WHEREAS, International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an international memorial day, commemorating the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during World War II, resulting in the death of an estimated 6 million Jewish people; and
WHEREAS, The United Nations General Assembly, through a Resolution in 2005, designated January 27th of every year as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to be observed by Member States in memory of victims of the Holocaust. International Holocaust Remembrance Day serves as a call to all humanity to ensure that good people do not sit and do nothing as evil triumphs over good; and
WHEREAS, It is important that in our lifetime, such atrocities never happen again, and AJC Philadelphia’s Circle of Friends Muslim and Jewish Leaders Group takes this directive, and the advancement of human rights and civil liberties, very seriously; and
WHEREAS, AJC and Circle of Friends are cognizant that Holocaust denial, and baseless bigotry in general, is a menace in our society, and Jews and Muslims have a joint mission to keep their history and connections to one another alive, by telling stories of past cooperation and faith, and by demonstrating friendship and a shared humanity; and
WHEREAS, During the Holocaust, there are many stories and historical documentation of Muslims as rescuers of Jews. These stories range from Albania, Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Kosovo, Sarajevo, and Tunisia. Muslims who risked their lives to save and hide Jews are stories not told frequently enough; and
WHEREAS, The stories of faith, cooperation, and bearing witness are mirrored in the historical reality of how Muslims reached out to Jews and understood that the Nazis and their conspirators were persecuting on the basis of religion. Many Muslims who rescued Jews did so based on their faith and commitment to social justice at a time when their own religion was being persecuted; and
WHEREAS,
AJC Philadelphia’s interreligious work in the fight against hatred and bigotry is crucial in ensuring that Holocaust deniers and hate will not prevail, and that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia will never be used as a national rallying cry for demonizing a group of people
; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby
recognizes AJC Philadelphia for its interreligious work in hosting the Muslim-Jewish Commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day; and further acknowledges
January 27th
as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the City of Philadelphia.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to AJC Philadelphia
as evidence of the sincere admiration and respect of this legislative body.
End