s office, promoted the modified law as a project which now is waiting to be adopted by the Romanian Parliament. We believe that it will be in Romania’s interest for the modified law to be adopted and implemented sooner than later. 5) The PRAGUE DECLARATION (declaratiadelapraga.ro ) – the crimes committed by the communist regimes are atrocious. These crimes have to be remembered and commemorated. The victims of the crimes committed by the communist regimes should be treated with the respect needed for restoring their human dignity. The authors of those crimes need to be faced with the effects of their criminal doing. However, comparing the crimes committed by the communist regimes with the Holocaust, exploiting the Holocaust for promoting the political agenda related to the communist crimes is wrong. Public, well know and highly appreciated politicians using the Holocaust for promoting their own political agenda related to the communist crimes are in fact, directly and indirectly, pushing the Holocaust in the dark side of the human history. Those using the Holocaust as a ramp for launching their programs related to crimes committed by the communist regimes should make sure that the pro-Nazi and fascists criminals punished, under the communist regimes, for their war crimes and genocide inflicted on the European Jewry should not be treated as victims of the communist regimes. 6) THE WORKING DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM – In Romania ( the same as in the rest of the World) the anti-Semitism is an abstract expression which many know that is not politically correct, that infuriates the Jews and that is should not be expressed openly and loudly. Very few envision a clear definition of this deadly phenomenon and only those Jews who were directly exposed to it can actually feel in their bones the threat that it poses to life. Juridical speaking, making non-Jews to understand what anti-Semitism is, means to wait for an synagogue to burn, for a Jew to be physically beaten up or killed. In fact anti-Semitism is a hate virus which is transferred from a human to anther by air: it is odorless and colorless: it is become visible only when Jewish owned business, synagogues, cemeteries and homes are vandalized. In this context , the Working Definition of the Anti-Semitism, issued in 2005 by EU, has a an inestimable value and should be adopted at the European level and promoted as the point of reference to be used in any issue related to anti-Semitism. In a World in which the politically incorrect anti-Semitism is promoted under the cover of politically accepted criticism of the policies adopted by the State of Israel (engaged in a continuous war for existence and against international terrorism) this Working Definition becomes more and more relevant and important. The Working Definition of Anti-Semitism in Romanian is available here : european-forum-on-antisemitism.org/working-definition-of-antisemitism/romana-romanian/?fontsize=0%2Fcontact.php. We hope that Romania will support and promote this definition as a permanent and formal starting point in combating anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and the denial of the right of the State of Israel to existence and safe borders. Concluding my message: We recognize and we appreciate the progress registered by Romania in formally preparing, since 2003 and on, the frame needed for combating the anti-Semitism and the Holocaust denial. However, much is there to be done for effectively combating the destructive social and political effects of the anti-Semitism. With a growing old Romanian Jewish community that is visibly shrinking from a day to another, with an growing old Jewish community that is doing its best to stay away from troubles, driven by “don’t make waves” motto, it becomes evident, more and more, the State’s role to preserve the memory of the Romanian Jewish Heritage as part of the Romanian history. In an social environment where ignorance and anti-Semitism are present, such an task will take dedication and strong, firm commitment for fundamentally and permanently changing the present reality. In this context please remember: we are here ready to assist as much as possible. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your confirmation of receving this message Yours sincerely Maximillian Marco Katz Founding Director of MCA Romania The Center for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism in Romania
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 08:15:01 +0000
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