The Simon Wiesenthal Center called for a Europe-wide conference against anti-Semitism Monday, fearing that recent attacks against Jews in both Copenhagen and Paris could be the catalyst of a “pan-European epidemic.” 

The prominent Nazi-hunting and Jewish rights group said that Saturday’s shootings in Copenhagen “set a mimetic pattern following last month’s atrocities in Paris,” outlining the perpetrators’ triple formula of “freedom of expression activists, police, and Jewish institutions.”

The letter, addressed to European Council President Donald Turk, was written by the group’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels. 

In it, Samuels also stressed the role Jews have played in Europe for centuries and how anti-Semitic attacks affect the greater European community as well.

“Jews, as bulwarks of Western values and quintessentially European for centuries before the concept of a European Union, serve as a strategic target.”

“Whether anti-West/anti-Europe/anti-Semite (right, left or Islamic radical), the terrorist well understands that assaults on Jews have extensive collateral consequences – they damage the delicate fabric of democracy itself.”

“Condemnation is insufficient,” Samuels stressed, warning that “Paris and Copenhagen are bound to be precedents for a pan-European epidemic.” 

The letter concluded by urging Tusk “to convoke a European Union-wide conference of States, NGOs, law enforcement, Internet experts, inter-faith leaders and educators to combat antisemitism on every front.”