International leaders at Antisemitism Forum in Sweden Confronts distortion, abuse of Holocaust
The use of social media to spread anti-Semitism was a key focus for Wednesday’s one-day high-level conference on the memory of the Holocaust and the fight against anti-Semitism in Malmö.
The conference, hosted by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, heard from a number of international leaders, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and French President Emmanuel Macron, who all sent video messages to the conference.
Kathrin Meyer, Secretary General of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), told the meeting that “mainstreaming of Holocaust distortion, which is often spread across borders via social media, is a serious challenge for all of us globally as it paves the way for anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and extreme nationalism. ”
Holocaust perversion means advocating the language and image of the Holocaust in order to attack Jews or the state of Israel, or when politically dissatisfied groups claim a comparable sacrifice to the six million Jews exterminated by the Nazis.
During the covid-19 pandemic, the use of the “Jewish star” and other Holocaust symbols has been widespread by covid-19 conspiracy theorists and vaccine deniers.
In his speech to the conference, Blinken announced a government grant of $ 1 million to combat anti-Semitic hate speech online in the Middle East and North Africa.
Blinken said the US State Department had begun “an expanded series of international visitor leadership programs, which will work with government and civil society representatives to confront Holocaust distortion and anti-Semitism in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.”
Blinken said: “Our priorities include condemning and countering anti-Semitism, guaranteeing physical security for Jewish communities, supporting Holocaust education, especially for young people, protecting religious freedom and urging countries to engage more deeply in the fight against online hate speech.”
European Council President Charles Michel said the 27-nation EU “must lead the fight against anti-Semitism”.
“Remembering is not enough. That is why we must do more than remember, says Michel. “We must never be silent … silence is participation.”