Following an attack on a Jewish dance group at a cultural festival in Hannover, Germany, during which a group of Arab youths hurled rocks at the performers and injured one group member, the Lantos Foundation issued this statement:

It is deeply disturbing that in the heart of Europe, more than sixty years after the Holocaust, Jewish citizens are being targeted for violent attack. This incident is part of a rising tide of renewed anti-Semitism in Europe, the continent that witnessed the premeditated massacre of over six million men, women, and children of Jewish heritage. While the vast majority of Germans no doubt reject this appalling behavior, it is nonetheless shocking that such an incident occurred in the country most associated with the horrors of the Holocaust.

We call upon not only the German government but, more importantly, the German people and all Europeans to forcefully and unequivocally condemn this outrage. It is more than a little ironic that this unprovoked attack on Jewish people took place just a few weeks after a senior member of the Washington Press Corps asserted that the Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go back to Europe.

The ancient poison of anti-Semitism is tragically alive and well in the world. Those who engage in an orchestrated campaign to delegitimize the existence of the only Jewish state will feed and spread this poison.