International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, May 13, 2003

Acts of hatred against Jews, particularly in Europe, have reached their highest level since World War II, according to the organizers of an international conference on intolerance, which opened Monday in Paris.

"A new generation of haters has been brought up and are ready to act," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based Jewish rights group.

The center organized the three-day meeting in Paris with UNESCO. Natan Sharansky, Israeli minister for Diaspora Affairs, is one of the participants.

Dozens of protesters accused the Wiesenthal center of mislabeling criticism of Israel's as anti-Semitism.

The Wiesenthal Center has recorded 1,300 anti-Semitic acts in France since 2001 - the highest level since World War II. Sixty-two percent of all racist attacks in France were anti-Semitic. British figures record 385 anti-Semitic attacks in 1998, compared to 521 in 2001.

Hier attributed the anti-Semitism to an age-old hatred of Jews, not the current intifida.

Just this Sunday, a 56-year old man wearing a Star of David necklace was kicked and spat upon by youths on a Berlin bus. The incident is the latest in a series of assaults against Jews in Germany. Two months ago, an American Jew was attacked by four youths on a busy Berlin street. Also, in London over the weekend, a number of Jewish graves were desecrated.