Paris, 27 December 2019

Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, interviewed by BBC World Service on "Antisemitism around the World - a Warning from Veteran Campaigner."

PLEASE FIND FULL INTERVIEW IN MP3 RECORDING: Interview_RTX.mp3

In the BBC Radio "The World Tonight" interview, responding to questions on the rise of antisemitism in Europe and worldwide, Samuels explains how "antisemitism opens the door to other forms of bigotry."

"The Internet and social media are the new instruments for the propagation of an ever mutating antisemitism, that affects not only the Jews," Samuels stated, adding, "in the case of the antisemitic float at the Aalst Carnival, recently delisted from its World Heritage status by UNESCO member-states concerned by the banalization of racism, this was not only a Jewish issue, just as Corbyn was not only a Jewish, but a British issue."

"Thanks to the adoption of the IHRA Working Definition of antisemitism, a growing number of countries in Europe and worldwide are now capable to identify antisemitic acts more clearly and punish the perpetrators"... and regarding the current rise of antisemitism and the impact of the Wiesenthal Centre, "we have been able to make a difference in recent years. Nevertheless, governments and society must show the political will to get their act together," concluded Samuels.

Newshour is the award-winning news and current affairs programme on BBC World Service English, the radio and online network which reaches 75 million listeners each week, including 12.5 million in the USA on National Public Radio.