Anti-Semitism will persist despite EU’s efforts

Significance

The European Commission is pushing member states to acknowledge problems in dealing with a cross-national phenomenon, but has no say in building national education curricula. The new strategy fails to deal with elite strategies to foster anti-Semitic attitudes, and has no control over member states’ approach to their history of anti-Jewish attitudes.

Impacts

• Countries’ dismissive approach to the memory of the Holocaust will puncture ties with the United States and Israel.
• Forgetting the meaning of the Holocaust will have secondary effects on the promotion of human rights agendas.
• Funds the EU makes available will boost research into anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in Europe.