Tomorrow is International Holocaust Remembrance Day Jan. 27th.

January 26, 2012

Dear Friend of Israel,

In November 2005, the United Nations designated January 27 as a day to honor victims of the Holocaust. This date was chosen for a reason – on January 27, 1945, Russian troops liberated the notorious Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, where more than one million people were murdered as part of Hitler’s evil plan to exterminate the Jewish people.

On the face of it, the U.N.’s effort to commemorate the Holocaust is admirable. It is consistent with a motto adopted by the Jewish people after World War II: “Never forget.” As time passes and eyewitnesses die, it is imperative that efforts are made to educate the next generation about what happened during this terrible chapter in history.

The sad irony, however, is that throughout its existence the U.N. has consistently shown a harsh bias against Israel and sided with her enemies. The U.N. has approved viciously anti-Israel measures such as the infamous “Zionism is Racism” resolution of 1975 (finally repealed in 1991 after much protest by Israel and the U.S.). Israel was denied a seat on the U.N. Security Council, even though gross human rights violators such as Syria, Algeria, and the Congo were admitted. Of 10 emergency sessions called by the U.N. General Assembly, six have been about Israel. No sessions have been called to address ethnic cleansing in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, or Sudan.

A clear anti-Israel bias and a day set aside to remember one of the key events that led to the creation of the Jewish state. How can these exist in the same organization?

Perhaps it’s because the U.N. doesn’t truly understand the meaning of “Never forget.” For the Jewish people, “Never forget” means not just remembering the past, but also securing and constantly working toward a better future. We don’t remember simply for the sake of remembering. We remember so that the horrors of the Holocaust will never be repeated. For the U.N. to create and observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day while simultaneously perpetuating hatred and bias against the Jewish state is hypocrisy, plain and simple. One cannot claim to honor and respect those who died in the Holocaust without honoring and respecting their living ancestors.

We call on the U. N. to remember that there is a nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. It provided refuge to many men, women, and children who survived the carnage in Europe. They – and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren – went on to create a peace-loving and productive state. It is the Middle East’s only true democracy, an oasis of freedom in a desert of dictatorships – a true “light unto the nations.” It is the modern state of Israel.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President