WASHINGTON – Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Commissioner on the Helsinki Commission, today urged House members to support a Resolution condemning the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. The Congressman recently returned from Parliamentary Assembly meeting of the Helsinki Commission in Berlin that addressed the growth of anti-Semitism in Europe.

   The Helsinki Commission promotes the rule of law, democracy, and human rights in Eastern Europe, but, according to the Congressman, in the past few years "we have seen a number of horrific incidents in France, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, Ukraine and Russia."

   Rep. Cardin stressed that such incidents have included shootings, firebombing of synagogues, physical assaults, and hate propaganda. "The mayor of a Lithuanian town continues to vent anti-Semitic statements on a regular basis. In Belarus, the government forcibly merged several periodicals into one government-controlled media outlet and appointed editors with well know anti-Semitic views."

   In speaking out in support of the Resolution, the Congressman also criticized "our friends and allies in Europe for not taking a more aggressive stand against anti-Semitism in Europe." In passing this Resolution, Rep. Cardin told members of the House that he hopes "it will remind Helsinki member states of their pledge to unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism and to take effective measures to protect individuals from violence and to prosecute those who participate in anti-Semitic attacks."

   He also called for European governments "to publicly and loudly condemn anti-Semitic attacks, establish more visible police protection of Jewish sites and synagogues, and to vigorously investigate, arrest, and prosecute those responsible for these hate crimes against Jews."