British PM Johnson on International Holocaust Remembrance Day: ‘I Feel Positive Shame’ Over Rise of Antisemitism in UK
by Benjamin Kerstein
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a statement that he felt “positive shame” over the reemergence of antisemitism in the UK.
Johnson’s statement was written into the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment as he sat next to Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
“I am lost in admiration for the Holocaust survivors who continue to tell the world of the horrors that took place on our continent,” Johnson wrote.
“I feel positive shame that here in Britain in 2020, we seem to be dealing with a problem of resurgent antisemitism,” he added.
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Johnson vowed, “I will dedicate myself to the support of the Holocaust Educational Trust. We must keep the truth alive, so that the next generation can have absolutely no doubt about what happened, because only then can we prevent it from happening again.”
This is not the first time Johnson has spoken out against antisemitism.
On Jan. 15, Johnson said in the House of Commons, “As someone who’s now 55-years-old, I find it absolutely incredible that in the 21st century we have antisemitism rising again in this country.”
“It is a disgrace and we must stamp it out,” he stated.
In December, Johnson issued a Hanukkah message, saying, “I know that recent years have not been easy ones for British Jews.”
“In the media, on the streets, and particularly online, antisemites have, in alarming numbers, been emboldened to crawl out from under their rocks and begin, once again, to spread their brand of noxious hatred far and wide,” he noted.
“Today, as Britain’s Jews seek to drive back the darkness of resurgent antisemitism, you have every decent person in this country fighting by your side,” he asserted. “Because Britain would not be Britain without its Jewish community.”