Ignazio Cassis calls for action against anti-Semitism
Published: Thursday, Nov 9th 2023, 12:10
Retour au fil d'actualité
In view of the increasing cases of anti-Semitism in Switzerland since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis is calling for "a clear discourse with concrete action". He wrote this in a guest article in the French-speaking Swiss newspaper "Le Temps" on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany.
"Many of our Jewish fellow citizens are afraid to leave their apartment or house, put on a kippah or wear the Star of David as a pendant. They are attacked and insulted," wrote the Foreign Minister. He described it as "unbearable" what these people have to endure.
Cassis did not hesitate to draw parallels between Kristallnacht on November 9-10, 1938, in which hundreds of Jews were killed and synagogues, stores and Jewish homes were vandalized, the Holocaust and the attacks by the Palestinian Hamas in Israel on October 7. In all these cases, he argued, "dreams and hopes were destroyed in the name of an inhuman ideology that does not tolerate diversity."
"Collective responsibility"
"We have a collective and individual responsibility to combat anti-Semitism," continued the Ticino native. In addition to the measures already taken, such as the increased protection of Jewish communities and institutions in Switzerland, Cassis called for "more to be done and for us to remain vigilant".
In particular, the Federal Council is examining the possibility and modalities of support for the creation of a mediation and networking center on the basis of an "innovative" project of the Canton of St. Gallen.
With regard to the suffering of the Palestinians, which "must not be concealed either", Mr. Cassis noted that Switzerland "remains firmly committed to the values of peace, humanity and helping others". He recalled that Switzerland had provided a further CHF 90 million for the victims in the region.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic