From attacks on Jewish people, businesses and places of worship
and the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, anti-semitism one of
the world’s oldest hatreds is seeing a worrying resurgence.
In an event on 26 September at the UN General Assembly hosted by
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, with an opening
speech from António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General,
the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Freedom of
Religion and Belief Lord Tariq Ahmad reaffirmed the UK’s
commitment to education and dialogue to combat the scourge of
anti-semitism in all its forms.
The Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Freedom of Religion
and Belief Lord Tariq Ahmad said:
I’m proud to reaffirm Britain’s commitment to combatting the
scourge of anti-semitism.
Even today, the truth about the Holocaust is distorted and
sometimes denied.
So it is fitting that this event should fall a week after Yom
Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and a day of
reflection and atonement.
As global leaders we must act responsibly to ensure future
generations reflect on the lessons from the Holocaust and
recognise our shared humanity.
Seven decades after the Holocaust, society still cannot say that
anti-semitism has been eradicated; nor can it claim that genocide
is a thing of the past. As recently as last month, the United
Nations concluded that the Burmese military had inflicted
genocide against the Rohingya.
The UK government is committed to religious tolerance in the UK
and globally. Through the government backed Holocaust Educational
Trust and their world-leading Lessons from Auschwitz programme
36,000 students have visited Auschwitz - and then supported this
next generation to share their learning with fellow students and
to fight antisemitism and all forms of hatred in every community
of the land.
The British government is determined that the genocide of six
million Jews will never be forgotten. A spectacular and poignant
Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, will be erected right
next to Parliament, reminding all of us of the depths to which
humanity can sink, and the importance of robustly opposing all
forms of bigotry.
