World’s Anti-Racism Laws Published by Kantor Center

During its annual celebration of International Human Rights Day, Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of European Jewry unveiled its latest contribution to fighting racism around the world – two of four volumes collating laws against discrimination and racial vilification. The first of its kind, Legislating for Equality – A Multinational Collection of Non-Discrimination Norms is the work of five Kantor Center researchers and two students from TAU’s Buchmann Faculty of Law. The volumes were presented in the presence of two Israel Supreme Court Justices – Prof. Daphne Barak-Erez, former Dean of the Buchmann Faculty of Law, and Elyakim Rubinstein – as well as advocate Arie Zuckerman, Secretary General of the European Jewish Fund and Chairman of the Kantor Center Executive Board.  

Prof. Dina Porat, head of the Kantor Center and Chief Historian at Yad Vashem, noted that Legislating for Equality will “serve as a useful tool for human rights activists, diplomats and researchers by providing an up-to-date picture of the legal status of anti-discrimination law in every country.” Porat, who co-edited the volumes along with project coordinator Talia Naamat and Nina Osin, both lawyers, stressed that while the collection reveals positive and serious constitutional developments in some countries, it also exposes worrying trends in others in the fight against discrimination.

By examining reports, databases, interviews and other material from various sources including governmental authorities, embassies and research centers, the scholars produced a comprehensive snapshot of relevant laws in both Europe and the Americas. The final two volumes on Africa and Asia will be published in 2015.