International Day of Commemoration: Mijatovic (Council of Europe), “pay attention to signs of hatred against Jews before it is too late”

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Dunja Mijatović, made the following statement in the run-up to the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust: “learning and acknowledging our history is a painful process but it is also a precondition to put our societies on a different track: towards dignity, freedom and equality for everyone”. “There are times – she adds – such lesson seems to have been forgotten and we let ignorance and the denial of reality penetrate into our daily life”. Over the last few months, “we have witnessed a strong increase in the number of online and offline attacks against Jews, their homes, their businesses, their cemeteries and their religious symbols. The conflict in the Middle East has led to new episodes of serious threats against the life and safety of Jews in our societies”. The Commissioner then goes on: “We should be more aware of the connections between the past and the present. We should never look the other way, we should never fail to acknowledge that the current attacks against Jews are based on an antisemitism that is deeply rooted and persistent in our societies. We must condemn and reject any denial or distortion of the Holocaust”. “We should also pay attention to signs of hatred before it is too late and face the inequality and discrimination that are so widespread in today’s Europe”.
Valentina Bombelli