The city is strategically located in central Syria and, for the army, it is crucial to safeguarding the capital and seat of power Damascus
mena40 minutes ago
The UN General Assembly approved an Israeli-sponsored resolution Thursday condemning any denial of the Holocaust and urging all nations and social media companies “to take active measures to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denial or distortion.”
The 193-member world body approved the resolution by consensus - without a vote- and with a bang of a gavel by Assembly President Abdulla Shahid.
The ambassadors of Israel and Germany, which strongly supported the resolution, stressed the significance of the resolution’s adoption on January 20: It is the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference where Nazi leaders coordinated plans for the so-called “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” at a villa on the shores of Berlin’s Wannsee Lake in 1942 during World War II.
“We now live in an era in which fiction is becoming fact and the Holocaust is becoming a distant memory,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the assembly in urging support for the resolution. “And as this happens following the greatest crime in human history, now comes the greatest cover-up in human history.”
Erdan, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, said the resolution is a commitment to make sure that Holocaust distortion and denial “will be tolerated no more.”
He said social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and You Tube are spreading the “pandemic of distortions and lies” about the Holocaust
“Social media giants can no longer remain complacent to the hate spread on their platforms” and must take action now, the Israeli ambassador said.
The resolution commends countries that have preserved Nazi death camps and other sites from the Holocaust and urges the 193 UN member states “to develop educational programs that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide.”
It requests the UN and its agencies to continue developing and implementing programmes aimed at countering Holocaust denial and distortions and to mobilise civil society and others to provide truthful facts about the Holocaust.
Currently, the UN has an outreach program on the Holocaust and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Unesco, has a program on Holocaust education and combatting anti-Semitism.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but do reflect global opinion.
ALSO READ:
The General Assembly designated January 27 - the day the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet army - as the annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of victims of the Holocaust in 2005. The resolution underlines that remembrance “is a key component to the prevention of further acts of genocide.”
It says Holocaust denial “refers to discourse and propaganda that deny the historical reality and the extent of the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis and their accomplices during World War II” and “any attempt to claim that the Holocaust did not take place."
The city is strategically located in central Syria and, for the army, it is crucial to safeguarding the capital and seat of power Damascus
mena40 minutes ago
The emirate’s airports are expanding in a fast-forward mode to welcome an estimated 140 million passengers this year compared to 134 million in 2023
supplements45 minutes ago
Mounjaro launched in the UK in February but has been available only for those paying out-of-pocket mainly through online pharmacies
europe46 minutes ago
Palestinians have been subjected to 'malnutrition, hunger and diseases' and exposed to a 'slow, calculated death', says the rights organisation
mena52 minutes ago
Bardella promotes book amid France's political crisis; Le Pen leads government ousting over budget bill
europe59 minutes ago
Professor Dr Michel Jabbour, Consultant Urologist at Emirates Hospitals in Dubai, explains about a more common condition affecting almost every man
supplements1 hour ago
Dubai resident Shiv Kapur hails International Series India's arrival, calling it a world-class addition after the HERO Indian Open success
sports1 hour ago