CST addresses international conference on Jewish community security needs

CST’s Deputy Director of Communications, Dave Rich, was one of the speakers at an international conference in Berlin last week to address the security needs of Jewish communities.

The conference was arranged by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to look at the challenges posed by threats to Jewish security from terrorism and hate crime. Over 100 delegates from the governments of OSCE participating states and Jewish community and security organisations heard warnings of the threat of anti-Jewish terrorism posed by Hizbollah and global Jihadists, while also learning about the joint work done by Jewish communities, police and government in several countries to counter this danger.

Dave Rich gave a joint presentation with Sally Sealey, Senior Policy Adviser at the Department for Communities and Local Government, that detailed the close cooperation between CST and government on combating antisemitism and anti-Jewish terrorism. In particular, they presented case studies about UK government funding for security guards at Voluntary Aided Jewish schools; about the work of the Cross-Governmental Antisemitism Working Group, which allows Jewish community organisations and relevant government departments to coordinate and plan their efforts against antisemitism; and the way that CST, government and police manage the community impact of major incidents.

CST’s model as a community-based security organisation that works in close partnership with police and government as an example for other countries to adopt was recognised by several speakers at the conference.