Hannah Rosenthal, a Special Envoy and director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, has defended her presence on a recent delegation of U.S. Muslim leaders to Auschwitz and Dachau, following criticisms from Abe Foxman of the ADL:
ADL director Abe Foxman, after reports that he had lobbied U.S. officials not to go on the trip, said he had simply “raised the question” of why Rosenthal attended, saying she should be dealing solely with other governments.
Rosenthal doesn’t see it that way.
“My reason for going was simple — anti-Semitism is growing in places for different reasons, but Holocaust denial is growing in parts of the Muslim communities and must be confronted in order to combat the anti-Semitism that accompanies it,” she said in a statement to Politico.
“The response to my participation on the trip has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging,” she went on. “As I travel to countries facing increased anti-Semitism, I regularly meet with Jewish organizations, and interfaith and interethnic organizations, in addition to meeting with government leaders. I recognize that this age-old hatred will take a multi-faceted approach: calling for government leadership in condemning anti-Semitism; better education for the younger generation; interfaith understanding and advocacy; and good old-fashioned relationship building. I am trying hard to do just that.”
Read the rest of the article at TPM.