A meeting of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) that was scheduled to be held next week at a hotel in Sarajevo was cancelled after a Bosnian minister called to ban it, saying its presence in the “city of openness” would “morally humiliate our capital and country.”

Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), wrote, “The CER’s biannual Standing Committee meeting was due to be held at the Swisshotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, next week. Chief Rabbanim from all over Europe, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, were due to convene to discuss the most pressing issues facing European Jewish life today and matters of freedom of religion or belief. Shockingly, the hotel has suddenly cancelled on us.”

Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy Adnan Delic wrote an open letter stating, “Sarajevo is a city of ‘openness and hospitality’ and so should ban the European-Jewish event from its city.”

He implored the organizers “to immediately cancel the conference in Sarajevo, and all relevant institutions to prevent its realization, and citizens and civil society organizations not to remain silent in the face of this attempt to morally humiliate our capital and our country.”

He also excoriated Israel in the letter, calling it a “genocidal entity” that is committing “shameful crimes against humanity.”

Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt continued, “No other Bosnian government official has contacted the Conference of European Rabbis. We have been made unwelcome, and this last-minute, ministerial boycott of Jewish European citizens, dedicated purely to promoting Jewish life in Europe and furthering dialogue and democracy across the continent, is disgraceful.”

“CER events foster dialogue, boost interfaith activity, and promote public engagement. It is Sarajevo’s loss. We are delighted that the Bavarian Government will support our event’s relocation to Munich, and we, as an organization, will continue unfazed to be engaged in supporting the Jewish communities of Europe.”

“However, a wider question looms. This decision to block a European-Jewish conference on European soil is not only alarming but also revealing. It is a clear violation of EU commitments and values (The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Articles 10 and 22; The European Council Declaration on Antisemitism, 2020). Bosnia and Herzegovina should certainly be cancelled and barred from accession to the European Union following this disgraceful castigation of a European faith group. Sarajevo has proclaimed itself a ‘city of openness and tolerance’ for anyone but Jews.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)