Farmington Hills, Mich., Feb. 1, 2021 – The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus presents Genocide Today: The Uyghurs in China featuring speaker Ellen J. Kennedy, Ph.D. The program will take place online on Thurs., Feb. 11 at 7:00 p.m. The program will be hosted as a live Facebook event at facebook.com/hmczfc. A Facebook account is not needed to view the program.
Dr. Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide, will discuss the plight of The Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China who are being persecuted by the Chinese government using practices that other governments, human rights leaders and experts have labeled as genocide. Dr. Kennedy also will discuss the efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable.
“We are eager to have Dr. Kennedy speak about China’s reprehensible actions persecuting the Uyghurs,” said Holocaust Memorial Center CEO Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld. “This atrocity speaks to the core of our mission—teaching the lessons of the Holocaust and why each of us must respect and stand up for the rights of others if we are to prevent future genocide and hate crimes. This is not a future genocide; it is a present one.
The Chinese government’s acts of persecution against the Uyghurs include the use of sophisticated artificial intelligence to round up and incarcerate more than one million Uyghurs in concentration camps; forced sterilization of women; harvesting body organs; mass disappearances; and the destruction of Uyghur language, culture, practice, and community. This online program will explore the economic and political reasons at the heart of the crisis and efforts to hold the government of China accountable for perpetrating genocide against this vulnerable Muslim minority population.
In published reports, both former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and current Secretary of State Antony Blinken have labeled China’s repression of the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples as both “crimes against humanity” and “genocide.”
Dr. Kennedy is the founder and Executive Director of World Without Genocide, a human rights organization headquartered at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul, MN. World Without Genocide provides education about past and current conflicts and advocates at local, state, and national levels for policies and legislation that promote peace and justice. Viewers may submit questions to Dr. Kennedy by visiting https://bit.ly/TheUyghursinChina_HMC-event.
Community partners for this program include the Uyghur Human Rights Project; the Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children at Michigan State University College of Law; and The Jewish Community Relations Council/ American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC).
This program is supported by the PNC Foundation, Robin & Leo Eisenberg, Roslyne Gitlin, Sara Guyer & Scott Straus, and Janelle & Stuart Teger.
About the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus is a 55,000 square foot museum and Library Archive in Farmington Hills that teaches about the senseless murder of millions and why each of us must respect and stand up for the rights of others if we are to prevent future genocide and hate crimes.
The lessons of history are used to create a call to action, teaching visitors through the examples of those who risked their lives to save others, and asking our guests to react to contemporary challenges such as racism and prejudice. Exhibits include artifacts such as an authentic WWII-era boxcar, text panels, photos, video testimonies, films, paintings, sculpture, and a sapling from the tree located outside Anne Frank’s hiding place window that is described in her diary. Located on the second floor above the museum, the Library Archive is an important resource for academics, the media and families researching their heritage. Please call to speak to a librarian.
Hours: Sunday through Thursday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and Friday 10:00 am to 2:30 pm. For the first hour of each day, 10:00am -11:00 am, admission is reserved for seniors and those who are immune compromised. The last admission is one hour before closing. Face masks are required. Wheelchair accessible. Free parking. For additional information, visit www.holocaustcenter.org or call 248-553-2400.
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