There are troubling signs of resurgent antisemitism in Europe and around the world, from attacks on Jews and harassment in public spaces to rising online hatred and more. One survey of European Jews [published on July 11 by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights] found almost all those questioned [between January and June 2023] had encountered antisemitism in the past year, while a majority sometimes hid their Jewish identity. We should all be disturbed and horrified by this.
Europeans, above all, know where hate speech and discrimination lead. Antisemitism is real, and it is abhorrent: a poisonous ideology with deep roots in bigotry and racism that still plagues our world. It is manifest in many ways, from prejudice and stigma to pogroms and, ultimately, genocide. Eighty years after the Holocaust, we have a particular responsibility to be vigilant against this deadly scourge, wherever it appears. As Anne Frank wrote, "What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again."
Attempts to apply the label of antisemitism to legitimate human rights concerns have increased significantly since the horrific attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups on October 7, 2023. The scale and brutality of the killings on that day, the accounts of torture and sexual violence, and the taking of hostages – many still held captive – shocked us all. These are all grave breaches of international law that I have repeatedly condemned together with the entire United Nations system and countries across the world, and those responsible need to be held to account.
In the 14 months that have followed, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza [run by Hamas], Israeli military operations have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has found that a large majority of verified fatalities are children and women, demonstrating an apparent indifference to civilian lives. The Israeli authorities have also failed to fulfil their obligation to meet the massive humanitarian needs in Gaza. As a result, Gaza is suffocated by death and despair, and drowning in raw sewage and disease. Israel's policies in Gaza have been marked by grave breaches of international law – which I have repeatedly condemned.
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