From AP:
“EU leaders worried by rise in
antisemitism, Holocaust denial”
(A person walks behind the gate
of the Sachsenhausen Nazi death camp with the phrase 'Arbeit macht frei' (work
sets you free) in Oranienburg, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Berlin,
Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022.)
European Union leaders pledged
Wednesday to confront the rise of antisemitism and Holocaust denial witnessed
during the coronavirus pandemic, on the eve of the annual commemorations of
Auschwitz’s liberation. European Council President Charles Michel said the
lessons of the Holocaust are now “more relevant than ever.” “First, because
Jewish people feel threatened, and they are threatened,” he said. “They are
even attacked in Europe. Just because they are Jewish. We do not accept this.
We will never accept it.” Michel spoke at an online event organized by the
European Jewish Congress, which was also attended by European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta
Metsola.
The Commission — the EU's executive
branch — presented last year a new strategy to better tackle hate speech, raise
awareness about Jewish life, protect places of worship and ensure that the
Holocaust isn’t forgotten. According to Europe’s Fundamental Rights Agency,
nine out of 10 Jews think antisemitism has increased in their country and is a
serious problem. With the wide circulation of false information about the
Holocaust on the internet, Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor cited the big
amount of time spent online during the coronavirus pandemic as one of the
reasons for the rise in antisemitism. He asked EU leaders to increase their
efforts to connect with European youth to make them more aware of the
Holocaust. “We have to understand better their concerns and aspirations and
speak to them in their language,” he said. “There has been a tsunami of lies
about Jews, Israel and the Holocaust over the last couple of years, so we have
to create new strategies to reach those who are consuming this information
innocently."
With France holding the EU's
rotating presidency, the European Jewish Congress' ceremony focused on the
Holocaust is in France, on the 80th anniversary of the Velodrome d’Hiver
round-up, a mass arrest of Jews by French police in Paris in 1942. French
President Emmanuel Macron said he has taken action to dissolve groups promoting
hatred and deplored that “falsifications of history are back." Due to the
coronavirus pandemic, many International Holocaust Remembrance Day
commemorations Thursday will be held online this year again. A small ceremony,
however, will take place at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where
World War II Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland.
The memorial site was closed earlier in the pandemic but reopened in June.
The U.N. General Assembly adopted
a resolution in November 2005 establishing the annual commemoration and chose
Jan. 27, the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in
1945. In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were
killed by the Germans and their collaborators during the Holocaust. Some 1.5
million were children.
^ This is not just a Jewish issue
that only Jews have to deal with. This is a Human issue that every Human has to
deal with and overcome. ^
https://news.yahoo.com/eu-leaders-worried-rise-antisemitism-173745744.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
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