An inter-communal conference in Brussels Thursday, which will play host to leaders from across the Muslim and Jewish communities, hopes to tackle issues of freedom of religion as well as rising racial incitement and anti-Semitism in Europe.
The cross-communal dialogue will take place at the European Parliament, where Richard Prasquier, President of the French Jewish umbrella organisation the CRIF will make a keynote address, as attendees learn of the frequent link made between minority hatred and ailing economic climates currently being faced by the majority of European communities.
Representing the Muslim community will be Hassen Chalghoumi, the Imam of Drancy, a Parisian suburb renowned for being the deportation point for many French Jews from which they were sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust. A noted inter-religious advocate, the Imam has been outspoken on the threat of Holocaust denial, insisting that revisionists “are nothing but accomplices to these criminals” who perpetuated Nazi war crimes.
His campaigning on the topic has not always earned him praise from within the Muslim community, with his home being ransacked following a Holocaust commemoration he presided over in May 2006 in the town. However, he has defended his position saying he is “first and foremost a lover of peace” who feels the need to speak out against hatred, which he insists is not only a Jewish issue, but also a “human one”.
Speaking recently of the surge in anti-Semitic attacks in France, he said:
“There is a rise in racist and anti-Semitic hatred at the moment in Greece, Poland and France. Today, during the economic crisis, it is time for solidarity, for working hand in hand.”
Hosted by Finnish Liberal Democrat MEP Hannu Takula, Thursday’s conference is co-organised by the European Jewish Association, along with the European Jewish Community Centre and the European Jewish Press, with the aim of promoting inter-religious unity and tolerance.