NEW YORK – “The fight against anti-Semitism today must be founded on an intellectual effort to understand the roots of hatred and to defuse the discourses that exploit ignorance,” Outgoing UNESCO Director General said Sunday at a farewell reception hosted in her honor by World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder.
Lauder welcomed Bokova warmly, citing the close relationship and mutual trust that has developed between their offices over the years and praising her for her “great courage, great determination, despite difficult times.”
“No good deed goes unpunished, and Irina has done many good deeds. She has fought critical battles, sometimes winning and sometimes losing, but always on the right side,” Lauder said. “She has done great miracles when it comes to Holocaust education. Education is something that UNESCO is made for… with the right education we can conquer anything and this is thanks to your dedication and commitment.”
Bokova thanked Lauder for the “special relationship between the World Jewish Congress and UNESCO,” built over the years, adding: “This is would not have been possible without your support, trust and respect for the work of UNESCO, and to me personally.”
Citing the dedicated global program being led by UNESCO to teach the history of the Holocaust as a “level against anti-Semitism today,” Bokova said: “UNESCO’S role… is to act to strengthen peace in the minds of men and women, through education, culture and knowledge” UNESCO is the only agency every to conduct such a program, Bokova said, adding that it has been her “personal commitment.”
“I am convinced that education, culture and knowledge have become key security issues at a time when violent extremism is spreading, fuelled by distortions of faith and history, and perverted narratives about cultures,” she said. “Anti-Semitism has been on the rise over the past two decades, adopting new masks, including in the form of a demonization of Israel, through its hateful and systematic criticism, seeking to de-legitimize its very existence.”
“Violence is encouraged further by perverse rhetoric stigmatizing minorities, refugees, foreigners, and also by distorting Jewish history,” she said. “That is why the teaching of the history of the Holocaust, the teaching of Jewish culture, the protection of World Heritage Sites, like Jerusalem, as a sacred city of all three religions, as a place for dialogue and mutual understanding, is so essential.”