Danon at UN on Holocaust remembrance: ‘Apathy is the enemy of humanity’
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon warned the world body on Monday morning in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day about the rise of antisemitism the need to fight it.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon (right) talks with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Credit: Israel at the UN.
“Calls for the destruction of the Jewish people continue in full force. They reveal themselves on the walls of synagogues; on the gravestones in Jewish cemeteries; on the sides of Iranian missiles,” said Danon. “The Jewish people around the world cannot feel completely safe.”
“They make it so that the Jewish people cannot have a single year without a case of antisemitism,” he continued. “This is what happens when the world chooses apathy.”
Appearing to reference Iran, Danon added: “Apathy is the enemy of humanity. Apathy means allowing a U.N. member state to develop nuclear weapons when it clearly states its intention to destroy the Jewish state. The Jewish people and the Jewish state will remain alive, strong and determined forever. We are embracing an era that will never see us go.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the rise of Jew-hatred in the world and the significance of combating it. “We reaffirm our resolve to fight the hatred that still plagues our world today. It is necessary more and more that we sound the alarm,” he said. “Inevitably, where there is antisemitism, no one else is safe.”
A survivor of Terezin camp, Inge Auerbacher, also addressed the General Assembly, saying “my hope, my wish and prayer is for every child to grow up in peace without hunger and prejudice. I plead with you, world. Make good choices. The antidote to hatred is education. No more antisemitism!”
JNS
