At a meeting of the WJC National Community Directors’ Forum (NCDF) on Tuesday, professional leaders from across the Jewish world focused on issues impacting their communities worldwide. Discussions centered the rise in antisemitism, particularly in Europe, and the importance of strengthening security measures to protect Jewish people and institutions.
Speakers also emphasized the urgency of addressing the ongoing hostage crisis, with many advocating for international pressure and innovative solutions to secure their release.
Among the other topics discussed were the recent murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE and the aftermath of recent antisemitic violence in Amsterdam:
Representatives of Jewish communities around the world expressed their shock at the loss of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad emissary murdered over the weekend in Dubai, and shared their condolences with the Jewish community in the UAE, long recognized as a place of tolerance and co-existence between the Abrahamic faiths.
The Dutch Jewish community has long called out the alarming rise in antisemitism which culminated in the violent assault on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters on November 7. The events were preceded with public calls to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv from travelling ahead of their scheduled match against Ajax Amsterdam. In a powerful display of solidarity with Israel, both Ajax and UEFA, as well as the mayor of Amsterdam, firmly refused.
That evening attackers, using mopeds to evade authorities and coordinated assaults through taxi and Uber drivers, with some demanding individuals prove they were not Israeli or Jewish. The community also drew attention to the troubling shift in narrative that followed. Notably, the city’s mayor retracted her use of the term “pogrom” to describe the attacks. The city council, influenced by an anti-Israel party, has also since passed a controversial resolution supporting the International Criminal Court’s stance against Israel.
