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Draft International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Antisemitism
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - The widespread outbreak of antisemitism throughout Europe and North America is no longer the covert, under-the-surface, and passive antisemitism that has always existed. Perhaps the most severe and worrying aspect of this phenomenon is that it has now become acceptable and even fashionable to express antisemitic sentiments openly and to call for the boycotting and annihilation of the Jews. The international community has never considered criminalizing antisemitism as an international crime in a manner similar to the criminalization of such acts as genocide, racial discrimination, piracy, hostage-taking, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and terror. To correct what is a vast, long-standing international injustice, this document is intended to universally criminalize antisemitism within the world community in the form of an "International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Antisemitism." The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs first proposed this in 2015. Regrettably, for fear of reactions by Muslim groups and out of a misplaced sense of "political correctness," it was not taken up. In light of the present and most dangerous renaissance of antisemitism, this updated and revised draft convention should be reconsidered at the highest levels, with a view to its urgent adoption by the international community. The writer, Director of the Institute for Diplomatic Affairs at the Jerusalem Center, served as Legal Adviser and Deputy Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.