Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament's Education, Science and Culture Committee on Thursday adopted a conclusion encouraging state institutions and civil society organisations to promote the working definition of antisemitism that was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), of which Croatia is a member.
The purpose of the document is to ensure guidelines that can help in recognising incidents, collect information on them and promote the application and implementation of laws that are related to antisemitism.
The working definition of antisemitism is "a certain perception of Jews which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities," IHRA says on its website.
The committee adopted the conclusion on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the committee's chairwoman Irena Petrijevčanin Vukasnović said, underscoring that with the conclusion, the committee was taking a proactive function.
The committee said that education, particularly of children and young people, has had an essential role in the prevention of intolerance, it has stimulated improvements in life-long learning against racism and xenophobia and highlighted the need for remembering the victims of the Holocaust in a dignified manner.