"I am honored to pay tribute to the collaborative effort of the Lantos Foundation and the Middle East Media Research Institute… I am grateful to express my deep admiration for your efforts and look forward to your future achievements." Vice President Joseph Biden
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) today held the third annual commemoration of the establishment of the Tom Lantos Archives on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial (http://www.memri.org/subject/en/51.htm) presenting the third report of its findings. The Tom Lantos Archives are the largest resource in the world on this subject featuring materials from Arabic, Farsi, Urdu/Pashtu and Turkish media.
Event Speakers
The event, which took place in the Speaker's Dining Room of the U.S. Capitol, included speeches on the current state of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in the Middle East, by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee), Hannah Rosenthal (State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism), Sara Bloomfield (Director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum), Dr. Khaleel Mohammed (Associate Professor of Religion at San Diego State University), and MEMRI president Yigal Carmon.
The event also featured letters submitted by Speaker of the House John Boehner and Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission co-chair Rep. Frank Wolf.
Speaker Boehner wrote:
"In April of 1945, after inspecting the newly liberated Ohrdruf concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, General Dwight D. 'Ike' Eisenhower ordered all available American troops to go and witness the horrors he'd just seen. He also forced German citizens and officials from nearby towns to do the same… He understood that there must be a record, first-hand evidence, and incontrovertible answers to those who would deny the Holocaust. Ike's example is reflected in the work of the Middle East Media Research Institute. The Institute's Anti-Semitism & Documentation Project provides clear, analytical monitoring of modern anti-Semitism so that today's injustices may be confronted in the clear light of truth… I join with MEMRI today in honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of Tom Lantos."
Rep. Wolf wrote:
"It is my honor to pay tribute to the Lantos Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial Archives. I would like to personally thank the Middle East Media Research Institute for their collaboration with the Lantos Foundation… The Lantos Archives will help ensure that the work of Tom Lantos – who as a Holocaust survivor was passionately committed to addressing the plague of anti-Semitism and to preventing future genocides – continues."
Video Compilation Screened at Today's Event Available for Free Download on Youtube and Facebook
Also at the event, MEMRI screened a video compilation of translated clips of anti-Semitic content from Arab and Iranian TV stations, including Al-Jazeera, from the past year.
This video is available for viewing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtGgI7oZ7fI.
Share the video by posting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtGgI7oZ7fI on your Facebook page.
MEMRI will be releasing a video recording of the event and transcripts of the major speeches, which will be available next week at www.memri.org.
- Visit the Tom Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial: http://www.memri.org/subject/en/51.htm.
- Visit the Tom Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial Blog: http://www.thememriblog.org/antisemitism.
- View Clips on antisemitism and holocaust denial from the MEMRI TV Project: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PL4B39D00265A8FC1C
- Follow the Tom Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial Project on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MEMRILANTOS.
- Follow the Tom Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tom-Lantos-Archives-on-Antisemitism-and-Holocaust-Denial/101001566663735.
