Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

First-ever official delegation from US takes part in March of the Living in Poland

“There is no administration, no president, no secretary of state that have committed themselves to this extent to fight anti-Semitism, to protect the Jewish people and to support the State of Israel,” said Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr.

Members of the first-ever official U.S. government delegation to the “March of the Living” hold the American flag up at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in Poland on May 2, 2019. Credit: March of the Living.
Members of the first-ever official U.S. government delegation to the “March of the Living” hold the American flag up at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in Poland on May 2, 2019. Credit: March of the Living.

Several senior U.S. officials took part in the March of the Living for the first time to commemorate the deaths of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust on Yom Hashoah.

The U.S. officials in the delegation included U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher, Ambassador to the Holy See Calista Gingrich and Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr.

The delegation joined thousand of others who did the nearly two-mile march from the former Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz to Birkenau on Yom Hashoah as a tribute to all victims of the Holocaust and a call for an end to anti-Semitism.

Carr told reporters that “I couldn’t be more proud of the unprecedented commitment of this [Trump] administration to fight against anti-Semitism.”

“There is no administration, no president, no secretary of state that have ever committed themselves to this extent to fight against ant-Semitism, to protect the Jewish people and to support the State of Israel,” he added.

U.S. delegation participates in the annual “March of the Living” in Poland, along with other Israeli and religious leaders, on May 2, 2019. Credit: March of the Living.
Members of the U.S. delegation participating in the March of the Living in Poland, along with other Israeli and religious leaders on May 2, 2019. Credit: March of the Living.

Friedman said: “We must always remember the Holocaust, we can never forgive those who murdered 6 million Jews. It is the most important lesson for mankind is to always remember the Holocaust.”

Friedman, who took part in the delegation following the deadly Chabad of Poway shooting in Southern California on Saturday, said that anti-Semitism cannot be “eradicated or cured with slogans or easy steps.”

“Anti-Semitism is a disease that has plagued mankind since there has been a mankind. We condemn all acts of anti-Semitism, just as we condemn all acts against any religion, race or ethnicity. This is much bigger than any single event, this is about human beings and the tolerance we need to bring to our lives.”

If Ismael Jimenez were suspended, it would be “an encouraging sign of the much-needed systemic change for the district,” Mika Hackner, of the North American Values Institute, told JNS.
Prayer notes calling for peace have been sent from Arab countries to the holy site in Jerusalem, and some even from Iran.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry stated that it is using “precise intelligence information” to locate Shelly Kittleson, a U.S. freelance journalist who reports extensively from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
The Israeli prime minister said strikes on steel production facilities weaken the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the operation against Iran progresses “beyond the halfway point.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, also discussed ongoing efforts to curb Iran’s reach.
“Organizations and individuals tied to terrorism have no place operating under the protection of Canadian law,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs wrote.