Eldad Beck
Jerusalem Post, Oct. 31, 2024
“… the Jewish communities in Austria, France, and Germany say that they don’t even want to get close to the far-right parties in those countries, the EJC president said.”
Recent electoral gains of far-right parties in Austria and Germany and the election of a far-right politician as president of the Austrian Parliament are causing growing concern among the leaders of European Jewish organizations and communities for the future of Jewish life in the Old Continent.
Ariel Muzikant, president of the European Jewish Congress (EJC) and former president of the Jewish community in Austria, raised a red flag against any legitimization of these far-right parties – the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in Austria and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) – and recommended that Israel continue boycotting them despite their mounting popularity.
“I have had quite a difficult year behind me,” said Muzikant in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “All European Jews find themselves between plague and cholera: attacks from the Left, from the Right, from the Islamist side. Our current situation is not easy.
“One of the greatest difficulties that we are facing is the question: From what side does the real dangerous and threatening antisemitism come? The truth is that it comes from all sides. On the one hand, we are extremely busy defending Israel, and on the other hand, we are defending ourselves from antisemitism coming from all sides.”… [To read the full article, click here]