Questionnaire
Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights (MFHR)
1 – Can you inform about new trends showing an increase in anti-Semitic and
anti-Muslim incidents? What are to your mind the underlying factors for each of
these phenomena: religion, culture, socio- economic or political circumstances,
prejudices, etc.?
In Greece, the severe economic crisis has favored nationalism and
xenophobia. In addition, the political rise and the increasing, during the
last years of the crisis, popularity of Golden Dawn has contributed
significantly to the promotion and dissemination of discrimination and
extreme nationalistic discourse in the public sphere. Recent researches on
racist violence indicate that religion remains an important fact for the
offenses against, mostly, immigrants. Furthermore, three explicitly antiSemitic incidents have been recorded in 2014 (the desecration of the
Holocaust Monument in Athens and of the Jewish Cemetery in Larissa).
2 – To which extent do you think anti-Semitism and Muslim hatred require a
specific or a common response?
Common response is due to the common nature of the phenomenon.
However, tackling the anti-semitism and muslim hatred requires also
specific responses as the reasons of hate and also the nature of incidents
are not identical. For instance, the muslim-hatred is based on a
combination of religious/cultural discrimination and xenophobia (mostly
against immigrants), which doesn’t apply necessarily on the case of antiSemitism, where various myths, stereotypes and conspiracy theories
cultivate the hate.
3 – Beyond security measures, which are necessary to ensure the security of
people and sites, how can the feeling of security of Jewish and Muslim
communities in European States be improved?
Besides the legal security measures, the respect of human rights and
diversity is also a matter of public policies focusing on the education and
promotion on human rights and the complete deconstruction of fallacies
and myths supporting hate speech. For instance, at a local level, the
organization of inter-cultural events and public debates on cultural and
religious issues, including representatives of Jewish and Muslim
minorities, strengthens the understanding between different cultures.
4 – Which measures do you think would be most effective in tackling the issue of
hate speech, including online, with a particular focus on expressions of antiSemitism and islamophobia?
The adoption of laws incriminating the hate speech and more specifically
the consideration of the racial motive of the speech or act as an aggravating
circumstance for the penalty. Furthermore, the penalization of the denial
of the Holocaust. Concerning the online expressions and racist material,
the emphasis should be put on the responsibility of the web page owner.
Such expressions should also be banned from the social media and lead to
the deletion of the account.
5 – What are the main challenges and gaps in effectively combatting racist, antiSemitic and islamophobic speech and crime in terms of legislation and its
implementation? What should be done to overcome these challenges and how do
you think the EU could facilitate this?
The main challenge regarding the implementation of the legislation is the
identification of the litigious acts and mainly the reporting of racist, antisemitic and islamophobic speech and crime.
6 – What would be the most effective avenues of cooperation to ensure greater
effectiveness in preventing and combating anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim
discrimination and hatred (i.e. in the area of investigation, prosecution, data
collection, victims’ reporting and support, etc)? What would be the role of civil
society and national and local authorities and communities?
The cooperation between state/local authorities and the minority groups
should be much more close and efficient. Contact persons between the
police authorities and the minorities should be designated. The
contribution of the NGO’s in the data collection and their mediation in
order for the victim to report the crime to the police is equally important.
Free legal aid should also be available for victims who are deprived of the
necessary economic means.
7 – How can social inclusion and inter-cultural cooperation contribute to actively
combat anti-Semitic and Anti-Muslim discrimination and promote equality?
What can be done at local level to contribute to actively combat such
discrimination? Could you give some examples of best practices? What are in
your opinion the most effective tools to counter amalgams, stereotypes and
negative perceptions?
Social inclusion and inter-cultural cooperation eliminate the cultural and
racial stereotypes and promotes the common understanding and the
search of an overlapping consensus (as the liberal theory puts it) between
different cultures, in other words a common ground of values that are
compatible with free and responsible co-existence in a liberal and
democratic society. At the local level, the organization of seminars on
racism/discriminations and mixed-culture events (i.e. festivals,
conferences) with the participation of ethnic and religious minorities, and
most of all their political representation (i.e. their right to take part in local
elections), are good examples and practices of the combat against racism.
8 – What are the main gaps and obstacles (legislative, political, administrative, or
financial) to fill at national/local level to counter discrimination based on
religion, belief and/or ethnic origin in practice? How can such gaps be tackled at
EU level?
The main obstacle is the difficult balance between the respect of religious
or ethnical differences and the principle of equality. Furthermore, the
national States’ particularities in Europe (i.e. the impact of religion in
Greece, Italy, Spain etc.) are often responsible for discriminations on the
ground of religion/culture/race. Τhe EU should promote, through
directives and regulations, the basic principles of human rights and on the
other hand recognize the necessary margin of appreciation in order for the
States to achieve the best compromise between the universality of human
rights and their constitutional and cultural identities.
9 – What role could leaders, including religious and community leaders, play in
proposing social representations and a narrative which are inclusive, based on
common values and mutual understanding? Which are the most effective
practices taken that have effectively evidenced a positive impact and a potential
for replication, in particular at local level and amongst and by young people?
What could be the role of the media in this respect?
Religious and community leaders should express constantly a pro human
rights public discourse, giving the emphasis to the values of universality of
human rights and religious, ethnic and cultural diversity. They should
establish a common ground of understanding through the organization of
common events and the frequent participation in other communities
activities. Addressing the young people (seminars, festival events etc.) on
critical issues of cultural and religious differences, in order to built a
consensus between different groups and minorities on the exercise and the
respect of their rights, should be a priority. Mass media should contribute
to a better quality of the discourse on human rights in the public sphere
(through specific broadcasts, educational television) and condemn direct
or indirect hate/discrimination speech.
10 – What type of discriminatory obstacles Jewish and Muslims experience most
frequently in the field of education and employment?
In the field of education, religious practices are often incompatible with the
national educational system, which is, in particular in Greece, ChristianOrthodox oriented, especially concerning the public holidays and the
religious education. In this sense, the tolerance of religious symbols and
beliefs becomes a very sensible matter. Employment issues also may
emerge as the religious or ethnic identity is often a pretext for
discrimination and violation of the rights of minorities. Religious offenses
and the disrespect of religious ethics in the field of employment can be
identified indirectly in the policy of employers (i.e. leaves of absence for
religious reasons).
11 – How could the society adjust to an increasing diversity? What is the society
at large ready to accommodate for a better "living together"?
«Living together» requires a constant education on democratic and liberal
values, such as liberty, dignity and equality. In the Greek society, the
nationalism and the xenophobia, which is aggravated in times of crisis, are
obstacles to the adjustment of society to an increasing diversity. For the
time being, accepting solely that other religious or ethnic groups do not
threaten the values of our (Greek) society remains a high stake. On the
other hand, accommodating different cultures and religions doesn’t imply
accepting extreme practices that contrary the fundamental values and
human rights of liberty, dignity and equality, such as the Islamic burqa or
the acts of auto-mutilation and the clitoridectomy.
12 – What are/could be concrete measures with the greatest impact to be taken
by businesses (in public and private employment) and social partners to
facilitate and encourage inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities and foster
mutual understanding, and how could they be disseminated?
Business and social partners should respect ethnic and religious minorities
on various issues, such as work ethics, dress codes, alimentation habits,
accommodations for religious practices etc. They should prevent and
combat religious harassment, making clear on a legal and practical level
(by issuing guidelines of behavior and imposing respective penalties) that
such a discriminatory behavior is simply intolerable.
13 – Which further initiatives could Member States, EU institutions and
international organisations take in order to promote common values and mutual
understanding and counter stereotypes in the educational sphere (e.g.
citizenship education; education about the EU history, its fundamental values
and EU rights; intercultural workshops in school, training for teachers,
guidelines for educators, etc.). What are already existing best practices in this
respect?
Training the teachers and establishing a course about the EU history and
values in the field of education is a high priority, like, also, the organization
of intercultural events and workshops in school. However, in Greece, there
is also a necessity for enriching and modernizing the teaching of History
and Religion to a more open, intercultural and multinational approach,
which will give emphasis on the diversity of religious and ethnic
particularities.