Tuesday, November 01, 2005

UN Designates January 27 Holocaust Day

From YnetNews.com:

General Assembly votes unanimously to designate January 27th as international Holocaust commemoration day. Some countries express reservations; Egypt: No one has monopoly on suffering.

The resolution, which is the first to be introduced by Israel in the UN General Assembly, was expected to be approved by consensus, after 90 states confirmed their support for the measure.

The resolution asks all countries to reject any full or partial denial of the Holocaust and condemn "all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, wherever they occur."

Mohammed Abbas could not be reached for comment.

Why pick January 27?

January 27, 1945 is the day the Russian army liberated Auschwitz.
Since 2001, January 21 has been Holocaust Memorial Day in Great Britain.
Since 1996, January 27 has officially been Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Anniversary for the Victims of National Socialism).

Technorati Tag: .

No comments: