U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday condemned what he termed rising hate speech particularly anti-Semitism and pledged to stand with the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
Trump, in his remarks to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum National Days of Remembrance, also pledged to condemn hatred and stamp out prejudice of any kind across the country.
“This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism. We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness. And we will act.
“As President of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people — and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the State of Israel,” Trump said.
He regretted that the Nazis massacred six million Jews, saying two out of every three Jews in Europe were murdered in the genocide.
According to him, millions more innocent people were imprisoned and executed by the Nazis without mercy.
“The survivors in this hall, through their testimony, fulfill the righteous duty to never forget, and engrave into the world’s memory the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people.
“You witnessed evil, and what you saw is beyond description, beyond any description. Many of you lost your entire family, everything and everyone you loved, gone. You saw mothers and children led to mass slaughter.
“You saw the starvation and the torture. You saw the organized attempt at the extermination of an entire people – and great people, I must add. You survived the ghettos, the concentration camps and the death camps.
“And you persevered to tell your stories. You tell of these living nightmares because, despite your great pain, you believe in Elie’s famous plea, that ‘For the dead and the living, we must bear witness’,” he said.
Trump said said denying the Holocaust was only one of many forms of dangerous anti-Semitism that continued all around the world.
“We’ve seen anti-Semitism on university campuses, in the public square, and in threats against Jewish citizens,” he said
He added that aggressors threatened Israel with total and complete destruction.
He, however, commended the Israelis for their surviving spirit, saying each survivor of the Holocaust was a beacon of light and it takes one light to illuminate the darkest space.
The U.S. leader said: “Just like it takes only one truth to crush a thousand lies and one hero to change the course of history.
“We know that in the end, good will triumph over evil, and that as long as we refuse to close our eyes or to silence our voices, we know that justice will ultimately prevail”. (NAN)