Transcript [00:00] Mr. President, my name is Le Rovenstein, [00:03] member of the Council of the Jewish [00:04] Community of Estonia, and I have an [00:06] honor of delivering this statement on [00:08] behalf of the World Jewish Congress. The [00:11] Jewish community of Estonia highly [00:13] values the willingness of state [00:15] institutions to engage in dialogue and [00:17] cooperation. It is necessary to continue [00:20] this work, strengthen practical measures [00:23] to prevent anti-semitism and ensure [00:25] effective legislative protection against [00:27] all forms of hatred and discrimination. [00:30] Recently, the Jewish community of [00:32] Estonia has observed a number of [00:34] concerning trends related to [00:36] manifestations of anti-semitism in the [00:38] public sphere and on social media. A [00:41] Holocaust memorial in Eranda was [00:43] recently vandalized. Anti-Semitic [00:46] rhetoric, including conspiracy theories [00:48] and hateful stereotyping, continues to [00:51] proliferate online and in public [00:53] discourse. [00:54] Estonia currently lacks dedicated [00:57] legislative provisions to effectively [01:00] address hate crimes and hate speech and [01:02] has no distinct criminal law provision [01:04] addressing Holocaust denial. [01:07] We believe the legal framework must be [01:09] strengthened to provide genuine tools [01:12] against anti-semitism and the denial of [01:14] Holocaust crimes. [01:17] We welcome the interministerial [01:19] commission on preventing anti-semitism [01:22] which has adopted a concept of deepening [01:24] cooperation between state institutions [01:27] and civil society. We believe this [01:30] dialogue is important to further [01:32] strengthen practical measures and [01:34] effective legislative protection against [01:37] all forms of hatred. [01:40] Combating anti-semitism is not merely a [01:43] matter of community security. It is [01:45] essential to safeguarding democratic [01:47] values, human rights, and the soc social [01:50] cohesion of Estonian society as a whole. [01:53] Thank you.
At the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Member of the WJC-Affiliated Council of the Jewish Community of Estonia, Lev Rubinštein, delivered a statement expressing concern at the rise of antisemitism in the region and called for measures protecting Estonian Jewry.
