Opening the session Parliament Vice-President Antonio Tajani, an Italian member of the EPP group, said he was concerned about the decline in the number of Jews in Europe: from two million in 1991 to 1.4 million in 2010. He also said he regretted the attacks they are subject to: “Jewish people should be able to live in peace in Europe, respected like anyone else. They should be able to display their faith, their identity, without being attacked."

Fears for the future



Most of the participants were worried about the future of the Jewish communities in Europe. “Jews are confronted with insults, discrimination, and harassment, sometimes physical violence, sometimes they are murdered like in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam,” said Francis Kalifat, president of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France.

Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the European Rabbis Conference, identified two main threats: radical Islam and Islamic terrorism as well as the rise of extreme right in Europe. The majority of the Jewish participants at the conference also criticised calls to boycott products from Israel and said anti-Zionism was the new face of anti-Semitism.