SWC Hails Overwhelming Adoption of Israel’s UN Resolution to Fight Holocaust Denial and Distortion

January 20, 2022

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today hailed the overwhelming adoption of Israel’s United Nations Resolution aimed at combating growing Holocaust denial and distortion around the world by governments and through social media. 

 

The resolution, put forth by Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan at the United Nations General Assembly today,  calls for a new international standard for what constitutes Holocaust denial and distortion based on the working definition crafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and new educational programs. 

 

“We hail the passage of this historic resolution, which sends a strong and unambiguous message condemning the growing scourge of Holocaust denial and distortion online and by certain governments like Iran - the only country to oppose the resolution,” said SWC Associate Dean and Global Social Action Director Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg, Director of United Nations Relations and Strategic Partnership. “Denying and distorting the Holocaust is anti-Semitism.”

 

The resolution calls for new educational programs and provides for actions expected of signatory UN countries to address the growing scourge of Holocaust denial and distortion, and will demand social media networks remove posts that fall under IHRA’s Holocaust denial definition.

 

“It is particularly fitting that the resolution passed by consensus on this day – as January 20 marks the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, organized by the Nazis to coordinate the implementation of Hitler’s Final Solution to murder all Jews, said Cooper and Greenberg.  “This is a significant contribution to keeping the memories of Holocaust victims alive.”  

 

They noted its passage marks only the second time since Israel’s establishment that a resolution submitted by Jerusalem has been adopted by the UN General Assembly.

For more information, contact: Michele E. Alkin, Director of Global Communications, Simon Wiesenthal Center, malkin@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).