January 18, 2015
By Emma Barnett
When I heard the news (click here) that four Jews had been murdered last week on European soil by an Islamist gun-toting terrorist, my blood ran cold; my hands started sweating. Dazed, I found myself in the work toilets shedding a silent tear. And then I realised why I needed to be alone: I felt scared.
For the first time in my life, as a British Jew, 70 years on from the
liberation of Auschwitz, I felt anxious and bewildered at how this assault
had happened just across the Channel. While I was stunned and enraged by the
murders of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and writers – both as a journalist
and citizen – it was the murder of my fellow Jews that left me feeling
personally exposed.
I’m not alone in this newfound unease. A startling
YouGov survey published yesterday has found that more than half of
British Jews fear the community may have no long-term future in Europe; over
half say they have witnessed more anti-Semitism in the past two years than
they have ever seen before and 77 per cent have observed anti-Semitism
disguised as a political comment about Israel....
It occurred to me an international standard already exists. It accompanies the formation of The Hague Conventions (click here). These standards exist but are not enforced by the international community. I realize this is about human rights, but, the hate is still active without consequences.
It occurred to me an international standard already exists. It accompanies the formation of The Hague Conventions (click here). These standards exist but are not enforced by the international community. I realize this is about human rights, but, the hate is still active without consequences.
Using the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to Advance Human Rights At Home (click here)
To immediately enforce anti-hate policies on an international level will cause wars, both civil and international. Within the reality of causing war is the reason to begin to dialogue an international standard. The standards should be reviewed and a path forward to introduce enforcement of these standards with ultimate economic consequences in a generation. If it is possible to move any consequences forward in a shorter period of time than it needs to be pursued. This is asking for cultural change and it is difficult. The history of intolerance based in race and ethnicity is as old as civilization itself, moving such a standard forward in priority has to take a political characteristic rather than a social standard.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (click here)in the USA is a great resource for the USA, but, simply having the knowledge is not enough to stop the hate or stem the effects of hate. The leadership of this organization can speak to the fact when hate exists it will become a criminal matter within these groups. Today in the USA there are members of hate groups within our criminal justice system that have developed a continuum from street to prison cell. Imprisoning those that hate does not remove it alone. Imprisoned individuals will have their families threatened to achieve compliance within the power structure. Removing hate from a culture is difficult if not impossible.
