Tens of thousands of people will march to fight antisemitism
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF#SayNoToAntisemitism(photo credit: Courtesy)
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman will head a delegation of US ambassadors and White House representatives on the March of the Living, which will be dedicated this year to the struggle of the future generation against antisemitism and the memory of Greek Jewry."We are marching to remind the world of the horrors of the Holocaust," said Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, founder and co-chairman of the International March of the Living.The 31st annual March of the Living will take place on May 2, 2019. Some 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish youth from all over the world will walk 3.2 kilometers between Auschwitz and Birkenau in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and in a call to fight antisemitism. This year, the main event of the Holocaust Day will be devoted to Greek Jewry and the singer Yehuda Poliker, who will participate in the parade and perform at the ceremonies.The participants in the march will call for a war against rising antisemitism and against the background of the growing trend of hate crimes against Jews around the world in the past two years. Concurrently, participants will cooperate in a large-scale digital ad campaign under the following criteria: #SayNoToAntisemitism.According to a report by the Ministry of the Diaspora, 2018 was the year in which the most antisemitic Jews were murdered since 1994. Even in 2019, hundreds of antisemitic incidents were recorded.Twenty young people from around the world, some of whom have experienced antisemitism on their own, will sign a joint treaty to combat racism and antisemitism and call on young people around the world to take part in an international event on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Krakow. Poliker, who recently marked 30 years since the debut of his album "Ash and Dust," will also perform at the event, performing his songs "When You Grow Up" and "Things I Wanted to Say.""Unfortunately, lately antisemitism has reared its ugly head, and studies in the US and Europe have shown that about half of the youth have never heard of Auschwitz before,” said . One of our goals here in the march of life is to fight against it, "said Rosenman. “We are here to say in a clear voice: 'Never again.' We march to remind the world of the horrors and to lead a global move to fight antisemitism.”Along with thousands of young people from around the world, dozens of Holocaust survivors will also travel on the March of the Living to share their stories. They will be joined by a special delegation headed by US ambassador to Israel David Friedman. That delegation will also include US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, US ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher and Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr.Greece will also send a distinguished delegation to the march, headed by Patriarch Bartholomew, 270th Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, who leads tens of millions of Orthodox Christians around the world. The speaker of the Greek Parliament, Nikos Voutsis, will also participate.Joining these dignitaries will be Romanian Prime Minister Eureka Dancilla and Rabbi Israel Lau. The latter has been marching since the first parade in 1988.
Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog will head the Jewish Agency delegation. The New England Revolution soccer club will also take part.March of the Living is an annual educational program that brings people from all over the world to Poland and Israel on a journey from the Holocaust to revival. The purpose of the parade is to instill in the younger generation the history of the Holocaust and to instill in it values of tolerance, acceptance of the other, volunteerism and mutual responsibility. Since the first parade, more than 250,000 participants from 52 countries marched the nearly 3 kilometers from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Day.In the framework of the program, various youth delegations, Jews and non-Jews alike, visit ghettos, monuments and death camps, culminating in the march. After that, participants from the March of the Living continue their journey from Poland for a week of study in Israel, where they take part in the Memorial Day ceremonies for the IDF and then celebrate Israel Independence Day.
