Prague – The working visit of the European Coalition for Israel executive director Rijk van Dam to Prague was the first news item in the evening news on Czech public television on Tuesday 24 May, only a few days before the French referendum on the EU constitution. In his appearance van Dam called on the Czech people to help combat anti-Semitism in the European Union while anti-Semitic incidents are relatively few in their own country. He warned about the consequences of not reacting against anti-Semitic violence in time, thus explaining the core objective of the European Coalition for Israel to the Czech people: to combat anti-Semitism in all its forms and to educate the greater public about its long and tragic history on our continent.

During his three day working visit to Prague van Dam met with a number of high ranking Czech officials and parliamentary leaders and took part in a panel debate on anti-Semitism in the Czech parliament where also Czech Minister of the interior Frantisek Bublan was speaking. At a press conference van Dam said that he was pleasantly surprised over the Czech support for Israel, regardless of party lines.
- It is unusual in the European Union to see both the political right and the political left express their full support of Israel. In this respect the Czech Republic can be considered the best friend of Israel in the European Union.

There are historical reasons for this level of support, explains national host and coordinator of van Dam´s visit, Dr Mojmir Kallus, director of the Czech branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.
- At the birth of the Israeli state in 1948 Czechoslovakia was able to provide the Jews with weaponry despite the UN imposed arms embargo. Some commentators have even gone as far as saying that the “Czechs helped save Israel from early destruction.”
- Also during the cold war the communist regime hosted and trained PLO terrorists in Czechoslovakia. In the eyes of the Czech people PLO is still the old friend of the communist regime, and it is therefore natural for Czechs to support Israel, explains Kallus.

- The Czech people understand the difference between totalitarianism and democracy and have no problem in identifying and supporting the only true democracy in the Middle East, said van Dam. During his working visit to Prague he was able to convey his message to several news organizations and ECI booklets on anti-Semitism and terrorism were widely distributed to national parliamentarians and other opinion makers.

The visit to Prague was part of a series of working visits to national capitals where van Dam is presenting the work of the Coalition. Previous visits this year have included Warsaw, London, Dublin and Berlin. In the autumn similar visits are planned for Rome, Paris and Budapest.