Sept. 20



ISRAEL:

Israel calls for Holocaust resolution


Invoking Simon Wiesenthal's memory, Israel has called on the UN General
Assembly to adopt a resolution commemorating the Holocaust, while UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan offered condolences for the renowned Nazi
hunter's death.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said only a determined defence of
tolerance would protect the world from tyranny and extremism.

"In this spirit, Israel calls on the General Assembly to adopt a
resolution ... commemorating the Holocaust and calling for global
educational efforts, to ensure that its lessons are learnt," Shalom said
in his speech at the annual UN ministerial meetings.

"Particularly today - the day the world's greatest Nazi hunter Simon
Wiesenthal has passed away - we are reminded that the Holocaust is passing
from human memory to history," he said.

"As the generation of survivors leaves us - who will tell their story if
not us?"

Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who helped find one-time SS leader Adolf
Eichmann and other Nazi war criminals, died on Tuesday at his home in
Vienna, Austria, at the age of 96.

"Mr Wiesenthal's efforts to pursue justice for the victims of the
Holocaust sent an important message to the world that there should be
no impunity for genocide and crimes against humanity," Annan said in a
statement.

"His work through the Wiesenthal Centre ... to promote tolerance and fight
anti-Semitism made significant contributions to the United Nations' own
efforts in this area," Annan said.

The United Nations has long been accused of having an anti-Semitic agenda,
and the organisation's connection to the Holocaust was largely ignored
until this year.

In January, at the urging of the United States, the General Assembly held
the first session in its history dedicated to the Holocaust to commemorate
the 60th anniversary of the death-camp liberations.

A draft resolution proposed by the United States, Russia, Israel,
Australia and Canada would build on the January commemoration by
designating January 27 as an "annual International Day of Commemoration in
memory of the victims of the Holocaust".

It would urge the 191 UN member states to develop programs to educate
future generations on the lessons from the Holocaust "to prevent future
acts of genocide". The resolution also would call for the establishment of
a UN educational program entitled "The Holocaust and the United Nations".

If approved, all countries would be asked to reject any full or partial
denial of the Holocaust. They would be asked to condemn "all
manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or
violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or
religious belief, wherever they occur".

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)