- UNITED NATIONS (AP)
-- The United States has drafted a U.N. resolution condemning the denial
of the Holocaust, a spokesman said Monday, a month after Iran provoked
widespread anger by holding a conference casting doubt on the Nazi genocide
of Jews during World War II.
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- According to a copy of the draft made available to The
Associated Press, the proposed resolution urges all member states to "reject
any denial of the Holocaust," saying that "ignoring the historical
fact of these terrible events increases the risk they will be repeated."
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- The draft resolution "condemns without any reservation
any denial of the Holocaust," but doesn't single out any specific
country for criticism. The U.S. said it planned to circulate the draft
to General Assembly members on Monday.
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- The December conference in Tehran gathered 67 writers
and researchers from 30 countries, most of whom argue that either the Holocaust
did not happen or that it was vastly exaggerated. It was backed by Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called the Holocaust a "myth"
and said Israel should be "wiped off the map."
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- Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the
U.N., said the draft resolution was being circulated ahead of the U.N.'s
International Day of Commemoration in memory of victims of the Holocaust
on Jan. 27.
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- He said its purpose was to "make perfectly clear
that denying or minimizing the importance of the Holocaust is unacceptable
to the U.N. membership." It was targeted toward "any country,
organization or individuals" who would act in such a way, he said,
without naming any country specifically.
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- Gilad Cohen, a counselor in the Israeli mission, referred
indirectly to the Iran conference, saying "these incidents cannot
be ignored any longer."
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- "This is a matter for the U.N. to say loud and clear,
'Enough is enough,'" he said. "Iran is wanting to have nuclear
weapons and deny the Holocaust. This is something nobody should accept."
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- The spokesman for the Iranian mission to the U.N. did
not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
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- Iran has been locked in a long-running dispute with the
U.S. and its allies over its nuclear program, which Washington maintains
is geared toward developing atomic weapons. Iran says its program is purely
for peaceful purposes.
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- The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution last month
imposing limited trade sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to suspend uranium
enrichment, a process that produces the material for nuclear reactors or
bombs. On Monday, Iran said it barred 38 members of a U.N. nuclear inspection
team from entering the country in what appeared to be an act of retaliation.
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- Holocaust Survivors Owed Billions - Study
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- JTA.org
- 1-23-
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- Holocaust survivors are still owed as much as $175 billion
in reparations, according to a new study.
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- The Jewish Political Studies Review in Jerusalem said
European nations had promised $3.4 billion in reparations, but only half
of that had been paid by 2005.
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- Only about 20 percent of Jewish assets have been returned
overall, according to the study, which was made public last Friday by Reuters.
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- The study said payments slowed after the United States
stopped pressuring Europe on restitution.
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- Holocaust survivors, many of them poor, are frustrated
with the lack of payments.
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- "Things are moving much too slowly,"
said Menachem Rosensaft, founder of the International Network of Children
of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.
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- The Claims Conference said it would not comment on the
report.
- http://jta.org:80/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=6540
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