WJC at UNHRC │Portugal's Jewish Community President Applauds Government for Protection Against Antisemitism

During the 2025 United Nations Human Rights Council President of the Jewish Community of Lisbon Dr. David Botelho spoke on behalf of the World Jewish Congress, thanking the government of Portugal for their work to combat antisemitism and preserve the history of Portuguese Jewry, as well as urging them to tackle the challenge of literacy deficit and formally adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism to curb the rise of anti-Zionism.

Read the full transcript below:

Thank you, Mr. President, 

As President of the Jewish Community of Lisbon and representative of Portuguese Jewry to the Government and major Jewish organizations, I am honored to deliver this statement. 

I'll start by congratulating Portugal on the recent nomination of Dr. Joao Taborda da Gama as National Coordinator for combatting Antisemitism and fostering Jewish life. 

Portugal is a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) even though it has not yet formally ratified the definition of antisemitism. This will be truly important to our judicial system, to our civil servants and to all the people working in law enforcement. If there is a clear definition of what antisemitism is, there will be no doubts in acting. 

Portugal has a dark past concerning antisemitism. 500 years ago, Portugal expelled, persecuted and forced Jews to convert to the Crown's religion. In recent years, Portugal has made an effort to compensate this shameful heritage, by allowing descendants of Sephardic Jews to become Portuguese nationals. This has been, overall, a positive and humanistic step, but there is much yet to be done and the legal framework has to be revised. 

More recently, antisemitism has grown in my country and is becoming more vocal, less ashamed, masquerading in the form of anti-Zionism with several political parties calling out Jews in their speeches.  

We need to tackle the challenge of literacy deficit. There is a program to educate about the Holocaust in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Holocaust Museum in Porto.  

There’s also a project for a Jewish Museum in Lisbon that will educate about the Jewish presence in Portugal ranging from before the establishment of the State in 1143 to the present day, including the contributions of Jews to the voyages of discovery and the assistance to refugees during the Second World War. 

Our objective is to continue to cooperate with the government to foster Jewish life, combat antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and to stimulate interreligious dialogue and promote a more humane, respectful and tolerant society. 

Thank you for your attention and interest.