“Our commitment must be to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors still with us, and reaffirm humanity's common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice.”
-- Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust
Joint Antisemitism Monitoring Office Opens in Budapest
09.12.2013
On 2 December, the the joint antisemitism monitoring office of the Action and Protection Foundation and the Jewish Agency was formally opened in Budapest.
Action and Protection Foundation leaders consulted last week in Budapest with Israeli delegation members who arrived for the occasion, including Gideon Behar, Nathan Sharansky, and Avraham Duvdevani.
The formal inauguration was kicked off with a welcome address by TEV founder and executive rabbi Slomo Köves. A commendatory welcome speech was given by Natan Sharansky, leader of the Jewish Agency (Sochnut) and Avraham Duvdevani, chair of the World Zionist Organization. Both praised the work accomplished by the Action and Protection Foundation and unanimously declared it as exemplary for communities internationally. Gideon Behar, director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Department for Combating Antisemitism, and Ilan Mor, ambassador for the State of Israel in Budapest, welcomed the support of the Hungarian government in this matter. Gergely Prőhle, deputy state secretary at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also called attention to the importance of cooperation.
The Action and Protection Foundation office was officially opened by deputy state secretaries Gergely Prőhle and Szabolcs Takács, together with Dániel Bodnár and András Heisler, co-chairmen of the Action and Protection Foundation. This was followed by Ambassador Ilan Mor’s placing of the Mezuzah on the entrance to the office.
On behalf of the Foundation, co-chairman Dániel Bodnár presented the latest technological and methodological advances made available by the opening of the new office. Questions about education and awareness-raising were also discussed at the meeting, as this was of particular interest to the partners from Israel.
The Action and Protection Program was established in 2012 and published its first monthly report on monitoring antisemitism in May 2013. This program is the first time an independent civil association provides comprehensive monthly overviews on the status of antisemitism in Hungary.