A/74/358 5. Antisemitism, expressed through acts of discrimination, intolerance or violence towards Jews, violates a number of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief. Attacks on synagogues and schools and the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, for example, are explicit infringements that interfer e with the concrete realities and practices of an individual’s religious life. Likewise, acts engendered by antisemitism that result in the social exclusion and harassment of Jews can violate the right to freedom of religion or belief, in particular the ri ght to be free from discrimination and intolerance on the basis of one’s religion (or perceived religion). 6. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 6/37 is to identify existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoy ment of the right to freedom of religion or belief and to examine incidents and governmental actions that are incompatible with the provisions of the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Pursuant to article 2 of the Declaration, the right to freedom of religion or belief includes the right of individuals to practise and profess a religion or belief and the right to be free from discrimination by reason of identification (real or i maginary) with groups defined by reference to religion (or the absence of religion). 7. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur explores the global phenomenon of antisemitism – prejudice against, or hatred of, Jews – and its impact on the right to freedom of religion or belief of Jewish individuals and communities worldwide. He calls attention to the pernicious impediment that anti semitism poses not only to the human rights of Jewish individuals, but also to the rights of all people in societies in which this insidious hatred is unaddressed. As the Secretary-General remarked, “antisemitism is not a problem for the Jewish community alone”. It threatens “all people’s human rights” and “where there is antisemitism, there are likely to be other discriminatory ideologies and forms of bias”. 5 The Special Rapporteur further highlights government restrictions that may undermine the right of Jewish persons to freedom of religion or belief, documents incidents and trends related to anti semitic violence and explores the drivers of antisemitism, along with the promulgation of antisemitic attitudes, online and offline, that engender those acts. He concludes by identifying how various manifestations of antisemitism infringe upon the right to freedom of religion or belief, including intolerance and discrimination, and recommends that States take urgent steps using a human rights-based approach to address both the root causes and impacts of this global phenomenon. III. Methodology 8. Information for the present report was primarily gathered from victims of antisemitic acts, representatives and religious leaders of Jewish communities, human rights monitors and advocates, and academics, legal experts and security officials in nine countries through a series of consultations in Buenos Aires; Ottawa and Toronto, Canada; Paris; Vienna; Budapest; Oslo; The Hague and Rotterdam, the Netherlands; New York; and London from 28 March to 27 June 2019. Participants in an initial meeting held in Geneva in May 2018 included a representative of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Antisemitism, the European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Special Rapporteur also gathered information __________________ 5 4/23 See www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2018-09-26/secretary-generals-remarks-high-levelevent-power-education. 19-16257