With all the problems facing New York State, it might seem odd for Governor Pataki to spend two days in the middle of next week at a palace in Cordoba, Spain, hobnobbing with European diplomats. In fact, Mr. Pataki is a terrific choice for the job of representing America at a conference of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe that will be devoted mainly to the issue of anti-Semitism. As the governor of the state with the largest Jewish population in America, and with an incredibly diverse set of residents of other backgrounds and beliefs, Mr. Pataki can offer some wisdom to the Europeans about how New Yorkers manage to get along with each other so remarkably well.

In accepting Secretary of State Rice’s invitation to lead the American delegation to the conference, Mr. Pataki said, “As New Yorkers, we understand the importance of rooting out anti-Semitism, intolerance and other forms of injustice both here in New York and throughout the world. I look forward to the opportunity to highlight this critical issue.” We don’t reckon the governor needs much advice from us on this issue. If he needs advice, he will have it from the other members of the American delegation to Cordoba, who will include Rabbi David Zweibel of the Agudath Israel of America, a New York-based Orthodox Jewish group, and Ambassador Edward O’Donnell, the State Department’s special envoy on Holocaust issues, who stopped by the Sun this week to tell us about his work and the upcoming conference.

It’s a point to mark that the serious work combating anti-Semitism is being done by America and the OSCE, as opposed to at the United Nations, where efforts to condemn anti-Semitism seem to get lumped in with condemnations of “Islamophobia,” colonialism, and, almost inevitably, Zionist so-called occupation. This is by virtue of the fact that the anti-Semitic and nondemocratic governments such as Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are represented by voting ambassadors at the United Nations. Of course, the effort to single out Israel for disproportionate criticism as the Jewish state tries to defend its citizens from the same sort of terrorist onslaught that hit New York on September 11, 2001, is anti-Semitism. If the governor of New York can make Europe hear that point alone, it’ll have been well worth Mr. Pataki’s time to journey from Albany to Cordoba.