WASHINGTON – The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following hearing:

“Anticipating and Preventing Deadly Attacks on European Jewish Communities”
Tuesday, April 19
1:00 PM
Cannon House Office Building
Room 210

Live Webcast: www.youtube.com/HelsinkiCommission

Violent anti-Semitic attacks doubled in some European countries between 2014 and 2015 – in some others they quadrupled. ISIS has instructed its followers to prioritize targeting European Jewish sites and killing European Jewish people. The terrorists who attacked the Jewish Museum of Belgium, Great Synagogue in Copenhagen, and kosher supermarket in Paris, all claimed ISIS allegiance.

In the wake of the recent terrorist bombings in Brussels, the hearing will focus on violent threats to European Jewish communities from the full range of groups and individuals, and what needs to be done – particularly by law enforcement agencies – to anticipate and prevent future attacks. It will also feature lessons from the partnerships between Jewish communities and law enforcement agencies that can help counter terrorism and improve security in European countries more broadly. 

Scheduled to testify:

Rabbi Andrew Baker: Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, and Director of International Jewish Affairs, American Jewish Committee

Jonathan Biermann: Executive Director, crisis cell for the Belgian Jewish community

John Farmer: Director, Faith-Based Communities Security Program, Rutgers University

Paul Goldenberg: National Director, Secure Community Network