Speech at International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Hello everyone and thank you all for coming

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz by the Russian Army, and 12 days since the ceasefire in Gaza was announced.

For many, mentioning these two events in the same sentence would be seen as somehow diminishing the severity of the Holocaust, and horror that was Auschwitz, where 1.1 million people, about 1 million of them Jews, were slain.

But for us who stand here today, the past year and three months has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt, the painful connection between Auschwitz and Gaza, and the infuriating way that the memory of our murdered ancestors has been used to cynically justify and excuse the murder and genocide of the Palestinian people.

We see that the systems and ideologies that killed our ancestors here in Europe, today murder Palestinians across historic Palestine.

Racism and white supremacy.

Ethno-nationalism.

Greed for land, for power, and for profit.

Link the struggles of our peoples across time and space And while we are linked through pain and suffering, we are also linked through what makes us most human:

Our love for life,

Our practices of care,

And our solidarity with one another.

Standing here today in mourning, I am reminded of the miracle of life For many of our ancestors, we are the manifestation of their deepest hopes and dreams
Our freedom is what they struggled for,
And though many did not live to see it: here we stand

In the Jewish tradition, when someone dies we say: “zikhronah l’vrakha”, may their memory be a blessing. And so It is our duty, and our honor, to transform all this loss into a blessing. In allowing ourselves to grieve, to feel the pain of loss, we refuse the “banality of evil”, resisting the normalization of racism and genocide.

In allowing ourselves to pray and dream, we insist on revolutionary change. Through our ideas, through our relationships and through our actions, we reach for a world where life is loved, celebrated and protected.

This is why we have chosen to mark this day here, at Dybeste Sorgs Plads An altar that honours life and refuses to normalize death and genocide Which stands here at Blågårds Plads, a location with significance for both communities

And why we are honoured to share a program that blends Jewish and Palestinian song.

As a reminder that our lives, and our deaths, are equal in value.

That Never Again must mean Never Again for Anyone I would now like to invite you to come and place your flowers and offerings here on the square.

Thank you