Fight Hatred

LICRA  - Ligue Internationale Contre le Racisme et l'Antisémitisme (in English: International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism) was established in France in 1926.

LICRA operates today mainly in France, with some activities in Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Portugal, Quebec, Congo Brazzaville and Austria.

Key areas of activity are support for victims of racism, educational efforts, and actively countering holocaust denial and revisionism.Victim support is provided by LICRA's Psychological Help Commission, which helps victims cope, and by the Juridical Commission which provides victims with legal consul. LICRA has received a unique legal status in France which allows it to appear alongside the victims of racism in court cases.

Educational efforts are typified by a stress on the French Republican values of fraternity and equality, and on social integration. Activities include both youngsters and their teachers. Within this context LICRA also conducts sports-focused activities in which racial equality and integration, along with non-violence, are predominant themes.

LICRA has participated in several prominent court cases through its years, beginning with the 1926 trial of Sholom Schwartzbard for the assassination of ex-Ukrainian leader Symon Petliura which served as the catalyst for the formation of the league, and which brought to light the pogroms inflicted upon Jewish citizens by the newly independent Ukraine. In the 1980s LICRA played a part in the highly publicized trial of Klaus Barbie, the 'Butcher of Lyon'.

More recently, LICRA was a co-plaintiff in the 2000 case known as LICRA v. Yahoo! (full name Ligue contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme et Union des étudiants juifs de France c. Yahoo! Inc. et Societe Yahoo! France). In this case, the court agreed with LICRA's complaint that the sale of Nazi memorabilia on the Yahoo! online auction service was illegal according to French law.

The list of LICRA's honorary members through the years is a who's who of symbols of multi-ethnic culture, Republican values, and social leadership. These include Joséphine Baker, Harry Belafonte, Edouard Beneš, Léon Blum, Georges Charpak, Jacques Chirac, Albert Einstein, Alain Finkielkraut, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Enrico Macias, Thomas G. Masaryck, Romain Rolland and Simone Veil, to name just a very few of the long list.

Links:

LICRA website:	http://www.licra.org/
Legal advice for victims of racism:	http://www.licra.org/juridique/fiches-dassistance-juridique
LICRA v. Yahoo	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LICRA_v._Yahoo
Wikipedia entry	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LICRA