From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Yad Vashem says UN’s Guterres failed the ‘Never again’ test
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The chairman of Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust museum accuses UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of having “failed the test” of the refrain “Never again” after he appeared to say the Hamas slaughter of Israeli civilians was justified.
During a UN Security Council meeting Yesterday on the Israel-Hamas war, Guterres said, “It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.”
Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan, who met with Guterres earlier this year at a Holocaust-related exhibit at the UN headquarters in New York, says the UN chief had “failed the test” regarding ensuring atrocities against Jews don’t repeat.
“The slaughter of Jews by Hamas on October 7th was genocidal in its intents and immeasurably brutal in its form. Part of why it differs from the Holocaust is because Jews have today a state and an army. We are not defenseless and at the mercy of others,” a statement from Dayan says.
“However, it puts to test the sincerity of world leaders, intellectuals and influencers that come to Yad Vashem and pledge ‘Never Again,’” he continues. “Those who seek to ‘understand,’ look for a justifying context, do not condemn the perpetrators, and do not call for the unconditional and immediate release of the abducted – fail the test.
“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres failed the test.”
The Times of Israel Community.