In the shadow of the war of iron swords and the rise of anti-Semitism: the World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue was held for the sixth time in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan. The main goal of the forum is to create dialogue, collaborative frameworks and mutual connection between the leaders of the various religions in Judaism, Islam, Christianity and other religions, as part of strengthening the values of world peace and security. The conference will be held over three days and will include a series of plenary sessions and panel discussions of government officials, representatives from international organizations, prominent cultural figures, journalists, religious leaders and intellectuals from around the world.
The year 2023 ended with a 235% increase in anti-Semitism incidents, compared to 2022, when 43% of the monitored incidents occurred in the United States and 35% of them occurred in Europe. This emerged from a joint report of the Ministry of Diaspora and the Fight against Anti-Semitism, the Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency published in January 2023. The trend continues to escalate following the continuation of the ‘Iron Swords’ war.
The CEO of the European Rabbinical Conference Foundation and chief of staff of the conference’s president, Gadi Gronich, commented on the increase in anti-Semitism since Black Sabbath: “I believe that religious leaders need to take more responsibility in order to promote values of understanding, tolerance and partnership between the people who live in this world. Today, unfortunately, the city of Baku in Azerbaijan is one of the only places where I can walk down the street today with a kippa without fear and visit the synagogue without heavy police security accompanying me. Since October 7, I have felt reluctance and distancing from the religious leaders who were in contact with the Jewish communities. At the same time, I believe in interreligious dialogue and our ability to repair the relationships that were damaged during the war. The religious leaders should take the responsibility and influence the politicians to stop the manifestations of hatred and anti-Semitism. We need to raise our voices together against the manifestations of hatred.”
In the shadow of the increase in anti-Semitism worldwide since October 7, Nihal Saad, Chairman of the Alliance of Civilizations at the UN stated: “The United Nations expresses a rigid and uncompromising position against all racist hate crimes against religious communities caused by positions of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and hatred against Christianity “.