Avi Benlolo: Holocaust Remembrance Day should be a call to action against antisemitism
If you once pledged to adhere to the precept of 'Never Again,' you must speak out against modern hatred and misinformation
As we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, we ponder whether the world has gleaned any lessons from the largest hate crime in history, which ended just 79 years ago. This was the question I posed earlier this week at the national headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The reprehensible surge in antisemitism on our city streets since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on Israel leaves us questioning why, despite increased investment in Holocaust education over the last two decades, antisemitic incidents have been on the rise in North America and Europe.
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The issue primarily lies with young adults who seem to be influenced by social media and Holocaust denial. In a poll released this week, for instance, the Campaign Against Antisemitism found “worrying levels of anti-Jewish prejudice among the British public, with particularly frightening rates among young people.”
It should have been the opposite. There should have been more sympathy and understanding for Jews and for Israel. However, social media has been inundated with antisemitic tropes since Hamas’s barbaric assault. An Angus Reid survey released last month revealed that young Canadians between the ages of 18 to 34 falsely believe that Islamophobia is a bigger problem than antisemitism.
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