United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced Thursday that he will not attend International Holocaust Remembrance Day to be held at New York City's Park East Synagogue on Saturday. It will be the first time in 10 years that Guterres and his predecessor Ban Ki-moon will be absent from the event. .
of jerusalem post office Said It is “unclear” whether Guterres decided not to attend the event or whether Park East Synagogue asked him not to attend. A spokesperson for the Secretary-General said he felt his presence would be a distraction.
A statement from Guterres' office said:
In the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, the subsequent rise in anti-Semitism and continued suffering in the community, Saturday services at Park East Synagogue will focus on healing and survivors' testimonies. It will be done.It won't happen [be] The Secretary-General will not be attending the event as it is for the diplomatic community.
The synagogue made no further comment on Guterres' absence, saying the event would focus on “the Shoah and the barbaric attacks on Israel on October 7, kidnappings, the rise of anti-Semitism globally, and the pain at home.” I just said that I would guess.
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of jerusalem post office He wondered if the decision for Guterres to skip the event was mutual, as Guterres “has faced intense criticism from Israel and its supporters for his response to the war.”
[Guterres] He has condemned the Oct. 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas, but on Oct. 7 he said the Hamas attack “did not occur in isolation” and blamed the terrorist's atrocities on occupation, settlements and economic hardship. This infuriated the Israeli people. Following his comments, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called for Guterres' resignation.
Guterres is also not expected to attend a Holocaust Remembrance Day event hosted by the Israeli mission to the United Nations on Wednesday, the mission said. The U.N. secretary general is scheduled to attend a memorial service at U.N. headquarters on Friday, which will be attended by Erdan and Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department's special envoy on anti-Semitism, according to the U.N. schedule.
Israel defenders have been pressuring Guterres to speak out more forcefully in support of the Hamas hostages, holding weekly protests in front of his Sutton Place home. Protesters have built a relationship with the UN Secretary-General, who still believes he should speak out clearly and do more to support prisoners of war, without condemning Hamas with criticism of Israel. ing.
On January 27th, International Holocaust Remembrance Day This date was chosen by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005. release The infamous Auschwitz death camp. Guterres has spoken at the event every year since becoming UN Secretary-General in 2017.
In his 2023 speech, Guterres likened the situation in which anti-Semitic rhetoric was widespread to Germany in the 1930s. He said anti-Semitism was at a “record high” and called on “regulators, policy makers, technology companies, the media, civil society and governments” to enforce hate speech regulations.
“Many parts of the internet are becoming toxic waste dumps of hatred and vicious lies. They are profit-driven catalysts for moving extremism from the fringes to the mainstream,” he said. Stated.
It was politically impossible for Guterres to deliver such a speech in 2024 after Palestinian terrorists raped and murdered hundreds of Jews on October 7 and Israel fought back. It's a bitter irony of the times.
of new york sun scolded Mr. Guterres who did not listen to his own speech in 2023:
He and UN agencies have consistently accused the IDF of attacking UN Relief and Works Agency facilities occupied by Hamas fighters. Meanwhile, the United Nations' judicial arm, the International Court of Justice, has charged the Jewish state with genocide.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan was the first special envoy from Jerusalem to call for the secretary-general's resignation, citing Mr. Guterres' statement that the Hamas attack “did not happen in isolation.”
of new york sun He noted that Guterres is scheduled to speak at the United Nations Holocaust commemoration ceremony on Friday. Ambassador Erdan will also be among the other speakers.
