Jan 26, 2024

USCIRF Cautions Against Rising Antisemitism on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day. USCIRF remembers the millions of Jews targeted and six million mass murdered by Nazi Germany’s “Final Solution,” and the millions of others—including Roma and Sinti, Slavs, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ individuals, and Jehovah’s Witnesses—murdered by the Nazi regime. USCIRF is also concerned with the rising tide of Holocaust distortion and denial taking place as part of a broader wave of global antisemitism.

The horrific atrocities of the Holocaust are not a relic of history. They cast a long shadow into the present. Hatred and intolerance of Jews, sadly, is no mere memory,” said USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper. "As we mark today’s solemn occasion, USCIRF urges the U.S. government to not forget the lessons from the past. U.S. officials must condemn those who continue to deny or distort the truth of the Holocaust and hold accountable those who seek to destroy Israel, the home of survivors and their descendants. The United States must also call out governments who fail to protect their Jewish communities who fear to practice their faith openly today.”

Almost eight decades after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, governments continue to express or tolerate antisemitism related to the Holocaust. In September 2023, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas engaged in public Holocaust distortion. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi previously suggested it never happened at all. Many countries omit or distort the Holocaust in official textbooks. Holocaust memorials have been vandalized across Europe, including in The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, and Italy.

In the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks and Israel’s subsequent military operation against Hamas, various governments have failed to call out those blaming the global Jewish community for Israeli government policy, investigate violence against Jewish houses of worship, schools, and homes, and condemn antisemitic chants explicitly invoking the Holocaust. In October, USCIRF condemned religious hatred, including antisemitism, spurred by the Israel-Hamas conflict. In November, USCIRF expressed concern over attacks on houses of worship, including the targeting of synagogues and Jewish religious sites.

The somber occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to the moral imperative of ‘Never Again’ for Jews and other persecuted religious groups,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Fredrick A. Davie. “Uyghur Muslims, Rohingya, Yezidis, and other religious groups continue to suffer persecution on the basis of their religious identity. Genocide is a global tragedy that the U.S. government must take a leadership role in addressing.”

USCIRF is accepting proposals for contracted research that would identify and analyze recent trends in antisemitism and government responses to this hatred in selected countries within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) region. This research would build on a report USCIRF released in April 2021 assessing antisemitism in key European countries and their governments’ responses in order to help USCIRF develop specific recommendations for U.S. policy.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

Jan 25, 2024

One of USCIRF’s key functions is to make recommendations to the State Department about which countries we think should be designated as Countries of Particular Concern or CPCs, based on our independent research and analysis. Every year we await the State Department’s announcement of its religious freedom designations to assess how they match up with USCIRF’s recommendations.

On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper and Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie join us to discuss the State Department’s most recent CPC designations—specifically the countries we think should have been added to this list including India, Nigeria, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Syria. 

Read USCIRF’s Press Release on the 2023 State Department IRF Designations

Jan 23, 2024

USCIRF Calls for Greater Protection of Religious Sites in Conflict Areas

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on all parties to armed conflicts around the world to abide by international humanitarian law. They should cease attacks that target, damage, and destroy houses of worship and religious sites in conflict zones, and not use houses of worship as weapons depots or as bases to launch attacks. In times of peace or conflict, governments are obligated by international law to protect religious sites.

USCIRF underscores that international humanitarian law protects houses of worship and religious sites as sacrosanct. They cannot be targeted for destruction or incur incidental damage during armed conflict. International humanitarian law allows for exceptions to this prohibition only under very narrow circumstances,” said USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck. “We are alarmed that, despite these protections, houses of worship and religious sites continue to be impermissibly damaged and destroyed in armed conflicts around the globe.”

In recent months, multiple religious sites have been targeted in conflicts throughout the world. As a result of the conflict between Israel and Hamas after Hamas’ violent attack against Israel in October, a rocket damaged the Convent of the Missionaries of Charity in Gaza. Other churches and monasteries have been damaged as well. Gaza’s oldest mosque, the Omari Mosque, was largely destroyed in an airstrike. IDF vehicles have damaged or destroyed parts of sixteen cemeteries in Gaza and Palestinian terrorist groups have placed primed rocket launchers in cemeteries. Amid fighting in Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces attacked a Coptic Christian monastery in Wad Madani. During a gathering on Christmas morning in Ethiopia, a drone strike hit the grounds of the Full Gospel Church in Baro village of Kombolcha. Also, since Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, approximately 500 houses of worship in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed. In Burma, the military junta has, since seizing power in 2021, destroyed approximately 200 houses of worship and religious sites such as Buddhist monasteries, churches, and mosques during fighting with opposition forces.

The sheer scale of destruction against houses of worship and religious sites in conflicts around the world is a shocking affront to the universal right to freedom of religion or belief. For example, throughout Nigeria, violent nonstate groups constantly attack houses of worship, religious leaders, and worshippers,” said USCIRF Commissioner Frank Wolf. “USCIRF urges the U.S. government to call upon all parties to armed conflicts to abide by international humanitarian law.

In November 2023, USCIRF issued a press release on attacks on religious sites during armed conflict and a report examining threats to religious sites in Turkey, which documented damage to religious sites in the country. In October 2023, USCIRF expressed concern over rising religious hatred as a result of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In 2019, USCIRF issued a factsheet on international law protecting houses of worship and holy sites.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].