Testimony to U.S. Helsinki Commission warns rising global antisemitism threatens liberal order

An unnamed witness testifying before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) warned that global antisemitism has surged since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and now poses a major threat to liberal democracies, the witness said.

The witness said the scope of contemporary antisemitism includes hostile rhetoric, discriminatory initiatives and outright violence, and argued that the phenomenon’s conspiratorial character makes it especially dangerous to pluralistic societies.

The testimony cited multiple indicators of the trend and explained why it matters. The witness quoted the OSCE Berlin declaration that “antisemitism following its most devastating manifestation during the Holocaust has assumed new forms and expressions” and cited FBI data saying that although Jews represent about 2% of the U.S. population, they account for nearly 70% of all religiously motivated…