Simon Wiesenthal Center
The picture shown is chosen by Taneh Nazan
As we gather this week, the world over, to remember 6 million Jews
mass - murdered by the Nazis, world Jewry is reeling from resurgent anti-Semitism, particularly in democracies around the world. From the streets of the United Kingdom, to the ballot boxes and halls of power and diplomacy — Jews and our values are under assault:In Canada – Two students at Ottawa’s Carlton University reported they were attacked with a machete after being chased by a group yelling in Arabic and English that they were Jews and Zionists…
In Greece – The nation’s largest newspaper, Ta Nea, published this vicious cartoon
(pictured left) — the “burning of Judas” an example of the overt anti-Semitism appearing annually throughout Greece during Easter. The cartoon appeared after a rash of other anti-Semitic incidents throughout the country and a spate of synagogue arsons in Crete... In Hungary – Anti-Semitism played a role in the campaign leading up to national elections, stones were thrown through the windows of a Rabbi’s house during a Passover Seder, anti-Semitic graffiti was found in Budapest, a Holocaust memorial was damaged and neo-Nazis held an anti-Semitic rally in a city where Jews were killed in pogroms over a century ago…
In Argentina – “Die Jews” was spray-painted on a hotel in Santa Teresita where aJewish group was celebrating Passover; some were also verbally assaulted and harassed…
In Slovakia – a Jewish cemetery was repeatedly desecrated and anti-Semitic slogans were spray-painted on tombstones in Zvolen where only 50 of hundreds of gravestones remain untouched; anti-Semitism is alive although no Jews have lived in the area since the Holocaust…
In France a blatantly anti-Semitic demonstration was organized by a pro-Palestinian
group who were planning to march by a synagogue during the Passover Sabbath in Drancy, a city which served as the transit-point for the deportaion of 72,000 Jews deported to Auschwitz under the Vichy government, the march was averted by the intervention of police…At the vatican during the traditional Good Friday Service and in the presence of the Pope, a senior Vatican priest compared the ongoing uproar over sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church to the persecution of the Jews…
In Latvia SWC Israel Director, Dr. Efraim Zuroff helped lead a counter demonstration against WorldWar II Latvian Waffen-SS Veterans and denounced "the glorification of those who fought for a victory of the Third Reich, a regime directly responsible for the murder of millions of innocent civilians."
Your support of the Simon Wiesenthal Center is key in confronting the haters — like Iran’s Genocide-threatening Ahmadinejad’s keynote at UN headquarters in Geneva, to working with police and community activists in North America, France and wherever the world’s oldest hate rears its ugly head.
We challenge those in power to act. In France, we protested to the French Interior Minister to ban incendiary marches and threats against Western Europe’s largest community. In Argentina, we demanded that the Minister of Security investigate and punish the perpetrators of the anti-Semitic incident in Santa Teresita. In Greece, we urged Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to take action against anti-Jewish bigotry or the Wiesenthal Center would, once again, issue a Greek travel advisory and just last week, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s protest led to the revocation of Ukraine's highest honor to Stepan Bandera, whose followers were linked to the deaths of thousands of Jews during WWII.
On Yom Hashoah, and each and every day, we fulfill our promise to the late Nazi Hunter, Simon Wiesenthal and his generation that we would be on the frontlines to help take the lead in the battle against hate and on behalf of the rights and dignity of Jews everywhere! We can’t do it alone –
As Simon Wiesenthal said, "They are out there waiting for us to forget, because that is what makes possible their resurrection… The fight against evil is one to which everyone should devote his life."
for your ongoing support in these challenging times.
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