UN Chief Promises to Stand “on Front Lines in Fight against Anti-Semitism”

April 25, 2017

by: Ilse Posselt

Tuesday, 25 April 2017 | Nearly 70 years ago the simmering spirit of anti-Semitism in Europe erupted in one of the most devastating periods in Jewish history. Some six million Jewish men, women and children perished at the hands of Hitler and his henchmen during the Holocaust—simply for being Jewish. The Nazis failed and the Jewish people survived. Yet the demise of the fanatic regime did not put an automatic end to the spirit of anti-Semitism.

Today, anti-Semitism wears a different, more subtle cloak than in Hitler’s days. In fact, according to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, contemporary anti-Semitism is often disguised as refuting Israel’s right to exist.

Addressing the World Jewish Congress Plenary Assembly on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Guterres said, “The modern form of anti-Semitism is the denial of the existence of the State of Israel. Israel has an undeniable right to exist and to live in peace and security with its neighbors.”

“Anti-Semitism,” the UN Secretary-General continued, “never died despite the shock of the Holocaust.” As the head of the international body, Guterres pledged to be “on the front lines in the fight against anti-Semitism.”

“We see today anti-Semitism alive and well,” he warned. “We see it in acts of physical aggression, murders of Jewish people in different parts of the world, destruction of property, destruction of monuments, destruction of [Jewish] centers.” Decrying the rise of anti-Semitism in both Europe and America as “absolutely unacceptable,” he vowed that the UN would “conduct all possible actions for anti-Semitism to be condemned, and if possible eradicated from the face of the earth.”

The UN has long since faced accusations from Israel and its supporters for its unchecked bias against the Jewish state. UN Watch, a pro-Israel group that monitors the world organization, recently revealed that the UN General Assembly issued 20 condemnations against Israel during 2016, while the rest of the world combined only received six condemnations, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports.

Yet Guterres said that things were bound to change under his watch. “As Secretary General of the United Nations I consider that the State of Israel needs to be treated as any other state,” he explained.

“I have already had the opportunity to show that I am ready to abide by that principle even when that forces me to take some decisions that create some uncomfortable situations,” he continued, referring to an incident in March in which he retracted a controversial UN report that accused Israel of practicing apartheid.

Guterres was, however, quick to point out that his pro-Israel statements do not equal automatic approval of all Israel’s actions. “That does not mean that I will always be in agreement with all the decisions that are taken at any moment by any government that exists in Israel.” He also spoke out in favor of the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The UN Secretary-General also used the opportunity to acknowledge the horrors that Jews have faced over the ages, recalling the “systematic policy of discrimination of Jews in the Middle Ages.” He also referred to his native Portugal’s expulsion of Jews a “tremendous crime and the most stupid mistake ever made in Portugal.”

Posted on April 25, 2017

Source: (Bridges for Peace, 25 April 2017)

Photo Credit: U.S. Mission Photo by Eric Bridiers / Wikimedia

Photo License: Wikimedia