GOLDSCHMIDT: STILL WAITING FOR APOLOGY FROM BiH AUTHORITIES

SARAJEVO, JUNE 17 /SRNA/ - President of the Conference of European Rabbis, Pinchas Goldschmidt, has stated that he is still waiting for an apology from the BiH authorities over the cancellation of the Conference of European Rabbis, which was supposed to be held in Sarajevo.

"If Jews are not welcome in BiH, then BiH should be deemed unwelcome in the EU, because it does not share the values and the common concept of tolerance and cooperation the EU member states strive for. We are still expecting an apology from the leaders of this country," said Goldschmidt.

He emphasized that the organisation felt unwelcome in Sarajevo after being publicly vilified by activists and politicians in the media, simply because it is a Jewish, according to Conference of European Rabbis’ statement.

"Before the cancellation of the Conference, there was complete silence from all ministers, officials, and religious leaders with whom we had previously cooperated on issues of faith and freedoms," Goldschmidt noted, adding that this shows his faith and freedom are deemed unwelcome.

Goldschmidt recalled that the Conference of European Rabbis was supposed to bring together 50 representatives of Jewish communities.

"A few days before our gathering, under the pretext of a 'government decision' and a malicious attack by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy in the Federation of BiH Government, Adnan Delić, on the Conference of European Rabbis regarding the war in Gaza, a Sarajevo hotel canceled our visit," said Goldschmidt.

The Conference of European Rabbis was scheduled to be held from June 16 to 18 in Sarajevo, but it was canceled at the last minute after Federation Minister Adnan Delić openly opposed the event.

The Conference of European Rabbis was founded in 1956, is headquartered in Munich, and today gathers around one thousand rabbis from Dublin to Vladivostok.