Global meeting against anti-Semitism meets in Buenos Aires

An increase in education, closer monitoring of the internet and media, new legislation, and interfaith dialogue are needed to combat anti-Semitism, a global meeting against anti-Semitism was told in Buenos Aires.

 

Parliamentarians and 250 experts from 17 countries in the region came to the Argentine capital for the Global Forum for Combatting Antisemitism, a biennial gathering for assessing the state of anti-Semitism globally and formulating effective forms of societal and governmental response.

 

The two-day assembly, meeting for the first time in Latin America, opened Sunday.

 

Also for the first time, a non-Jewish group — the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition, an evangelical Christian organization — was a co-organizer.

 

“This is an historical event. The presence of the evangelical community united with the Jewish community in this fight against anti-Semitism is very important,” Pastor Mario Bramnick of the coalition told JTA. “We are half a billion people in Latin American and rising. We could be a tremendous force for support and a voice, impacting people, legislation and governments.”

 

Gideon Behar, director of the Department of Combatting Antisemitism at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told JTA that non-Jews are essential in the battle against anti-Semitism “because it is an international problem and not only a Jewish problem.”

 

“It affects the society at large, and is a danger for democracy, Western values and the civilized world. Evangelicals are very important and we want also other coalition partners.”

 

On Saturday night, Bramnick hosted a Celebration of Israel event at an evangelical church in Argentina.

 

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