{"id":53028,"date":"2020-01-24T15:35:21","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T21:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=53028"},"modified":"2020-01-24T15:36:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T21:36:00","slug":"resounding-message-of-world-holocaust-forum-in-jerusalem-never-again-is-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/resounding-message-of-world-holocaust-forum-in-jerusalem-never-again-is-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Resounding message of World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem: \u2018Never again is now&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By DEBORAH FINEBLUM<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"dateline\">&nbsp;(JNS.org) \u2013<\/span> Jerusalem: It\u2019s a city that stops everything for a minute each May for Israel\u2019s Holocaust Memorial Day, remembering those who perished, as well as those who barely escaped with their lives. But on Thursday, it remembered again.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_53029\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/World_Holocaust_jerusalem.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53029\" class=\"wp-image-53029 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/World_Holocaust_jerusalem-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/World_Holocaust_jerusalem-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/World_Holocaust_jerusalem.jpg 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/169;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53029\" class=\"wp-image-53029 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/World_Holocaust_jerusalem-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/World_Holocaust_jerusalem-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/World_Holocaust_jerusalem.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-53029\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin pose for a picture with world leaders during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem on January 23, 2020. (Photo by Yonatan Sindel\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>And this time, the city didn\u2019t remember alone. Leaders from 46 nations, including leaders from the four World War II victorious allies\u2014U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain\u2019s Prince Charles and France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron\u2014gathered to both honor the dead and make a strong statement of support for the living.<ins class=\"adsbygoogle JNS_InArticle_1\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8573325940152694\" data-ad-slot=\"JNS\/JNS_InArticle_1\" data-adsbygoogle-status=\"done\"><ins id=\"aswift_1_expand\"><ins id=\"aswift_1_anchor\"><\/ins><\/ins><\/ins><\/p>\n<p>The historic occasion: the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yadvashem.org\/holocaust-forum-2020\/about.html\">Fifth World Holocaust Forum<\/a>, officially titled the \u201cWorld Holocaust Forum 2020, Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism.\u201d Hosted by Yad Vashem\u2012The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, the World Holocaust Forum Foundation and the President of the State of Israel, this was the first such forum to be held in Israel.<\/p>\n<p>It was clear from the get-go that this assembly meant business, starting as it did without preamble, simple statistics showing the dramatic increase in anti-Semitic acts flashing across a giant screen. The star-studded gathering was designed to make a point with and to the leaders, their citizens and the rest of the world, as 100 of Israel\u2019s remaining 200,000 survivors sat and quietly took it all in.<\/p>\n<p>Each speaker made the point in his own way.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Allied forces and the Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives and their families to save Jews. He also described Auschwitz as not just the symbol of evil, \u201cbut, more than that, for our people, it\u2019s also the symbol of Jewish powerlessness. Today, however, we have our ancient homeland. The Jewish people have learned the lesson of the Holocaust,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>And, although this people appreciates the support of the nations, it must be able defend itself and \u201cremain the master of its fate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also warned about the danger posed by both the current uptick in anti-Semitism, in addition to the \u201ctyrants of Tehran who threaten all of the Mideast and all of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Netanyahu switched to Hebrew for his most intimate and emotional message: \u201cAuschwitz the destruction; Jerusalem the resurrection. Auschwitz was incarceration and enslavement; Jerusalem is freedom and liberty. Auschwitz was death; Jerusalem is life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018I wish I could say our remembrance makes us immune to evil\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_53030\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53030\" class=\"wp-image-53030 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53030\" class=\"wp-image-53030 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Rav_Yisrael_Lau-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-53030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chief rabbi of Tel Aviv Rabbi Yisrael Lau speaks during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem. (Photo by Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Other powerful speeches included those by survivor Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, formerly chairman of Yad Vashem and, before that, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau, who spoke about his mother\u2019s charge to him not to break their ancient rabbinical family line; by Pence, who shared the impact of visiting Auschwitz, saying \u201cone cannot walk there without being overcome, one cannot see the pile of shoes, the boxcars and those grainy photos of the men, women and children brought to their death without asking, \u2018How could they?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_90674\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Yisrael Lau speaks during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem\u2012The World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem on Jan. 23, 2020. Photo by Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He, too, had cautionary words about Iran: \u201cIn the same spirit, we must stand strong against the leading state purveyor of anti-Semitism, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and finally, we must have the courage to recognize all the leaders and all the nations gathered here that today we have the responsibility and the power to ensure that what we remember here today can never happen again.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump said, \u2018Today, we remember not simply the liberation of Auschwitz but also the promise of freedom, of a people restored to their rightful place \u2026 \u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Charles, the Prince of Wales, speaking of survivors he has known and admired, added that \u201cthe Holocaust must never be allowed to become simply a fact of history. \u2026 The lessons of the Holocaust are searingly relevant to this day \u2026 though they may adopt new lies and new disguises, new words used to mark others as enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps most poignant were the words of German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who refused to shrink from his country\u2019s guilt. \u201cIt was Germans who committed one of the worst crimes in the history of humanity; it was committed by my people. Seventy-five years later, I stand here laden with this heavy historic burden.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_53031\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53031\" class=\"wp-image-53031 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53031\" class=\"wp-image-53031 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Steinmeier_Germany-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-53031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier takes part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the World Holocaust Forum at Yav Vashem.( Photo by Ronen Zvulun\/REUTERS\/Pool)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Steinmeier was also honest about the resurgence of anti-Semitism in his country and elsewhere. \u201cI wish I could say that our remembrance makes us immune to evil. \u2026 I wish I could say that the Germans have learned from history, but I cannot,\u201d he said. \u201c \u2026 I cannot say that when only a thick wooden door prevents a right-wing terrorist from causing a bloodbath in a synagogue in the city of Halle on Yom Kippur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The speeches were surprisingly free of political posturing, although the absence of Andrzej Duda was somewhat obvious; the Polish president opted out of the proceedings, although it is said that he is planning to attend the 75th commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27.<sup>&nbsp;<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Forum founder Moshe Kantor told the press at a pre-event media briefing that this is \u201cnot the stage for such disputes\u201d and preferred to focus on the leaders who did come to share their support for both keeping the memories of the Holocaust alive and making a statement against the current wave of anti-Semitic acts worldwide. \u201cThat sends a message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that he\u2019s concerned that one-third of the voters in \u201ca great nation\u201d like England voted for the Labor Party when Jeremy Corbyn had such a clear anti-Semitic track record. \u201cThe extremists want to get their power in a democratic way like Hitler did. And<strong>,&nbsp;<\/strong>to tolerate anti-Semitism, we know where that can lead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev also told the journalists that \u201cthe fact that nearly 50 leaders from around the world are gathered here means we are creating a united front. The mission: to combat the growing threat of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And after each of the 46 leaders (more if you count U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the Vatican representative) mounted the stage to lay memorial wreaths\u2014a somber ceremony that dramatically demonstrated both the unprecedented global powerhouse gathered in that place, as well as their shared sense of purpose\u2014the day\u2019s message was spelled out clearly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever Again Is Now,\u201d the words blazed in big letters on the screen. \u201cNow Is the Time to Fight Back.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Resounding%20message%20of%20World%20Holocaust%20Forum%20in%20Jerusalem%3A%20%E2%80%98Never%20again%20is%20now%27\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8790,8795,8788,10465,10464,8844],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53028"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53033,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53028\/revisions\/53033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}