Tony Blair is to take on a new role tackling antisemitism by assuming the chairmanship of a pan-European body that campaigns for stronger laws against extremism across the continent.
The British former prime minister has been appointed as chairman of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation a week after he announced that he would stand down as the envoy of the quartet on the Middle East.
In an article for the Times, in which he sets out his plans for his new role, Blair says that he will campaign against the abuse of religions which has become a “mask behind which those bent on death and destruction all too often hide”.
Blair says he will be campaigning to implement the recommendations of a report by the council which outlined legislative proposals to give greater power to judiciaries to prosecute hate speech, to lower barriers to what constitutes incitement to violence, and to make Holocaust denial illegal.
Blair’s proposals will revive memories of some of the laws he tried to introduce in Britain in the wake of the 9/11 attacks which prompted a debate on civil liberties.
In the joint article (paywall) with Moshe Kantor, the president of the council and of the European Jewish Congress, Blair warns that Europe is entering a dangerous era as it is experiencing the slow rate of economic growth last seen on the eve of the first and second world wars.
Blair and Kantor write: “There have been three points in the past hundred years when annual GDP growth in Europe went below 1%: first in 1913, just before the first world war, second in 1938, just before the second world war and third, in 2014. Economic decline fuels instability and we know these concerns are being felt across the world.”
The pair cite work by the Kantor Institute at Tel Aviv University which found that 2014 was the worst year in the past decade for antisemitic incidents. It recorded 766 violent antisemitic acts compared with 554 in 2013.
Additional Reading
The Muslim Times Building the Case for Coexistence of the Christians and the Muslims
Categories: Europe and Australia
The best way to diffuse anti-semitism is to promote human rights for every one regardless of color or creed.
We invite Tony Blair to join our mission of Universal Brotherhood, which is a much broader and all encompassing agenda.
It would be interesting to know how much he is being paid for this new position. It seems more like a ‘pay-off’ for all he did for the Israelis.
Not again this criminal!