Thank you, Mr Chair. And I would also like to thank Daniel Dayan for his introductory comments and for Israel’s work as President of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Earlier this week, across the world, we marked Holocaust Memorial Day. We remembered the six million Jewish men, women, and children murdered in the Holocaust, and the Roma and Sinti, disabled people, gay men, political opponents, and Jehovah’s Witnesses who were also persecuted and killed. Each was targeted for who they were, or for what they believed. Each life was taken by a system of hatred built in plain sight.
Remembrance is not only an act of reflection; it is a safeguard. The Holocaust did not begin with extermination camps. It began with words—words that normalised prejudice, eroded rights, and created conditions in which discrimination could become persecution, and persecution could become genocide. Those lessons are not abstract. They speak directly to us today.
In the OSCE region and beyond, we are seeing the resurgence of antisemitism. Jewish communities fear for their safety. Hate crime has risen across many of our participating States. The awful terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester last year was a stark reminder of the deadly consequences of hatred. And recent events in Australia demonstrate that this evil knows no borders.
We cannot ignore the scale of this trend, nor the speed with which it spreads—online, on our streets, and through narratives that distort or deny the facts of the Holocaust. This distortion is itself a form of antisemitism. It corrodes trust, undermines truth, and harms the security of our societies.
The United Kingdom is committed to standing against this. We continue to champion the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism and the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, and we urge others to adopt and use them both. During our recent IHRA Presidency, we worked with partners to protect the historical record, strengthen education, and address new challenges, including those posed by artificial intelligence and digital manipulation. That work remains urgent.
This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day theme—Bridging Generations—feels especially poignant. Survivors have informed our understanding of the events that led to the Holocaust and helped shape our obligations. But we are approaching a time when their voices will no longer be with us. This places a responsibility on all of us. We must ensure that future generations learn not only what happened, but how it happened, and why it must never be allowed to happen again.
Today, we remember and honour the victims. We pay tribute to the survivors. And we recommit to confronting antisemitism, protecting the truth, and defending the rights and freedoms that safeguard our shared humanity.
Thank you.