[JURIST] The UN General Assembly [official website] is holding a daylong informal meeting Thursday devoted to anti-Semitism in response to a global increase in violence against Jews. The meeting was requested by 37 countries in a letter to the General Assembly president in October. The meeting will include a keynote address by French writer and philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, speeches by Canadian, German and French ministers and a US Ambassador, and a panel discussion with lawmakers and human rights experts. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed [statement] his solidarity in the fight against anti-Semitism:

The fight against anti-Semitism is inseparable from our wider quest for peaceful coexistence and human rights for all. Where anti-Semitism flourishes, other forms of discrimination are sure to be there, too. But when we counter anti-Semitism, we uphold our common humanity. The fight against anti-Semitism is a fight for all of us.

There has been an alarming rise in anti-Semitism worldwide. Earlier this month French police arrested 54 people [JURIST report] for verbally supporting or threatening terrorist acts in the wake of the terrorist attacks at the offices of French humor magazine Charlie Hebdo [official website, in French] and a kosher supermarket. Last January a French court upheld the ban [JURIST report] on a performance by French comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala that was deemed anti-semitic and generated much discussion [JURIST op-ed]. In February 2010 a Canadian report found [JURIST report] that anti-semitism was rising in the population.