President Joe Biden on Friday (26) marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day by warning against what he called an alarming rise in anti-Semitism following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 and efforts to minimize what happened that day.
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With that, Biden, who launched the first US national strategy to combat anti-Semitism in May 2023, said the need to remember the Holocaust and the “scourge of anti-Semitism” was more urgent than ever, following the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people.
“In the wake of Hamas’ cruel massacre, we have witnessed an alarming rise in despicable anti-Semitism at home and abroad, which has brought to light painful scars from millennia of hatred and genocide of the Jewish people. This is unacceptable,” Biden said in a statement.
“We cannot remember everything that Jewish Holocaust survivors experienced and then remain silent when Jews are attacked and shot again today,” he said, calling for a strong reaction against Holocaust denialism and “efforts to downplay the horrors that Hamas perpetrated on October 7, especially its horrific and inexcusable use of rape and sexual violence to terrorize victims.”
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It is worth remembering that in November, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the rise in anti-Semitism since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas was a “fire” that threatened the safety of Jews around the world and the future of Israel.
Biden said his administration continues to condemn and combat anti-Semitism as it works to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, which kidnapped about 240 people on Oct. 7. He called on Americans to do their part to combat hate in all its forms.
“It is our shared moral responsibility to confront anti-Semitism and hate-fueled violence at home and abroad and make the promise of ‘Never Again’ real,” Biden said.
