The Italian parliament will host the “Rome-Jerusalem Emergency Summit on Global Antisemitism” on Thursday, where participants are expected to roll out 10 principles for combatting antisemitism.
The event is spearheaded by former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, who also served as Italian ambassador to to the United States and the United Nations, alongside the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA).
“Giulio Terzi believes it is Rome’s historic responsibility as one of the two capitals of antiquity, together with Jerusalem,” to host this event and "stand up against this unprecedented post-war spike in genocidal antisemitism,” explained JCPA president Dan Diker.
The four-hour program will include panel discussions about how to combat the surge in antisemitism across Europe and the West, in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas massacre and the start of the Swords of Iron War.
Definition of antisemitism includes hatred of Israel
Speakers are expected to include Michal Cotler Wunsch, special Israeli envoy for combatting antisemitism; Dr. Giuseppe Pecoraro, Italian national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism; Fiamma Nirenstein, JCPA fellow, journalist and former Italian MP; among others.
Diker told The Jerusalem Post that in the last 45 days, it has become clear that there is no difference between the erasure of the Jewish-Democratic State of Israel and the Jewish people.
"That differentiation in the West has been detonated and destroyed," Diker said. "The Italian parliament is taking a position of great moral clarity and leading the free world to stay: 'This has to stop.'"
Included in the 10 principles that will be rolled out at the event are:
- Free societies, including organizations, institutions, schools, and universities should set as a top priority combatting the unprecedented spike in global antisemitism.
- Antisemitism should be defined as expressions or manifestations of hatred against Israel or individual Jews.
- Financial payments and incentives to radical antisemitic education - public, private, formal or informal - should be prevented.
- Legal protections for the Jewish communities in Europe and the West should be guaranteed and enforced.
JCPA fellow Nirenstein told the Post that the organization has been dedicated to examining the evolution of antisemitism, emphasizing its transformation into a phenomenon centered around hatred towards Israel. She said that this shift has now become firmly established.
“Israel suffered the worst possible attack to any conception of human rights or even humanity and, afterward, instead of being helped and understood, there are places all over the world where there is a choir shouting ‘from the river to the sea,’” she said. “We really have to fight this with all of our might.”