Katharina von Schnurbein

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Katharina von Schnurbein
Official portrait of Katharina von Schnurbein.jpg
Official portrait, 2020
European Commission coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life
Assumed office
December 2015

Baronesse Katharina von Schnurbein (born 1973) is a German civil servant who has served as the European Commission's coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life since 2015. She is the first person to hold this role, which reports to Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas under his portfolio of European Commissioner for Promoting our European Way of Life.

Contents

Personal life

Von Schnurbein was born in the German state of Bavaria in 1973. Despite not being Jewish, her parents emphasized the responsibility that Germans had toward Jews and were ardent supporters of Israel. [1]

Von Schnurbein completed her undergraduate studies in Political Science and Slavonic Studies at Charles University in Prague and at the University of Bonn. She earned a master's degree in Slavonic Studies from Oxford University in 1997 and a master's degree in European Studies from the Center for European Integration Studies in Bonn in 1999. [2]

Von Schnurbein is married and has four children. [1]

Professional career

After her studies, von Schnurbein worked for a management consulting firm. From 2000 to 2002, she worked for the chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag in Berlin. [2]

European Commission career

Von Schnurbein began her career at the European Union in 2002 as a press officer for the EU Delegation in Prague, Czech Republic. In 2004, she transferred to Brussels to be the spokesperson for European Commissioner for Employment, Sociaal Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimir Špidla. From 2010 to 2015, she coordinated the European Commission’s dialogue with churches, religions, philosophical and non-confessional organizations, as well as think tanks in Germany, as an advisor to President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. [2]

Antisemitism coordinator

US Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Nick Dean, EU Commission coordinator on combating antisemitism Katharina von Schnurbein, and US Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism Ira Forman in Prague (2016) Dean, Von Schnurbein, and Forman.png
US Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Nick Dean, EU Commission coordinator on combating antisemitism Katharina von Schnurbein, and US Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism Ira Forman in Prague (2016)

In October 2015, the EC created the new Antisemitism coordinator position in response to rising Antisemitism in Europe. [3] As a career EC bureaucrat, Von Schnurbein was appointed by then First Vice-President Frans Timmermans for the position in December 2015. [4]

Her key responsibilities are to liaise with European Jewish communities and bodies and to propose and implement policies to address Antisemitism, promote Holocaust education, and foster Jewish life. [3]

In 2022, von Schnurbein argued that Belgian bans on ritual slaughter risked painting the Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe as "medieval". [5] In response, von Schnurbein convened the first joint meeting between European Jewish and Muslim leaders and EU officials to discuss slaughter based on religious rules in the light of Freedom of Religion. [6]

At an event hosted by the Israel Council on Foreign Relations in 2023, von Schnurbein stressed the importance of cracking down on disinformation on social media platforms in the struggle against antisemitism. Noting that this was especially commonplace during the Covid-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories are catalysts for bigotry against Jews; “Where conspiracy grows, antisemitism has already grown.” [7]

In September 2024, von Schnurbein stated at a United Nations workshop that the current rise of antisemitic events ‘reminds us of the darkest days of Europe’. [8]

Awards

See also

Related Research Articles

Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against, Jews. This sentiment is a form of racism, and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Primarily, antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually presented as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by the concept of anti-Judaism, which is distinct from antisemitism itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Wiesenthal Center</span> U.S. based Jewish human rights organization

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance education, defending Israel, and its Museum of Tolerance.

New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, typically manifesting itself as anti-Zionism. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the working definition of antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism. The concept dates to the early 1970s.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to The New York Times, is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish organizations".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Belgium</span> Ethnic group

The history of the Jews in Belgium goes back to the 1st century CE until today. The Jewish community numbered 66,000 on the eve of the Second World War but after the war and the Holocaust, now is less than half that number.

Antisemitism in Norway refers to antisemitic incidents and attitudes encountered by Jews, either individually or collectively, in Norway. The mainstream Norwegian political environment has strongly adopted a platform that rejects antisemitism. However, individuals may privately hold antisemitic views. Currently, there are about 1,400 Jews in Norway, in a population of 5.3 million.

Antisemitism, the prejudice or discrimination against Jews, has had a long history since the ancient times. While antisemitism had already been prevalent in ancient Greece and Roman Empire, its institutionalization in European Christianity after the destruction of the ancient Jewish cultural center in Jerusalem caused two millennia of segregation, expulsions, persecutions, pogroms, genocides of Jews, which culminated in the 20th-century Holocaust in Nazi German-occupied European states, where 67% European Jews were murdered.

Antisemitic incidents escalated worldwide in frequency and intensity during the Gaza War, and were widely considered to be a wave of reprisal attacks in response to the conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism</span> U.S. diplomatic office

The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism is an office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the United States Department of State. The office "advances U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism" by developing and implementing policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism.

Antony Lerman is a British writer who specialises in the study of antisemitism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, multiculturalism, and the place of religion in society. From 2006 to early 2009, he was Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, a think tank on issues affecting Jewish communities in Europe. From December 1999 to 2006, he was Chief Executive of the Hanadiv Charitable Foundation, renamed the Rothschild Foundation Europe in 2007. He is a founding member of the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights, and a former editor of Patterns of Prejudice, a quarterly academic journal focusing on the sociology of race and ethnicity.

Antisemitism in France has become heightened since the late 20th century and into the 21st century. In the early 21st century, most Jews in France, like most Muslims in France, are of North African origin. France has the largest population of Jews in the diaspora after the United States—an estimated 500,000–600,000 persons. Paris has the highest population, followed by Marseilles, which has 70,000 Jews. Expressions of antisemitism were seen to rise during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the French anti-Zionist campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. Following the electoral successes achieved by the extreme right-wing National Front and an increasing denial of the Holocaust among some persons in the 1990s, surveys showed an increase in stereotypical antisemitic beliefs among the general French population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaritis Schinas</span> Greek politician

Margaritis Schinas is a Greek politician and former civil servant. He took office in December 2019 as a vice-president in the Von der Leyen Commission with the portfolio of European Commissioner for Promoting our European Way of Life. A member of the New Democracy party, he previously was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2007 to 2009 and served as chief spokesperson of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019, and as a deputy director-general of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Communication between 2015 and 2019.

"Khaybar, Khaybar, ya yahud! Jaish Muhammad soufa yaʿoud!" is an Arabic-language rallying slogan referencing the Battle of Khaybar of 628 CE, which began after Muhammad marched with a large Muslim army and besieged Khaybar, an oasis in present-day Saudi Arabia that was home to a notable Jewish community.

Barbara Lerner Spectre is an academic and philosophy lecturer, who is the founding director of Paideia, the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden, a non-denominational academic institute established in 2001.

<i>The Jews</i> (film) 2016 French film

The Jews is a 2016 French-language film directed by Yvan Attal. The film deals with antisemitism in France.

Belgium is a European country with a Jewish population of approximately 35,000 out of a total population of about 11.4 million. It is among the countries experiencing an increase in both antisemitic attitudes and in physical attacks on Jews.

Antisemitism is a growing problem in 21st-century Germany.

The working definition of antisemitism, also called the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism or IHRA definition, is a non-legally binding statement on what antisemitism is, that reads: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." It was first published by European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) in 2005 and then by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016. Accompanying the working definition, but of disputed status, are 11 illustrative examples whose purpose is described as guiding the IHRA in its work, seven of which relate to criticism of Israel.

Jonathan Harry Samuel Arkush is a British barrister and Jewish community leader. Arkush served as the 47th President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 17 May 2015 to 13 May 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 Liphshiz, Cnaan (18 June 2019). "This mother of 4 is the EU's 'indefatigable heroine' in the fight against anti-Semitism". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Katharina von Schnurbein CV" (PDF). European Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 Sirkus, Thomas (27 January 2016). "Q&A: EU Anti-Semitism Envoy Katharina von Schnurbein". Moment. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  4. Junger, Rifka (23 December 2018). "Interview with Ms. Katharina von Schnurbein, European Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism". Hamodia. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  5. Wax, Eddy (27 January 2022). "Top EU official: Religious slaughter bans paint Jews, Muslims as 'medieval'". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  6. Liphshiz, Cnaan (21 October 2022). "In a first, EU invites Jews and Muslims to stand up for kosher and halal slaughter amid local bans". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  7. "New forms of antisemitism are a threat - European Commission". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  8. "At UN workshop, envoys warn of 'tsunami of antisemitism' since Oct. 7". Times of Israel. 7 September 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  9. "Katharina von Schnurbein". Algemeiner . Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.