(JERUSALEM – June 28, 2011) A delegation of 55 Jewish lawmakers from 22 nations gathered in Jerusalem this week for a Consultation of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), organized by the World Jewish Congress. Coming at a time of unprecedented diplomatic challenges for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, the consultation focused on developing common strategies to combat anti-Semitism and the assault on Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
In a hearing in the Knesset moderated by ICJP Chairman Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY), numerous Parliamentarians voiced the increasing challenges felt by politicians in national capitals across the world. Viviane Teitelbaum-Hirsch, a Jewish Member of Parliament from Belgium, said that in her legislative body, the term “Israel” was viewed as a “dirty word,” and she said that overcoming those stereotypes represents “a very lonely fight.”
Dan Diker, Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress said that creating a common voice among Jewish Parliamentarians is one of the most important public diplomacy objectives for Israel and the Jewish world. “The coming months will be ones of unprecedented challenge for all those looking to defend the interests of the Jewish State,” he said. “Ensuring that these lawmakers can maximize their influence to support Israel and world Jewry’s basic rights will therefore be critical in overcoming the many obstacles that we know lie ahead.”
The gathering allowed the lawmakers to meet with their Israeli counterparts in the Knesset and other public officials and included a visit to the protest tent of Gilad Shalit, whose captivity under Hamas entered its fifth year earlier in the week. Speaking with Noam Shalit, Gilad’s father, Congressman Ackerman said, “It is wholly unacceptable that Gilad is being held as a political ploy in a world which should be peace-loving and just.”
Mr. Diker said in the name of the World Jewish Congress leadership and its President, Ronald Lauder, that pressure must be brought to bear not just on Hamas alone. “The Palestinian Authority as a whole and Mahmoud Abbas as its leader must be held accountable for the continued captivity of Gilad, which is an outright international war crime,” he said. “We call upon the international community to intensify all possible efforts to secure his release as every day which passes without him returned to his family is another day too long.”
