Schirrmacher delivered a keynote speech at the celebratory dinner
(Bonn, 06.03.2026) On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Archbishop Thomas Paul Schirrmacher, President of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), delivered a keynote speech at a celebratory dinner in Jerusalem to mark the 70th anniversary of the Conference of European Rabbis.
Schirrmacher stressed that Holocaust Remembrance Day reminds us that human rights violations can escalate to the point where millions are killed, and that the call to wipe out the Jews dates back 2,700 years to the time of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. There is no parallel in the past or present to such a call against any other ethnic or religious group. While they have the right to criticize Israel’s current politics—as we may criticize any government, party politics or coalition, and many Jews do it themselves—they must be careful not to imply that they wish to get rid of Israel as such, because if they do, Israel would be unique in being the only state whose destruction is seen as the only solution. The slogan ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ implies the destruction of Israel and its citizens. No one calls for the destruction of North Korea or Iran, or of the Korean and Iranian peoples, because of the dictators who rule them. Why, then, is this done only in the case of Israel? Schirrmacher underlined that the same is true the other way round: There cannot be a Holy Land without its Arab and Palestinian citizens.
Schirrmacher also participated in an Abrahamic panel with the Muslim minister and Executive Director of the Baku International Centre for Multiculturalism, Dr. Ravan Hasanov from Azerbaijan, and the Jewish Minister Amichai Elyahu from Israel. He emphasized the important role of high-ranking religious leaders in speaking out against religious extremism, especially within their own religion, as well as the need for the three Abrahamic religions to work together to fight extremism and promote human rights.
Downloads and Links
- Photo 1: Archbishop Schirrmacher during his keynote in Jerusalem © ISHR/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 2: Thomas Schirrmacher is addressed by the President of the CER, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt (left), see also (left to right) the Minister of Multiculturalism from Azerbaijan, the Israeli Minister of Culture, and Gady Groning, CEO of CER © ISHR/Martin Warnecke
- Photo 3: Archbishop Schirrmacher during his keynote in Jerusalem © ISHR/Martin Warnecke
- Interview in the Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-884819
- Reports from Azerbaijan: https://azertag.az/es/xeber/el_modelo_de_multiculturalismo_de_azerbaiyn_se_presento_en_jerusalen-3990443and https://dailybaku.az/en/article/azerbaijans-multiculturalism-model-presented-in-jerusalem-redphotored
- Report of the Jüdische Allgemeine (in German): https://juedische-allgemeine.de/israel/europaeische-rabbiner-diskutieren-interreligioesen-dialog-in-jerusalem/?q=schirrmacher und https://juedische-allgemeine.de/israel/israel-ist-unverzichtbar-fuer-unseren-zusammenhalt/
