The chairman of the House subcommittee on human rights convened a hearing on anti-Semitism, saying it was worsening, especially in Europe.
The hearing, called by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), took place Feb. 27.
“It is getting demonstrably worse all over the world, but especially Europe,” said Smith, who also co-chairs the U.S. Helsinki Commission, the congressional body monitoring human rights. “The Middle East is a cauldron of anti-Semitic hate, but much of that hatred is spilling out through the Muslim diaspora and through satellite television.”
Smith cited recent spikes in reported incidents of anti-Semitism in Britain and France, and noted that it emerges from the far left and right as well as from Islamists.
“This is one of the times when far right and far left meet at the end of the circle,” he said. — jta