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UN ADOPTS HOLOCAUST DAY: Remember the Survivors
It took 56 years, but the UN General Assembly on November 1 finally passed an
Israeli-initiated resolution.
After 10 months of preparatory work, two days of discussion and an impassioned
speech by Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman, the General Assembly unanimously
adopted a resolution declaring January 27, the day in 1945 when Auschwitz-Birkenau
was liberated, as a worldwide day to commemorate the Holocaust. "I feel moved
and privileged to present this historic resolution today, as an Israeli, a Jew,
a human being and a child of a family of Holocaust victims," Gillerman said.
"The United Nations was founded on the ashes of the Holocaust," he said. "The UN
bears a special responsibility to ensure that the Holocaust and its lessons are
never forgotten and that this tragedy will forever stand as a warning to all
people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice."
The resolution urges individual countries to develop educational programs to try
to prevent future acts of genocide. It also rejects any denial of the Holocaust,
condemns discrimination and violence based on religion or ethnicity, and calls
for the UN to establish an outreach program to encourage the public to engage in
Holocaust remembrance activities.
Roni Leshno Ya'ar, the Foreign Ministry's deputy director-general for the UN and
international organization, said the UN would budget some $350,000 for this
purpose over the next two years.
This was the first time an Israeli-initiated resolution ever even made it to the
floor of the General Assembly for a vote, let alone won resounding approval.
Herb Keinon
Originally published in Jerusalem Post
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