Message from Ambassador Alon Bar on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

“Today we reflect on the crucial lessons that history teaches us. Unfortunately in recent months, starting from the massacre carried out by Hamas on 7 October and the war situation that resulted from it, we have witnessed a terrifying wave of anti-Semitism throughout the world, and also here, in Italy.

Slogans, graffiti, chants, threats, intimidation and, unfortunately, even violent attacks, against Jews and Israelis, have become a new trend. As it turns out, anti-Semitism is not just a shadow of the past, but persists throughout history. It is a phenomenon that continues to manifest itself in insidious forms in the contemporary world, even today, even as we speak, in the streets, in the media and online.” [...]

“Some people who claim to promote human rights and peace instead promote hatred against Israel and Jews. They use terms such as murder, crime against humanity and genocide, with the aim of demonizing Israel. They want to use the same tools created to prevent another Holocaust, to deny Israel the right to defend itself. This extreme terminology and efforts to create false equations between Israel and the Nazis are in themselves a form of anti-Semitism.” [...]

“On this Remembrance Day, we must remind the world that 136 people are still held hostage in Gaza. Among them, there are also descendants of Holocaust survivors.

For over 100 days, our hearts have been with them.

We must bring them home.”

Watch the Ambassador's full speech: https://fb.watch/sf0RXYncK8/