The Berlin + 10 Conference on Anti-Semitism, held by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), concluded Thursday in Berlin, Germany, with a commitment to address the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), co-chairman of the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, the U.S. independent agency tasked with OSCE policy), met a group of European officials and activists on the topic of increasing anti-Semitism in Europe.

In a prelude to the conference, held from Nov. 12-13, Rep. Smith and others planned steps to ensure that the U.S. and other governments belonging to OSCE implement OSCE efforts on fighting anti-Semitism. These include monitoring and prosecuting hate crimes, and Holocaust education and remembrance. In recent years, many of the OSCE member states have ignored their commitments.

Smith committed to using congressional hearings and advocacy to ensure that the U.S. government much more vigorously engage other countries to fulfill their pledges to fight anti-Semitism. Smith also plans to hold meetings with foreign ambassadors to urge their countries to fulfill their commitments.

“Over the past 10 years we’ve made progress in getting the OSCE and its member states to recognize their responsibility to fight the terrible social evil of anti-Semitism,” said Smith. “Now we’re going to hold their feet to the fire on their commitments. In 2004 we got the OSCE’s 56 member states to make a commitment to this fight, and since that time Rabbi Andy Baker has given us the tools. He has done a wonderful job in building up the credibility and influence of his office within the OSCE, and documenting the exact nature of the problems in various countries. This conference has also documented the failure of many countries to meet their commitments. Now many of us are going to focus on supporting Andy in pressing the member states to honor their commitments.”

Officials meeting with Rep. Smith on Nov. 11 included Rabbi Andy Baker, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, Deidre Berger, Director of the American Jewish Committee’s Berlin Office, both of whom hosted the meeting, and Michael Link, Director of the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Ambassador Felix Klein of Germany and over 20 other human rights and Jewish leaders.

At the conference, leaders of civil society groups presented information on the horrifying spike in anti-Semitic violence in Europe in 2014, and reviewed implementation of the OSCE’s existing commitments, adopted in the 2004 Berlin Declaration, which has often been sadly lacking. They also proposed next steps to OSCE governments, many of whom were represented by foreign ministers or other cabinet-level officials. Many American human rights groups played leading roles in the NGO forum on November 12, including the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith, Human Rights First, and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

At the conclusion of the conference Rabbi Baker delivered a statement from the President of Switzerland, which currently chairs the OSCE. Speaking for the Swiss President, Rabbi Baker stated that events that took place in the summer of 2014—attacks on Jewish people, synagogues, schools and other buildings as well as anti-Semitic threats expressed during assemblies, on the Internet and elsewhere—were disconcerting and highlight that anti-Semitism remains a challenge to stability and security in the OSCE region. He called on political, religious and civil society leaders to use the freedom of expression, the freedom of the media and the freedom of peaceful assembly as a starting point for dialogue, coalition-building and open debate, including about conflicts in the Middle East, without justifying or resorting to anti-Semitism.

In 2002 Rep. Smith chaired a landmark hearing on combatting the escalation of anti-Semitic violence in Europe, and, following the hearing, led U.S. and international parliamentarians in putting the fight against anti-Semitism on the agenda of the OSCE. One result of this was the 2004 Berlin Conference and Declaration, which became touchstones in the battle against anti-Semitism, in which the OSCE adopted its commitments to fight anti-Semitism–the first intergovernmental organization to adopt such meaningful commitments.

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