Crif/Europe - Antisemitism in Europe: Francis Kalifat meets Swedish PM Stefan Löfven

A few weeks ago, Francis Kalifat met Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Löfven indeed wanted to exchange with President of Crif about the situation of anti-Semitism in France and Europe and the security situation of the French Jews.

 

This meeting was also a good opportunity for Stefan Löfven to discuss the project of an international conference against anti-Semitism scheduled for fall 2020. This conference will bring together major actors involved in the fight against anti-Semitism in Europe. It should be held in Malmö, Sweden, in fall 2020. The Swedish Prime Minister explained that the city of Malmö was chosen because of the many anti-Semitic acts that it has suffered and which have pushed the Jewish Swedes to gradually leave their country.

 

Regarding the situation of French Jews and their security needs, Francis Kalifat highlighted the difficulties faced by small European Jewish communities to undertake work to protect Jewish places. He recalled that the French Government was 80% involved in securing Jewish places. Also, the President of the Crif raised the idea of ​​a European fund to help these communities.

 

Francis Kalifat also uggested a better harmonization of the European States regarding the fight against anti-Semitism. He stressed the importance for Europe of combating new forms of anti-Semitism, like anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of Israel. For those issues, he suggests to generalize in Europe the adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.