A powerful message
The Jerusalem Post welcomes the 49 delegations visiting Jerusalem for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum this week. With presidents, prime ministers, kings, crown princes, parliamentary speakers and more, the event is truly a historic one for Israel, which has never had so many foreign dignitaries visit at once.
Much of the focus in the Israeli media has been on the preparation and logistics: road closures and traffic, what kind of tent the President’s Residence had to erect to seat so many people, what food will be served at the dinner the president is hosting, who is speaking, who isn’t speaking, who is paying for what and how much.
There has also been political news, with the dispute between Moscow and Warsaw about how to describe the outbreak of World War II trickling into this week’s events and leading Poland to cancel its attendance.
But now that the events have begun, we can hope that the focus will be on the subject of the forum, “Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Antisemitism.”
Leaders of all the states with delegations attending were asked to write lengthy letters about the fight against antisemitism and send them to President Reuven Rivlin. Excerpts from those letters were screened at the dinner for heads of state and other leaders at his official residence.
Among those quoted were Pope Francis, who said: “We must remain firm in our efforts to advance dialogue, mutual understanding and human fellowship as a basis for peace.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote that “the Shoah... [is] a self-inflicted wound that has never entirely healed .... It is not only a part of German history but also an awareness that guides us in the present day.”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his concern about the rise of antisemitism across Europe, and that “Holocaust survivors, citizens of France and of other states, are being persecuted only because they are Jews.”
US President Donald Trump wrote: “To those who seek the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, I say: never again.”
Some of the most powerful and influential people in the world were included in the film shown at the President’s Residence.
For so many of them to come together and stand shoulder to shoulder and say that they will remember the horrors of the Holocaust and work to combat hatred of Jews so that something like that may never happen again is an incredibly powerful message that will hopefully reverberate around the world.
Before Thursday’s event at Yad Vashem, we implore leaders not to corrupt the message with their political messages. Now is not the time to fight over different versions of history that are more advantageous to one country over another. Now is the time to say “Never again.”
And when the leaders and their entourages – including hundreds of foreign journalists – return to their home countries, they should make sure that message continues to reverberate among the general public.
Talking is not enough. They should take action to combat the scourge of antisemitism which continues to rear its head with increasing intensity in recent years.
One good way to start is to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/ or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The definition, which Israel has encouraged countries to adopt as a nonbinding code or a guideline in combating antisemitism, also includes many examples of the ways people try to launder their antisemitism as hatred of Israel, such as comparing Israel’s actions to those of the Nazis.
The European Union and many of its member states have already adopted the definition. Italy took it on last week. What a powerful message it would send if even more of the governments whose representatives are gathered in Jerusalem would announce they are using it as well.