Close cooperation in promoting Jewish life and in the fight against anti-Semitism
Berlin/Vienna (OTS) – As part of the community day of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (ZdJ), this, the Israelite Religious Society of Austria (IRG) and the Swiss Association of Israelite Communities (SIG) signed a friendship agreement on December 17th. The treaty is a commitment to self-confident and diverse Jewish life in German-speaking countries and provides for increased cooperation and cross-border coordination to promote Jewish life and in the fight against anti-Semitism. Included in this commitment is the decisive stance of all communities not to maintain contact with right-wing extremist parties such as the AFD or FPÖ.
The Friendship Treaty reaffirms the commitment of the three umbrella organizations to the State of Israel as the home of the Jewish people. It underlines the common effort to combat Israel-related anti-Semitism in all its manifestations at the national and international levels. In addition, the joint effort against disinformation in the media and against boycott movements, especially BDS, is reaffirmed. All of these efforts are based on the binding basis of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism.
On the basis of the cooperation, the ZdJ, the IRG and the SIG will coordinate their participation in international committees and organizations in order to realize common strategic goals for the self-confident shaping of Jewish life in Europe.
The presidents of the ZdJ, Dr. Josef Schuster, the IRG, Oskar Deutsch and the SIG, Dr. Ralph Lewin, said unanimously after the signing: “We conclude this agreement with awareness of the shared Jewish-European history. Especially in these times when Jewish life is threatened in Europe, this sign of cohesion and cooperation between our organizations is particularly important.”
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Is Ben Dagan OK?
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b.earth@ikg-wien.at
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