US President Joe Biden delivered the keynote address today (Tuesday) at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony at the US Capitol.
"This ancient hatred of Jews didn't begin with the Holocaust and didn't end with the Holocaust either, or even after our victory in World War II. This hatred continues to lie deep in the heart of so many people in the world and requires our continued vigilance," Biden said.
"That hatred was brought to life on October 7th in 2023. On a sacred Jewish holiday, the terrorist group Hamas unleashed the deadliest day on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, driven by an ancient desire to wipe the Jewish people off the face of the earth," he said.
"Over 1,200 innocent people, babies, parents, grandparents, slaughtered in their kibbutz, massacred at a music festival, brutally raped, mutilated, and sexually assaulted," he continued. "Thousands more carrying wounds, bullets and shrapnel, from the memory of that terrible day they endured. Hundreds taken hostage, including survivors of the Shoah."
“Now, here we are just seven months later, and people are already forgetting. They're already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror, that it was Hamas that brutalized Israelis, that it was Hamas that took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten. And we must not forget. We must never forget what Hamas did,” Biden declared.
The President noted the rise of antisemitism around the world following the October 7 massacre, including the antisemitic protests on American college campuses.
"On college campuses, Jewish students blocked, harassed, attacked, while walking to class. Antisemitism, antisemitic slogans, posters calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world's only Jewish State," he said.
"It's absolutely despicable and it must stop," Biden said.
He added, "To the Jewish community, I want you to know, I see your fear, your hurt, your pain. Let me reassure as your president, you're not alone. You belong. You always have and always will. My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people and Israel is ironclad even when we disagree."
"We must rise against hate, meet across the divide, see our common humanity, and god bless the survivors of the Shoah," Biden concluded.