From the Johnson-Vanick Amendment to the Murder of Ilan Halimi

by Natan (Anatoli) Sharansky
Ma'ariv (oops, lost the date)

Ilan Halimi was murdered in Paris one year ago. The reports of a 45% rise in antisemitic incidents in France are reflecting a dire trend. Three years ago the Israeli government hosted the first international forum on antisemitism in order to redefine and establish ways to combat new forms of antisemitism. We have come a long way in distinguishing between legitimate criticism and delegitimizing Israel. Except now we are facing a new and more thorny challenge: incitement to murder Jews and calls for the destruction of the Jewish State.
The Iranian regime is denying Holocaust and calls for Israel to be "wiped off" the face of the earth. To this end they are seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The international community keeps mostly silent, because it is entertaining the idea that the establishment of the State of Israel was a mistake, an anachronism, or a provocation. The idea of a world without Israel is reflecting much more than just the ideas promulgated by Hitler in 1939.
The Jewish world must address this unprecedented campaign. In 1987, on the eve of a large rally in support for Jews in the former Soviet Union, Jewish leaders warned that Jews might be presented as détente-undermining "warmongers" and warned that attendance would be low. The fact that 250,000 Jews turned up played a significant role in opening the gates for a million Jews. This is the strength of mobilization in full.
Prof. Shlomo Avineri has recently called on the entire world to shun Iranian officials and to push for trade sanctions on Iran. He called on the American pension plans to detach themselves from firms trading with or investing in Iran. He called for all signatories of the Anti-Genocide Declaration to denounce the Iranian president's calls for genocide, according to article III.
Different agencies, such as Amnesty International, that draws largely not only upon Jewish principles and values, but also enthusiasm and funding, must intensify their efforts to enforce the decisions of the Anti-Genocide Declaration. They must not resign to the distorted anti-Israeli interpretation of human rights as professed by the Iranian president and its proteges (e.g. Hezbollah), and to dissociate themselves from labelling justified self-defense by the State of Israel as "war crimes".
This struggle requires two steps: firstly, we should boycott universities where professors oppose the existence of the State of Israel, same as universities that condone Holocaust denial. Secondly, organize large rallies in support of Israel and stopping Iran's destructive intentions.
Over three decades ago, the movement to free Jews from the former Soviet Union declared that the right to self-determination is not limited to Jews alone, but should apply to all human beings, as per the Jackson-Vanick amendment (that limited US trade with countries limiting freedom of emigration) and Helsinki agreements, that eventually brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even nowadays this issue is not solely ours. Iran is pushing for our annihilation, and to this end is fomenting conflicts and endangering world peace.
Just as the Jews back in the old days of the Soviet Union, we are surrounded by potential allies. When we fought for the rights of Soviet Jewry we we fighting for humanity at large. Now we must act in a similar fashion in order to prevent a second genocide. And save the world.

(the author is a former member of Knesset and minister. A famous Soviet dissident and human rights activist, he is now head of the strategic studies institute of the Shalem Center).