The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly recently concluded its annual conference in Vilnius by adopting a declaration that included resolutions on steps to address anti-Semitism and to promote free trade in the Mediterranean basin.

The Vilnius Declaration, passed by the assembly, which includes parliamentarians from 56 democratic countries, calls on member states and legislators to take action against “the dramatic increase in recorded anti-Semitic hate crimes and attacks targeting Jewish persons and property.” The resolution also warned against “incidents of government-backed anti-Semitism in general and state-backed genocidal anti-Semitism in particular.”

(Iran has been accused by MP Irwin Cotler and others of advocating genocidal anti-Semitism against Israel.)

The OSCE has passed resolutions since 2002 condemning anti-Semitism. This year’s resolution was proposed by Canadian Senator Jerry Grafstein, vice-president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

In a speech to the assembly, Grafstein pointed out that more than 300,000 Jews lived in Lithuania before the Holocaust and that 95 per cent were “hunted and slaughtered…  It is important here in Vilnius that we remember what happened and record our opposition to anti-Semitism.”

A second resolution called for “creation of a free trade area [which] will… contribute significantly to the efforts to achieve peace in the Mediterranean region.”

Grafstein said trade between Israel and its Arab neighbours could lay the basis for improved political relations.