Ahead of Holocaust remembrance day, Biden warns against ‘efforts to minimize the horrors’ of Oct. 7

Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, US President Joe Biden says it’s “more pressing than ever” to commemorate Nazi-led genocide of six million Jews following the Hamas onslaught on October 7.

“On October 7 Hamas terrorists unleashed pure, unadulterated evil on the people of Israel, slaughtering approximately 1,200 innocent people and taking hundreds more hostage — including survivors of the Shoah,” he says in a statement. “It was the worst atrocity committed against the Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust.”

Biden notes the “alarming rise” in antisemitism in the United States and elsewhere following the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, which he denounces as “unacceptable.”

“We cannot remember all that Jewish survivors of the Holocaust experienced and then stand silently by when Jews are attacked and targeted again today. Without equivocation or exception, we must also forcefully push back against attempts to ignore, deny, distort, and revise history,” he says.

“This includes Holocaust denialism and efforts to minimize the horrors that Hamas perpetrated on October 7, especially its appalling and unforgivable use of rape and sexual violence to terrorize victims.”

Biden also says Jews and Israelis are “close in our hearts.”

“We recommit to carrying forward the lessons of the Shoah, to fighting antisemitism and all forms of hate-fueled violence, and to bringing the hostages home. And we remember the enduring strength, spirit, and resilience of the Jewish people – even in the darkest of times,” he adds.