European Parliament resolution on remembrance of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and racism
Date: 2005-01-27
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: anti-discriminatory measure, antisemitism, contemporary history, crime against humanity, public awareness campaign, racism, vision of Europe, world history

13.10.2005

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 253 E/37

Thursday 27 January 2005

12.
Condemns all terrorist attacks and any acts of violence from both sides; demands that the armed
Palestinian groups refrain from any attacks and reminds them that any form of terror and violence not only
causes loss of innocent lives but is also detrimental to the peace process and to the conditions of the civilian
population; asks the Israeli Government to refrain from retaliation and put an end to extrajudicial killings;

13.
Calls on the Israeli Government, as a credible first step in the implementation of the Roadmap and
the resolutions of the UN Security Council on the path to a lasting peace, to implement the withdrawal
from Gaza and other parts of the Occupied Territories, by involving and negotiating with Egypt, the first
neighbour to approve this project, as well as the Palestinian authorities under the verification of an inter-
national observer mission; calls on the Council to find ways to provide the necessary assistance;

14.
Reiterates its call to the Israeli Government to stop the expansion of settlements, notably in the
Jerusalem area, to halt the construction of the wall, and to comply fully with the Fourth Geneva Conven-
tion, and thus end the violation of international law;

15.
Confirms the EU's support for the peace process and puts forward a proposal for an an economic
development plan which should be monitored by the Union, in order to give the region a solid basis for
prosperity and stability;

16.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Palestinian
Authority and the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Israeli Government and Knesset, the US Government,
the Government of Russian Federation and the UN Secretary-General.

P6_TA(2005)0018

The Holocaust, anti-Semitism and racism

European Parliament resolution on remembrance of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and racism

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Articles 2, 6, 7 and 29 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 13 of the EC
Treaty, which commit the Member States to upholding the highest standards of human rights and non-
discrimination, and to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism of 27 October
1994 (1), 27 April 1995 (2), 26 October 1995 (3), 30 January 1997 (4) and 16 March 2000 (5), to the
report of its Committee of Inquiry into Racism and Xenophobia of 1990 and its Written Declaration
of 7 July 2000 on remembrance of the Holocaust (6),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/97 of 2 June 1997 establishing a European Moni-
toring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (7) (EUMC) and to the EUMC's various reports on racism in
the EU, including ‘Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in the EU 2002-2003’ and ‘Perceptions of Anti-
Semitism in the European Union’, both published in March 2004,

— having regard to the Berlin Declaration of the second OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism, held in
Berlin on 28/29 April 2004, and to the recent appointment by the OSCE of the Personal Represen-
tative on Combating Anti-Semitism,

— having regard to the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust held on

26 to 28 January 2000, which called for increased education on the Holocaust,

(1) OJ C 323, 21.11.1994, p. 154.
(2) OJ C 126, 22.5.1995, p. 75.
(3) OJ C 308, 20.11.1995, p. 140.
(4) OJ C 55, 24.2.1997, p. 17.
(5) OJ C 377, 29.12.2000, p. 366.
(6) OJ C 121, 24.4.2001, p. 503.
(7) OJ L 151, 10.6.1997, p. 1.

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— having regard to the establishment of 27 January 2005 as Holocaust Memorial Day in several EU

Member States,

— having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas 27 January 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany's death camp at
Auschwitz-Birkenau, where a combined total of up to 1,5 million Jews, Roma, Poles, Russians and
prisoners of various other nationalities, and homosexuals, were murdered, is not only a major occasion
for European citizens to remember and condemn the enormous horror and tragedy of the Holocaust,
but also for addressing the disturbing rise in anti-Semitism, and especially anti-semitic incidents, in
Europe, and for learning anew the wider lessons about the dangers of victimising people on the basis
of race, ethnic origin, religion, social classification, politics or sexual orientation,

B. whereas Europe must not forget its own history: the concentration and extermination camps built by
the Nazis are among the most shameful and painful pages of the history of our continent; whereas the
crimes committed at Auschwitz must live on in the memory of future generations, as a warning against
genocide of this kind, rooted in contempt for other human beings, hatred, anti-Semitism, racism and
totalitarianism,

C. whereas discrimination on religious and ethnic grounds continues to be practised at various levels,
notwithstanding the important measures adopted by the European Union in application of Article 13
of the EC Treaty,

D. whereas Jews in Europe are experiencing a heightened sense of insecurity as a result of anti-Semitism
disseminated on the Internet, manifested in the desecration of synagogues, cemeteries and other relig-
ious sites, attacks on Jewish schools and cultural centres, and attacks on Jewish people in Europe,
causing numerous injuries,

E. whereas the Holocaust has been seared on the consciousness of Europe, especially for its murderous
hatred of Jews and Roma on the basis of their racial or religious identity, despite which anti-Semitism
and racial and religious prejudice continue to pose a very serious threat to their victims and to Euro-
pean and international values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and therefore to overall
European and global security,

F. whereas there needs to be an ongoing dialogue with the media about the way their reporting and
commentary can contribute both positively and negatively to the perception and understanding of
religious, ethnic and racial issues, and to the presentation of historical truth,

1.
Pays homage to all the victims of the Nazis and is convinced that lasting peace in Europe must be
based on remembrance of its history; rejects and condemns revisionist views and denial of the Holocaust as
shameful and contrary to historical truth, and expresses concern over the rise of extremist and xenophobic
parties and growing public acceptance of their views;

Calls on the institutions of the European Union, the Member States and all European democratic

2.
political parties to:

— condemn all acts of intolerance and incitement to racial hatred, as well as all acts of harassment or

racist violence,

— condemn in particular and without reservation all acts and expressions of anti-Semitism of whatever

kind,

— condemn in particular all acts of violence motivated by religious or racial hatred or intolerance, includ-
ing attacks on religious places, sites and shrines belonging to Jewish, Muslim or other faiths, as well as
against minorities such as the Roma;

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Thursday 27 January 2005

3.
Urges the Council and the Commission, as well as the various levels of local, regional and national
government in the Member States, to coordinate their measures to combat anti-Semitism and attacks on
minority groups including Roma and third-country nationals in the Member States, in order to uphold the
principles of tolerance and non-discrimination and to promote social, economic and political integration;

Is convinced that these efforts should also include the promotion of dialogue and cooperation between
including dialogue and cooperation

4.
the different segments of society at the local and national
between different cultural, ethnic and religious communities;

levels,

Reaffirms its conviction that remembrance and education are vital components of the effort to make
5.
intolerance, discrimination and racism a thing of the past, and urges the Council, Commission and Member
States to strengthen the fight against anti-Semitism and racism through promoting awareness, especially
among young people, of the history and lessons of the Holocaust by:
— encouraging Holocaust remembrance, including making 27 January European Holocaust Memorial Day

across the whole of the EU,

— reinforcing Holocaust education through the use of all the Holocaust memorial institutions, especially
the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum (Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w Oświęcimiu) and the Berlin
Holocaust Information Centre (Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas) as European resources,
making Holocaust education and European citizenship standard elements in school curricula through-
out the EU, and setting the current fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism against the
background of the Shoah (Holocaust),

— ensuring that school programmes in the 25 EU countries address the teaching of the Second World
War with the utmost historical rigour and by taking advantage of Parliament's insertion in the 2005
budget of provision for schools throughout the EU to adopt war graves and monuments;

6. Welcomes the declared intention of the Luxembourg Presidency to restart the stalled discussions on
the proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating Racism and Xenophobia (1), and urges the
Council to reach agreement on a ban on incitement to racial and religious hatred throughout the EU while
preserving legitimate free speech;

7.
Invites the Commission to start a review of the application of the Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/
EC (2) aimed at strengthening European Union anti-discrimination measures and to organise a major con-
ference involving all the actors concerned,
in particular political representatives, public institutions at a
national, regional and local level, and NGOs and associations active in this field;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments

8.
and parliaments of the Member States and candidate countries.

(1) OJ C 75 E, 26.3.2002, p. 269.
(2) OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22.