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Obama's Statement Marking Yom Hashoah Is Released

By Howard M. Friedman

On Sunday, President Obama issued a statement (full text) marking Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah). The observance date corresponds to the anniversary, on the Hebrew calendar, of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. (Background.) This year the observance was held on April 12. The President said in part:

On my visit to Buchenwald last year ? and during my visit to Yad Vashem in 2008 ? I bore witness to the horrors of anti-Semitism and the capacity for evil represented by the Nazis? campaign to annihilate the Jewish people and so many others. But even at places like Buchenwald, the dignity and courage of those who endured the horrors of the Holocaust remind us of humanity?s capacity for decency and compassion.

The memories of the victims serve as a constant reminder to honor their legacy by renewing our commitment to prevent genocide, and to confront anti-Semitism and prejudice in all of its forms. We must never tolerate the hateful stereotypes and prejudice against the Jewish people that tragically continues to this day.

Meanwhile, CNN reports on a Tel Aviv University study released Sunday which shows that anti-Semitic incidents around the world more than doubled from 2008 to 2009. Part of the increase is attributed to Israel's operations in Gaza beginning in late 2008.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on April 13, 2010 (boomark / email).