UN supports Israel's resolution to immortalize Holocaust victims

Muslim ambassadors believe that brutality against Jews, Christians and Muslims deserves identical denunciation

The UN General Assembly approved the resolution suggested by the Israeli delegation, which stipulates the establishment of the international day in memory of the Holocaust victims. The draft resolution particularly says that one should not forget the cold-blooded systematic extermination of six million Jews, especially this year, when the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of Victory over Nazi Germany.

The authors of the document addressed to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan with a request to develop a schedule of events to immortalize the memory of the Holocaust. Members of the Israeli delegation at the UN General Assembly offered to make the date of January 27 the actual Remembrance Day on the UN calendar. On 27 January 1945 advancing units of the Soviet army liberated the prisoners of the largest Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz (Oswiencim). On behalf of the United Nations Organization, the above-mentioned resolution urges the governments of all countries to establish and support special educational programs to prevent new forms of misanthropy from appearing in the world today. The document harshly criticizes all attempt to reject the fact of the massive extermination of Jews by Nazis and strongly denounces any forms of discrimination and violence based on religious and ethnic prejudices.

Israel put the resolution on the agenda of the UN General Assembly with the support of the USA, Australia, Canada and Russia. Ninety-one UN member-countries approved the document, including the delegations of eight Muslim states. However, there were certain amendments and comments made during the discussion of the Israeli resolution regarding the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Ambassadors of Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia stated that they supported the resolution, although they added that brutality against Jews, Christians and Muslims deserves identical denunciation. Egyptian Ambassador at the UN, Najid Abdul Aziz, declared quite emotionally that January 27 should become the Remembrance Day for all victims of genocide, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation. “No one has monopoly for sufferings,” the ambassador said. Jordanian Ambassador, Zayed al-Hussein, described the Holocaust as the most colossal crime that has ever been committed in Europe, “a crime committed by Europeans against Europeans.

The adequate standpoints of the USA and European states were a lot clearer. US Ambassador, John Bolton, did not miss a chance to mention Iran and its new President Ahmanidejad, who stated not so long ago that Israel should be wiped off the map of the world. The heads of Austrian, Romanian and French delegations confessed that the governments of their countries cooperated with the Nazi regime during WWII. German Ambassador Guenter Pleuger and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, Joschka Fischer, talked about the historical guilt of the German nation. The two officials also said that the period from 1933 to 1945 was the gloomiest chapter in the history of Germany.

The Israeli Ambassador to the UN Security Council, Dan Gillerman, said that the decision of the UN General Assembly was a historic step. Israel's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Silvan Shalom, specified that it was the first time since the establishment of the state of Israel, when the UN approved a suggestion from the Israeli delegation.

Indeed, the international community has blamed Israel on numerous occasions and has never acknowledged its rightfulness during the 58 years since the approval of the UN resolution about the creation of the Jewish state in Palestine.  It is noteworthy, though, that this fact has become the ground for many jokes in Israel. A popular comic publication of Israel wrote, for instance, that the UN General Assembly denounced genocide conducted by the hutu nation against the tutsi nation and eventually passed the resolution condemning Israel-run aggressive politics.

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