Heads of State, Parliamentarians, Jewish Leaders and hundreds of participants from all over the Europe and from far away as Mexico and the United States took part in one of the largest online Memorial events for International Holocaust Memorial Day today (27 January 2021) organised by Brussels-based Jewish Advocacy NGO the European Jewish Association (EJA).
Speakers included the President of the European Council Charles Michel, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog, Israel’s Minister for Diapsora Affairs Omer Yankelevich, European Commissioners and Ministers of Education from across Europe, Senators, Parliamentarians and Ambassadors, as well as prominent Jewish Leaders such as Joel Mergui, President of the French Consistoire, Milo Hadbani, President of the Jewish Community of Milan, Raymond Forado, President of the Jewish Community of Madrid, and Holocaust Survivor and President of the Jewish Forum of Antwerp and Flanders, Mrs Regina Suchowolski-Sluzny.
The Chairman of the EJA Rabbi Menachem Margolin who initiated the online event in his opening remarks said that just like Covid, antisemitism could be eradicated but that it would take leadership, working together and that a vaccine was available to do so:
“I believe antisemitism can be dealt with in two shots. The first shot is through education. The second is by intolerance of antisemitism wherever it appears.
“My friends, the evil that existed then still exists today. All it needs is to land in the right hands and to find the right voice. We must always keep watch. We must always be alert. We must always be ready to act.
“And yet, here in Europe, where a few survivors still live, we see antisemitism on the rise. “We are in a situation today where more Jews in Europe feel that they won’t be here in 10 years than those who think they will be. This cannot be”.
President of the European Council, Charles Michel said that “ Remembering the Holocaust is a moral duty. Not only to pay tribute to victims. But also to renew our allegiance to our deepest human values. We, Europeans, have a special responsibility to fulfil this duty. Antisemitism has no place in our societies.”
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De croo said in his message,“To the survivors and families of the victims, we promise to continue to fight against all forms of negationism and attempts to minimise the magnitude of the Shoah. We will do so with all political and legal means at our disposal.”
The Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Mr Isaac Herzog said, “ European governments have a special responsibility, not only to preserve the memory of the past, but to ensure that today’s European Jewish communities can live safe, full and open Jewish lives, and practice their traditions freely. Jewish communities feel that Jewish traditions and observance are being increasingly challenged by parts of European publics and legislators.
“I ask these leaders to reject all such legislation, which would be tantamount to outlawing Judaism as a whole, and to oppose any attempts to restrict the religious freedoms of European Jewish communities.”
Director General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay in her message said,
“Fighting oblivion is UNESCO’s mission. This mission is all the more important today to educators, teachers and pupils. We are working on new content for teachers and trainers against antisemitism in schools. We are also strongly supporting governments to fight all attempts to excuse the inexcusable.”
Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs, Mrs Omer Yankelevich speaking about the rise in online hate speech said,
“Our Ministry has responded with our own online strategy. Alongside our monitoring center, which provides comprehensive top-down reports on current antisemitic activity on social media, the Ministry is working with major social media networks including: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Amazon to ensure accountability. “Just as countries are responsible for the antisemitic activity within their borders, tech-giants are responsible for stamping out antisemitism from their platforms.”