Antisemitism, in the form of hatred against Jews just for being Jewish, is not acceptable. It is a disease that threatens our open and democratic society. As the Norwegian Prime Minister has said: “A societies daily test is how we treat our minorities.”
Norway currently implements our third action-plan against antisemitism, focusing on i) dialogue and a well-functioning democracy, ii) knowledge and competence and iii) safety and security.
The action plan furthermore includes a chapter on international efforts, recognizing that antisemitism is a global challenge. In the plan, Norway expresses clearly the importance of close cooperation with the OSCE.
In the spirit of this morning’s session “from analysis to response” let me briefly share some concrete efforts we are taking against antisemitism.
First the Jewish Pathfinders has been developed to sharing experiences about being Jewish to Norwegian youth in a school context. This is an important addition to the inclusion of Jewish life, culture and history, in the national curriculum. It enables meeting places for the students to be exposed to a Jewish perspective of life. The Jewish pathfinder’s program has been successful and is a model that is being replicated to other contexts.
Second: Social media and artificial intelligence increase the risk and spread of disinformation, conspiracy theories and hatred. It is difficult to recognize and combat.
Norway has adopted a strategy to strengthen the resistance against disinformation and presented a white paper on safe upbringing in a digital society.
The challenges are increasing and we need to increase cooperation to combat digital antisemitism, hate speech and disinformation within the OSCE region. We must share best practices that really work in combatting antisemitism both online and offline.
Third: Antisemitism is closely linked to the conflict in the Middle East. Recent surveys show that Norwegian Jews increasingly are being held personally accountable for the actions of the Israeli government. This is not acceptable.
Across the OSCE region, we must avoid stigmatization of groups and further polarization of the situation. And we need to combat the complex issue of antisemitism, within the frameworks of a democratic society and freedom of speech.
Finally. Antisemitism is a disease that non-Jews have. It requires annual vaccination. And the vaccination consists of increased knowledge and attitudes. Combatting antisemitism is not only about protecting and securing our Jewish communities, but also about the future of our democracies, and the society at large.
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