Hadassah Applauds UN General Assembly’s Adoption Of Resolution Opposing Holocaust Denial

Thursday, January 20, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT:
Josh Silberberg
PlusPR
jsilberberg@pluspr.com

NEW YORK, NY – Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA) National President Rhoda Smolow and CEO Naomi Adler released the following joint statement applauding the member states of the UN General Assembly following that body’s adoption of a resolution introduced by Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan defining Holocaust denial, using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. The resolution was adopted 80 years after the notorious Wannsee Conference where Nazi leaders approved the Final Solution.

“Holocaust denial, distortion and antisemitism remain far too common in the international community. The first step in combating these threats is defining the problem. This resolution sets an international standard that will help UN-member states and tech companies play a more productive role in squashing Holocaust denial. Hadassah applauds Ambassador Erdan’s initiative and the UN General Assembly for its swift adoption of this resolution.

“It is imperative that we solidify the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism as the gold standard in the fight against antisemitism. Hadassah believes that the General Assembly and all UN-member states should adopt and codify into law, as appropriate, the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism along with its illustrative examples.

“To retain credibility, the UN must ensure that antisemitism is never a facet of curricula in schools run by UNRWA and that biased ‘investigations’ of Israel stop as well. The UN is being dangerously instrumentalized to carry out farcical and disproportionate investigations of Israel that are rooted in harmful efforts to delegitimize it and its people. Reform, firm commitments, and action are required to build the safer and more tolerant world we aspire to create.” 

To read Hadassah’s Policy Statement, Defining Antisemitism, please click here.

To read Hadassah’s Policy Statement, United Nations Reform, please click here.

To read Hadassah’s Policy Statement, UNRWA Accountability and Palestinian Education, please click here.

About Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America:

Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is the largest Jewish women’s organization in the United States. With nearly 300,000 members, donors and supporters, Hadassah brings women together to effect change on such critical issues as ensuring Israel’s security, combating antisemitism and promoting women’s health care. Through its Jerusalem-based hospital system, the Hadassah Medical Organization, Hadassah helps support exemplary care for more than 1 million people every year as well as world-renowned medical research. Hadassah’s hospitals serve without regard to race, religion or nationality and in 2005 earned a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for building bridges to peace through medicine. Hadassah also supports two youth villages that set at-risk youth in Israel on the path to a successful future. Visit www.hadassah.org or follow Hadassah on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads and X.