What the United Nations gets wrong about fighting anti-Semitism
Editor’s note: this article originally ran on Newsweek.com. One of the authors, the Heritage Foundation’s Joel Griffith, participated in a recent Center webinar on “Rise of Anti-Semitism and the Progressive Assault on the West.” Click HERE to watch.
With anti-Semitism on the rise, it is fitting that the United Nations recommit itself to eradicating this evil as it commemorates the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of the Holocaust. But U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s promotion of a “Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech” is nonetheless misguided.
The Strategy encourages states to censor “hate speech” according to vague and subjective standards. This jeopardizes every person’s freedom to speak and live according to their consciences, including Jews. In reality, the safest space for religious and racial minorities is a free society.
From its earliest days, the U.N. has debated the wisdom of creating a “hate speech” exception to free speech. The U.S. has consistently led opposition to these efforts. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, for example, warned that Soviet bloc demands to crack down on “anti-fascist” speech were “extremely dangerous” and “would encourage governments to punish all criticism under the guise of protecting against religious or national hostility.”
CLICK HERE to read more.
