III 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 87 

To express the sense of the Senate regarding the rise of anti-Semitism 

in Europe and to encourage greater cooperation with the European 

governments, the European Union, and the Organization for Security 

and Co-operation in Europe in preventing and responding to anti-Semitism. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2015 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mr. REID, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. DURBIN, 

Mr. WICKER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. ROUNDS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. TOOMEY, 

Mr. COONS, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COATS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. KAINE, Mr. BLUNT, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. KING, Mr. HELLER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. GARDNER, Ms. WARREN, 

Mr. COTTON, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MCCAIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MORAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. HATCH, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. 

FRANKEN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. PETERS, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BROWN, 

Mr. NELSON, Mr. WARNER, Mr. BENNET, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. CASEY, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PORTMAN, and Mr. SCOTT) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

To express the sense of the Senate regarding the rise of 

anti-Semitism in Europe and to encourage greater cooperation with the European governments, the European 

Union, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in preventing and responding to antiSemitism. 


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•SRES 87 IS 

Whereas an alarming increase in anti-Semitic attacks and incidents targeting Jewish institutions, places of worship, 

and individuals continue to take place in Europe and remain a challenge to stability and security; 

Whereas, on January 9, 2015, 4 members of France’s Jewish 

community were murdered in an attack on a kosher supermarket following the deadly terrorist attack on the 

Paris offices of newspaper Charlie Hebdo; 

Whereas in a 2014 Anti-Defamation League survey of attitudes towards Jews in more than 100 countries around 

the world— 

(1) 24 percent of those surveyed in Western Europe 

expressed anti-Semitic views; 

(2) 34 percent of those surveyed in Eastern Europe 

expressed anti-Semitic views; and 

(3) a majority of those surveyed worldwide either— 

(A) had not heard of the Holocaust; or 

(B) do not believe that the factual accounts and 

recorded history of the Holocaust are accurate; 

Whereas the European Union Agency for Fundamental 

Rights issued a report in 2013 on anti-Semitism in the 

8 countries in which 90 percent of Europe’s Jews reside, 

namely France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Belgium, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, in which 76 

percent of respondents believed that anti-Semitism had 

worsened where they lived during the previous 5-year period; 

Whereas France, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish 

population, reported that— 

(1) twice as many French Jews immigrated to Israel 

during 2014 than had immigrated during 2013; and 


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•SRES 87 IS 

(2) for the first time ever, more Jews moved to 

Israel from France than from any other country in the 

world; 

Whereas anti-Semitic acts committed and recorded in European countries in 2014 included— 

(1) murders and death threats against Jews; and 

(2) arson, graffiti, and property desecration at Jewish sites, including Jewish cemeteries, places of worship, 

schools, and community centers; 

Whereas such acts led many Jewish individuals to conceal 

their religious affiliation; 

Whereas, on May 24, 2014, a gunman killed 4 people when 

he opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in 

Brussels, Belgium; 

Whereas, on July 29, 2014, Molotov cocktails were thrown at 

the synagogue in Wuppertal, Germany, which had been 

burned to the ground by the Nazis during the 1938 

Kristallnacht, and was rebuilt as recently as 2002; 

Whereas the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Italy 

issued a joint statement in July 2014, proclaiming: 

‘‘Anti-Semitic rhetoric and hostility against Jews, attacks 

on people of Jewish belief and synagogues have no place 

in our societies’’; 

Whereas in September 2014, British Prime Minister David 

Cameron declared: ‘‘There can never be any excuse for 

anti-Semitism, and no disagreements on politics or policy 

should ever be allowed to justify racism, prejudice or extremism in any form’’; 

Whereas, on January 13, 2015, French Prime Minister 

Manuel Valls spoke before the French National Assembly 

and declared that anti-Semitism must be dealt with 


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•SRES 87 IS 

‘‘powerfully’’ and that ‘‘there has been an intolerable rise 

in acts of anti-Semitism in France [that] have not 

aroused the outrage expected by our Jewish compatriots’’; 

Whereas at the Tenth Anniversary of the Organization for 

Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Berlin 

Conference on Anti-Semitism in November 2014, 

Samantha Power, the United States Ambassador to the 

United Nations, noted, ‘‘Rising anti-Semitism is rarely 

the lone or the last manifestation of intolerance in society. . . . When the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Jews are repressed, the rights and freedoms of 

other minorities and other sectors are often not far behind’’; 

Whereas the OSCE’s December 2014 Basel Declaration on 

Enhancing Efforts to Combat Anti-Semitism condemned 

‘‘manifestations of anti-Semitism, intolerance and discrimination against Jews’’, and protected the commitment to ‘‘declare unambiguously that international developments or political issues, including those with regard to 

the situation in the Middle East, never justify anti-Semitism’’; 

Whereas the Government of the United States has consistently supported efforts to address the rise of anti-Semitism through diplomatic efforts including engagement in 

international organizations such as the OSCE; 

Whereas the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism in 

the Department of State, which is headed by the Special 

Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, has consistently supported European efforts to combat AntiSemitism; and 


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•SRES 87 IS 

Whereas, at the urging of the United States and 36 other 

countries, including all European Union States, the 

United Nations General Assembly convened the first ever 

meeting on anti-Semitism on January 22, 2015, to consider ways to confront the long-standing and growing 

problem of anti-Semitism worldwide: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate urges the Secretary of 

2 State, the Attorney General, and other relevant United 

3 States Government agencies and officials to work closely 

4 with the European Union and European governments to 

5 encourage further efforts to address anti-Semitism by— 

6 (1) undertaking prompt, impartial, and effective 

7 investigations of any acts of violence motivated by 

8 anti-Semitism and fully prosecuting those respon9 sible for such violence within the extent of the law; 

10 (2) encouraging European countries and the 

11 European Union to designate senior-level special en12 voys to monitor, prevent, and combat anti-Semitism 

13 regionally and domestically; 

14 (3) cooperating with European counterparts on 

15 developing programs to counter violent extremists 

16 engaged in anti-Semitic activity; 

17 (4) encouraging the European Union and its 

18 Member States to integrate measures to combat 

19 anti-Semitism into relevant national strategies and 

20 action plans by including measures to protect human 


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•SRES 87 IS 

1 rights, religious tolerance, and equality, and to en2 sure hate crime and violence prevention; 

3 (5) increasing cooperation on training initiatives 

4 related to hate crimes, particularly crimes motivated 

5 by anti-Semitism, for law enforcement personnel, 

6 and improving monitoring and reporting efforts; 

7 (6) empowering civil society, including diverse 

8 religious and ethnic groups, civil and human rights 

9 organizations, and the business community, to fight 

10 anti-Semitism and discrimination; 

11 (7) convening regular consultations with Jewish 

12 community organizations and non-Jewish civil and 

13 human rights organizations to demonstrate visible 

14 support, listen to concerns, and solicit recommenda15 tions on improving security and supporting victims; 

16 and 

17 (8) reaffirming and implementing the rec18 ommendations in the OSCE’s December 2014 Basel 

19 Declaration on Enhancing Efforts to Combat Anti20 Semitism. 

Æ 


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