Several important texts have been adopted in recent years by international organizations and conferences to provide a framework for defining, monitoring, and combating anti-Semitism. Five of these texts are contained in this document.

 

The April 2004 Berlin Declaration of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) commits the fifty-five OSCE member states to monitor and combat anti-Semitism within the region.

 

The 2005 Working Definition of Anti-Semitism of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) – now called the Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) – provides the twenty-five EU member states with a common definition of anti-Semitism for use by justice ministries, law enforcement agencies, and the RAXEN network of national focal points monitoring racist violence.[1]

 

The Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) brings together parliamentarians from around the world to lead the fight against resurgent global anti-Semitism. Its principal purpose is to share knowledge, experience, best practice, and recommendations, encouraging their dissemination in an attempt to deal more effectively with contemporary anti-Semitism. The first conference took place in London in 2009, the second in Ottawa in November 2010. At both conferences statements were adopted.

 

At the 2010 Ottawa conference, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a speech that stands out for its unequivocal expression of Canada’s attitude toward the Middle East conflict.